NVIDIA H200 NVL vs NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score in the database?

A: The NVIDIA H200 NVL has an average benchmark score of 334,891, while the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation has an average score of 135,218. The H200 NVL also sits at the 100th percentile among all GPUs, compared to the 95th percentile for the RTX 4000 Ada.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in the OpenCL benchmark?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA H200 NVL scores 334,891, which is 128.4% higher than the RTX 4000 Ada Generation's 146,593. The H200 NVL wins this head-to-head benchmark decisively.

Q: What memory configurations do these cards use?

A: The H200 NVL uses 141 GB of HBM3e memory on a 6144-bit bus with 4.89 TB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation uses 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 360.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units and tensor cores?

A: The H200 NVL has 16,896 shading units and 528 tensor cores. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation has 6,144 shading units and 192 tensor cores. The H200 NVL also has 528 texture mapping units versus 192 for the RTX 4000 Ada.

Q: What is the power draw difference between these two cards?

A: The H200 NVL has a TDP of 600 W with a suggested PSU of 1000 W, while the RTX 4000 Ada Generation has a TDP of 130 W with a suggested PSU of 300 W.

Q: Does the RTX 4000 Ada Generation support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the RTX 4000 Ada Generation supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The H200 NVL reports N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan support, and it has no display outputs.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA H200 NVL is built on the Hopper architecture with the GH100 chip, while the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation uses the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip. Both are manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC, but the similarities end there. The H200 NVL is a server-oriented part from the Server Hopper generation, whereas the RTX 4000 Ada belongs to the Workstation Ada generation and is listed under the GeForce 40-series family.

The transistor counts differ substantially. The H200 NVL integrates 80,000 million transistors on an 814 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 98.3M per mm². The RTX 4000 Ada packs 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, giving it a higher density of 121.8M per mm². This density difference reflects the different design priorities: the H200 NVL emphasizes raw compute scale and memory bandwidth, while the RTX 4000 Ada uses a more compact, power-efficient layout.

Memory architecture is a major differentiator. The H200 NVL uses HBM3e memory with 141 GB capacity, a 6144-bit bus, and 4.89 TB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 4000 Ada uses GDDR6 memory with 20 GB capacity, a 160-bit bus, and 360.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The H200 NVL's memory subsystem is roughly an order of magnitude larger in capacity and more than 13 times higher in bandwidth, which directly impacts workloads that are memory-bound.

The compute resource allocation also diverges sharply. The H200 NVL has 16,896 shading units, 528 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. The RTX 4000 Ada has 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The H200 NVL carries 528 tensor cores, while the RTX 4000 Ada has 192. Notably, the RTX 4000 Ada has 48 RT cores, while the H200 NVL reports no RT core count. The H200 NVL also has no API support for DirectX, OpenGL, or Vulkan, and no display outputs, confirming its compute-only server role. The RTX 4000 Ada supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and includes 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Clock behavior differs as well. The H200 NVL runs at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz. The RTX 4000 Ada has a higher base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 2175 MHz. Despite the lower clocks, the H200 NVL achieves far higher throughput due to its larger execution resource pool.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA H200 NVL wins in every recorded compute benchmark in this database. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 334,891 places it 128.4% ahead of the RTX 4000 Ada Generation's 146,593. The H200 NVL also holds the 100th percentile ranking among all GPUs, meaning no other recorded GPU exceeds its average score. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA B300 SXM6 AC, scores 369,831, which is 9.4% higher, but the H200 NVL still leads the AMD Instinct MI300X by 5.3% and the NVIDIA L40S by 13.2%.

The H200 NVL is the clear choice for workloads that demand massive memory capacity and bandwidth. Its 141 GB HBM3e pool with 4.89 TB/s bandwidth supports large-scale inference, training, and data processing tasks that require holding entire models or datasets in GPU memory. Its FP32 throughput of 60.32 TFLOPS and FP16 throughput of 120.6 TFLOPS (2:1) place it well above the RTX 4000 Ada's 26.73 TFLOPS in both FP32 and FP16 (1:1). The H200 NVL's 528 tensor cores provide substantial matrix compute capacity for AI acceleration.

The RTX 4000 Ada Generation wins in scenarios the H200 NVL cannot serve at all. It has display outputs, full graphics API support, and RT cores, making it suitable for rendering, visualization, and workstation graphics tasks. Its 139.2 GPixel/s pixel rate and 417.6 GTexel/s texture rate exceed the H200 NVL's 42.84 GPixel/s and 942.5 GTexel/s in pixel throughput. The H200 NVL's texture rate is higher, but the RTX 4000 Ada's pixel rate is more than three times higher. For interactive graphics, real-time rendering, or any task requiring a display output, the RTX 4000 Ada is the only functional option between the two.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification field. The H200 NVL uses the GH100 chip, while the RTX 4000 Ada uses AD104. The H200 NVL has 80,000 million transistors on an 814 mm² die; the RTX 4000 Ada has 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Transistor density favors the RTX 4000 Ada at 121.8M per mm² versus 98.3M per mm².

