NVIDIA L40 vs NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation), AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA L40 wins 10 of 11 benchmarks, averaging 83.7% 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 Wan 2.2 5B (720p), where NVIDIA L40 leads by 106% (0.37 vs 0.18 frames/s); the closest fight is LTX-Video (distilled) (27% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA L40 runs 11 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 6, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA L40 | NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 211.33 | 110.18 | +92% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 135.12 | 66.59 | +103% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 74.27 | 36.34 | +104% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 34.08 | 0 | n/a |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 11.2 | 6.56 | +71% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 2.464 | 0 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 1.114 | 0 | n/a |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0.48 | 0 | n/a |
| LTX-Video (distilled) frames/s | 2.61 | 2.06 | +27% |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0.37 | 0.18 | +106% |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA L40 is faster on 1 of 1; NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA L40 | NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 13.5 min | 27.5 min | NVIDIA L40 2.04x faster | $0.155 vs $0.092 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) finishes 1 of 1 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA L40 | $0.690 |
| NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | $0.200 |
NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) is 3.45x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA L40 | NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 48GB | 20GB |
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 864 GB/s | 360 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 2,490 MHz | 2,175 MHz |
| TDP | 300 W | 130 W |
| Launch MSRP | $7,000 | $1,250 |
| Release | 2022-10-13 | 2023-08-09 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA L40 or NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- NVIDIA L40 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 10 of 11 benchmarks in our suite with an average 83.7% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA L40 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- NVIDIA L40 has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP, while NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) has 20GB VRAM and a 130W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA L40 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA L40 fits 5 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation). 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 L40 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- Wan 2.2 5B (720p): NVIDIA L40 leads by roughly 19% (0.37 vs 0.18 frames/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA L40 full review · NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings