SXM vs PCIe for buying and reselling GPUs

SXM and PCIe are different physical products that happen to share a marketing name. An H100 SXM5 module does not plug into the slot an H100 PCIe card uses. Bidding on the wrong page puts you against the wrong lot. This guide is how to tell them apart and how to write the listing so the used H100 SXM prices and listings and used H100 PCIe prices and listings can match it.

What NVIDIA lists for the H100

On NVIDIA's H100 table, the SXM product shows 80 GB of memory, 3.35 TB/s of bandwidth, up to 700 W, and NVLink at 900 GB/s, with HGX and DGX servers as the usual home. The H100 NVL column is a dual-slot air-cooled PCIe card with 94 GB, 3.9 TB/s, 350–400 W, and NVLink at 600 GB/s [S1]. The original 80 GB PCIe H100 is a separate datasheet row, with lower memory bandwidth than the SXM module and a bridge between two cards rather than an HGX switch. Read the column that matches the part in your hand. Do not average them.

What NVIDIA lists for the H200

The H200 SXM column lists 141 GB of HBM3e, 4.8 TB/s, up to 700 W, and NVLink at 900 GB/s, in HGX systems of four or eight GPUs. The H200 NVL column lists the same 141 GB and 4.8 TB/s, up to 600 W, a dual-slot air-cooled PCIe card, and a 2- or 4-way NVLink bridge at 900 GB/s per GPU [S2]. Same memory generation. Different server.

What the A100 datasheet separates

NVIDIA's A100 datasheet lists SXM and PCIe, and it lists 40 GB and 80 GB, with different bandwidth and power for each combination [S3]. On BreezeWish the 40 GB and 80 GB pages are separate. The form factor still has to be in the listing, because an 80 GB SXM module and an 80 GB PCIe card are not the same spare part.

What buyers should ask

Ask which column of the product table the serial belongs to. Ask for a seller-provided nvidia-smi report that prints the product name and the memory size. Ask whether the lot includes the HGX baseboard, the NVSwitch, the NVLink bridge, the power cables, and the chassis. A price per GPU that ignores those parts is not comparable to a price per GPU that includes them.

If you are buying SXM modules only, say where they will land. A module without a matching baseboard is inventory, not a running server. If you are buying PCIe cards, confirm the host has the power and the airflow. An H200 NVL at up to 600 W is not a drop-in for a chassis built around a 300 W card [S2].

What sellers should write

Put the form factor in the model text: "H100 SXM5", "H100 PCIe", "H200 NVL", "A100 80GB SXM4". Set the form factor field to SXM5, SXM4, or PCIe. Set memory in gigabytes. The model pages match on that text and on those fields. "H100" alone matches neither the SXM page nor the PCIe page, so buyers on those pages will not see the lot.

If the lot is an HGX assembly, use that asset type and make the GPU count equal the number of nodes times the GPUs per node. If the lot is loose cards, say so. Buyers pay differently for a complete eight-GPU board than for eight modules in trays.

How resale value moves

Completeness moves the bid. An eight-GPU HGX with the switch and the trays is a system. Eight loose SXM modules are parts. A PCIe pair with the bridge NVIDIA specifies is easier to install than a pair without it. Condition, warranty months, and whether the seller can show serials do the rest. None of that is a BreezeWish grade. It is what you write and what the buyer asks to see.

Power and cooling are part of the form factor

SXM boards in HGX systems are often designed around a specific thermal envelope. NVIDIA lists up to 700 W for the H100 SXM and the H200 SXM [S1] [S2]. PCIe cards have their own figures, and they still need case airflow. When you decommission, photograph the power leads and the cold plate or the shroud, and say whether they are in the lot. A buyer who planned for air and receives a liquid-only tray has not received what they priced.