what/llm/can/i/run
compare/l40s vs h100-pcie

L40SvsH100 PCIe

▸
If you already own a L40S → wait. Buying new → H100 PCIe.H100 PCIe has +32 GB VRAM, 131% more bandwidth, unlocks +1 models, at +$19500 (+229%) price.

▸Side by side

Contender
L40S
NVIDIA · Ada Lovelace · sm_89
Street$8,500
vram
48 GB
bandwidth
864 GB/s
tdp
350 W
released
2023-08-08
vs
Contender · winner
H100 PCIe
NVIDIA · Hopper · sm_90
Street$28,000
vram
80 GB
bandwidth
2000 GB/s
tdp
350 W
released
2022-03-22

▸Spec diff

specl40sh100-pciedelta
vram48 GB80 GB+32 GB · 67%
bandwidth864 GB/s2000 GB/s+1136 · 131%
tdp350 W350 W+0 W
street price$8,500$28,000+$19500 · 229%
arch maturity2023-08-082022-03-22newer = less stable

▸What changes with the upgrade

▸ Unlocked by H100 PCIe1 models
Mixtral 8x22b v0.1Q4_K_M27 t/s · bench 20.0
▸ Speed deltas on shared modelstop 5
Gemma 2 2b184 → 426 t/s +132%
Gemma 3 4B97 → 225 t/s +132%
Meta Llama 3.1 8B50 → 116 t/s +132%
Gemma 2 9B45 → 103 t/s +129%
Gemma 3 12B34 → 78 t/s +129%

▸Value verdict

▸ Should you buy/upgrade?

H100 PCIe adds 32 GB VRAM for +$19500 (229% premium). The real question is whether your workflow needs models that L40Scan't run.

If yes — you want to run Mixtral 8x22b v0.1 or similar — then the 32 GB is load-bearing, not luxury.

$ recommend → If you own a L40S: wait. Prices drop, refresh cycles continue. If buying new: get the H100 PCIe IF your budget allows AND you need the unlocked models.