NVIDIA L20 48GB vs NVIDIA L40 48GB
The L40 delivers 51% more FP8 throughput than the L20 (362 vs 239 TFLOPS dense).
NVIDIA L20 48GB
Full specs →NVIDIA L40 48GB
Full specs →Specifications
| Spec | NVIDIA L20 48GB | NVIDIA L40 48GB |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace |
| Launch Year | 2024 | 2023 |
| Form Factor | PCIe | PCIe |
| VRAM | 48 GB | 48 GB |
| Memory Bandwidth | 864 GB/s | 864 GB/s |
| TDP | 275 W | 300 W |
| Process Node | — | 4nm |
Performance (TFLOPS)
| Precision | NVIDIA L20 48GB | NVIDIA L40 48GB |
|---|---|---|
| FP32 | 59.8 TFlops | 90.5 TFlops BEST |
| FP16 | 119.5 TFlops sparse not published | 181.1 TFlops BEST 362.1
TFLOPS sparse |
| BF16 | 119.5 TFlops sparse not published | 181.1 TFlops BEST 362.1
TFLOPS sparse |
| FP8 | 239.0 TFlops sparse not published | 362.0 TFlops BEST 724.0
TFLOPS sparse |
| INT8 | 239.0 TFlops sparse not published | 362.0 TFlops BEST 724.0
TOPS sparse |
FLOPS by Precision
What actually differs
The L20 is the newer part: Ada Lovelace, launched in 2024, against the L40's Ada Lovelace from 2023. Newer architectures typically add lower-precision formats and better throughput per watt, so check the precision rows your workload actually uses.
Dense throughput for the L20 against the L40: FP32 60 vs 91 TFLOPS, FP16 120 vs 181 TFLOPS, FP8 239 vs 362 TFLOPS. Sparse figures, where the vendor publishes them, appear under each dense number in the performance table.
Memory is 48 GB against 48 GB, fed at 864 GB/s versus 864 GB/s. More memory per GPU means larger models fit before you have to shard across cards, which often matters more than raw TFLOPS for inference.
Power budgets are 275 W for the L20 and 300 W for the L40. At FP32 that works out to 0.22 against 0.30 TFLOPS per watt.
For LLM training and inference, weight the FP8 and FP16 rows and memory capacity most heavily. For scientific and HPC workloads, the FP64 row is the one to read.
Frequently asked questions
Is the L20 faster than the L40?
At FP8 precision the L40 reaches 362 TFLOPS dense against 239 TFLOPS for the L20. The performance table on this page lists every published precision for both GPUs.
Which has more memory, the L20 or the L40?
Both GPUs carry 48 GB of VRAM. Memory bandwidth is 864 GB/s for the L20 and 864 GB/s for the L40.
How much power do the L20 and the L40 draw?
The L20 is rated at 275 W TDP and the L40 at 300 W. On FP32 throughput per watt, the L40 is the more efficient part.
Can I rent the L20 or the L40 in the cloud?
Yes. Live cloud listings tracked by Flopper start at $0.69 per GPU hour. The rental pricing section on this page lists current providers and rates for both GPUs.
Where to Rent
NVIDIA L40 48GB
| Provider | Instance | Price/GPU-hr | Checked | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
RunPod | L40 (Community Cloud) | $0.69 | 5h ago | View → |
CoreWeave | nvidia-l40 (spot) | $0.78 | 5h ago | View → |
Hyperstack | — | $0.80 | 5h ago | View → |
RunPod | L40 (Secure Cloud) | $0.82 | 5h ago | View → |
Massed Compute | gpu_1x_l40 | $0.88 | 5h ago | View → |
Hyperstack | — | $1.00 | 5h ago | View → |
CoreWeave | nvidia-l40 (on-demand) | $1.25 | 5h ago | View → |
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