AMD Radeon RX 5300M vs NVIDIA Tesla P4 Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla P4 and AMD Radeon RX 5300M are both end-of-life products, but they serve fundamentally different roles. The data shows a clear split: the RX 5300M wins the only shared benchmark, while the Tesla P4 offers a substantially larger memory pool and higher raw compute throughput. The RX 5300M edges out the Tesla P4 in the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 36,529 versus 34,947, a 4.3% advantage. However, the Tesla P4 counters with nearly three times the memory capacity, a wider memory bus, and higher peak FP32 performance, making it the more versatile compute card for large datasets.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 5300M takes the single head-to-head benchmark victory. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 36,529 against the Tesla P4’s 34,947, a 4.3% lead. This result places the RX 5300M in the 80th percentile of all GPUs, nearly identical to the Tesla P4’s 81st percentile. The RX 5300M’s closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X with a score of 36,530 (0% delta), indicating it performs at the level of a high-end desktop card from a previous generation despite its mobile positioning.

The NVIDIA Tesla P4 wins on architectural capacity. It offers 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 192.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This compares favorably to the RX 5300M’s 3 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus, which provides 168.0 GB/s. The Tesla P4 also leads in compute density with 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, versus the RX 5300M’s 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Peak FP32 performance on the Tesla P4 is 5.704 TFLOPS, while the RX 5300M reaches 4.069 TFLOPS.

The benchmark scores tell a nuanced story. The RX 5300M’s 4.3% OpenCL victory does not translate into a decisive performance class lead, as the two cards sit within 1,600 points of each other. Rather, the RX 5300M wins on efficiency in that specific workload, while the Tesla P4 wins on raw specifications that favor larger workloads and higher throughput. The Tesla P4’s 75 W TDP is also lower than the RX 5300M’s 85 W TDP, making it the more power-conscious option despite its older architecture.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and process nodes. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 uses the GP104 chip built on Pascal architecture, fabricated on a 16 nm TSMC process. It contains 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 22.9 million per mm². The AMD Radeon RX 5300M uses the Navi 14 chip on RDNA 1.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm TSMC process. This newer node allows AMD to pack 6,400 million transistors onto a smaller 158 mm² die, achieving a much higher density of 40.5 million per mm².

Clock speeds differ significantly. The Tesla P4 has a base clock of 886 MHz and a boost clock of 1114 MHz. The RX 5300M operates at a 1000 MHz base, 1181 MHz game clock, and 1445 MHz boost. The higher clocks on the RX 5300M, combined with its newer architecture, explain how it can compete with the Tesla P4 despite having far fewer shading units. Memory clocks also diverge: the Tesla P4 runs at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) while the RX 5300M runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), though the Tesla P4’s wider bus compensates with higher overall bandwidth.

FP16 performance reveals a stark architectural difference. The Tesla P4 delivers 89.12 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio, meaning FP16 is severely de-emphasized. The RX 5300M delivers 8.138 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, making it far more capable for workloads that benefit from reduced precision. The RX 5300M also supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the Tesla P4 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The Tesla P4 is a single-slot card with no display outputs and no power connectors, drawing all power from the PCIe slot. The RX 5300M is a mobile part with display outputs described as "Portable Device Dependent."

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher peak FP32 performance?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla P4 leads with 5.704 TFLOPS, compared to the AMD Radeon RX 5300M’s 4.069 TFLOPS. This represents a 40% advantage for the Tesla P4 in raw single-precision compute.

Q: How does the memory configuration differ?

A: The Tesla P4 offers 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 192.3 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 5300M provides 3 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus with 168.0 GB/s. The Tesla P4 has both more capacity and higher bandwidth.

Q: Which card wins in the shared Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5300M scores 36,529 against the Tesla P4’s 34,947, a 4.3% margin. This is the only head-to-head benchmark available in the data.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The Tesla P4 has a 75 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 250 W, while the RX 5300M has an 85 W TDP with no suggested PSU listed. Neither card requires external power connectors.

Q: Which GPU is more recent?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5300M was released on 2019-11-12, while the NVIDIA Tesla P4 was released on 2016-09-12. The RX 5300M is over three years newer in release date.

Q: How do the transistor densities compare?

