AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM vs NVIDIA Tesla T4 Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla T4 and AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM represent two very different design philosophies aimed at different workloads. The T4 is a 70 W, single-slot, passive server accelerator from 2018, while the RX 5600 OEM is a 125 W, dual-slot desktop GPU from 2020. Benchmark data shows a split decision: the RX 5600 OEM wins the OpenCL test, while the T4 dominates Vulkan by a massive margin. The overall average benchmark score favors the T4 (66733 vs 58085), placing it in the 90th percentile versus the RX 5600 OEM’s 87th percentile. This page breaks down exactly where each card excels, the architectural reasons behind those differences, and which buyer should choose which.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head benchmark results reveal a clear division of labor between these two cards. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM scores 62427 versus the Tesla T4’s 61276, giving AMD a 1.8% edge. This is a narrow victory, but it signals that in compute workloads using OpenCL, the RX 5600 OEM can hold its own against a dedicated server accelerator.

The story flips dramatically in Geekbench Vulkan. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 scores 72190, while the RX 5600 OEM manages just 53743. That is a 34.3% advantage for NVIDIA — a decisive, generation-spanning gap. Vulkan is a low-level graphics and compute API, and the T4’s Turing architecture, with its dedicated RT and tensor cores, appears to handle it far more efficiently than AMD’s RDNA 1.0 design.

Looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the Tesla T4’s average score of 66733 puts it 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon VII and 2.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P40, while trailing the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 by 2.7% and the Intel Arc A770 by 3%. The RX 5600 OEM’s average of 58085 places it nearly level with the Intel Arc A570M (0.3% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (0.5% behind), and the NVIDIA P102-100 (0.8% behind), while sitting 0.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A580. In short, the T4 competes in a higher performance tier overall, despite losing the OpenCL head-to-head.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different foundations. The Tesla T4 uses NVIDIA’s Turing architecture on a 12 nm process from TSMC, with a die size of 545 mm² housing 13,600 million transistors. The RX 5600 OEM uses AMD’s RDNA 1.0 architecture on a 7 nm process, also from TSMC, but with a much smaller 251 mm² die containing 10,300 million transistors. This means the AMD chip packs 41.0M transistors per mm² versus the NVIDIA’s 25.0M per mm², reflecting the newer, denser manufacturing node.

Core configurations differ significantly. The T4 has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 64 render output units (ROPs). It also includes 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores — features completely absent from the RX 5600 OEM, which has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, but no RT or tensor cores. The T4’s pixel rate is 101.8 GPixel/s versus the RX 5600 OEM’s 99.84 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 254.4 GTexel/s is well ahead of AMD’s 199.7 GTexel/s. In raw FP32 compute, the T4 delivers 8.141 TFLOPS against the RX 5600 OEM’s 6.390 TFLOPS, and FP16 performance follows suit at 16.28 TFLOPS versus 12.78 TFLOPS (both at 2:1 ratios).

Memory is another major differentiator. The T4 comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 5600 OEM has only 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s. Clock speeds also diverge: the T4 runs at a base of 585 MHz and boosts to 1590 MHz, while the RX 5600 OEM has a higher base of 1130 MHz, a game clock of 1375 MHz, and a boost of 1560 MHz. Memory clocks show 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective) on the T4 versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) on the AMD.

Power and physical design paint the clearest picture of their intended roles. The T4 is a 70 W card, single-slot, with no power connectors and no display outputs; it requires a 250 W PSU and uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The RX 5600 OEM is a 125 W dual-slot card with a single 8-pin connector, requires a 300 W PSU, and offers outputs via 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, on PCIe 4.0 x16. The T4 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 5600 OEM only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1); both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The T4 measures 168 mm in length, while the RX 5600 OEM’s dimensions are not listed.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion: choose the NVIDIA Tesla T4 if your workload prioritizes Vulkan performance, raw compute throughput, or memory capacity. Its 34.3% Vulkan lead, higher FP32 (8.141 TFLOPS vs 6.390 TFLOPS), double the memory (16 GB vs 6 GB), and superior average benchmark score (66733 vs 58085) make it the more capable accelerator overall, despite being older by over a year. The T4’s 90th percentile ranking versus the RX 5600 OEM’s 87th further cements this.

Choose the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM if you need a conventional desktop GPU with display outputs, lower power draw relative to its performance class, or if your specific OpenCL workloads benefit from its 1.8% edge in that test. The RX 5600 OEM also has a higher transistor density (41.0M/mm² vs 25.0M/mm²) and a smaller die, which may be relevant in space-constrained builds, though its dual-slot design and 8-pin connector make it less flexible than the T4’s single-slot, no-connector profile.

For compute-heavy server or AI inference tasks, the T4’s tensor cores and 16 GB frame buffer are decisive. For gaming or desktop graphics, the RX 5600 OEM’s display outputs and DirectX 12 support are essential, though its lower Vulkan score is a notable weakness. The verdict is not close: the T4 wins on nearly every computational metric, while the RX 5600 OEM wins only on OpenCL and practical desktop usability.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla T4 has an average benchmark score of 66733, placing it in the 90th percentile of all GPUs. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM scores 58085 on average, putting it in the 87th percentile.

Q: How large is the Vulkan performance gap between the two?

A: In Geekbench Vulkan, the Tesla T4 scores 72190 versus the RX 5600 OEM’s 53743, a 34.3% advantage for NVIDIA.

Q: Does the RX 5600 OEM win any benchmark against the T4?

A: Yes, in Geekbench OpenCL the RX 5600 OEM scores 62427 compared to the T4’s 61276, giving AMD a 1.8% win.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The Tesla T4 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 5600 OEM has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has tensor cores and RT cores?

A: Only the NVIDIA Tesla T4 includes them, featuring 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM has neither.

Q: What are the power and physical differences?

A: The T4 is a 70 W, single-slot card with no power connectors and no display outputs. The RX 5600 OEM is a 125 W, dual-slot card with one 8-pin connector and display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two benchmark results offer a stark contrast in performance profiles. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM wins with a score of 62427 versus the Tesla T4’s 61276. The 1.8% delta is small, but it is a genuine victory for AMD in a compute API that is widely used across scientific and professional applications. This suggests that for OpenCL-specific workloads, the RX 5600 OEM’s RDNA 1.0 architecture can outperform the older Turing design, despite the T4’s higher theoretical FP32 throughput.

The Geekbench Vulkan result is where the Tesla T4 asserts its dominance. Scoring 72190, it beats the RX 5600 OEM’s 53743 by 34.3%. This is not a marginal difference; it is a crushing advantage that highlights the T4’s superior handling of Vulkan’s low-level pipeline. The T4’s RT cores and tensor cores, while not directly benchmarked here, likely contribute to this efficiency, as does its larger texture rate (254.4 GTexel/s vs 199.7 GTexel/s) and higher pixel rate (101.8 GPixel/s vs 99.84 GPixel/s).

Beyond the direct head-to-head, the T4’s average score of 66733 is 14.9% higher than the RX 5600 OEM’s 58085, a gap that mirrors the Vulkan result more than the OpenCL one. The T4’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon VII (66004, 1.1% behind) and the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (65095, 2.5% behind), placing it in solid company. The RX 5600 OEM, by contrast, sits near the Intel Arc A570M (58239, 0.3% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (58392, 0.5% ahead), and the NVIDIA P102-100 (58528, 0.8% ahead), with only the Intel Arc A580 (57756) trailing it by 0.6%. This shows that while the RX 5600 OEM is a competent mid-range card, the T4 operates in a higher performance tier altogether.

Specification Differences

The following table highlights only the fields where the two GPUs differ, based on the fact pack:

| Specification | NVIDIA Tesla T4 | AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM |

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

| Chip | TU104 | Navi 10 |

| Architecture | Turing | RDNA 1.0 |

| Generation | Tesla Turing (Txx) | Navi (RX 5000) |

| Process Node | 12 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 13,600 million | 10,300 million |

| Die Size | 545 mm² | 251 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 25.0M / mm² | 41.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 585 MHz | 1130 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1590 MHz | 1560 MHz |

| Game Clock | N/A | 1375 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1250 MHz (10 Gbps) | 1500 MHz (12 Gbps) |

| Memory Size | 16 GB | 6 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 320.0 GB/s | 288.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2560 | 2048 |

| TMUs | 160 | 128 |

| ROPs | 64 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 40 | N/A |

| Tensor Cores | 320 | N/A |

| Pixel Rate | 101.8 GPixel/s | 99.84 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 254.4 GTexel/s | 199.7 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 8.141 TFLOPS | 6.390 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 16.28 TFLOPS (2:1) | 12.78 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 70 W | 125 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Length | 168 mm | Not listed |

| Release Date | 2018-09-12 | 2020-01-20 |

| Predecessor | Tesla Volta | Vega |

| Successor | Server Ampere | Navi II |

| Geekbench OpenCL Score | 61276 | 62427 |

| Geekbench Vulkan Score | 72190 | 53743 |

| Average Benchmark Score | 66733 | 58085 |

| Percentile vs All GPUs | 90 | 87 |