A100 SXM4 80GB vs RTX 2070

AmperevsTuringUpdated 35 days ago

The A100 SXM4 80GB emerges as the clear winner for most machine learning use cases on gpuperhour.com, driven by its 80 GB VRAM, 312 TFLOPS FP16, and 2039 GB/s bandwidth that enable training and inference of large models infeasible on the RTX 2070. Despite higher $1.46/hr average cost, its 40-fold FP16 advantage justifies selection for performance-critical cloud workloads.

A100 SXM4 80GB from $0.73/hr

Specifications Compared

SpecA100RTX-2070
TDP400W175W
VRAM40-80 GB8 GB
CUDA Cores6,9122,304
Memory TypeHBM2eGDDR6
ArchitectureAmpereTuring
Form FactorsSXM4, PCIePCIe
InterconnectNVLink, PCIe 4.0, InfiniBandNVLink
Tensor Cores432288
FP16 Performance312 TFLOPS7.5 TFLOPS
FP32 Performance19.5 TFLOPS7.5 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance9.7 TFLOPS
INT8 Performance624 TOPS
Memory Bandwidth2,039 GB/s448 GB/s

Performance Analysis

The A100's FP16 performance of 312 TFLOPS accelerates deep learning training and inference using half-precision arithmetic, which reduces memory usage and speeds up computations by over 40 times compared to the RTX 2070's 7.5 TFLOPS. In FP32 tasks such as traditional simulations, the A100's 19.5 TFLOPS delivers 2.6 times the throughput of the RTX 2070's matching 7.5 TFLOPS, making it superior for precision-sensitive workloads.

Memory specifications transform practical applications: the A100's 80 GB HBM2e VRAM accommodates large language models and high batch sizes that fail on the RTX 2070's 8 GB GDDR6 limit. The 2039 GB/s bandwidth on the A100 sustains data flow for memory-bound operations, preventing stalls common with the RTX 2070's 448 GB/s, thus enabling 4.5 times faster data movement in training loops.

Interconnect options further the A100's edge: NVLink, PCIe 4.0, and InfiniBand support scalable multi-GPU clusters, absent in the RTX 2070's basic PCIe setup, ideal for distributed training.

Live Cloud Pricing

Real-time prices from 25+ providers. Updated every 60 seconds.

A100 SXM4 80GB

ProviderGPU ModelVRAMHost SpecsRegionPriceStatusAction
Vast.ai
Vast.ai
NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80GB
80GB VRAM
$0.73/GPU/hr
Available
Vast.ai
Vast.ai
2×NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80GB
80GB VRAM
$0.73/GPU/hr
$1.47/hr total (2×)
Available
LeaderGPU
LeaderGPU
8×NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80GB
80GB VRAM
$0.90/GPU/hr
$7.20/hr total (8×)
Available
Vast.ai
Vast.ai
NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80GB
80GB VRAM
$1.07/GPU/hr
Available
Denvr
Denvr
8×NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80GB
80GB VRAM
$1.15/GPU/hr
$9.20/hr total (8×)

Compare real-time pricing across 25+ providers

When to Choose the A100 SXM4 80GB

The A100 SXM4 80GB suits large-scale AI training and inference requiring 80 GB VRAM, such as fine-tuning billion-parameter models, where its 312 TFLOPS FP16 and 2039 GB/s bandwidth handle massive batches without overflow. Datacenter environments benefit from its 400W TDP efficiency in NVLink clusters for HPC simulations demanding 19.5 TFLOPS FP32.

Cloud deployments at $0.79/hr average prioritize performance over cost for production workloads across 22 providers.

When to Choose the RTX 2070

The RTX 2070 fits budget-conscious prototyping and lightweight inference tasks, leveraging its 8 GB VRAM and 7.5 TFLOPS FP16 at $0.02/hr average pricing across 2 offers. Gaming or small-scale Stable Diffusion runs thrive on its 175W TDP and 448 GB/s bandwidth without needing datacenter-scale resources.

Use Cases

LLM Training
A100 SXM4 80GB

LLM training demands over 40 GB VRAM for large models; the A100's 80 GB HBM2e and 312 TFLOPS FP16 enable efficient scaling, unlike the RTX 2070's 8 GB limit.

LLM Inference
A100 SXM4 80GB

High-throughput inference benefits from the A100's 2039 GB/s bandwidth for batch processing; the RTX 2070's 448 GB/s causes delays with models exceeding 8 GB.

Fine-tuning
A100 SXM4 80GB

Fine-tuning mid-to-large models requires 19.5 TFLOPS FP32 and substantial VRAM; the A100 outperforms the RTX 2070's 7.5 TFLOPS by 2.6 times.

Stable Diffusion
Either

Basic Stable Diffusion fits in 8 GB VRAM on the RTX 2070 at low cost; advanced high-res generations leverage the A100's bandwidth for faster iterations.

Scientific Computing
A100 SXM4 80GB

Compute-intensive simulations need the A100's 400W TDP and NVLink for multi-GPU scaling; the RTX 2070 lacks interconnects for complex workloads.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which GPU has more VRAM: A100 SXM4 80GB or RTX 2070?

The A100 SXM4 80GB provides 80 GB HBM2e VRAM, exactly 10 times the RTX 2070's 8 GB GDDR6. This allows the A100 to load massive AI models without swapping.

How do FP16 performances compare between A100 and RTX 2070?

The A100 achieves 312 TFLOPS in FP16, 41.6 times higher than the RTX 2070's 7.5 TFLOPS. This gap accelerates mixed-precision training significantly.

What are the cloud rental prices for A100 vs RTX 2070?

A100 SXM4 80GB starts at $0.79/hr averaging $1.46/hr across 22 offers; RTX 2070 begins at $0.02/hr averaging $0.04/hr over 2 offers. The A100 costs about 36 times more hourly.

Is the A100 better for machine learning than RTX 2070?

Yes, the A100's 2039 GB/s bandwidth and 80 GB VRAM outperform the RTX 2070's 448 GB/s and 8 GB for ML tasks. It supports larger batches and models effectively.

What is the power consumption difference?

The A100 has a 400W TDP, more than double the RTX 2070's 175W. This enables higher sustained performance in datacenter cooling setups.

Which architecture is newer: Ampere or Turing?

Ampere in the A100 launched in 2020, succeeding Turing in the RTX 2070 from 2018. Ampere includes advanced tensor cores boosting FP16 to 312 TFLOPS.

Which is cheaper to rent, the A100 or the RTX 2070?

Cloud rental prices for both the A100 and RTX 2070 vary by provider, configuration, and availability. This page shows live pricing from 25+ providers updated every 60 seconds. Scroll to the Live Cloud Pricing section to compare current rates.

How much VRAM does the A100 have compared to the RTX 2070?

The A100 has 40 to 80 GB of HBM2e memory. The RTX 2070 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory.

Can I find A100 and RTX 2070 GPUs available to rent right now?

Yes. This page shows real-time availability across 25+ cloud GPU providers. The Live Cloud Pricing section displays only in-stock offers with current pricing.

What is the main difference between the A100 and the RTX 2070?

The A100 uses the Ampere architecture (2020) while the RTX 2070 uses Turing (2018). The A100 delivers 41.6x the FP16 throughput and 4.6x the memory bandwidth of the RTX 2070.

A100 SXM4 80GB vs RTX 2070: 41.6x FP16 Gap, 80GB vs 8GB | GPUPerHour