NVIDIA L20 vs NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB Comparison

# The Verdict

The benchmark data presents an unambiguous outcome: the NVIDIA L20 wins both head-to-head tests, with a 108.3% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and a 58.6% lead in Geekbench Vulkan. The L20’s average benchmark score of 251,147 places it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB’s average of 137,731 lands in the 96th percentile. This is not a close contest; the L20 is faster by a wide margin in both workloads tested.

However, the data does not support a universal recommendation. The Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB is listed as end-of-life, while the L20 is active in production. For any new deployment, the L20 is the clear choice based on raw performance and availability alone. The V100’s only potential edge lies in its HBM2 memory with a higher memory bandwidth (898.0 GB/s versus 864.0 GB/s), a 4096-bit bus width versus the L20’s 384-bit, and its larger complement of 640 tensor cores versus 368. If a workload is heavily dependent on memory bandwidth or tensor-core throughput rather than raw shading performance, the V100 could theoretically remain relevant — but the benchmark evidence shows that even with those advantages, it loses decisively in both OpenCL and Vulkan tests.

For buyers selecting between these two today, the data says: choose the L20 unless you have a specific, verifiable reason to need HBM2 memory characteristics or a 4096-bit memory bus. The V100’s 32 GB capacity is also smaller than the L20’s 48 GB, further tilting the scales. The L20’s 99th-percentile standing among all GPUs, compared to the V100’s 96th, quantifies the generational gap.

# Where Each One Wins

The L20 wins both benchmark categories outright. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 274,276 against the V100’s 131,696 — a 108.3% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the L20 scores 228,018 against 143,765, a 58.6% margin. There are no tests in the data where the V100 comes out ahead.

That said, the specification sheets reveal where the V100 might have a niche. The Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB uses HBM2 memory across a 4096-bit bus, delivering 898.0 GB/s of bandwidth — slightly higher than the L20’s 864.0 GB/s over a 384-bit GDDR6 interface. For applications that are purely memory-bandwidth-bound, the V100’s 34.0 GB/s advantage could matter, even if the L20’s overall compute dominates. The V100 also packs 640 tensor cores versus the L20’s 368, which could make it attractive for certain matrix-math workloads, though the L20’s much higher FP32 throughput (59.35 TFLOPS versus 15.67 TFLOPS) suggests the tensor cores are less efficient overall.

The L20 wins on every compute metric that matters for general purpose: FP32 at 59.35 TFLOPS is nearly 4x the V100’s 15.67 TFLOPS; FP16 at 59.35 TFLOPS (1:1) versus the V100’s 31.33 TFLOPS (2:1) is still roughly double; pixel rate is 322.6 GPixel/s versus 195.8 GPixel/s; texture rate is 927.4 GTexel/s versus 489.6 GTexel/s. The L20 also has 11,776 shading units versus 5,120, 368 TMUs versus 320, and 92 RT cores that the V100 lacks entirely. The V100’s only hardware advantage is memory bandwidth and tensor-core count.

# Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is generational. The L20 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC’s 5 nm process, while the V100 is Volta on 12 nm. This process shrink is stark: the L20 packs 76,300 million transistors onto a 609 mm² die (125.3M transistors per mm²), whereas the V100 fits 21,100 million transistors onto a larger 815 mm² die (25.9M per mm²). The L20 achieves over 4.8x the transistor density.

The L20’s chip is AD102, a modern server-class design, while the V100 uses GV100. The L20 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the V100 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The L20 has 92 RT cores for ray tracing; the V100 has none. The L20’s 368 tensor cores are Ada-generation units; the V100’s 640 are first-generation Volta tensor cores — the count is higher, but the architecture is older and the FP16 ratio (2:1) indicates they do not handle FP16 with the same efficiency as the L20’s 1:1 ratio.

Memory architecture differs fundamentally: the L20 uses 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus (864.0 GB/s), while the V100 uses 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus (898.0 GB/s). The V100’s HBM2 operates at 877 MHz (1754 Mbps effective) versus the L20’s memory at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). The L20 is a dual-slot card with a 16-pin power connector and four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs; the V100 is an SXM module with no display outputs, requiring a different physical integration. The L20 uses PCIe 4.0 x16; the V100 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Both share a 600 W suggested PSU rating, though the L20’s TDP is 275 W versus the V100’s 250 W.

# FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA L20 has an average benchmark score of 251,147, placing it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs. The Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB scores 137,731 on average, in the 96th percentile.

Q: How much faster is the L20 in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The L20 scores 274,276 versus the V100’s 131,696, a delta of 108.3%. The L20 wins this test outright.

Q: Does the Tesla V100 have any memory advantage?

A: Yes. The V100 has HBM2 memory with a bandwidth of 898.0 GB/s on a 4096-bit bus, compared to the L20’s GDDR6 at 864.0 GB/s on a 384-bit bus. The V100 also has 640 tensor cores versus 368 on the L20.

Q: Which card has more video memory?

A: The L20 has 48 GB of GDDR6, while the V100 has 32 GB of HBM2. The L20 provides 16 GB more capacity.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The L20 is marked as Active in production, released on 2023-11-15. The Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB is listed as End-of-life, released on 2018-03-26.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the V100 wins?

A: In the data provided, the V100 does not win either head-to-head benchmark. The L20 wins both Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, with two wins total and zero for the V100.

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two direct comparisons in the data both favor the L20 by a substantial margin. In Geekbench OpenCL, the L20 posts 274,276 against the V100’s 131,696. That is a 108.3% difference — more than double the score. The L20’s FP32 throughput of 59.35 TFLOPS versus 15.67 TFLOPS makes this outcome unsurprising; OpenCL workloads often scale with raw shading power, and the L20 has 11,776 shading units to the V100’s 5,120.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the L20 scores 228,018 against 143,765, a 58.6% lead. The smaller margin compared to OpenCL is notable. Vulkan can leverage different hardware paths, and the V100’s higher memory bandwidth (898.0 GB/s) and larger tensor-core count (640) may help it close some of the gap. Still, the L20’s 92 RT cores and newer architecture give it a clear edge, even if the delta is less extreme.

Contextualizing with nearest rivals: the L20’s average score of 251,147 is 11.6% ahead of the NVIDIA PG506-232 (225,124), 14.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D (219,827), but 11.6% behind the NVIDIA L40 (284,111) and 12.6% behind the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation (287,237). The V100’s average of 137,731 is nearly identical to the Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB (138,063, a 0.2% difference), 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO V620 (136,472), 0.9% behind the AMD Instinct MI100 (139,035), and 1.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo (135,774). This shows the V100 is clustered tightly with its contemporaries, while the L20 sits in a higher performance tier, closer to the L40 and RTX 6000 Ada than to the V100’s peers.

# Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification category. The L20 uses the AD102 chip on Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 5 nm process; the V100 uses GV100 on Volta, on a 12 nm process. Transistor counts are 76,300 million for the L20 versus 21,100 million for the V100, with die sizes of 609 mm² and 815 mm², respectively. Transistor density is 125.3M per mm² versus 25.9M per mm².

Clock speeds: the L20 runs at 1440 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost; the V100 runs at 1290 MHz base and 1530 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for the L20 versus 877 MHz (1754 Mbps effective) for the V100.

Memory configuration: the L20 has 48 GB GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus with 864.0 GB/s bandwidth; the V100 has 32 GB HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus with 898.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute units: the L20 has 11,776 shading units, 368 TMUs, 128 ROPs, 92 RT cores, and 368 tensor cores. The V100 has 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, 128 ROPs, no RT cores, and 640 tensor cores.

Performance rates: the L20 achieves 322.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 927.4 GTexel/s texture rate, with FP32 at 59.35 TFLOPS and FP16 at 59.35 TFLOPS (1:1). The V100 achieves 195.8 GPixel/s and 489.6 GTexel/s, with FP32 at 15.67 TFLOPS and FP16 at 31.33 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power and physical: the L20 has a TDP of 275 W, is dual-slot, uses a 1x 16-pin power connector, and has a suggested PSU of 600 W. The V100 has a TDP of 250 W, is an SXM module with no power connectors (board-integrated), and also has a 600 W suggested PSU. The L20 is 267 mm long and 111 mm high with four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs; the V100 has no display outputs and no listed dimensions.

Bus and API: the L20 uses PCIe 4.0 x16 and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2); the V100 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. Release dates differ by over five years: the L20 launched on 2023-11-15, the V100 on 2018-03-26. The L20’s predecessor is Server Ampere and successor is Server Hopper; the V100’s predecessor is Tesla Pascal and successor is Tesla Turing.