AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 vs NVIDIA Tesla P40 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 and NVIDIA Tesla P40 are both end-of-life workstation-class accelerators from the 2016-2017 era, but they target fundamentally different use cases. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 is a 14nm GCN 5.0 part with 16GB of HBM2, while the Tesla P40 is a 16nm Pascal compute card with 24GB of GDDR5. Benchmark data shows the AMD card leading in both available head-to-head tests, but the Tesla P40 counters with more memory, a different power delivery setup, and a higher pixel fill rate. This analysis breaks down where each card wins and which user should pick which, based strictly on the provided specifications and scores.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 has an average benchmark score of 72,379, placing it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA Tesla P40 scores 65,095 on average, which puts it in the 89th percentile. That is a gap of roughly 11.2% in the AMD card’s favor.

Q: How much faster is the AMD card in OpenCL compute?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Radeon Pro Vega 64 scores 71,094 versus the Tesla P40’s 62,017. That is a 14.6% advantage for the AMD card, making it the clear winner in that specific workload.

Q: Does the Tesla P40 have any memory advantage?

A: Yes, the Tesla P40 has 24GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 347.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 has 16GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, which provides higher bandwidth at 402.4 GB/s. So the NVIDIA card has more capacity, but the AMD card has faster memory throughput.

Q: What are the power connector requirements for each card?

A: The Tesla P40 uses an 8-pin EPS power connector and has a suggested power supply of 600W, while occupying a dual-slot form factor. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors and a 250W TDP, meaning it draws power differently and does not require external PCIe power cables.

Q: Which card has better Vulkan performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 74,174, compared to the Tesla P40’s 68,172. That is an 8.8% lead for the AMD card. The Tesla P40 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD card supports Vulkan 1.3.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No, both are end-of-life products. The AMD card was released on June 26, 2017, while the NVIDIA card launched earlier on September 12, 2016. The Tesla P40 has a launch MSRP of 5,699 USD, which is the only price information available for either card.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 wins in raw compute benchmarks. It takes both head-to-head tests: Geekbench OpenCL (71,094 vs 62,017, a 14.6% delta) and Geekbench Vulkan (74,174 vs 68,172, an 8.8% delta). Its average score of 72,379 is higher than the Tesla P40’s 65,095, and its percentile rank of 91 versus 89 confirms it sits in a higher performance tier overall. This makes it the stronger choice for compute-heavy tasks that rely on OpenCL or Vulkan APIs, such as general-purpose GPU computing or cross-platform rendering workloads.

The NVIDIA Tesla P40 wins in specific hardware attributes rather than benchmark scores. It has 24GB of memory versus 16GB, which is 50% more capacity for large datasets that exceed the AMD card’s frame buffer. It also has a higher pixel rate at 147.0 GPixel/s versus 86.40 GPixel/s, and a higher texture rate at 367.4 GTexel/s versus 345.6 GTexel/s. Additionally, the Tesla P40 has a higher boost clock at 1531 MHz versus 1350 MHz. These specs suggest it could handle memory-bound or rasterization-heavy workloads better, even though its compute scores lag.

Where the AMD card wins decisively is in memory bandwidth and FP16 throughput. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 delivers 402.4 GB/s versus 347.1 GB/s, a 15.9% advantage in memory bandwidth. Its FP32 performance is 11.06 TFLOPS versus 11.76 TFLOPS, but its FP16 performance is massively higher at 22.12 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) compared to the Tesla P40’s 183.7 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio). That makes the AMD card far superior for workloads that can utilize half-precision math.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on entirely different architectures and process nodes. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 uses the Vega 10 chip with GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, with a transistor density of 25.3M per mm². The NVIDIA Tesla P40 uses the GP102 chip with Pascal architecture, built on a 16nm process at TSMC. It has 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die, with a density of 25.1M per mm². The AMD chip is slightly larger and denser, but the process node difference (14nm vs 16nm) is notable.

The compute resource layout differs significantly. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 has 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The Tesla P40 has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. This means the AMD card has 6.7% more shading units and 6.7% more TMUs, but the NVIDIA card has 50% more ROPs. Neither card has dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, so both rely on traditional compute units.

Memory architecture is another major divergence. The AMD card uses 16GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, which enables its 402.4 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla P40 uses 24GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, providing 347.1 GB/s. The HBM2 design is more power-efficient per bit but limits capacity, while the GDDR5 design allows for more total memory at lower bandwidth.

