NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB vs NVIDIA CMP 40HX Comparison

The Verdict

The data presents a clear performance hierarchy between these two NVIDIA products. The NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB dominates the comparison, winning the sole head-to-head benchmark by a substantial margin. Its OpenCL score of 207,124 places it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, while the CMP 40HX sits at the 93rd percentile. The A100 outperforms the CMP 40HX by 121.8% in the only directly comparable test, making it the obvious choice for compute-intensive workloads where raw throughput is paramount.

The NVIDIA CMP 40HX, in contrast, occupies a different performance tier entirely. With an average benchmark score of 85,637, it lands within 2% of the AMD Radeon PRO W7600 and the NVIDIA Quadro GP100, indicating it is competitive with workstation-class GPUs from a previous generation. However, its 8 GB memory capacity and narrower 256-bit bus limit its suitability for large datasets. The A100's 80 GB HBM2e memory and 5120-bit bus provide a 10x capacity advantage and a 4.3x bandwidth advantage, which matters significantly for memory-bound workloads.

For buyers prioritizing absolute compute capability, the A100 is the only rational choice. Its 99th percentile standing and 54.2 billion transistors on a 7 nm process reflect a design aimed at data center scale. The CMP 40HX, with its 10.8 billion transistors on 12 nm, serves a completely different purpose. The data suggests it was designed for efficiency in a specific mining context, not general-purpose compute. Users needing VRAM capacity, tensor throughput, or FP32 performance should select the A100 without hesitation.

Where Each One Wins

The A100 wins in every measurable compute category. Its FP32 throughput of 19.49 TFLOPS is 2.6x higher than the CMP 40HX's 7.603 TFLOPS. The FP16 comparison is similarly lopsided: 77.97 TFLOPS versus 15.21 TFLOPS, a 5.1x advantage. Texture rate favors the A100 at 609.1 GTexel/s versus 237.6 GTexel/s, and pixel rate favors it at 225.6 GPixel/s versus 105.6 GPixel/s. The A100's 432 tensor cores outnumber the CMP 40HX's 288, and its 6912 shading units dwarf the 2304 in the CMP 40HX.

The CMP 40HX does hold advantages in a few narrow areas. Its base clock of 1470 MHz and boost clock of 1650 MHz are higher than the A100's 1065 MHz and 1410 MHz. This indicates better per-clock efficiency in the Turing architecture, though the Ampere design's sheer scale overcomes this. The CMP 40HX also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the A100 lists no API support in the database. This makes the CMP 40HX technically more suitable for graphics-oriented tasks, despite having no display outputs.

The CMP 40HX's lower power draw of 185 W versus 300 W suggests it is more power-efficient per watt, though no efficiency metric is directly recorded. Its single 8-pin connector and 450 W recommended PSU make it easier to integrate into existing systems. The A100 requires an 8-pin EPS connector and a 700 W PSU, reflecting its data center orientation.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different NVIDIA generations and use fundamentally different designs. The A100 uses the GA100 chip on the Ampere architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. It integrates 54,200 million transistors across a 826 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 65.6 million per square millimeter. The CMP 40HX uses the TU106 chip on the Turing architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 12 nm process. It contains 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die, with a density of 24.3 million per square millimeter.

Memory architecture differs completely. The A100 employs 80 GB of HBM2e across a 5120-bit bus, delivering 1.94 TB/s of bandwidth. The CMP 40HX uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s. This represents a 4.3x bandwidth difference and a 10x capacity difference. The A100's memory clock runs at 1512 MHz with 3 Gbps effective, while the CMP 40HX's runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective.

The A100 has no RT cores, while the CMP 40HX includes 36 RT cores. This is notable because the CMP 40HX was built for mining, not ray tracing, yet it retains the hardware. The A100's 432 tensor cores exceed the CMP 40HX's 288, reinforcing its AI compute focus. The A100 also has a wider memory interface by a factor of 20, which directly contributes to its bandwidth dominance.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB scores 207,124 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the CMP 40HX scores 93,395. The A100 leads by 121.8%.

Q: How much memory bandwidth does each GPU provide?

A: The A100 delivers 1.94 TB/s via HBM2e on a 5120-bit bus. The CMP 40HX provides 448.0 GB/s via GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The A100 contains 54,200 million transistors on a 826 mm² die using a 7 nm process. The CMP 40HX contains 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die using a 12 nm process.

Q: Does the CMP 40HX support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the CMP 40HX supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The A100 has no API support listed in the database.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The A100 has 6912 shading units, while the CMP 40HX has 2304. The A100 also has more TMUs (432 versus 144) and ROPs (160 versus 64).

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The A100 has a 300 W TDP and requires a 700 W PSU with an 8-pin EPS connector. The CMP 40HX has a 185 W TDP and requires a 450 W PSU with a single 8-pin connector.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. The A100 scores 207,124, while the CMP 40HX scores 93,395. This represents a 121.8% advantage for the A100, meaning it is more than twice as fast in this compute test. The A100's nearest rivals in this metric include the NVIDIA RTX 6000D at 195,964 (5.7% slower), the NVIDIA Tesla V100S at 194,415 (6.5% slower), and the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D at 219,827 (5.8% faster). The A100 sits between these cards, all within roughly 8% of its score.

The CMP 40HX's OpenCL result of 93,395 places it near the AMD Radeon PRO W7600 at 87,108 (1.7% slower) and the NVIDIA Quadro GP100 at 87,445 (2.1% slower). It outperforms the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 at 81,995 by 4.4% and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X at 80,959 by 5.8%. This clustering shows the CMP 40HX is competitive with mid-range workstation GPUs, though far from the A100's tier.

The CMP 40HX also has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 77,879, but the A100 has no corresponding Vulkan result in the database. This limits direct comparison to the OpenCL test, where the A100's dominance is unambiguous. The A100 also wins the only recorded category in the wins tally: 1 win for the A100, 0 for the CMP 40HX.

Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the two GPUs:

• Chip: GA100 versus TU106
• Architecture: Ampere versus Turing
• Generation: Server Ampere versus Mining GPUs
• Process node: 7 nm versus 12 nm
• Transistors: 54,200 million versus 10,800 million
• Die size: 826 mm² versus 445 mm²
• Transistor density: 65.6M / mm² versus 24.3M / mm²
• Base clock: 1065 MHz versus 1470 MHz
• Boost clock: 1410 MHz versus 1650 MHz
• Memory clock: 1512 MHz (3 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective)
• Memory size: 80 GB versus 8 GB
• Memory type: HBM2e versus GDDR6
• Memory bus: 5120 bit versus 256 bit
• Memory bandwidth: 1.94 TB/s versus 448.0 GB/s
• Shading units: 6912 versus 2304
• TMUs: 432 versus 144
• ROPs: 160 versus 64
• RT cores: none versus 36
• Tensor cores: 432 versus 288
• Pixel rate: 225.6 GPixel/s versus 105.6 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 609.1 GTexel/s versus 237.6 GTexel/s
• FP32: 19.49 TFLOPS versus 7.603 TFLOPS
• FP16: 77.97 TFLOPS (4:1) versus 15.21 TFLOPS (2:1)
• TDP: 300 W versus 185 W
• Power connectors: 8-pin EPS versus 1x 8-pin
• Suggested PSU: 700 W versus 450 W
• Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 1.0 x4
• APIs: none listed versus DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4
• Dimensions: 267 mm length versus 229 mm length, 35 mm width
• Release date: 2021-06-27 versus 2021-02-24
• Launch MSRP: none versus 699 USD