AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT vs NVIDIA Tesla M40 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT and NVIDIA Tesla M40 are both end-of-life professional GPUs, but they represent drastically different eras of design. The data shows a near-even split in their head-to-head benchmark results, with each card claiming one victory. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT takes the Geekbench OpenCL test by a margin of 6.6%, while the Tesla M40 counters with an 11.2% lead in the Geekbench Vulkan test. Their overall average benchmark scores are close, with the AMD card at 45384 and the NVIDIA card at 41897, placing them at the 84th and 83rd percentiles of all GPUs, respectively.

The Verdict

The choice between these two cards hinges entirely on the intended workload and platform constraints. For users prioritizing raw compute throughput in OpenCL applications, the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT is the clear winner, as its average benchmark score of 45384 is 8.3% higher than the Tesla M40's 41897. This advantage is also reflected in their direct OpenCL comparison, where the AMD card posts 41772 points against the M40's 39192, a 6.6% difference.

However, for Vulkan-based tasks, the NVIDIA Tesla M40 is the superior option. Its Vulkan score of 44602 decisively beats the Radeon Pro 5500 XT's 39601, representing an 11.2% advantage. This is a substantial lead that cannot be ignored. The M40 also offers a larger 12 GB memory pool compared to the 8 GB on the AMD card, which could be critical for large datasets that exceed the smaller frame buffer.

The physical form factor is another decisive factor. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors and no display outputs, making it suitable for systems with a compatible motherboard and a 300 W suggested PSU. In contrast, the Tesla M40 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length, requiring an 8-pin EPS power connector and a 600 W suggested PSU. This makes the M40 a more demanding installation. Ultimately, the Radeon Pro 5500 XT is the better choice for OpenCL compute in a low-power, space-constrained environment, while the Tesla M40 is the pick for Vulkan workloads where its higher memory capacity and raw performance in that API are paramount.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and manufacturing processes. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT utilizes the Navi 14 chip based on the RDNA 1.0 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. This modern node allows for a transistor density of 40.5M per mm², packing 6,400 million transistors into a die size of just 158 mm². It belongs to the Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) generation.

In contrast, the NVIDIA Tesla M40 is based on the GM200 chip using the older Maxwell 2.0 architecture. It is manufactured on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC, which is significantly less dense at 13.3M transistors per mm². The M40 contains 8,000 million transistors spread across a much larger 601 mm² die. This places it in the Tesla Maxwell (Mxx) generation.

These architectural differences lead to contrasting feature sets. The AMD card supports FP16 computation with a 2:1 ratio, delivering 10.80 TFLOPS, while the Tesla M40 has no listed FP16 capability. Both cards lack dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores. In terms of API support, both support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, indicating parity in software compatibility for these modern APIs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark results reveal a clear split in performance by API. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT achieves a score of 41772, outperforming the NVIDIA Tesla M40's 39192 by 6.6%. This win aligns with the AMD card's architecture, which is designed for efficient compute workloads. It also reflects the higher boost clock of 1757 MHz compared to the M40's 1112 MHz, despite the M40 having double the shading units (3072 vs 1536).

The tables turn entirely in the Geekbench Vulkan test. Here, the NVIDIA Tesla M40 scores 44602, which is 11.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT's 39601. This is a significant margin and suggests that the Maxwell architecture, despite its age, has strong Vulkan driver optimization or hardware scheduling that favors this API. The M40's higher memory bandwidth of 288.4 GB/s, compared to 224.0 GB/s on the AMD card, may also contribute to its performance in this test.

Looking at the broader competitive landscape, the Radeon Pro 5500 XT's average score of 45384 places it in close contention with the Intel Arc A730M (45592, 0.5% higher) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (45152, 0.5% lower). The Tesla M40's average score of 41897 is similarly competitive, sitting just 0.5% above the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB variant and 1.7% above the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. These figures show that while the two cards are close to each other, they also slot into a tight performance band relative to their immediate rivals.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets for these two cards show stark contrasts across almost every major category. The most obvious difference is in the process node, where the AMD card uses 7 nm versus the NVIDIA card's 28 nm. This leads to a massive difference in die size and density, with the AMD chip at 158 mm² and the NVIDIA chip at 601 mm².

Memory configurations diverge significantly. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla M40 counters with 12 GB of GDDR5 memory on a wider 384-bit bus, yielding 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth. Clock speeds also differ, with the AMD card having a higher base clock (1187 MHz vs 948 MHz) and boost clock (1757 MHz vs 1112 MHz).

Compute unit counts are also very different. The AMD card has 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The NVIDIA card has double the shading units at 3072, double the TMUs at 192, and triple the ROPs at 96. This results in the M40 having higher theoretical pixel rate (106.8 GPixel/s vs 56.22 GPixel/s) and texture rate (213.5 GTexel/s vs 168.7 GTexel/s), as well as higher FP32 throughput (6.832 TFLOPS vs 5.398 TFLOPS).

Power and physical requirements are also poles apart. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT has a TDP of 125 W and is an IGP with no power connectors, requiring a suggested PSU of 300 W. The Tesla M40 has a 250 W TDP, is a dual-slot card, requires an 8-pin EPS connector, and needs a 600 W PSU. The M40 is also a physical card with a length of 267 mm, whereas the Radeon Pro is an integrated solution. Both cards have no display outputs and use PCIe interfaces, with the AMD card using PCIe 4.0 x8 and the NVIDIA card using the older PCIe 3.0 x16.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has a higher average benchmark score of 45384, compared to the NVIDIA Tesla M40's 41897.

Q: In which benchmark does the NVIDIA Tesla M40 win?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla M40 wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 44602, which is 11.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT's score of 39601.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the NVIDIA Tesla M40 has 12 GB of GDDR5 memory.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has a TDP of 125 W and requires a 300 W PSU, while the NVIDIA Tesla M40 has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W PSU.

Q: Do these cards support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, both cards support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: Which card has a higher theoretical FP32 performance?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla M40 has a higher FP32 performance at 6.832 TFLOPS, compared to the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT's 5.398 TFLOPS.