The NVIDIA A40 and the RTX A6000 are two versions of the same GPU class. Both use the Ampere architecture, both have 48 GB of GDDR6 memory with ECC and both draw 300 W. The quick answer: choose the A40 if the card goes into a server or you will use it remotely, and choose the RTX A6000 if it goes into a workstation under your desk. The differences are cooling, display outputs and data center features, not performance.
NVIDIA A40 vs RTX A6000: specs compared
| Specification | NVIDIA A40 | NVIDIA RTX A6000 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Ampere | Ampere |
| Memory | 48 GB GDDR6 with ECC | 48 GB GDDR6 with ECC |
| Memory bandwidth | 696 GB/s | Same memory configuration |
| CUDA cores | 10,752 | 10,752 |
| RT and Tensor cores | 2nd-gen RT, 3rd-gen Tensor | 2nd-gen RT, 3rd-gen Tensor |
| Power (TDP) | 300 W | 300 W |
| Interface | PCIe Gen4 x16, dual-slot | PCIe Gen4 x16, dual-slot |
| NVLink | 2-way bridge | 2-way bridge |
| Cooling | Passive (server airflow) | Active blower fan |
| Display outputs | 3x DisplayPort, disabled by default | 4x DisplayPort 1.4 |
| vGPU support | Yes (NVIDIA virtual GPU software) | Not its target use |
| Designed for | Data center servers, 24/7 | Desktop workstations |
Cooling and form factor
The biggest practical difference is cooling. The RTX A6000 has a blower fan that pulls air through the card and pushes it out the back of the case, so it works in a normal tower workstation. The A40 has no fan at all. It relies on the strong front-to-back airflow of a rack server, and NVIDIA designed it for continuous 24/7 operation in that environment.
Do not put an A40 into a regular desktop PC: without server fans pushing air through its heatsink, it overheats and throttles.
Display outputs and virtual workstations
The RTX A6000 has four DisplayPort 1.4 outputs and is ready to drive monitors out of the box. The A40 has three DisplayPort outputs, but they are disabled by default. You must enable display mode before they work.
Instead, the A40 supports NVIDIA virtual GPU (vGPU) software, so one card can serve several remote virtual workstations. If you plan VDI or remote 3D workstations for a team, the A40 is the card built for that job.
AI and LLM workloads on 48 GB
For AI, both cards perform the same, because the chip and memory are the same. The 48 GB of VRAM is That is enough to:
- run 70B language models such as Llama 3.3 70B quantized to 4-bit, which need about 40 GB;
- run models of around 20B parameters in FP16;
- generate images with SDXL or Flux at high resolution;
The difference for AI is where the card runs. An inference API or chatbot must stay online, which suits an A40 in a server. An RTX A6000 suits one person experimenting locally.
Rendering
Both cards have the same RT and Tensor cores, so they give the same class of performance in GPU renderers such as Blender Cycles, V-Ray, Redshift or Octane. The 48 GB lets you load large 3D scenes with heavy textures. An artist who works interactively in the viewport will prefer an RTX A6000 with monitors attached. A studio sending long jobs to a render node can use an A40 server.
Buying a workstation vs renting a dedicated server
If your work fits a server, you do not have to buy the hardware. Renting a dedicated GPU server gives you:
- No upfront hardware cost: no GPU, server or spare parts to buy.
- Data center power and cooling: no heat or noise in your office.
- Remote access: connect from anywhere over SSH, remote desktop or an API.
- 24/7 operation: the server stays online for training runs, inference and batch renders.
How to choose
- Choose the RTX A6000 for a desktop workstation with monitors attached, used by one person.
- Choose the A40 for a rack server, remote access, vGPU and virtual workstations, or 24/7 AI inference.
- If you do not want to own or cool the hardware, rent an A40 server.
A40 servers at IPHOST
IPHOST offers an NVIDIA A40 dedicated server in its own ISO/IEC 27001 certified data center in Chișinău, Moldova. The configuration:
- NVIDIA A40 48 GB
- HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10 with 2x Intel Xeon Gold 6230R (52 cores)
- 192 GB RAM and 2x 1.6 TB SAS SSD
- 1 Gbps port with 30 TB of traffic
- iLO for remote management
The server is available on pre-order with delivery in 14 days. Billing is quarterly, and you save up to 14% with a 12-month term. For smaller models, see the NVIDIA L4 24 GB server, and for larger training jobs there is a plan with 2x A100 40 GB. Compare all plans on the GPU server hosting page, or read how to run your own models with LLM hosting.
Conclusion
Both cards deliver the same GPU class and 48 GB of memory. The RTX A6000 fits a desk workstation; the A40 fits servers, remote workstations and 24/7 AI services, and you can rent one instead of buying it.
