NVIDIA H100 PCIe 80GB vs NVIDIA A100 80GB PCIe for AI
A head-to-head comparison of specs, pricing, and real-world AI performance to help you pick the right hardware.
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Quick Verdict
Both the NVIDIA H100 PCIe 80GB and NVIDIA A100 80GB PCIe are strong contenders for AI workloads. Your choice should come down to specific workload requirements, budget, and ecosystem preferences. Check the specs comparison below to find the best fit.
NVIDIA H100 PCIe 80GB
$25,000 – $33,000
The Hopper architecture GPU built for AI. 80GB HBM3 with Transformer Engine delivers 3x the AI performance of A100 — the standard for production AI inference and training.
NVIDIA A100 80GB PCIe
$12,000 – $15,000
Enterprise-grade AI accelerator for large-scale training and inference. 80GB HBM2e memory runs the largest open-source models without quantization.
Specs Comparison
| Spec | NVIDIA H100 PCIe 80GB | NVIDIA A100 80GB PCIe |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $25,000 – $33,000 | $12,000 – $15,000 |
| VRAM | 80GB HBM3 | 80GB HBM2e |
| Tensor Cores | 528 (4th Gen) | 432 (3rd Gen) |
| Memory Bandwidth | 3,350 GB/s | 2,039 GB/s |
| TDP | 350W | 300W |
| Interface | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |
NVIDIA H100 PCIe 80GB
Pros
- +3x AI performance over A100
- +Transformer Engine for FP8 precision
- +Industry-standard for production AI
Cons
- -Extremely expensive ($25K+)
- -Requires enterprise infrastructure
- -Long lead times on orders
NVIDIA A100 80GB PCIe
Pros
- +Industry-leading AI performance
- +80GB HBM2e for massive models
- +Multi-instance GPU (MIG) support
Cons
- -Very expensive upfront cost
- -Requires enterprise cooling
- -Overkill for small-scale operations