AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo vs NVIDIA Tesla T4 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear and consistent performance gap between these two workstation accelerators. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo scores 124,335 against 61,276 for the NVIDIA Tesla T4. That is a 102.9% advantage, meaning the AMD card delivers more than double the raw compute throughput in this workload. The Vulkan results tell a similar story: 125,622 versus 72,190, a 74% lead for the Radeon Pro W6800X Duo. Across the two shared benchmark tests, the AMD part wins both, giving it a 2-0 head-to-head record.

These are not marginal differences. A 102.9% delta in OpenCL indicates that the W6800X Duo is in an entirely different performance class for general-purpose compute. The Vulkan gap, while smaller in percentage terms, still represents a substantial advantage for the AMD solution. The Tesla T4's best showing comes in Vulkan, where its score of 72,190 is roughly 18% higher than its own OpenCL result, suggesting the NVIDIA architecture handles that API relatively better. But even that improved result remains far behind the AMD card's lowest recorded score.

For context, the database's average benchmark score for the W6800X Duo is 135,774, placing it in the 96th percentile of all GPUs. The Tesla T4 averages 66,733, which sits in the 90th percentile. Both are above-average performers, but the percentile gap understates the real-world difference: the AMD card averages more than double the score of the Tesla T4. The nearest rivals for the W6800X Duo include the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 at 135,396 (0.3% slower), the NVIDIA A10M at 135,230 (0.4% slower), and the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation at 135,218 (0.4% slower). The Tesla T4's nearest rivals are far lower in the rankings: the AMD Radeon VII at 66,004 (1.1% slower), the NVIDIA Tesla P40 at 65,095 (2.5% slower), and the Intel Arc A770 at 68,809 (3% faster).

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different generations and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo uses the Navi 21 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 26,800 million transistors into a 520 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 51.5 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 uses the TU104 chip with Turing architecture, also fabricated by TSMC but on a 12 nm process. It contains 13,600 million transistors on a slightly larger 545 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 25.0 million per square millimeter. The AMD card is built on a more advanced node with more than double the transistor density.

The compute resources diverge sharply. The W6800X Duo features 3,840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs. It also includes 60 ray tracing cores. The Tesla T4 has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 40 ray tracing cores. Notably, the Tesla T4 includes 320 tensor cores, which the AMD card does not list. The clock behavior also differs: the AMD part runs at a base of 1800 MHz with a boost of 1967 MHz, while the Tesla T4 has a much lower base of 585 MHz but boosts to 1590 MHz. The AMD card's sustained clock speeds are substantially higher.

Memory configurations are another major split. The W6800X Duo carries 32 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla T4 has 16 GB of GDDR6, also on a 256-bit bus, but bandwidth drops to 320.0 GB/s. The AMD card doubles the capacity and offers 60% more bandwidth. The AMD part's memory runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), while the Tesla T4's memory is clocked at 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective).

Power and physical design could not be more different. The W6800X Duo has a 400 W TDP, requires an 800 W suggested PSU, and occupies a quad-slot form factor with an Apple MPX bus interface. The Tesla T4 sips 70 W, needs only a 250 W PSU, takes a single slot, uses PCIe 3.0 x16, and requires no power connectors. The AMD card also offers display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1 and 4x Thunderbolt), while the Tesla T4 has no display outputs at all, being a pure compute accelerator.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo wins decisively in raw compute benchmarks. Its OpenCL score of 124,335 is more than double the Tesla T4's 61,276. Its Vulkan score of 125,622 beats the NVIDIA card's 72,190 by a wide margin. If the workload is heavy parallel computation, rendering, or any task that scales with shading units, texture rate, and memory bandwidth, the AMD card is the clear choice. Its pixel rate of 188.8 GPixel/s and texture rate of 472.1 GTexel/s dwarf the Tesla T4's 101.8 GPixel/s and 254.4 GTexel/s. The AMD card also offers FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS and FP16 of 30.21 TFLOPS (2:1), compared to 8.141 TFLOPS FP32 and 16.28 TFLOPS FP16 for the Tesla T4.

The Tesla T4's advantages are not in speed but in efficiency and form factor. Its 70 W TDP is less than one-fifth of the AMD card's 400 W draw. It fits in a single slot, needs no external power connectors, and can be powered by a modest 250 W PSU. It also supports PCIe 3.0 x16, which is more universally compatible than the Apple MPX interface. The Tesla T4 includes 320 tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks entirely; for workloads that specifically use tensor operations, the NVIDIA card has a dedicated hardware path. The predecessor and successor in NVIDIA's lineup (Tesla Volta and Server Ampere) show this is a server-oriented product designed for datacenter deployment, not desktop rendering.

The Verdict

The data points to one clear conclusion: if raw performance is the priority, the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo is the superior product. It doubles the Tesla T4's OpenCL score and leads by 74% in Vulkan. It offers double the memory capacity, 60% more bandwidth, and significantly higher compute rates across every measured metric. The AMD card sits in the 96th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla T4 sits at the 90th percentile, a gap that reflects the much higher average benchmark score of 135,774 versus 66,733.

However, the Tesla T4 is not without its place. Its 70 W power draw, single-slot design, and lack of power connectors make it suitable for dense server deployments where power density and physical space are constraints. Its tensor cores provide a specialized capability that the AMD card cannot match. For a user who needs a low-power inference accelerator in a PCIe slot, the Tesla T4 is the practical choice. For anyone who needs maximum compute throughput, rendering performance, or memory capacity, the AMD card wins outright. The 400 W TDP and quad-slot size are the price of that performance.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo in OpenCL?

A: The AMD card scores 124,335 versus 61,276 for the Tesla T4, a 102.9% advantage.

Q: Does the Tesla T4 have any benchmark win over the AMD card?

A: No. In the two shared tests (Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan), the AMD card wins both, with a 2-0 record.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The W6800X Duo offers 512.0 GB/s, while the Tesla T4 provides 320.0 GB/s on the same 256-bit bus width.

Q: Which card has more ray tracing cores?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo has 60 ray tracing cores, while the NVIDIA Tesla T4 has 40.

Q: What power supply does each card require?

A: The AMD card suggests an 800 W PSU, while the Tesla T4 only needs 250 W.

Q: Does the Tesla T4 have display outputs?

A: No, the Tesla T4 has no display outputs. The AMD card includes 1x HDMI 2.1 and 4x Thunderbolt.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo | NVIDIA Tesla T4 |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | Turing |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 12 nm |

| Transistors | 26,800 million | 13,600 million |

| Die Size | 520 mm² | 545 mm² |

| Base Clock | 1800 MHz | 585 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1967 MHz | 1590 MHz |

| Memory Size | 32 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 320.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3840 | 2560 |

| TMUs | 240 | 160 |

| ROPs | 96 | 64 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 60 | 40 |

| Tensor Cores | None listed | 320 |

| FP32 Performance | 15.11 TFLOPS | 8.141 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 30.21 TFLOPS (2:1) | 16.28 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| Pixel Rate | 188.8 GPixel/s | 101.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 472.1 GTexel/s | 254.4 GTexel/s |

| TDP | 400 W | 70 W |

| Slot Width | Quad-slot | Single-slot |

| Power Connectors | Not listed | None |

| Suggested PSU | 800 W | 250 W |

| Bus Interface | Apple MPX | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 4x Thunderbolt | No outputs |

| Release Date | 2021-08-02 | 2018-09-12 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | End-of-life |