The Tesla P40 has a legacy lineage: it is the successor to Tesla Maxwell and has a successor in Tesla Volta. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 is part of the Radeon Pro Mac (Vega Series) generation. Both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6, but the Tesla P40 supports Vulkan 1.4 while the AMD card supports Vulkan 1.3.

Specification Differences

The key differences in specifications are clear when placed side by side. The AMD card has a base clock of 1250 MHz and boost of 1350 MHz, while the Tesla P40 runs at 1303 MHz base and 1531 MHz boost. That gives the NVIDIA card a 13.4% higher boost clock. The memory clocks also differ: the AMD card runs at 786 MHz (1572 Mbps effective), while the Tesla P40 runs at 1808 MHz (7.2 Gbps effective).

Memory configuration is a major differentiator: 16GB HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus for AMD versus 24GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus for NVIDIA. This results in bandwidth of 402.4 GB/s for AMD versus 347.1 GB/s for NVIDIA. The AMD card has 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, while the Tesla P40 has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. Pixel rates are 86.40 GPixel/s for AMD versus 147.0 GPixel/s for NVIDIA, and texture rates are 345.6 GTexel/s versus 367.4 GTexel/s respectively.

FP32 performance is close: 11.06 TFLOPS for AMD versus 11.76 TFLOPS for NVIDIA, a 6.3% edge for the Tesla. FP16 performance is not close: 22.12 TFLOPS for AMD versus 183.7 GFLOPS for NVIDIA, a 120x advantage for the Radeon. Both have 250W TDP, but the Tesla P40 is dual-slot with an 8-pin EPS connector and a 600W suggested PSU, while the AMD card is an IGP with no power connectors. The Tesla P40 has dimensions of 267mm length and 111mm height, while the AMD card has no listed dimensions. Display outputs differ: the AMD card is portable device dependent, while the Tesla P40 has no outputs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data is limited to two tests, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 wins both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD card scores 71,094 against the Tesla P40’s 62,017. That is a 14.6% delta, which is the largest margin between the two cards in any benchmark. This result aligns with the AMD card’s higher FP16 throughput and memory bandwidth, both of which benefit OpenCL compute tasks. The Tesla P40’s higher FP32 count (11.76 TFLOPS) does not translate into a win here, suggesting the AMD architecture is more efficient in this API.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the AMD card scores 74,174 versus the Tesla P40’s 68,172, a 8.8% delta. This is a smaller margin than OpenCL but still a clear win for AMD. The Vulkan API benefits from the AMD card’s higher shading unit count (4096 vs 3840) and faster memory bandwidth. Interestingly, the NVIDIA card supports a newer Vulkan version (1.4 vs 1.3), but that does not overcome the hardware deficit in this benchmark.

Looking at the average benchmark scores, the AMD card’s 72,379 is 11.2% higher than the Tesla P40’s 65,095. The AMD card’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition, which scores 73,370 and is 1.4% ahead, while the Tesla P40’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon VII, which scores 66,004 and is 1.4% ahead. This shows both cards are competitive within their respective performance brackets, but the AMD card sits in a higher bracket overall. The wins are 2-0 in favor of the AMD card in direct comparisons.

The Verdict

The data points to the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 as the stronger compute performer. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks, has a higher average score (72,379 vs 65,095), and offers 402.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth versus 347.1 GB/s. Its FP16 performance of 22.12 TFLOPS is a massive advantage for any workload that supports half-precision calculations. The 14.6% OpenCL lead and 8.8% Vulkan lead are significant margins, and the 91st percentile ranking (versus 89th for NVIDIA) confirms its higher standing. If your work is dominated by OpenCL or Vulkan compute, this is the card to choose.

The NVIDIA Tesla P40, however, has its own reasons to be picked. Its 24GB of memory is 50% more than the AMD card, which is critical for datasets that exceed 16GB. Its higher pixel rate (147.0 GPixel/s vs 86.40 GPixel/s) and texture rate (367.4 GTexel/s vs 345.6 GTexel/s) suggest it may handle rasterization-heavy tasks better. Its boost clock of 1531 MHz is higher, and it has 96 ROPs versus 64. If your workload is memory-capacity-bound or relies on high pixel throughput, the Tesla P40 is the practical choice despite losing compute benchmarks.

For most users, the AMD card is the better pick based on benchmark evidence. It wins every measured test, offers faster memory, and has superior FP16 capabilities. The Tesla P40 is a niche option for those who need 24GB of VRAM or specific rasterization features. Both are end-of-life, so availability is limited, but the performance data clearly favors AMD in this matchup. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 is the default recommendation for compute, while the Tesla P40 is a specialized alternative for large-memory or high-pixel-rate scenarios.