GPU Comparison

# NVIDIA Tesla M40 vs AMD Radeon Pro 580

The NVIDIA Tesla M40 is the faster card in this matchup, winning both head-to-head benchmark comparisons against the AMD Radeon Pro 580. The M40 leads by 1.9% in Geekbench OpenCL and 3% in Geekbench Vulkan, with a higher average benchmark score of 41,897 versus 40,318. While the margins are modest, the M40 also carries architectural advantages in raw throughput, memory bandwidth, and shading resources that make it the stronger compute-oriented GPU.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two shared benchmarks show a consistent, if narrow, lead for the NVIDIA Tesla M40. In Geekbench OpenCL, the M40 scores 39,192 against the Radeon Pro 580's 38,457, a 1.9% advantage. The gap widens slightly in Geekbench Vulkan, where the M40 posts 44,602 versus 43,285, a 3% lead. These results align with the cards' overall average scores: the M40 averages 41,897 across all benchmarks, while the Radeon Pro 580 averages 40,318, a 3.9% difference.

The M40's wins are not flukes of a single workload. Its higher pixel rate of 106.8 GPixel/s dwarfs the Radeon Pro 580's 38.40 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 213.5 GTexel/s exceeds the AMD card's 172.8 GTexel/s. The M40 also delivers 6.832 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, compared to 5.530 TFLOPS for the Radeon Pro 580, which explains its edge in compute-heavy OpenCL and Vulkan tasks.

That said, the Radeon Pro 580 is not without merit. It posts a strong 39,213 in Geekbench Metal, a benchmark the M40 cannot run due to lacking Metal support. In the shared OpenCL test, the 1.9% gap is well within the margin seen across rival comparisons, for instance, the M40 is only 0.5% ahead of the Tesla M40 24 GB and 1.7% ahead of the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, while the Radeon Pro 580 sits 0.1% behind the RTX 5070 and 0.6% ahead of the Radeon Pro WX 7100.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA Tesla M40 is built on the Maxwell 2.0 architecture using the GM200 chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 8,000 million transistors across a 601 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.3 million per mm². The AMD Radeon Pro 580 uses the GCN 4.0 architecture with the Ellesmere chip, manufactured by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm process. It contains 5,700 million transistors on a much smaller 232 mm² die, achieving a higher transistor density of 24.6 million per mm².

The M40 features 3,072 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs. The Radeon Pro 580 counters with 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and only 32 ROPs, a significant shortfall that explains its much lower pixel fill rate. Neither card has dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, as both predate those technologies.

Clock speeds tell a nuanced story. The Radeon Pro 580 has higher base and boost clocks at 1,100 MHz and 1,200 MHz, respectively, compared to the M40's 948 MHz base and 1,112 MHz boost. However, the M40's larger chip and wider execution resources overcome this clock deficit in raw throughput. The M40 also has a wider memory interface at 384-bit versus 256-bit, and its memory runs at 1,502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) against the Radeon's 1,695 MHz (6.8 Gbps effective). The result: the M40 delivers 288.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth to the Radeon's 217.0 GB/s.

The API feature sets differ slightly. The M40 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon Pro 580 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. Both offer OpenGL 4.6. The M40 also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with 5.530 TFLOPS, matching its FP32 output, whereas the M40 does not list FP16 capabilities.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Tesla M40 wins in every head-to-head benchmark category that both cards can run. Its advantages in OpenCL and Vulkan point to strengths in compute workloads, particularly those that leverage high FP32 throughput, wide memory bandwidth, and high pixel and texture fill rates. The M40's 12 GB of VRAM, double the Radeon's 8 GB, also makes it more suitable for large datasets that exceed 8 GB. Its 96 ROPs versus the Radeon's 32 ROPs gives it a decisive edge in rasterization-heavy tasks that require high pixel output.

The AMD Radeon Pro 580's wins are contextual. It delivers a 39,213 Geekbench Metal score, which is relevant only in Apple-centric environments where Metal is the primary graphics API. The M40 has no display outputs and is a dual-slot card with an 8-pin EPS power connector, while the Radeon Pro 580 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no power connectors and portable-device-dependent display outputs. This makes the Radeon Pro 580 the only choice in the comparison for mobile or integrated deployments where the M40 cannot physically fit or function.

The Radeon Pro 580 also has a lower TDP of 185 W versus the M40's 250 W, and it does not require a suggested PSU rating, whereas the M40 lists a 600 W suggested PSU. For power-constrained systems, the Radeon Pro 580 is the more practical option despite its lower performance.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla M40 scores 39,192, beating the AMD Radeon Pro 580's 38,457 by 1.9%.

Q: How do the cards compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The M40 leads with 44,602 versus the Radeon Pro 580's 43,285, a 3% advantage.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Pro 580 have any benchmark where it wins?

A: The Radeon Pro 580 scores 39,213 in Geekbench Metal, a benchmark the M40 does not support. In shared benchmarks, the M40 wins both.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The M40 has 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon Pro 580 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 217.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has higher power consumption?

A: The M40 has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W suggested PSU. The Radeon Pro 580 has a TDP of 185 W and lists no PSU requirement.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: Both are end-of-life. The M40 was released in 2015, and the Radeon Pro 580 in 2017.

The Verdict

The data clearly favors the NVIDIA Tesla M40 for raw performance. It wins both shared benchmarks, offers 23.5% higher FP32 throughput (6.832 vs 5.530 TFLOPS), delivers 32.9% more memory bandwidth (288.4 vs 217.0 GB/s), and has 50% more VRAM (12 GB vs 8 GB). Its 96 ROPs provide nearly three times the pixel rate of the Radeon Pro 580, and its 192 TMUs outpace the AMD card's 144. For any compute, rendering, or data-heavy workload where the card can be installed, the M40 is the superior choice.

The AMD Radeon Pro 580 wins only in deployment flexibility. As an IGP with no power connectors and portable-device-dependent outputs, it can operate where the M40's dual-slot, 8-pin EPS, no-output design cannot. It also draws 65 W less power and requires no suggested PSU. For Apple-centric workflows using Metal, the Radeon Pro 580's 39,213 Metal score is the only relevant metric in this comparison. But for pure performance across OpenCL and Vulkan, the M40's wins are consistent and decisive, making it the pick for anyone with the physical and power headroom to accommodate it.

Specification Differences

| Field | NVIDIA Tesla M40 | AMD Radeon Pro 580 |

|-------|------------------|-------------------|

| Architecture | Maxwell 2.0 | GCN 4.0 |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 14 nm |

| Transistors | 8,000 million | 5,700 million |

| Die Size | 601 mm² | 232 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.3M / mm² | 24.6M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 948 MHz | 1100 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1112 MHz | 1200 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1502 MHz / 6 Gbps effective | 1695 MHz / 6.8 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 12 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Bus | 384 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 288.4 GB/s | 217.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3072 | 2304 |

| TMUs | 192 | 144 |

| ROPs | 96 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 106.8 GPixel/s | 38.40 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 213.5 GTexel/s | 172.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 6.832 TFLOPS | 5.530 TFLOPS |

| FP16 |, | 5.530 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 185 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 8-pin EPS | None |

| Suggested PSU | 600 W |, |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 (12_0) |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Dimensions | 267 mm / 10.5 inches |, |

| Release Date | 2015-11-09 | 2017-06-04 |