NVIDIA L40 vs NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 32 GB Comparison

The NVIDIA L40 and the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 32 GB represent two distinct eras of NVIDIA's data-center lineup. The data shows a generational chasm, with the L40 dominating in both available benchmark tests. The L40 is the clear choice for any workload where raw compute performance and modern feature support are paramount. The V100, while still a competent card, is relegated to legacy roles or situations where its specific older architecture is a requirement. For any new deployment, the L40 is unequivocally the superior hardware.

The Verdict

The benchmark results are unambiguous. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the L40 scores 330,926, a massive 96.1% higher than the V100's 168,763. The Vulkan test tells a similar story, with the L40 at 237,295 versus 131,847, an 80% advantage. The L40 wins both head-to-head comparisons, and its average benchmark score of 284,111 places it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, while the V100's average of 150,305 sits in the 96th percentile.

For builders and architects, the choice depends on the task. The L40 is for those who need maximum performance for modern AI, rendering, and simulation workloads. Its compute capabilities are not just incrementally better—they are in a different class. The V100 is for those who already own it, or for workloads that are specifically optimized for the Volta architecture and cannot be migrated. Given the data, there is no scenario where a fresh purchase of the V100 makes sense over the L40, unless the application is strictly tied to the older platform. The L40 is the default recommendation.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures. The L40 utilizes the Ada Lovelace architecture on the AD102 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The V100 uses the older Volta architecture on the GV100 chip, built on a 12 nm process. This node difference is stark: the L40 packs 76,300 million transistors into a 609 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 125.3M per mm². The V100 contains 21,100 million transistors on a much larger 815 mm² die, with a density of only 25.9M per mm².

This architectural shift brings significant feature changes. The L40 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the V100 only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. Crucially, the L40 includes 142 dedicated RT cores for ray tracing, a feature entirely absent from the V100 (listed as null). Tensor core counts also differ, with the L40 having 568 tensor cores compared to the V100's 640, but the L40's tensor cores are far more capable due to the newer architecture.

The memory subsystems are also completely different. The L40 uses 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, while the V100 uses 32 GB of HBM2 on a massive 4096-bit bus. This results in similar bandwidth, with the L40 at 864.0 GB/s and the V100 at 897.0 GB/s, but the capacities and memory technologies are generations apart. The L40 also features four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the V100 has no display outputs, making it a headless compute card by design.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The performance gap is the defining characteristic of this comparison. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the L40's score of 330,926 is 96.1% higher than the V100's 168,763. This nearly doubles the V100's performance in a general-purpose compute workload. The Vulkan test shows an 80% advantage for the L40, with scores of 237,295 versus 131,847. These are not marginal wins; they represent a complete generational leap.

Looking at the L40's nearest rivals puts its performance in context. It sits just 1.1% below the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation (average score 287,237) and 3.9% below the NVIDIA L40S (average score 295,763). It is 13.1% ahead of the NVIDIA L20 and 10.7% behind the AMD Instinct MI300X. The V100, in contrast, is nearly matched by the NVIDIA A10G, which is only 1.1% slower, and trails the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X by 6.5%. The V100 does beat the AMD Instinct MI100 by 8.1% and is 7.5% behind the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB.

In practical terms, the L40's FP32 compute is listed at 90.52 TFLOPS, compared to the V100's 14.13 TFLOPS. That is a 6.4x difference in raw single-precision throughput. The pixel rate and texture rate also reflect this gap: the L40 achieves 478.1 GPixel/s and 1,414.3 GTexel/s, while the V100 manages 176.6 GPixel/s and 441.6 GTexel/s. The L40 is not just faster; it is faster in every measurable compute dimension.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The V100 has a slight edge with 897.0 GB/s compared to the L40's 864.0 GB/s, despite the L40 having a larger capacity of 48 GB versus 32 GB.

Q: Does the L40 support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the L40 includes 142 dedicated RT cores. The V100 has no RT cores listed, indicating no dedicated ray tracing hardware.

Q: What is the performance difference in OpenCL?

A: The L40 scores 330,926, which is 96.1% higher than the V100's 168,763, making the L40 nearly twice as fast in this workload.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: No. Both the NVIDIA L40 and the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 32 GB are listed with an end-of-life production status.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The L40 has a density of 125.3M transistors per mm² on a 5 nm process, while the V100 has 25.9M per mm² on a 12 nm process.

Q: What is the difference in FP16 performance?

A: The L40 achieves 90.52 TFLOPS FP16 (at a 1:1 ratio with FP32), while the V100 achieves 28.26 TFLOPS FP16 (at a 2:1 ratio), giving the L40 a substantial advantage.

Where Each One Wins

The L40 wins in every benchmark category and use-case scenario that involves raw performance. Its 90.52 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 compute, combined with 142 RT cores, make it the superior choice for tasks like real-time ray tracing, modern AI inference, and high-fidelity rendering. The 48 GB of GDDR6 memory provides ample capacity for large models and datasets. The data shows it is also the better card for general compute, as evidenced by its 96.1% lead in OpenCL and 80% lead in Vulkan. For any builder assembling a system for current-generation workloads, the L40 is the only logical choice between these two.

The V100's only theoretical edge is its slightly higher memory bandwidth (897.0 GB/s vs 864.0 GB/s) and its older 2:1 FP16 ratio, which could be advantageous for specific legacy code paths that were optimized for that ratio. Its 32 GB of HBM2 memory is still substantial, but the capacity is lower than the L40. The V100 could be considered for workloads that are exclusively optimized for the Volta architecture and cannot run on newer hardware. It also has a lower TDP of 250 W compared to the L40's 300 W, and uses two 8-pin power connectors instead of a single 16-pin, which could be relevant for older power infrastructure. However, these are minor logistical considerations, not performance wins.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every specification that matters. The L40 uses the AD102 chip on a 5 nm process, while the V100 uses the GV100 chip on a 12 nm process. The L40 has 76,300 million transistors versus 21,100 million for the V100. The clock speeds are inverted: the V100 has a higher base clock (1230 MHz vs 735 MHz), but the L40 has a much higher boost clock (2490 MHz vs 1380 MHz). The L40's memory runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) compared to the V100's 876 MHz (1752 Mbps effective).

The compute units are vastly different. The L40 has 18,176 shading units, 568 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. The V100 has 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 128 ROPs. The L40 includes 142 RT cores, which the V100 lacks entirely. Tensor core counts are 568 for the L40 and 640 for the V100. The L40's FP32 performance is 90.52 TFLOPS versus 14.13 TFLOPS for the V100. Pixel rate and texture rate are both significantly higher on the L40.

Memory capacity is 48 GB GDDR6 for the L40 versus 32 GB HBM2 for the V100. Power consumption is 300 W for the L40 and 250 W for the V100, with the L40 using a single 16-pin connector and the V100 using two 8-pin connectors. The L40 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the V100 uses the older PCIe 3.0 x16. The L40 has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the V100 has none. The L40 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, whereas the V100 supports only DirectX 12 (12_1). The L40 is also physically shorter at 267 mm, while the V100's dimensions are not listed. The release dates are also far apart: the L40 was released in October 2022, while the V100 was released in March 2018.