NVIDIA L40 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan results tell a story of two accelerators with sharply different compute personalities. In the OpenCL test, the NVIDIA L40 posts a score of 330,926 against the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell’s 254,116. That is a 30.2% advantage for the L40 — a substantial lead that speaks to raw FP32 throughput and driver maturity in general-purpose compute workloads. The L40’s FP32 rating of 90.52 TFLOPS versus 66.94 TFLOPS for the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell aligns directly with this benchmark outcome. The L40 also holds a 99th percentile ranking across all GPUs in the database, while the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell sits at the 98th percentile, a narrow but present gap in overall standing.

Flip to Geekbench Vulkan, and the picture inverts. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell scores 282,631, beating the L40’s 237,295 by 16%. This is notable because the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell has fewer shading units (14,080 vs. 18,176) and lower peak FP32, yet it wins decisively in this graphics API workload. The Vulkan result likely benefits from the Blackwell architecture’s newer feature set and the RTX PRO 5000’s higher base clock of 1740 MHz versus 735 MHz on the L40. The L40’s boost clock of 2490 MHz is higher than the RTX PRO 5000’s 2377 MHz, but the base clock delta suggests the Blackwell part sustains higher frequencies under typical graphics load.

The head-to-head tally is even at one win apiece. Neither card dominates the other across both synthetic workloads. The L40’s OpenCL margin is nearly double the RTX PRO 5000’s Vulkan margin in percentage terms, which could indicate that the L40 is the stronger choice for compute-heavy OpenCL applications, while the RTX PRO 5000 is better suited for graphics-oriented Vulkan workloads. The average benchmark score for the L40 is 284,111, while the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell’s average is 182,109 — but that figure is skewed because the RTX PRO 5000’s benchmark set includes the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test (9,579.5) alongside the two Geekbench entries, whereas the L40 only has the two Geekbench scores. Direct cross-card comparison of averages is therefore misleading.

The nearest-rival data provides additional context. The L40’s closest competitor is the RTX 6000 Ada Generation at 287,237 average score (1.1% behind the L40), followed by the L40S at 295,763 (3.9% ahead of the L40). The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell’s nearest rival is the A100 SXM4 80 GB at 183,725 (0.9% behind the RTX PRO 5000), with the RTX 5000 Ada Generation at 184,664 (1.4% behind). These deltas are small, meaning both cards sit in tightly contested performance bands relative to their immediate peers.

The Verdict

The data does not support a single universal winner. For OpenCL compute workloads, the L40 is clearly superior — its 30.2% lead over the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell is the largest margin in any head-to-head test. If your work is dominated by OpenCL-based compute tasks, the L40 is the defensible pick based on benchmark evidence alone. Its 99th percentile ranking also edges out the RTX PRO 5000’s 98th, reinforcing its position as a top-tier compute accelerator.

For Vulkan graphics workloads, the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell is the answer. Its 16% victory in Geekbench Vulkan, combined with newer DisplayPort 2.1b outputs and a PCIe 5.0 interface, makes it the more forward-looking choice for graphics-centric applications. The RTX PRO 5000 also has a launch MSRP of 5,099 USD, while the L40 has no listed launch MSRP. The L40 is end-of-life, while the RTX PRO 5000 is actively produced — a meaningful consideration for procurement decisions.

If forced to choose based strictly on performance distribution, the L40 wins on compute intensity and the RTX PRO 5000 wins on graphics API efficiency. Neither card is a statistical outlier in its respective favor. The L40’s OpenCL win is larger in magnitude, but the RTX PRO 5000’s Vulkan win represents a newer architecture’s ability to extract more from less raw hardware. The tie score of 1–1 is honest: these are complementary tools, not direct substitutes with a clear hierarchy.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA L40 scores 330,926 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 30.2% higher than the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell’s 254,116 in the same test.

Q: Which card wins the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell scores 282,631 in Geekbench Vulkan, beating the L40’s 237,295 by 16%.

Q: How do these cards compare in memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell has 1.34 TB/s of bandwidth using GDDR7 memory, while the L40 has 864.0 GB/s using GDDR6. Both have 48 GB of memory on a 384-bit bus.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell has 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, while the L40 has 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. Both use a 5 nm process from TSMC.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The NVIDIA L40 is marked as end-of-life, while the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell is listed as active production.

