NVIDIA A40 vs NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 wins 9 of 9 benchmarks, averaging 265.1% faster.
NVIDIA A40's numbers are anchored estimates calibrated against our measured cards, pending first-party measurement. Treat small gaps as ties.
What the numbers say
The gap is widest in Z-Image Turbo, where NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 leads by 586% (3.225 vs 22.125 images/min); the closest fight is Qwen3 4B (93% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA A40 runs 156 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 8, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA A40 | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 160.79 | 310.26 | -48% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 106.18 | 261.83 | -59% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 57.85 | 144.84 | -60% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 26.89 | 74.07 | -64% |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 41 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 9.2 | 34.58 | -73% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 3.225 | 22.125 | -85% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 1.95 | 9.064 | -78% |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0.31 | 1.33 | -77% |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA A40 is faster on 0 of 3; NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 on 3.
| Workflow | NVIDIA A40 | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-frame storyboard | 10.2 min | 1.8 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 5.62x faster | $0.060 vs $0.040 |
| Full codebase review | 17.3 min | 6.9 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 2.50x faster | $0.101 vs $0.154 |
| 10 short social clips | 33.4 min | 8 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 4.19x faster | $0.195 vs $0.178 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 finishes 2 of 3 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA A40 | $0.350 |
| NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 | $1.336 |
NVIDIA A40 is 3.82x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA A40 | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 48GB | 80GB |
| Architecture | Ampere | Hopper |
| Memory bandwidth | 696 GB/s | 3350 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,740 MHz | 1,980 MHz |
| TDP | 300 W | 700 W |
| Launch MSRP | $5,000 | $30,000 |
| Release | 2020-10-05 | 2022-09-20 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA A40 or NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3?
- NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 9 of 9 benchmarks in our suite with an average 265.1% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA A40 and NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3?
- NVIDIA A40 has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP, while NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 has 80GB VRAM and a 700W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA A40 and NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA A40 fits 2 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3. A model that exceeds VRAM doesn't run slower, it doesn't run at all, so the card that fits the model wins that workload outright.
- Where is the biggest performance difference between NVIDIA A40 and NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3?
- Z-Image Turbo: NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 leads by roughly 586% (3.225 vs 22.125 images/min) in our testing.
NVIDIA A40 full review · NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings