NVIDIA L40 vs NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB Comparison

The NVIDIA L40 and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB represent two very different eras of NVIDIA's server lineup. The data in the database shows a decisive victory for the L40, which outperforms the older Tesla P100 by a massive margin in the single benchmark where both have recorded scores. The L40 is a modern, high-end accelerator, while the Tesla P100 is a legacy product from the Pascal generation. The benchmark results indicate a generational leap in compute capability that dwarfs any other comparison.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark between these two GPUs is the Geekbench OpenCL test. In this test, the NVIDIA L40 scores 330,926 points, while the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396 points. This results in a 316.8% advantage for the L40, meaning it is more than four times faster than the Tesla P100 in this workload. This is the single largest win in the comparison, and it establishes the L40 as the overwhelmingly superior compute platform.

The L40's average benchmark score of 284,111 places it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, proof of its high-end positioning. Its nearest rival in the database, the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation, scores 287,237, which is only 1.1% higher, indicating the L40 is essentially at the top of the performance stack. Even the NVIDIA L40S, a sibling model, is only 3.9% faster, and the AMD Instinct MI300X scores 317,994, which is 10.7% higher. The L40 is clearly in the upper echelon of performance, and its 316.8% lead over the Tesla P100 is a stark illustration of the performance gap between generations.

Conversely, the Tesla P100's average benchmark score of 79,396 puts it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. While this is still a high percentile, the data shows its closest rivals are not modern data center accelerators. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB with an average score of 79,605, a negligible 0.3% difference. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 scores 79,842, just 0.6% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940, only 0.6% lower. The Tesla P100's performance is closely matched by these other products, but it is in a completely different performance class than the L40. The 316.8% delta in their head-to-head test shows that the Tesla P100 cannot compete with the L40 on raw compute power.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA L40 than the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The L40 scores 330,926, while the Tesla P100 scores 79,396. This gives the L40 a 316.8% performance advantage, meaning it achieves over four times the score of the older card.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference between the two cards?

A: The L40 has an average benchmark score of 284,111, while the Tesla P100 has an average score of 79,396. This substantial difference reflects the L40's position in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the Tesla P100's 92nd percentile.

Q: Does the Tesla P100 have any benchmark win against the L40?

A: No. In the recorded data, the L40 wins the sole head-to-head benchmark, with the Tesla P100 recording zero wins. The L40 has 1 win, and the Tesla P100 has 0 wins.

Q: How does the L40 compare to its closest rivals in the database?

A: The L40's average score is 1.1% lower than the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation's score of 287,237, 3.9% lower than the NVIDIA L40S's score of 295,763, and 10.7% lower than the AMD Instinct MI300X's score of 317,994. It is 13.1% higher than the NVIDIA L20's score of 251,147.

Q: What is the performance context for the Tesla P100?

A: The Tesla P100's average score of 79,396 is very close to its nearest rivals. It is just 0.3% lower than the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB's score of 79,605, 0.6% lower than the GeForce RTX 5090's score of 79,842, and 0.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT's score of 78,940. It is 1.9% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X's score of 80,959.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA L40 is the superior GPU for any performance-sensitive workload. The 316.8% lead in the Geekbench OpenCL test is a decisive indicator of its raw compute power. The L40's specifications, including its 48 GB of memory and 90.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, make it a high-end server accelerator. Its average benchmark score places it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, demonstrating that it is a top-tier product even among its modern peers.

The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB, while still placing in the 92nd percentile, is a legacy product with significantly lower performance. Its 9.526 TFLOPS of FP32 and 12 GB of memory are a fraction of the L40's capabilities. The benchmark results show that it is comparable to other older or consumer-grade products, not to modern server accelerators. For a user looking at the database, the choice is clear: the L40 is for tasks requiring maximum compute throughput, while the Tesla P100 is a piece of computing history with a fraction of the performance. The recorded data offers no scenario where the Tesla P100 would be the better choice.

Specification Differences

The specifications of these two GPUs highlight the technological gap between them. The NVIDIA L40 has 48 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 864.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB has 12 GB of HBM2 memory on a 3072-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 549.1 GB/s. While the Tesla P100's bus width is larger, the L40's modern memory technology delivers a significantly higher total bandwidth.

The L40 features 18,176 shading units, 568 TMUs, and 192 ROPs, while the Tesla P100 has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. This massive difference in core counts directly translates to the L40's higher compute throughput. The L40 also integrates 142 RT cores and 568 tensor cores, while the Tesla P100 has none of these specialized units, showing a fundamental architectural advancement.

Clock speeds also differ. The L40 has a base clock of 735 MHz and a boost clock of 2490 MHz, while the Tesla P100 has a base clock of 1190 MHz and a boost clock of 1329 MHz. The Tesla P100 runs at a higher base frequency, but the L40's boost clock is much higher, and its sheer core count makes its overall performance far superior. The L40's pixel rate is 478.1 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 1,414.3 GTexel/s, compared to the Tesla P100's 127.6 GPixel/s and 297.7 GTexel/s.

The power requirements also differ, with the L40 rated for a TDP of 300 W and a suggested PSU of 700 W, while the Tesla P100 has a TDP of 250 W and a suggested PSU of 600 W. The L40 uses a single 16-pin power connector, whereas the Tesla P100 uses a single 8-pin connector. The L40 also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the Tesla P100 uses the older PCIe 3.0 x16 interface. Finally, the L40 has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the Tesla P100 has no display outputs.

Architecture Differences

The architecture of the two GPUs is fundamentally different, reflecting their different generations. The NVIDIA L40 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and uses the AD102 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 76,300 million transistors on a die size of 609 mm², resulting in a transistor density of 125.3M / mm². The Tesla P100, in contrast, is based on the older Pascal architecture and uses the GP100 chip, fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. It contains 15,300 million transistors on a slightly larger die size of 610 mm², giving it a much lower transistor density of 25.1M / mm².

This difference in process node and architecture leads to significant capability differences. The L40 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla P100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the L40 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the Tesla P100 supports Vulkan 1.3. The L40's architecture includes dedicated RT cores for ray tracing and tensor cores for AI workloads, features entirely absent from the Pascal-based Tesla P100. The L40's FP16 performance is 90.52 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, while the Tesla P100's FP16 is 19.05 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio.

The L40's generation is classified as "Server Ada (Lxx)" and its predecessor is "Server Ampere", with a successor of "Server Hopper". The Tesla P100 is from the "Tesla Pascal (Pxx)" generation, with a predecessor of "Tesla Maxwell" and a successor of "Tesla Volta". The L40 was released in 2022, while the Tesla P100 was released in 2016. Both are end-of-life products, but the L40 represents a much more recent and advanced design.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the benchmark data, the NVIDIA L40 wins in all recorded categories. It has a single win in the head-to-head comparison, coming in the Geekbench OpenCL test with a 316.8% advantage. This indicates that the L40 is the clear winner for any compute-intensive task, such as machine learning training, scientific simulation, or high-performance rendering. Its high FP32 and FP16 throughput, combined with tensor and RT cores, make it a versatile accelerator for modern workloads. The L40's 48 GB of memory also allows it to handle much larger datasets than the 12 GB Tesla P100.

The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB has no benchmark wins against the L40. Its performance, while respectable in the 92nd percentile, is in a different league. Its lower core count, slower memory, and lack of specialized cores mean it is only suited for older or less demanding compute tasks. The data shows that for any modern server workload, the L40 is the superior choice. The Tesla P100 could be considered a legacy part, and its only advantage might be its lower TDP of 250 W compared to the L40's 300 W, but this is a minor factor when considering the massive performance deficit. In every meaningful performance metric, the L40 wins decisively.