NVIDIA L40S vs NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada
Side-by-side local AI comparison — VRAM, memory bandwidth, model compatibility, and estimated tokens per second across 70 open-weight models.
Quick verdict
NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada wins for local AI inference. It has 11% more memory bandwidth, runs 52 models natively (vs 52), and exclusively fits 0 models the other cannot.
Specs comparison
| Spec | NVIDIA L40S | NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 48 GB | 48 GB |
| Memory type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
| Bandwidth | 864 GB/s | 960 GB/s(+11%) |
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace |
| Backend | CUDA | CUDA |
| Tier | Datacenter | Workstation |
| Released | 2023 | 2022 |
| Models (native) | 52 | 52 |
Estimated tokens per second
Computed from memory bandwidth and model active-parameter weight. Assumes model fits natively in VRAM.
| Model | NVIDIA L40S | NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct(70B) | 24.7 t/s(NVFP4) | 27.4 t/s(NVFP4) | -10% |
| Qwen 3.6 27B(27B) | 64 t/s(NVFP4) | 71.1 t/s(NVFP4) | -10% |
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct(8B) | 27 t/s(FP32) | 30 t/s(FP32) | -10% |
| Qwen 2.5 7B Instruct(7.6B) | 28.4 t/s(FP32) | 31.6 t/s(FP32) | -10% |
Delta is NVIDIA L40S relative to NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada.
Only NVIDIA L40S can run(0)
No exclusive models — NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada can run everything NVIDIA L40S can.
Only NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada can run(0)
No exclusive models — NVIDIA L40S can run everything NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada can.
Both run natively(52)
These models fit in VRAM on both GPUs. Bandwidth determines which runs them faster.
- Nemotron 3 Super 120B240.7 t/svs267.5 t/s
- GPT-OSS 120B577.8 t/svs641.9 t/s
- Llama 4 Scout 109B169.9 t/svs188.8 t/s
- GLM-4.5 Air 106B240.7 t/svs267.5 t/s
- GLM-4.6V 106B240.7 t/svs267.5 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 72B Instruct24 t/svs26.7 t/s
- Llama 3.3 70B Instruct24.7 t/svs27.4 t/s
- DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B24.7 t/svs27.4 t/s
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct24.7 t/svs27.4 t/s
- Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1147.3 t/svs163.7 t/s
- Command-R 35B49.4 t/svs54.9 t/s
- Qwen 3.5 35B-A3B (MoE)633.6 t/svs704 t/s
- Qwen 3.6 35B49.4 t/svs54.9 t/s
- Yi 1.5 34B Chat50.2 t/svs55.8 t/s
- Qwen3 32B52.7 t/svs58.5 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 32B Instruct53.2 t/svs59.1 t/s
- +36 more on both
Which should you choose?
Choose NVIDIA L40S if:
- • You want the newer architecture and longer driver support lifecycle
Choose NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada if:
- • Faster token generation is the priority
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better for local AI, the NVIDIA L40S or NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada?
- For local AI inference, the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada has the edge. It offers 48 GB VRAM (vs 48 GB) and 960 GB/s bandwidth (vs 864 GB/s), letting it run 52 models natively in VRAM vs 52 for its rival.
- How much VRAM does the NVIDIA L40S have vs the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada?
- The NVIDIA L40S has 48 GB of GDDR6 at 864 GB/s. The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada has 48 GB of GDDR6 at 960 GB/s. Both GPUs have the same VRAM amount; bandwidth determines which generates tokens faster.
- Can the NVIDIA L40S run Llama 3.3 70B?
- Yes. The NVIDIA L40S runs Llama 3.3 70B natively at NVFP4 quantization at approximately 24.7 tokens per second.
- Can the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada run Llama 3.3 70B?
- Yes. The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada runs Llama 3.3 70B natively at NVFP4 quantization at approximately 27.4 tokens per second.
- What is the difference between the NVIDIA L40S and NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada for AI?
- The key difference for AI inference is VRAM and memory bandwidth. The NVIDIA L40S has 48 GB VRAM at 864 GB/s (CUDA backend). The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada has 48 GB VRAM at 960 GB/s (CUDA backend). VRAM determines which models fit; bandwidth determines tokens per second. The NVIDIA L40S runs 52 models natively vs 52 for the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada.