AMD FirePro S10000 vs NVIDIA Tesla P4 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA Tesla P4 wins both recorded head-to-head tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Tesla P4 scores 34947 against 30631 for the AMD FirePro S10000, a 14.1% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin widens slightly: 40309 versus 34145, a 18.1% lead. There are no recorded tests where the FirePro S10000 comes out ahead.

The use-case split is therefore not about which card wins a particular workload, but rather about which card is even usable in a given environment. The Tesla P4 has no display outputs, making it a compute-only accelerator for server or datacenter deployments where rendering to a screen is unnecessary. The FirePro S10000, by contrast, offers 1x DVI and 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, so it can serve as a workstation card for tasks that require local display connectivity alongside compute. For pure compute throughput as measured by these two APIs, the Tesla P4 is the stronger choice.

The percentile rankings reinforce this. The Tesla P4 sits at the 81st percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the FirePro S10000 sits at the 77th percentile. The average benchmark score for the Tesla P4 is 37628 versus 32388 for the FirePro S10000. That is a 16.2% gap in aggregate performance, consistent with the individual test deltas.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations and foundry processes. The Tesla P4 uses NVIDIA's GP104 chip on the Pascal architecture, built on TSMC's 16 nm process. It packs 7,200 million transistors into a 314 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 22.9 million per square millimeter. The FirePro S10000 uses AMD's Tahiti chip on GCN 1.0, built on TSMC's 28 nm process. It contains 4,313 million transistors on a larger 352 mm² die, for a density of just 12.3 million per square millimeter. The newer process node gives the Tesla P4 both higher density and a smaller physical footprint.

The memory systems also diverge. The Tesla P4 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, with 192.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The FirePro S10000 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 384-bit bus, giving it 240.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The FirePro S10000 thus has 24.8% more memory bandwidth, but only 37.5% of the memory capacity. For workloads that are bandwidth-bound, the FirePro S10000 has an edge; for capacity-bound workloads, the Tesla P4 dominates.

The compute resources differ significantly. The Tesla P4 has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The FirePro S10000 has 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Tesla P4 more than doubles the pixel rate at 71.30 GPixel/s versus 30.40 GPixel/s, and nearly doubles the texture rate at 178.2 GTexel/s versus 106.4 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 5.704 TFLOPS for the Tesla P4 versus 3.405 TFLOPS for the FirePro S10000, a 67.5% advantage.

API support is broadly similar but not identical. Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6. The Tesla P4 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro S10000 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Tesla P4 also has FP16 capability at 89.12 GFLOPS, while the FirePro S10000 has no recorded FP16 figure.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows the Tesla P4 at 34947 against the FirePro S10000's 30631. The 14.1% delta is substantial, but it is not the largest gap between these two cards. In Geekbench Vulkan, the Tesla P4 reaches 40309 while the FirePro S10000 manages 34145, an 18.1% difference. The Vulkan advantage is larger than the OpenCL advantage, suggesting the Pascal architecture's newer instruction scheduling and driver optimization for Vulkan translate into a broader performance gap.

The average benchmark scores tell a similar story. The Tesla P4 averages 37628 across its recorded tests, while the FirePro S10000 averages 32388. The nearest rival to the Tesla P4 in the database is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 with an average score of 37648, a difference of just 0.1%. The Tesla P4 also sits within 1.3% of the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37157) and within 0.3% of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507). The FirePro S10000's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE at 32456, a 0.2% difference, and it sits within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon Pro 570X (32176). In other words, the Tesla P4 performs like a modern mid-range consumer GPU, while the FirePro S10000 performs like an older high-end part that has been eclipsed.

The wins count is decisive: 2 wins for the Tesla P4, 0 for the FirePro S10000. There is no recorded test in which the FirePro S10000 beats the Tesla P4.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The Tesla P4 uses a 16 nm process; the FirePro S10000 uses 28 nm. The Tesla P4 has 7,200 million transistors; the FirePro S10000 has 4,313 million. The die sizes are 314 mm² and 352 mm² respectively. The Tesla P4 has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs; the FirePro S10000 has 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs.

Clock speeds differ. The Tesla P4 runs at 886 MHz base and 1114 MHz boost; the FirePro S10000 runs at 825 MHz base and 950 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) for the Tesla P4 and 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) for the FirePro S10000.

Memory capacity and bus width are reversed in priority. The Tesla P4 has 8 GB on a 256-bit bus; the FirePro S10000 has 3 GB on a 384-bit bus. Bandwidth favors the FirePro S10000 at 240.0 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s.

Power and physical dimensions diverge sharply. The Tesla P4 has a 75 W TDP, is single-slot, requires no power connectors, and suggests a 250 W power supply. The FirePro S10000 has a 375 W TDP, is dual-slot, requires 2x 8-pin power connectors, and suggests a 750 W power supply. The Tesla P4 is 168 mm (6.6 inches) long; the FirePro S10000 is 305 mm (12 inches) long and 111 mm (4.4 inches) tall.

Display outputs are present only on the FirePro S10000. The Tesla P4 has no outputs. The FirePro S10000 has 1x DVI and 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.2.

Release dates and production status also differ. The Tesla P4 was released on 2016-09-12 and is end-of-life, with the Tesla Maxwell as predecessor and Tesla Volta as successor. The FirePro S10000 was released on 2012-11-11 and is end-of-life, with FirePro Terascale as predecessor and Radeon Pro GCN as successor.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher FP32 performance?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla P4 delivers 5.704 TFLOPS, which is 67.5% higher than the AMD FirePro S10000's 3.405 TFLOPS.

Q: Does either card support display outputs?

A: Only the AMD FirePro S10000 has display outputs: 1x DVI and 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 has no outputs.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The Tesla P4 has 8 GB of GDDR5, while the FirePro S10000 has 3 GB of GDDR5. The FirePro S10000 has higher bandwidth at 240.0 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare to nearby GPUs?

A: The Tesla P4's average score of 37628 is within 0.1% of the GeForce RTX 4070 (37648) and 0.3% of the Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507). The FirePro S10000's average of 32388 is within 0.2% of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE (32456) and 0.7% of the Radeon Pro 570X (32176).

Q: Which card has the larger die?

A: The FirePro S10000 has a 352 mm² die, larger than the Tesla P4's 314 mm², despite having fewer transistors (4,313 million versus 7,200 million).

Q: What is the TDP and power connector situation?

A: The Tesla P4 has a 75 W TDP with no power connectors and suggests a 250 W power supply. The FirePro S10000 has a 375 W TDP, requires 2x 8-pin connectors, and suggests a 750 W power supply.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear conclusion: the NVIDIA Tesla P4 is the superior compute performer in every recorded benchmark. It wins both Geekbench tests, has a higher average score, sits at a higher percentile, and does so while consuming drastically less power (75 W versus 375 W) and occupying a single slot instead of two. Its 8 GB of memory is more than double the FirePro S10000's 3 GB, making it the better choice for capacity-sensitive workloads. The only areas where the FirePro S10000 has an advantage are memory bandwidth (240.0 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s) and display outputs, which matter only if the workload requires local video output.

Buyers who need a compute-only accelerator for datacenter or server use should choose the Tesla P4 without hesitation. It is faster, more efficient, smaller, and has a newer architecture. Buyers who need display outputs for a workstation setup, or who have workloads that are heavily bandwidth-bound and do not need more than 3 GB of memory, may consider the FirePro S10000, but they should be aware that its overall compute performance is measurably lower. The FirePro S10000's launch MSRP was 3,599 USD, which does not change the performance conclusions. For any purely compute-oriented task in the recorded benchmarks, the Tesla P4 is the definitive choice.