A: The RX 5300M achieves 40.5 million transistors per mm² on a 7 nm process, nearly double the Tesla P4’s 22.9 million per mm² on 16 nm. This reflects the process node advantage of the newer AMD chip.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two GPUs:

• Architecture: Pascal vs RDNA 1.0
• Process Node: 16 nm vs 7 nm
• Transistors: 7,200 million vs 6,400 million
• Die Size: 314 mm² vs 158 mm²
• Transistor Density: 22.9M / mm² vs 40.5M / mm²
• Base Clock: 886 MHz vs 1000 MHz
• Boost Clock: 1114 MHz vs 1445 MHz
• Game Clock: None vs 1181 MHz
• Memory Clock: 1502 MHz / 6 Gbps vs 1750 MHz / 14 Gbps
• Memory Size: 8 GB vs 3 GB
• Memory Type: GDDR5 vs GDDR6
• Memory Bus Width: 256 bit vs 96 bit
• Memory Bandwidth: 192.3 GB/s vs 168.0 GB/s
• Shading Units: 2560 vs 1408
• TMUs: 160 vs 88
• ROPs: 64 vs 32
• Pixel Rate: 71.30 GPixel/s vs 46.24 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: 178.2 GTexel/s vs 127.2 GTexel/s
• FP32 Performance: 5.704 TFLOPS vs 4.069 TFLOPS
• FP16 Performance: 89.12 GFLOPS (1:64) vs 8.138 TFLOPS (2:1)
• TDP: 75 W vs 85 W
• Slot Width: Single-slot vs None
• Suggested PSU: 250 W vs None
• Bus Interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 vs PCIe 4.0 x8
• Display Outputs: No outputs vs Portable Device Dependent
• Release Date: 2016-09-12 vs 2019-11-12
• Predecessor: Tesla Maxwell vs Polaris Mobile
• Successor: Tesla Volta vs None

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, where the AMD Radeon RX 5300M wins 36,529 to 34,947, a 4.3% margin. This is a modest victory, and the context matters. The RX 5300M achieves this with 1,152 fewer shading units and 72 fewer TMUs than the Tesla P4. Its advantage comes from higher clocks (1445 MHz boost vs 1114 MHz) and a much newer architecture on a 7 nm process.

The Tesla P4’s strengths are visible in specifications that the OpenCL test does not fully capture. Its 8 GB memory capacity is over 2.6 times larger than the RX 5300M’s 3 GB, and its 192.3 GB/s bandwidth is 14.5% higher. The Tesla P4 also produces 71.30 GPixel/s of pixel fill rate versus 46.24 GPixel/s on the RX 5300M, and 178.2 GTexel/s of texture rate versus 127.2 GTexel/s. These are significant leads in fixed-function throughput.

The FP16 comparison is lopsided in the other direction. The RX 5300M delivers 8.138 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, which is 91 times higher than the Tesla P4’s 89.12 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio. For any workload that can use reduced precision, the RX 5300M is the clear choice. For FP32-heavy tasks, the Tesla P4’s 5.704 TFLOPS versus 4.069 TFLOPS gives it a 40% edge.

The percentile rankings are nearly identical, with the Tesla P4 at 81 and the RX 5300M at 80. The Tesla P4’s average benchmark score of 37,628 places it within 0.1% of the GeForce RTX 4070 and 0.3% ahead of the RX Vega 56. The RX 5300M’s 36,529 average is within 0.7% of the NVIDIA T1000 and 1.7% behind the Radeon PRO W6400. Both cards sit in a competitive mid-range performance tier, despite their different form factors and release dates.

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon RX 5300M is the better choice for mobile or space-constrained applications where the Geekbench OpenCL score matters most. It wins the only benchmark test, offers far superior FP16 performance, and does so on a more modern 7 nm process with higher clock speeds. Its 3 GB memory is the limiting factor, but for workloads that fit within that capacity, the RX 5300M delivers competitive performance with a 4.3% edge over the Tesla P4.

The NVIDIA Tesla P4 is the pick for server or datacenter deployments that need large memory capacity and high FP32 throughput. Its 8 GB VRAM, 256-bit bus, and 192.3 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for larger models or datasets. It also consumes less power at 75 W versus 85 W, and its single-slot, no-connector design simplifies installation. The Tesla P4’s 40% FP32 advantage and 71.30 GPixel/s pixel rate are decisive for compute-heavy workloads.

For buyers prioritizing benchmark scores, the RX 5300M wins. For buyers prioritizing memory capacity, raw FP32 compute, or power efficiency, the Tesla P4 wins. The data does not support a universal recommendation; it supports a workload-specific one. The RX 5300M’s 80th percentile ranking and the Tesla P4’s 81st percentile ranking indicate they are peers in overall performance, with the deciding factors being the specific tasks and memory requirements.