NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 vs NVIDIA L40, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 wins 12 of 12 benchmarks, averaging 263.7% faster.
NVIDIA L40'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 Qwen-Image-Edit, where NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 leads by 667% (3.68 vs 0.48 images/min); the closest fight is Qwen3 4B (47% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA L40 runs 156 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 11, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 | NVIDIA L40 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 310.26 | 211.33 | +47% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 261.83 | 135.12 | +94% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 144.84 | 74.27 | +95% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 74.07 | 34.08 | +117% |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 41 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 34.58 | 11.2 | +209% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 22.125 | 5.625 | +293% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 9.064 | 2.464 | +268% |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 4.264 | 1.114 | +283% |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 3.68 | 0.48 | +667% |
| LTX-Video (distilled) frames/s | 17.47 | 2.61 | +569% |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 1.33 | 0.37 | +259% |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 is faster on 8 of 8; NVIDIA L40 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 | NVIDIA L40 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-frame storyboard | 1.8 min | 7 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 3.85x faster | $0.040 vs $0.080 |
| 60-second AI short film | 2.5 min | 13 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 5.21x faster | $0.055 vs $0.149 |
| 6-panel comic page | 3 min | 9.1 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 3.07x faster | $0.066 vs $0.105 |
| Character sheet, 12 poses | 3.7 min | 12.1 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 3.31x faster | $0.082 vs $0.140 |
| Full codebase review | 6.9 min | 13.5 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 1.95x faster | $0.154 vs $0.155 |
| 10 short social clips | 8 min | 28.2 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 3.53x faster | $0.178 vs $0.324 |
| 40-product photo shoot | 11.1 min | 41.1 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 3.69x faster | $0.248 vs $0.473 |
| 100-photo restoration batch | 23.8 min | 1 h 30 min | NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 3.79x faster | $0.531 vs $1.038 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 finishes 8 of 8 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 | $1.336 |
| NVIDIA L40 | $0.690 |
NVIDIA L40 is 1.94x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 | NVIDIA L40 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 80GB | 48GB |
| Architecture | Hopper | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 3350 GB/s | 864 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,980 MHz | 2,490 MHz |
| TDP | 700 W | 300 W |
| Launch MSRP | $30,000 | $7,000 |
| Release | 2022-09-20 | 2022-10-13 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 or NVIDIA L40?
- NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 12 of 12 benchmarks in our suite with an average 263.7% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 and NVIDIA L40?
- NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 has 80GB VRAM and a 700W TDP, while NVIDIA L40 has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 and NVIDIA L40?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA L40 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 H100 80GB HBM3 and NVIDIA L40?
- Qwen-Image-Edit: NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 leads by roughly 320% (3.68 vs 0.48 images/min) in our testing.
NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 full review · NVIDIA L40 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings