One choice shapes your stack: L4 vs L40S. The NVIDIA L4 Tensor Core GPU focuses on efficiency at scale while the NVIDIA L40S GPU is built for the most intensive compute. Both come from NVIDIA’s Ada Lovelace generation yet their roles diverge. NVIDIA L4 fits video processing, real-time inference and lightweight services across many servers where power and cost discipline matter. NVIDIA L40S delivers raw throughput for training large language models, immersive 3D rendering and business-critical work where performance comes first.
The question is not which card is stronger. It is which accelerator fits your workload, your growth stage and your long-term infrastructure plan.
Where the NVIDIA L4 delivers the most value
The NVIDIA L4 24GB Tensor Core GPU is a budget-friendly, energy-aware accelerator for high throughput and low latency across edge, cloud or data center fleets.
- Performance and throughput: At 72 W TDP, L4 delivers ~30.3 FP32 TFLOPS and ~300.1 GB/s from 24 GB GDDR6. Versus CPU-only servers it reaches up to 120× higher video pipeline throughput, enabling image generation, recommendations, and content personalization at scale.
- Video and compute acceleration: A single server can host about 1,040 concurrent AV1 streams at 720p30 using Tensor, RT and CUDA cores. This suits streaming stacks and inference pipelines.
- Deployment flexibility: PCIe 4.0 works out of the box and remains backward compatible with PCIe 3.0 for older hosts and storage stacks. Multi-GPU inferencing scales cleanly across racks.
- Efficiency and cost: Up to 99% better energy efficiency than CPU-only designs reduces rack space and operating expense. L4 is a strong fit where low power draw is a priority.
Why NVIDIA L40S is right for heavy compute and pro rendering?
- Purpose built for high intensity computing: The NVIDIA L40S 48GB Ada GPU computing accelerator handles varied tasks such as training large language models, generative workloads and simulation. A 350 W TDP and robust thermals support round-the-clock production.
- Transformer Engine for faster math: Dynamic FP8 and FP16 paths raise tensor throughput and improve memory use, which shortens training and fine-tuning cycles.
- Large memory pool for complex data: 48 GB GDDR6 with ~864 GB/s feeds big batches and longer contexts without memory stalls, a clear step up from L4’s 24 GB.
- Virtualization for sharing: Supported virtual GPU software enables secure multi-tenant access with predictable performance per VM or user, which is useful for shared clusters.
- Rendering and visualization: Third-gen RT Cores and fourth-gen Tensor Cores deliver real-time ray tracing with DLSS 3 frame reconstruction. Strong FP32 compute supports Omniverse, virtual workstations and advanced visualization.
- Enterprise integration: Commonly deployed as an NVIDIA L40S GPU server. PCIe 4.0 works with legacy 3.0 platforms. It integrates well in storage-heavy and compute-intense stacks without disruptive rebuilds.
NVIDIA describes the L40S as its most powerful, versatile GPU, designed to deliver outstanding performance across multiple workloads. Here’s a quick look at some of its key capabilities:
Source: L40S GPU for AI and Graphics Performance | NVIDIA
NVIDIA L4 vs L40S Specs Compared
| Metric | NVIDIA L4 (24GB) | NVIDIA L40S (48GB) |
| Architecture | NVIDIA Ada Lovelace | NVIDIA Ada Lovelace |
| GPU memory | 24 GB GDDR6 | 48 GB GDDR6 with ECC |
| Memory bandwidth | ~300 GB/s | ~864 GB/s |
| Interconnect | PCIe Gen4 x16, 64 GB/s bidirectional | PCIe Gen4 x16, 64 GB/s bidirectional |
| FP32 performance | ~30.3 TFLOPS | ~91.6 TFLOPS |
| Tensor performance* | FP8 up to 485 TFLOPS | FP8 up to 733 or 1,466 TFLOPS |
| Video engines | NVENC 2, NVDEC 4, JPEG 4 | NVENC 3, NVDEC 3 with AV1 |
| Max board power | 72 W | 350 W |
| Form factor | 1-slot low-profile PCIe | 4.4 in H × 10.5 in L, dual slot |
Use Cases: NVIDIA L4 vs L40S
Machine Learning and Model Inference
NVIDIA L4 suits chatbots, recommendation engines, fraud scoring and language tasks where fast inference at low power matters. At 72 W TDP with 24 GB VRAM and about 300 GB/s bandwidth you can deploy many cards per rack, keep latency tight and hit throughput targets without stressing cooling or budget. PCIe 4.0 with 3.0 compatibility helps you roll out across mixed fleets quickly.
NVIDIA L40S fits training, reinforcement workflows and multimodal pipelines that need more memory and heavier math. The 48 GB VRAM and about 864 GB/s feed larger batches and longer context, while FP8 or FP16 paths in the Transformer Engine cut epoch time and speed fine tuning. vGPU support lets teams share capacity safely when labs run multiple experiments.
Gaming and Graphics Rendering
NVIDIA L4 supports cloud casual gaming, lightweight AR or VR and validation passes where stability and cost control beat maximum frame rate. RT and Tensor cores assist upscalers and denoisers so you can host many concurrent sessions with predictable performance.
NVIDIA L40S is built for VFX, animation and real-time 3D. Third generation RT Cores and DLSS 3 enable ray traced scenes at higher frame rates and strong FP32 compute keeps complex shaders and physics responsive. Teams working in Omniverse or real-time review rooms benefit from shorter render cycles and smoother previews.
Cloud Infrastructure
NVIDIA L4 fits cloud native inference for video analytics or image recognition at scale with steady TCO. Low heat density and a low profile card let you pack nodes tightly, autoscale on Kubernetes and keep service costs predictable.
NVIDIA L40S suits enterprise cloud work such as financial simulation, HPC and advanced analytics. Per GPU capacity reduces the number of large instances you need and vGPU profiles support multi tenant clusters with clear quotas and isolation.
Generative Workloads
NVIDIA L4 lifts generation throughput over the prior generation and supports higher image resolutions, which helps run text to image tools or smaller language applications at high QPS. Its efficiency lets you serve many users without spiking power or cooling.
NVIDIA L40S handles large language model inference and multimodal flows. Near 1.45 PFLOPS of headline tensor math with FP8 and FP16 support improves token throughput, keeps long context windows responsive and speeds diffusion pipelines for image synthesis.
Video and Content
NVIDIA L4 runs 1,000+ AV1 streams per node with NVENC and NVDEC so it fits large streaming farms and content moderation. Pair it with GPU accelerated pre and post processing to keep cost per stream down.
NVIDIA L40S powers 4K or 8K production and live pipelines. Triple encoders and decoders including AV1 support real time transcode, upscaling and effects. Extra compute headroom leaves room for graphics overlays, captioning and studio grade filters.
HPC and Simulation
NVIDIA L4 is practical for lightweight simulations, parameter sweeps and teaching labs where power budgets are tight. You can build wide clusters, run many small jobs in parallel and handle pre or post processing near the edge.
NVIDIA L40S fits digital twins, CFD and large physics models. About 91.6 TFLOPS FP32 and 48 GB VRAM reduce paging and keep bigger grids on a single card, which shortens turnaround for engineering teams and keeps review loops moving.
How to Compare L4 and L40S on Price and Performance
| Priority | Value | Why It Pays Off |
| Cost per inference | L4 | 72 W TDP, high density per rack, strong throughput per watt for always-on services |
| Time to results for training | L40S | More FP32 and tensor throughput, larger VRAM, fewer total GPU-hours |
| Workload consolidation | L40S | One card handles heavier mixed jobs such as fine-tuning, generative runs, rendering, HPC |
| Fleet rollout on older servers | L4 | Low-profile card, PCIe 4.0 with 3.0 compatibility, easy horizontal scaling |
| Power and cooling budget | L4 | 72 W vs 350 W reduces OpEx and improves cost per delivered transaction |
| Per-GPU headroom | L40S | Higher compute and bandwidth with 48 GB VRAM reduces job sprawl and queue delays |
Scale With Cloud GPUs
L4 delivers efficient, scalable throughput for inference, video, VDI and cloud services. L40S delivers the headroom for model training, generative pipelines, high-fidelity rendering and complex simulations. The comparison above covers speed and capability, key performance signals, power and thermals, plus scaling. The table clarifies memory size, bandwidth, TFLOPS, TDP, PCIe and virtualization support. The use-case map shows where each card wins. The price to performance view explains why L4 drives cost efficiency at scale while L40S shortens time to results and consolidates heavy work.
AceCloud lets you start with an online GPU in minutes. Scale up or down as needed, pay only for what you use and avoid capex. We raise performance with tuned images, multi-GPU clusters and fast interconnects. We protect data with VPC isolation, encryption, private networking and 24×7 monitoring. Run a cloud GPU for bursty jobs or choose L40S or L4 GPUs on rent to test, train and deploy quickly without buying hardware. You also get compliance-ready security, global regions, snapshots, data residency options and predictable billing.
Give us a call at+91-789-789-0752to connect with our experts and start building on NVIDIA L4 or NVIDIA L40S on cloud today.
