AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs NVIDIA Tesla M40 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The single recorded head-to-head benchmark result places the NVIDIA Tesla M40 ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7970. This means the Tesla M40 holds the only direct win in the comparison. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 does not claim a single recorded victory in any benchmark that appears in the database. The score difference is not trivial, but it is also not enormous, suggesting a clear performance gap without completely leaving the older card behind.

The Tesla M40 wins the OpenCL workload with a score of 39192 against 34541 for the HD 7970. This is a 13.5% advantage, which is meaningful in compute-oriented tasks. For context, the Tesla M40 also has a Vulkan score of 44602, though the HD 7970 has no corresponding Vulkan result recorded, so a direct comparison cannot be made there. The data available shows a one-sided affair in terms of wins, but the margin is moderate enough that the HD 7970 remains within striking distance in certain workloads, especially those that favor its older architectural strengths.

The Tesla M40’s average benchmark score of 41897 places it in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, while the HD 7970’s average of 34541 lands in the 79th percentile. This four-point percentile separation is modest, reinforcing the idea that while the newer card is faster, the older card is not obsolete by any stretch. The database’s nearest rival data for the HD 7970 shows it trading blows with the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB (delta of 0.1% against the HD 7970), the NVIDIA A2 (0.4% against), and the NVIDIA TITAN V (0.5% in favor of the HD 7970). This suggests the HD 7970 sits in a competitive cluster, even if it loses to the Tesla M40.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent fundamentally different design philosophies from their respective manufacturers. The Tesla M40 uses NVIDIA’s Maxwell 2.0 architecture on the GM200 chip, while the HD 7970 uses AMD’s GCN 1.0 architecture on the Tahiti chip. Both are built on the same 28 nm process at TSMC, but the similarities end there.

The Tesla M40 packs 8,000 million transistors on a 601 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 13.3 million per square millimeter. The HD 7970 is a much smaller chip: 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die, with a density of 12.3 million per square millimeter. The Tesla M40’s transistor count is nearly double the HD 7970’s, which explains its larger die and higher compute capacity. The density difference is small, indicating that neither chip is particularly dense by modern standards, but the raw scale of the Tesla M40 is clearly a different class.

The compute resources differ accordingly. The Tesla M40 has 3072 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs. The HD 7970 has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and only 32 ROPs. The Tesla M40’s ROP count is triple that of the HD 7970, which has major implications for pixel throughput. The pixel rate for the Tesla M40 is 106.8 GPixel/s, while the HD 7970 manages just 29.60 GPixel/s. That is a 3.6x gap, driven by both the higher ROP count and the much higher clock speeds.

Clock speeds are a significant differentiator. The Tesla M40 runs at a base clock of 948 MHz with a boost up to 1112 MHz. The HD 7970 has no base or boost clock recorded in the database, so comparisons there are not possible. However, the memory clocks tell a story: the Tesla M40 runs its GDDR5 at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), while the HD 7970 runs at 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective). Both use a 384-bit memory bus, but the Tesla M40’s higher memory clock gives it 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth versus 264.0 GB/s for the HD 7970. That is a 9.2% bandwidth advantage for the Tesla M40.

The FP32 compute throughput is another clear separation point. The Tesla M40 delivers 6.832 TFLOPS, while the HD 7970 delivers 3.789 TFLOPS. That is an 80% advantage for the Tesla M40 in raw single-precision compute. Texture rate follows a similar pattern: 213.5 GTexel/s for the Tesla M40 versus 118.4 GTexel/s for the HD 7970. Neither card has ray tracing or tensor cores, so those are non-factors in this comparison.

FAQ

Q: Which card has more memory, and does it matter for compute workloads?

A: The Tesla M40 has 12 GB of GDDR5, while the HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5. Both use a 384-bit bus, but the Tesla M40’s larger capacity and higher bandwidth (288.4 GB/s versus 264.0 GB/s) make it better suited for large datasets typical of compute tasks.

Q: Are both cards still supported by modern APIs?

A: Yes, but the Tesla M40 has an edge. The Tesla M40 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Tesla M40’s Vulkan support is newer, which could matter for recent Linux or Vulkan-based applications.

Q: What is the performance difference in the only recorded head-to-head benchmark?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the Tesla M40 scores 39192 against the HD 7970’s 34541, a 13.5% advantage for the Tesla M40. That is the only direct comparison available in the database.

Q: How do these cards compare in terms of power requirements?

A: Both cards have a 250 W TDP and recommend a 600 W power supply. The Tesla M40 uses a single 8-pin EPS connector, while the HD 7970 requires a 6-pin and an 8-pin connector. The physical power draw is identical, but the connector requirements differ.

Q: Which card has better pixel throughput?

A: The Tesla M40 has a pixel rate of 106.8 GPixel/s, which is 3.6 times the HD 7970’s 29.60 GPixel/s. This is due to the Tesla M40 having 96 ROPs versus 32 ROPs on the HD 7970, along with higher clock speeds.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: No. Both are marked as end-of-life in the database. The Tesla M40 was released in November 2015, and the HD 7970 was released in January 2012. Neither is currently manufactured.

