compare/h100-pcie vs h100-sxm

H100 PCIevsH100 SXM5

▸

If you already own a H100 PCIe → wait. Buying new → H100 SXM5.H100 SXM5 has +0 GB VRAM, 68% more bandwidth, at +$12000 (+43%) price.

▸Side by side

Contender

H100 PCIe

NVIDIA · Hopper · sm_90

Street$28,000

vram: 80 GB
bandwidth: 2000 GB/s
tdp: 350 W
released: 2022-03-22

Contender · winner

H100 SXM5

NVIDIA · Hopper · sm_90

Street$40,000

vram: 80 GB
bandwidth: 3350 GB/s
tdp: 700 W
released: 2022-03-22

▸Spec diff

spec	h100-pcie	h100-sxm	delta
vram	80 GB	80 GB	+0 GB · 0%
bandwidth	2000 GB/s	3350 GB/s	+1350 · 68%
tdp	350 W	700 W	+350 W
street price	$28,000	$40,000	+$12000 · 43%
arch maturity	2022-03-22	2022-03-22	newer = less stable

▸What changes with the upgrade

▸ Unlocked by H100 SXM50 models

No additional models unlocked.

▸ Speed deltas on shared modelstop 5

Gemma 2 2b426 → 713 t/s +67%

Gemma 3 4B225 → 376 t/s +67%

Meta Llama 3.1 8B116 → 194 t/s +67%

Gemma 2 9B103 → 173 t/s +68%

Gemma 3 12B78 → 130 t/s +67%

▸Value verdict

▸ Should you buy/upgrade?

H100 SXM5 adds 0 GB VRAM for +$12000 (43% premium). The real question is whether your workflow needs models that H100 PCIecan't run.

$ recommend → If you own a H100 PCIe: wait. Prices drop, refresh cycles continue. If buying new: get the H100 SXM5 IF your budget allows AND you need the extra headroom.