L40S Server for Cloud and AI Price and Performance Review

The NVIDIA L40S Server, offered by Cyfuture Cloud, delivers an outstanding balance of price and performance tailored for cloud and AI workloads. It features 48GB GDDR6 memory, Ada Lovelace architecture, and advanced Tensor and RT cores, making it ideal for large language models, generative AI, and graphics tasks. With competitive pricing starting at around $0.57/hour on Cyfuture Cloud, it offers blistering throughput comparable to higher-end GPUs like the A100 at nearly one-third the cost, making it a cost-effective choice for AI inference and rendering workloads with flexible scaling options.​

Introduction to NVIDIA L40S Server

The NVIDIA L40S is a data center GPU built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, designed for AI inference, machine learning, and graphics acceleration. Positioned as a “data center-grade RTX 4090,” it brings desktop-level GPU capabilities to enterprise cloud servers, managing multiple workloads efficiently. This GPU is ideal for businesses needing high memory capacity and throughput but at a lower cost point than premium GPUs like the NVIDIA H100 or A100.​

L40S Server Specifications and Architecture

GPU Architecture: Ada Lovelace

CUDA Cores: 18,176

Memory: 48 GB GDDR6 ECC

Memory Bandwidth: 864 GB/s

Tensor Cores: 4th generation supporting FP8 and FP16 precision

RT Cores: 142 3rd generation cores for ray tracing

Peak Compute: Up to 91.6 TFLOPS FP32, with 733 TFLOPS tensor throughput

Reliability: Built for continuous 24/7 datacenter use with ECC memory and reliable cooling systems
This hardware configuration allows the L40S to serve large AI models (13B-70B parameters) entirely in GPU memory, supporting both heavy AI workloads and photorealistic rendering tasks simultaneously.​

Performance Highlights for AI and Cloud Workloads

Performance testing has shown the L40S excels in medium to large AI workloads:

- Inference throughput for large language models like LLaMA 3.1 70B shows 1.7x better token processing speeds compared to some previous generation GPUs.

- It maintains stable throughput across 10,000 prompts, indicating excellent scalability under load.

- Compared to the A800 GPU, two L40S GPUs deliver almost comparable or superior performance for both large and medium models, at a significantly lower price point.​

- Its unique combination of AI inference and graphics acceleration capabilities enables novel use cases such as real-time ray tracing and synthetic data generation for physics-aware AI training, a feature not common in compute-only GPUs.​

Price and Cost Efficiency on Cyfuture Cloud

Cyfuture Cloud offers the NVIDIA L40S Server with enterprise-grade support, flexible billing models including pay-as-you-go, and reserved instance discounts. The typical cost is around $0.57 per hour, which is about one-third the price of the H100 GPU while delivering solid performance for a wide range of AI and graphics workloads. This cost-effectiveness combined with Cyfuture Cloud’s scalable infrastructure makes it accessible for startups, research teams, and enterprises aiming to optimize cloud GPU spend.​

Use Cases: AI, Graphics, and Hybrid Workloads

AI Inference: Running large language models and generative AI tasks with high throughput and low latency.

Graphics Rendering: High-fidelity ray tracing and visualization applications using RT cores.

Hybrid AI-Graphics Workloads: Ideal for digital twin development, game development pipelines, and 3D visualization tasks requiring both compute and ray tracing power.

Scalable AI Training: Cluster multiple L40S servers for increased training throughput, nearly 1.7x that of an equivalent 8-GPU A100 system.​

Follow-up Questions and Answers

Q1: How does the L40S compare to the NVIDIA A100 in performance?
The L40S offers similar or better performance for AI inference workloads with 48GB memory versus the A100 40GB version, plus additional graphics acceleration capabilities. It often outperforms the A100 in cost-to-performance ratio.​

Q2: Is the L40S suitable for continuous 24/7 cloud usage?
Yes, the L40S is designed for enterprise data center environments, ensuring reliable continuous operation with ECC memory and efficient cooling.​

Q3: Can L40S servers be clustered on Cyfuture Cloud?
Yes, Cyfuture Cloud supports clustering of up to eight L40S cards, providing scalable training and inference capabilities.​

Q4: What kind of billing options does Cyfuture Cloud provide?
Cyfuture Cloud offers flexible pay-as-you-go billing, reserved instances with discounts, and enterprise support options for optimized cost management.​

Conclusion

The NVIDIA L40S Server available on Cyfuture Cloud is a top-tier choice for businesses seeking powerful AI inference, machine learning, and graphics capabilities at an affordable price. Its advanced Ada Lovelace architecture with high memory, tensor performance, and ray-tracing cores delivers flexibility across hybrid workloads. Coupled with Cyfuture Cloud’s competitive pricing, flexible billing, and scalable infrastructure, it stands out as a cost-efficient solution for startups, enterprises, and research teams aiming to accelerate innovation without compromising on performance or budget.​