A100 PCIe 80 GB or A100 PCIe 40 GB?
Both are dedicated, both are monthly, both open without an identity check. What separates them is memory, bandwidth and $699 a month — and which of those matters depends entirely on what you intend to run.
- $1,091/moA100 PCIe 80 GB, one card
- $392/moA100 PCIe 40 GB, one card
- 80 vs 40 GBmemory per card
- 1.2×bandwidth gap
The short answer
Which one, and when
- Pick the A100 PCIe 80 GB
- when your model needs more than 40 GB on a single card. That is a threshold, not a preference — below it, the extra $699/month buys you nothing.
- Pick the A100 PCIe 40 GB
- when 40 GB holds your model. It saves $699/month, and memory you do not use is memory you paid for.
- Neither, if
- your model does not fit on a single card of either. Sharding costs synchronisation at every layer — see the interconnect guide before buying a multi-GPU node.
Side by side
| A100 PCIe 80 GB | A100 PCIe 40 GB | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Ampere | Ampere | Same generation |
| Memory per card | 80 GB HBM2e | 40 GB HBM2 | 40 GB in favour of the A100 PCIe 80 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 1,935 GB/s | 1,555 GB/s | 1.24× in favour of the A100 PCIe 80 GB |
| Form factor | PCIe add-in card | PCIe add-in card | Same |
| Node sizes | 1×, 2×, 4×, 8× | 1×, 2×, 4×, 8× | Up to 640 GB in one node |
| From, per month | $1,091 | $392 | $699/month apart |
Price at every node size
| Node | A100 PCIe 80 GB | A100 PCIe 40 GB | Total VRAM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 × GPU | $1,091/mo | $392/mo | 80 GB / 40 GB | A100 PCIe 80 GB A100 PCIe 40 GB |
| 2 × GPU | $2,159/mo | $802/mo | 160 GB / 80 GB | A100 PCIe 80 GB A100 PCIe 40 GB |
| 4 × GPU | $4,157/mo | $1,556/mo | 320 GB / 160 GB | A100 PCIe 80 GB A100 PCIe 40 GB |
| 8 × GPU | $7,906/mo | $2,983/mo | 640 GB / 320 GB | A100 PCIe 80 GB A100 PCIe 40 GB |
What each one holds on a single card
At 8k context, best precision that fits. This is the difference that decides a purchase — not the specification sheet.
Only the A100 PCIe 80 GB
- Llama 3.3 70B — 4-bit (AWQ, GPTQ), ~25 tok/s
Only the A100 PCIe 40 GB
Nothing. The A100 PCIe 80 GB holds everything the A100 PCIe 40 GB does.
Cost per GB and per TB/s
Two ratios that cut through the specification sheet. The first tells you what memory costs; the second what speed costs.
| Card | $/GB of VRAM, per month | $/TB per second, per month | Better at |
|---|---|---|---|
| A100 PCIe 80 GB | $13.64 | $564 | Neither |
| A100 PCIe 40 GB | $9.80 | $252 | Both ratios |
These ratios rank cards; they do not choose one. A card that is cheaper per gigabyte is worthless if it has too few gigabytes to hold your model at all — capacity is a threshold, not a slope. Use them to break a tie between two cards that both fit.
A100 PCIe 80 GB against A100 PCIe 40 GB, in short
Is the A100 PCIe 80 GB worth the extra money over the A100 PCIe 40 GB?
Which one is faster for LLM inference?
Do both come as multi-GPU nodes?
Can I rent either without an identity check?
Other comparisons
Both are racked and waiting, in all 6 data centres.
Whichever you pick, it is monthly, paid in crypto, opened without an identity check and delivered in under 5 minutes.