Q: What is the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell’s launch MSRP?

A: The launch MSRP is 5,099 USD.

Specification Differences

The most striking specification gap is in FP32 compute. The L40 delivers 90.52 TFLOPS, while the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell delivers 66.94 TFLOPS — a 35% difference in favor of the L40. This aligns with the OpenCL benchmark result. Conversely, the RTX PRO 5000 has a much higher base clock: 1740 MHz versus 735 MHz on the L40. Boost clocks are closer, with the L40 at 2490 MHz and the RTX PRO 5000 at 2377 MHz.

Memory technology differs completely. The L40 uses GDDR6 at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while the RTX PRO 5000 uses GDDR7 at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). Despite the lower memory clock, the GDDR7 yields higher bandwidth: 1.34 TB/s versus 864.0 GB/s. Both have 48 GB capacity and a 384-bit bus.

Shader resources favor the L40: 18,176 shading units, 568 TMUs, and 192 ROPs versus the RTX PRO 5000’s 14,080 shading units, 440 TMUs, and 160 ROPs. RT core counts are 142 on the L40 versus 110 on the RTX PRO 5000, and tensor cores are 568 versus 440. Pixel rate is 478.1 GPixel/s on the L40 versus 380.3 GPixel/s on the RTX PRO 5000, and texture rate is 1,414.3 GTexel/s versus 1,045.9 GTexel/s.

The bus interface also differs: the L40 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RTX PRO 5000 uses PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 1.4a on the L40 versus 4x DisplayPort 2.1b on the RTX PRO 5000. Both are dual-slot cards with a 300 W TDP, a single 16-pin power connector, and a 700 W suggested PSU. Physical dimensions are identical at 267 mm length and 111 mm height, though the RTX PRO 5000 lists a width of 40 mm while the L40 does not specify one.

Architecture Differences

The L40 is built on the AD102 chip using the Ada Lovelace architecture, while the RTX PRO 5000 uses the GB202 chip with Blackwell 2.0 architecture. The L40 belongs to the Server Ada (Lxx) generation, whereas the RTX PRO 5000 is part of the Blackwell PRO W (x000) generation. Both are fabricated by TSMC on a 5 nm process, but the transistor density is slightly different: 125.3M per mm² on the L40 versus 122.9M per mm² on the RTX PRO 5000. The RTX PRO 5000 has a larger die (750 mm² versus 609 mm²) and more transistors (92,200 million versus 76,300 million).

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. FP16 is supported at a 1:1 ratio with FP32 on both, meaning neither card has a separate FP16 boost path. The L40’s predecessor is listed as Server Ampere and its successor as Server Hopper, while the RTX PRO 5000’s predecessor is Workstation Ada and it has no listed successor. The RTX PRO 5000’s release date is 2025-03-17, while the L40’s is 2022-10-12.

Where Each One Wins

The L40 wins in OpenCL compute workloads. Its 30.2% lead over the RTX PRO 5000 in Geekbench OpenCL is the single largest margin in any head-to-head test. The L40 also has higher peak FP32, more shading units, more ROPs, and more RT and tensor cores. Its 99th percentile ranking versus the RTX PRO 5000’s 98th percentile adds another data point in its favor. For compute-heavy tasks that rely on OpenCL, the L40 is the stronger performer.

The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell wins in Vulkan graphics workloads. Its 16% lead over the L40 in Geekbench Vulkan demonstrates that newer architecture can overcome a raw compute disadvantage. The RTX PRO 5000 also has higher memory bandwidth (1.34 TB/s versus 864.0 GB/s), a faster PCIe 5.0 interface, and newer DisplayPort 2.1b outputs. Its higher base clock of 1740 MHz suggests better sustained performance in graphics applications that don’t push boost clocks to maximum. The RTX PRO 5000 is also the only card with a launch MSRP (5,099 USD) and is actively in production, while the L40 is end-of-life.

For memory-intensive workloads, the RTX PRO 5000’s GDDR7 bandwidth advantage is decisive. For pixel-pushing workloads, the L40’s higher pixel rate (478.1 GPixel/s versus 380.3 GPixel/s) gives it an edge. The tie in the head-to-head benchmarks reflects this split: each card wins in its home territory, and neither carries the day overall.