Specification Differences

The specifications that differ between the two cards are extensive. The most obvious is memory capacity: 12 GB on the Tesla M40 versus 3 GB on the HD 7970. Both use GDDR5 and a 384-bit bus, but the Tesla M40’s memory clock of 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) gives it a bandwidth of 288.4 GB/s, while the HD 7970’s 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) yields 264.0 GB/s.

The compute units differ significantly. The Tesla M40 has 3072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The HD 7970 has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The pixel rate difference is stark: 106.8 GPixel/s versus 29.60 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 213.5 GTexel/s versus 118.4 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 6.832 TFLOPS versus 3.789 TFLOPS.

The chips themselves are different sizes. The Tesla M40 uses the GM200 chip with 8,000 million transistors on a 601 mm² die. The HD 7970 uses the Tahiti chip with 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die. Transistor density is 13.3M per mm² for the Tesla M40 and 12.3M per mm² for the HD 7970.

Clock behavior also differs. The Tesla M40 has a documented base clock of 948 MHz and a boost clock of 1112 MHz. The HD 7970 has no base or boost clock recorded. The Tesla M40 has a dual-slot form factor and is 267 mm long, while the HD 7970 is also dual-slot but slightly longer at 275 mm, with a height of 111 mm and width of 38 mm.

Display outputs are a major difference. The Tesla M40 has no display outputs at all, as it is designed for compute-only workloads. The HD 7970 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. Power connectors differ: the Tesla M40 uses a single 8-pin EPS, while the HD 7970 uses a 6-pin plus an 8-pin. Both have a 250 W TDP and recommend a 600 W PSU.

The API support differs in DirectX and Vulkan versions. The Tesla M40 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The release dates are far apart: the Tesla M40 arrived in November 2015, while the HD 7970 launched in January 2012. The HD 7970 has a launch MSRP of 549 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. The Tesla M40 scores 39192, and the HD 7970 scores 34541. The Tesla M40 wins by 13.5%. This is a substantial margin, but not a blowout. In context, the Tesla M40’s average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 41897, which includes its Vulkan score of 44602. The HD 7970’s average is 34541, matching its single OpenCL result.

The 13.5% delta in OpenCL is consistent with the architectural differences. The Tesla M40 has 80% more FP32 throughput (6.832 TFLOPS versus 3.789 TFLOPS), but the real-world OpenCL result shows a much smaller gap. This suggests that the HD 7970’s GCN architecture is relatively efficient in compute workloads, or that OpenCL does not fully utilize the Tesla M40’s resources. The memory bandwidth difference of 9.2% likely contributes to the smaller-than-expected gap.

The Tesla M40’s Vulkan score of 44602 is notable because it exceeds its OpenCL score by 13.8%. Without a Vulkan result for the HD 7970, it is unclear how the older card would fare in that API. Given that the HD 7970 supports Vulkan 1.2.170, it is reasonable to assume it could run such workloads, but the database provides no data to confirm or deny its performance there.

The nearest rival data puts the Tesla M40 in a competitive position. Its average score of 41897 is 0.5% ahead of the Tesla M40 24 GB, 1.7% ahead of the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, and 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 5300. The only rival ahead of it is the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE, which is 1.9% faster. The HD 7970’s nearest rivals are all NVIDIA cards: the T1000 8 GB is 0.1% faster, the A2 is 0.4% faster, the TITAN V is 0.5% slower, and the RTX A1000 is 1% slower. This puts the HD 7970 in a tight cluster where small differences matter.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner for compute-heavy workloads: the NVIDIA Tesla M40. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 13.5%, has 4 times the memory capacity, and delivers substantially higher theoretical throughput in every measured category. Its 83rd percentile ranking versus the HD 7970’s 79th percentile reinforces this conclusion. For anyone running OpenCL workloads, the Tesla M40 is the stronger choice based on the recorded data.

However, the HD 7970 is not without merit. Its 13.5% deficit in OpenCL is smaller than the 80% gap in FP32 compute might suggest, indicating that the GCN architecture extracts relatively more real-world performance from its resources. The HD 7970 also has display outputs, making it usable in a conventional desktop setup, whereas the Tesla M40 has none and is strictly a compute accelerator. The HD 7970’s launch MSRP of 549 USD places it in a different market position historically, though that is not a factor in current performance comparisons.

The Tesla M40 is the pick for server or workstation compute tasks where memory capacity and raw throughput matter. The HD 7970 still holds relevance for legacy systems or applications that need a GPU with display output and modest compute capability. The percentile gap is narrow, so the HD 7970 should not be dismissed outright, but every recorded metric that directly compares the two favors the Tesla M40. The verdict is straightforward: the Tesla M40 is the faster card, and the HD 7970 is the more versatile one in terms of connectivity, but in pure performance, the Tesla M40 wins.