NVIDIA A40 vs NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation wins 8 of 8 benchmarks, averaging 41% 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 RTX 6000 Ada Generation leads by 58% (3.225 vs 5.1 images/min); the closest fight is FLUX.1 dev (14% apart).
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA A40 | NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 160.79 | 241.33 | -33% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 106.18 | 157.89 | -33% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 57.85 | 87.51 | -34% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 26.89 | 39.87 | -33% |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 18.4 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 9.2 | 10.7 | -14% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 3.225 | 5.1 | -37% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 1.95 | 2.229 | -13% |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA A40 is faster on 0 of 2; NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation on 2.
| Workflow | NVIDIA A40 | NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-frame storyboard | 10.2 min | 5.5 min | NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation 1.87x faster | $0.060 vs $0.067 |
| Full codebase review | 17.3 min | 11.4 min | NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation 1.51x faster | $0.101 vs $0.141 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA A40 finishes 2 of 2 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 RTX 6000 Ada Generation | $0.740 |
NVIDIA A40 is 2.11x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA A40 | NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 48GB | 48GB |
| Architecture | Ampere | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 696 GB/s | 960 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,740 MHz | 2,505 MHz |
| TDP | 300 W | 300 W |
| Launch MSRP | $5,000 | $6,799 |
| Release | 2020-10-05 | 2022-12-03 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA A40 or NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation?
- NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 8 of 8 benchmarks in our suite with an average 41% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA A40 and NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation?
- NVIDIA A40 has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP, while NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP.
- Where is the biggest performance difference between NVIDIA A40 and NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation?
- Z-Image Turbo: NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation leads by roughly 58% (3.225 vs 5.1 images/min) in our testing.
NVIDIA A40 full review · NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings