AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT vs NVIDIA Tesla T4 Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data presents a clear hierarchy between these two professional GPUs. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 is the superior performer in every recorded head-to-head test, with the database showing a 46.7% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and an 82.3% lead in Geekbench Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 66,733 places it at the 90th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT sits at 45,384 average, which is the 84th percentile. The T4 belongs to a performance tier that includes the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 (slightly faster by 2.7%), the Intel Arc A770 (faster by 3%), and the AMD Radeon VII (nearly identical at 1.1% slower). The Radeon Pro 5500 XT, by contrast, competes with mobile and workstation parts like the Intel Arc A730M (0.5% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (0.5% slower), and the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation (1.3% faster). For users who need maximum compute throughput in OpenCL or Vulkan workloads, the Tesla T4 is the clear choice, while the Radeon Pro 5500 XT may suffice for lighter tasks where its lower power draw is preferable.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The Tesla T4 uses the NVIDIA Turing architecture on the TU104 chip, built on a 12 nm TSMC process with 13,600 million transistors spread across a 545 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 25.0 million per square millimeter. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT uses the RDNA 1.0 architecture on the Navi 14 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process, packing 6,400 million transistors into just 158 mm², giving a much higher density of 40.5 million per square millimeter. The T4's larger die and older process node explain its higher transistor count, but the Radeon's smaller, denser chip is more efficient in terms of area.

The Tesla T4 features 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output pipelines. It also includes 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, reflecting Turing's focus on ray tracing and AI acceleration. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT has 1,536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no dedicated RT or tensor cores listed. The T4's compute rates are correspondingly higher: 8.141 TFLOPS FP32 and 16.28 TFLOPS FP16, versus 5.398 TFLOPS FP32 and 10.80 TFLOPS FP16 for the AMD card. The memory subsystems also differ significantly: the T4 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the Pro 5500 XT has 8 GB on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s. Clock speeds tell a different story, as the AMD chip runs at 1187 MHz base and 1757 MHz boost, well above the T4's 585 MHz base and 1590 MHz boost, but the T4's wider architecture compensates.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data shows two decisive wins for the NVIDIA Tesla T4. In Geekbench OpenCL, the T4 scores 61,276 against the Radeon Pro 5500 XT's 41,772, a delta of 46.7%. This is a substantial margin that reflects the T4's higher FP32 throughput, larger memory pool, and wider memory bus. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens further: the T4 scores 72,190 versus 39,601, a delta of 82.3%. This near-doubling of performance in Vulkan suggests that the T4's Turing architecture, with its dedicated tensor and RT cores, handles graphics and compute workloads more efficiently than the RDNA 1.0 design in this test. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT has no Vulkan rival data in the head-to-head, and its best recorded result is a Geekbench Metal score of 54,779, which is not compared directly against the T4 because the Tesla card lacks a Metal benchmark entry. Overall, the Tesla T4 wins both recorded head-to-head tests, with winsA equal to 2 and winsB equal to 0.

The average benchmark scores reinforce this hierarchy. The T4's average of 66,733 is 47.0% higher than the Radeon's 45,384. The T4's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 at 68,562 (2.7% faster), the Intel Arc A770 at 68,809 (3% faster), and the AMD Radeon VII at 66,004 (1.1% slower). The Radeon Pro 5500 XT's nearest rivals are clustered closely around it: the Intel Arc A730M at 45,592 (0.5% faster), the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation at 45,972 (1.3% faster), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile at 45,152 (0.5% slower). These clusters show that the T4 sits in a mid-to-high performance tier, while the Pro 5500 XT is at the edge of a lower tier where small deltas separate competitors.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla T4 has an average benchmark score of 66,733, which is 47.0% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT's average of 45,384.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two in a specific test?

A: The largest gap is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the Tesla T4 scores 72,190 versus the Radeon Pro 5500 XT's 39,601, a delta of 82.3%.

Q: Does the AMD card win any head-to-head benchmark?

A: No. The recorded data shows the Tesla T4 winning both Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, with winsA equal to 2 and winsB equal to 0.

Q: How do their memory configurations compare?

A: The Tesla T4 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the Radeon Pro 5500 XT has 8 GB on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor density?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has a transistor density of 40.5 million per square millimeter, compared to the Tesla T4's 25.0 million per square millimeter.

Q: What architecture does each GPU use?

A: The Tesla T4 uses NVIDIA's Turing architecture on the TU104 chip, while the Radeon Pro 5500 XT uses AMD's RDNA 1.0 architecture on the Navi 14 chip.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Tesla T4 wins in every recorded compute benchmark, but its advantages are not uniform. The OpenCL margin of 46.7% suggests a strong but not overwhelming lead in general-purpose compute, while the Vulkan margin of 82.3% indicates a more pronounced advantage in graphics-oriented or heterogeneous workloads. The T4's 16 GB of memory, compared to 8 GB on the AMD card, makes it better suited for large dataset processing, and its 320 tensor cores and 40 RT cores provide hardware acceleration for AI inference and ray tracing tasks that the Radeon Pro 5500 XT lacks entirely. The T4's higher FP32 throughput of 8.141 TFLOPS versus 5.398 TFLOPS also favors it in simulation and scientific computing.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT does not win any recorded benchmark, but it has structural advantages in specific areas. Its 7 nm process node allows for a much smaller die (158 mm² versus 545 mm²) and higher transistor density, which suggests better manufacturing efficiency. The card's boost clock of 1757 MHz is higher than the T4's 1590 MHz, though this does not translate into a performance win. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT also supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the T4 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, potentially offering faster host data transfer in compatible systems. For users who prioritize lower power consumption, the AMD card's 125 W TDP is higher than the T4's 70 W, so the T4 actually wins on power efficiency as well. The Radeon's only unique advantage is its Metal benchmark score of 54,779, which is not compared to the T4 in the head-to-head data, but it does demonstrate that the card can deliver respectable performance in Apple-centric environments.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every technical specification. The process node is 12 nm for the Tesla T4 versus 7 nm for the Radeon Pro 5500 XT, both fabricated by TSMC. Transistor counts are 13,600 million versus 6,400 million, and die sizes are 545 mm² versus 158 mm². The T4's transistor density is 25.0M per mm², while the AMD card achieves 40.5M per mm². Clock speeds: the T4 runs at 585 MHz base and 1590 MHz boost, while the Radeon runs at 1187 MHz base and 1757 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective) for the T4 and 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for the AMD card. Memory capacity is 16 GB versus 8 GB, with bus widths of 256 bit versus 128 bit, and bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s. Shading units are 2,560 versus 1,536, TMUs are 160 versus 96, and ROPs are 64 versus 32. The T4 has 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, while the AMD card has none listed. Pixel rates are 101.8 GPixel/s versus 56.22 GPixel/s, and texture rates are 254.4 GTexel/s versus 168.7 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 8.141 TFLOPS versus 5.398 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 16.28 TFLOPS versus 10.80 TFLOPS. TDP is 70 W versus 125 W, with the T4 being single-slot and the AMD card listed as IGP. The T4 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Radeon uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Both have no display outputs and no power connectors. The T4 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_1); both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The T4 measures 168 mm in length, while the AMD card has no dimensions recorded. The T4 was released in September 2018, while the Radeon Pro 5500 XT arrived in August 2020, and both are now end-of-life products.