Clock speeds also differ. The H200 NVL has a 1365 MHz base and 1785 MHz boost, while the RTX 4000 Ada has a 1500 MHz base and 2175 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1593 MHz (6.4 Gbps effective) for the H200 NVL and 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for the RTX 4000 Ada.

Memory capacity and type differ completely: 141 GB HBM3e for the H200 NVL versus 20 GB GDDR6 for the RTX 4000 Ada. Bus width is 6144-bit for the H200 NVL and 160-bit for the RTX 4000 Ada. Bandwidth is 4.89 TB/s versus 360.0 GB/s.

Compute resources: shading units, 16,896 versus 6,144; TMUs, 528 versus 192; ROPs, 24 versus 64; tensor cores, 528 versus 192; RT cores, not reported versus 48. Pixel rate is 42.84 GPixel/s for the H200 NVL versus 139.2 GPixel/s for the RTX 4000 Ada. Texture rate is 942.5 GTexel/s versus 417.6 GTexel/s. FP32 is 60.32 TFLOPS versus 26.73 TFLOPS. FP16 is 120.6 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 26.73 TFLOPS (1:1).

Power and physical specs: TDP is 600 W versus 130 W; slot width is dual-slot versus single-slot; power connectors are 8-pin EPS versus 1x 16-pin; suggested PSU is 1000 W versus 300 W. Bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 for the H200 NVL and PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RTX 4000 Ada. The H200 NVL has no display outputs, while the RTX 4000 Ada has 4x DisplayPort 1.0. The H200 NVL reports N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan; the RTX 4000 Ada supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Dimensions: the H200 NVL is 267 mm long and 111 mm high, 10.5 inches by 4.4 inches; the RTX 4000 Ada is 245 mm long and 112 mm high, 9.6 inches by 4.4 inches. Release dates are 2024-11-17 for the H200 NVL and 2023-08-08 for the RTX 4000 Ada. Production status is Active for both. The H200 NVL's predecessor is Server Ada with successor Server Blackwell; the RTX 4000 Ada's predecessor is Workstation Ampere with successor Blackwell PRO W.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark between the two GPUs is Geekbench OpenCL. The NVIDIA H200 NVL scores 334,891 against the RTX 4000 Ada Generation's 146,593, giving the H200 NVL a 128.4% lead. This is the largest win in the comparison and represents the only shared benchmark in the database. The H200 NVL wins this head-to-head matchup, and the win count stands at 1 for the H200 NVL and 0 for the RTX 4000 Ada.

Context from nearest rivals reinforces the H200 NVL's standing. Its average score of 334,891 is 5.3% above the AMD Instinct MI300X (317,994) and 13.2% above the NVIDIA L40S (295,763). It trails the NVIDIA B200 (345,482) by 3.1% and the NVIDIA B300 SXM6 AC (369,831) by 9.4%. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation, with an average score of 135,218, sits within 0.9% of three AMD Radeon PRO workstation cards: the W6800 (135,396), W6800X Duo (135,774), and PRO V620 (136,472). It is effectively tied with the NVIDIA A10M (135,230) at a 0% delta.

The FP32 and FP16 figures provide additional context. The H200 NVL delivers 60.32 TFLOPS of FP32 and 120.6 TFLOPS of FP16, while the RTX 4000 Ada delivers 26.73 TFLOPS in both formats. The H200 NVL's FP16 advantage is 4.5 times the RTX 4000 Ada's throughput, and its FP32 advantage is roughly 2.3 times. The RTX 4000 Ada's pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s versus the H200 NVL's 42.84 GPixel/s shows where the workstation card retains a lead, though this does not affect the recorded compute benchmark.

The Verdict

The NVIDIA H200 NVL is the choice for compute-intensive server workloads. Its 128.4% OpenCL lead over the RTX 4000 Ada Generation, combined with 141 GB of HBM3e memory, 4.89 TB/s bandwidth, and 60.32 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput, places it in a different performance class. It holds the 100th percentile ranking among all GPUs and beats the AMD Instinct MI300X by 5.3% and the NVIDIA L40S by 13.2%. For AI training, large-scale inference, or memory-bound data processing, the data points squarely to the H200 NVL.

The NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation is the choice for workstation graphics and rendering. It is the only one of the two with display outputs, graphics API support, and RT cores. Its 139.2 GPixel/s pixel rate is more than three times higher than the H200 NVL's, and its 26.73 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is sufficient for many professional visualization tasks. It operates at a 130 W TDP with a 300 W suggested PSU, making it far easier to integrate into a workstation environment.

The verdict from the database is unambiguous for compute performance: the H200 NVL wins the only shared benchmark by a massive margin. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation's strengths lie outside the recorded compute tests, in areas the H200 NVL does not cover. Users needing raw compute should select the H200 NVL. Users needing graphics output or API support should select the RTX 4000 Ada Generation, since the H200 NVL offers no such functionality.