AMD Radeon HD 7790 vs NVIDIA Tesla M4 Comparison

# AMD Radeon HD 7790 vs NVIDIA Tesla M4

The AMD Radeon HD 7790 and NVIDIA Tesla M4 occupy very different corners of the GPU landscape, yet both land within a single percentile point of each other in overall standing. The HD 7790 sits at the 61st percentile among all GPUs, while the Tesla M4 trails just behind at the 60th percentile. Their average benchmark scores tell a similar story: the Radeon posts 17,666 in Geekbench Metal, while the Tesla counters with 16,932 in Geekbench OpenCL. These are not head-to-head comparisons of the same workload, but they hint at a fundamental question: does a consumer-oriented GCN 2.0 part from 2013 outperform a professional Maxwell 2.0 accelerator from two years later? The data suggests the answer depends entirely on what you ask them to do.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7790 wins in raw compute density and memory bandwidth efficiency. Its 1.792 TFLOPS of FP32 performance comes from 896 shading units running at a memory clock of 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, yielding 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth. That bandwidth advantage matters — it is 9% higher than the Tesla M4's 88.00 GB/s, despite the M4 having the same 128-bit bus width. For workloads that are bandwidth-sensitive, such as texture-heavy rendering or certain compute kernels, the HD 7790's extra throughput could translate into real performance gains.

The NVIDIA Tesla M4 wins in almost every other measurable category. Its 2.195 TFLOPS of FP32 is 22% higher than the Radeon's output, driven by 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs — the latter being double the Radeon's 16 ROPs. The M4 also boosts to 1072 MHz, a significant step above its 872 MHz base clock, whereas the HD 7790 has no listed boost clock at all. The M4's pixel rate of 34.30 GPixel/s is more than double the Radeon's 16.00 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 68.61 GTexel/s exceeds the HD 7790's 56.00 GTexel/s by 22%. For rasterization-heavy tasks or compute workloads that scale with shader count, the Tesla M4 is the clear winner.

The use-case split is stark: the HD 7790 is a display-oriented card with 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, making it suitable for desktop graphics and gaming. The Tesla M4 has no display outputs at all — it is a pure accelerator meant for server racks, inference, or headless compute. If you need a picture on a screen, the Radeon is the only option. If you need raw compute in a datacenter, the Tesla is the one.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The HD 7790 uses the Bonaire chip built on GCN 2.0, part of AMD's Southern Islands generation (HD 7700 series). It is fabricated on TSMC's 28 nm process and packs 2,080 million transistors into a 160 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.0 million per square millimeter. The Tesla M4 uses the GM206 chip on NVIDIA's Maxwell 2.0 architecture, belonging to the Tesla Maxwell (Mxx) generation. It also uses a 28 nm TSMC process but packs 2,940 million transistors into a 228 mm² die, with a slightly lower transistor density of 12.9 million per square millimeter.

The transistor counts tell a story of different design priorities. AMD's GCN 2.0 is a compute-first architecture with a unified shader design, while NVIDIA's Maxwell 2.0 emphasizes efficiency and higher per-clock performance. The M4's 1024 shading units and 64 TMUs outnumber the HD 7790's 896 and 56, respectively, and the M4 more than doubles the ROP count from 16 to 32. This suggests NVIDIA dedicated more silicon to pixel throughput, while AMD concentrated on memory bandwidth per byte of bus width.

Feature support also diverges. The HD 7790 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the M4 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) — a higher feature level. Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the M4's Vulkan support is 1.4, a newer version than the HD 7790's 1.2.170. The M4 has no power connectors, runs at a 50 W TDP, and is single-slot, while the HD 7790 requires a 1x 6-pin connector, draws 85 W, and is dual-slot. The M4's 4 GB GDDR5 memory dwarfs the HD 7790's 1 GB, and its base clock of 872 MHz is lower than the Radeon's memory clock of 1500 MHz, but the M4 compensates with a 1072 MHz boost.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla M4, with 2.195 TFLOPS of FP32, is 22% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7790's 1.792 TFLOPS. The M4 also has more shading units (1024 vs 896), more TMUs (64 vs 56), and double the ROPs (32 vs 16).

Q: Does the AMD card have any performance advantage?

A: Yes, in memory bandwidth. The HD 7790 delivers 96.00 GB/s versus the Tesla M4's 88.00 GB/s, a 9% advantage, despite both using a 128-bit bus. The Radeon's memory clock is 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) compared to the M4's 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective).

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient?

A: The Tesla M4, with a 50 W TDP compared to the HD 7790's 85 W, while delivering higher FP32 performance. This efficiency comes from the Maxwell 2.0 architecture and a boost clock of 1072 MHz alongside a lower base clock of 872 MHz.

Q: Can either card output video to a display?

A: Only the AMD Radeon HD 7790, which has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs. The NVIDIA Tesla M4 has no display outputs, indicating it is designed for compute-only environments.

Q: How do their benchmark scores compare to similar GPUs?

A: The HD 7790's 17,666 Geekbench Metal score is 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (17,639) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588), but 0.7% behind the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 (17,789). The Tesla M4's 16,932 Geekbench OpenCL score is 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17,019) and 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17,037), but 0.8% ahead of the NVIDIA T400 4 GB (16,792).

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The Tesla M4 has 4 GB of GDDR5, quadruple the HD 7790's 1 GB. This memory capacity difference is critical for workloads that need large datasets resident on the GPU.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification category. The HD 7790 has a smaller die (160 mm² vs 228 mm²) and fewer transistors (2,080 million vs 2,940 million). Clock behavior varies: the M4 lists a base clock of 872 MHz and a boost of 1072 MHz, while the HD 7790 lists no base or boost clocks, only a memory clock of 1500 MHz. Memory capacity is 1 GB for the Radeon versus 4 GB for the Tesla, though the Radeon's bandwidth is higher at 96.00 GB/s versus 88.00 GB/s.

Compute resources differ significantly: 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 16 ROPs on the HD 7790, against 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs on the M4. This yields a pixel rate of 16.00 GPixel/s for the Radeon versus 34.30 GPixel/s for the Tesla, and a texture rate of 56.00 GTexel/s versus 68.61 GTexel/s. FP32 output is 1.792 TFLOPS versus 2.195 TFLOPS. Power draw is 85 W versus 50 W, and slot width is dual-slot versus single-slot. The HD 7790 requires a 1x 6-pin power connector; the M4 requires none. Display outputs are present only on the Radeon. The M4 supports DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 7790 supports DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both use PCIe 3.0 x16 and a 128-bit memory bus.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

There are no direct head-to-head benchmark results in the data, but the nearest rival comparisons provide context. The HD 7790's Geekbench Metal score of 17,666 places it within 0.7% of the Quadro RTX 4000 (17,789) and 0.2% ahead of the RTX 4060 (17,639). This suggests the Radeon holds its own against much newer hardware in Metal workloads, likely due to its high memory bandwidth relative to its compute capacity. The Tesla M4's Geekbench OpenCL score of 16,932 places it 0.9% behind the RX 7600 XT (17,083) and 0.8% ahead of the T400 4 GB (16,792). The M4's margin over the T400 is notable, as both are low-profile professional cards, and the M4 achieves this with a 50 W TDP.

The biggest wins are asymmetric. The Tesla M4 wins on compute throughput by a wide margin — 22% higher FP32, 114% higher pixel rate, and 22% higher texture rate. These are not marginal differences; they indicate a fundamentally more capable compute and rasterization engine. The HD 7790 wins on memory bandwidth by 9% and on display connectivity, offering four outputs versus none. For anyone running OpenCL workloads that are bandwidth-bound, the Radeon's 96.00 GB/s could close the gap with the M4's higher shader count, but the M4's 4 GB memory capacity gives it a massive advantage in dataset size.

The Verdict

The data points to two different buyers. The AMD Radeon HD 7790 is for someone who needs a display-capable card with competitive Metal performance. Its 17,666 Geekbench Metal score rivals the RTX 4060, and its 96.00 GB/s bandwidth is the highest in this comparison. It is end-of-life, but its 61st percentile standing shows it still holds relevance in specific workloads. The 1 GB memory is a limitation, but for older games or light compute with small datasets, it remains functional.

The NVIDIA Tesla M4 is for a headless compute environment where power efficiency and raw throughput matter more than display output. Its 50 W TDP delivers 2.195 TFLOPS, a 22% advantage over the HD 7790, with double the ROPs and quadruple the memory. The 60th percentile standing is essentially tied with the Radeon, but the M4's architecture is two generations newer (Maxwell 2.0 vs GCN 2.0) and its Vulkan 1.4 support is more current. The lack of display outputs is not a flaw for its intended use as an accelerator in a server.

Choose the HD 7790 if you need a card that can drive monitors and you prioritize memory bandwidth and Metal performance. Choose the Tesla M4 if your workload is compute-only, benefits from 4 GB of memory, and you need maximum FP32 per watt. The benchmark scores are close, but the specification differences reveal that these are tools for entirely different jobs.