AMD Radeon RX 6550M vs NVIDIA Tesla M40 Comparison

AMD Radeon RX 6550M and NVIDIA Tesla M40 represent two very different eras of GPU design, and the benchmark data reflects a clear generational shift. The AMD Radeon RX 6550M, a modern 6 nm mobile part, wins both head-to-head benchmark tests against the older 28 nm Tesla M40 compute card. The data shows the RX 6550M leads by 8.5% in Geekbench OpenCL and 14% in Geekbench Vulkan, with the AMD card scoring 42,536 and 50,867 respectively, compared to the Tesla M40’s 39,192 and 44,602. These are not marginal victories; the Vulkan margin is particularly significant, suggesting architectural efficiency that the older Maxwell design cannot match.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows the AMD Radeon RX 6550M scoring 42,536 against the NVIDIA Tesla M40’s 39,192, a delta of 8.5%. While the Tesla M40 has far more raw shading units (3072 vs 1024) and a much higher theoretical FP32 throughput (6.832 TFLOPS vs 5.816 TFLOPS), the RX 6550M still wins. This is a striking result: the newer card delivers superior OpenCL performance despite having roughly one-third the shader count and lower peak floating-point throughput. The data implies that clock speed and memory efficiency matter more than sheer core count in this workload. The RX 6550M boosts to 2840 MHz versus the M40’s 1112 MHz, and its GDDR6 memory operates at 18 Gbps effective versus 6 Gbps, which likely compensates for the narrower 64-bit bus.

The Vulkan test widens the gap considerably. The RX 6550M posts 50,867, while the Tesla M40 manages 44,602, giving the AMD card a 14% advantage. Vulkan is a lower-overhead API, and the RDNA 2.0 architecture appears to extract more real-world performance from its hardware. The Tesla M40, built on Maxwell 2.0, was designed before Vulkan matured, and its API support is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 6550M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The 14% delta in Vulkan suggests that the newer architecture handles draw calls and command buffers more efficiently, a critical factor for modern game engines and compute workloads.

It is also worth examining the average benchmark scores and percentile rankings. The RX 6550M has an average benchmark score of 46,702, placing it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs. The Tesla M40 averages 41,897, sitting in the 83rd percentile. While both are above average, the RX 6550M’s higher percentile and lower power envelope (80 W vs 250 W) make its wins more impressive. The M40’s closest rivals include the Tesla M40 24 GB (0.5% lower) and the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (1.7% lower), while the RX 6550M’s nearest competitors are the Intel Arc A530M (0.2% higher) and AMD Radeon RX 5600M (0.2% higher). These margins are tight, but the head-to-head data shows a decisive victory for the AMD part.

The Verdict

From the data, the AMD Radeon RX 6550M is the clear winner in every measured benchmark. It wins both Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests, with margins of 8.5% and 14% respectively. For any user prioritizing raw compute performance in these specific tests, the RX 6550M is the better choice. Its 85th percentile ranking versus the M40’s 83rd percentile reinforces this conclusion. However, the verdict is not without nuance. The Tesla M40 offers 12 GB of VRAM versus the RX 6550M’s 4 GB, and its 384-bit memory bus provides 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth versus 144.0 GB/s. For workloads that require large datasets to reside in VRAM, the M40 might be more practical, despite losing in raw compute benchmarks. The M40 also supports more shading units (3072) and TMUs (192), which could benefit certain parallel workloads not captured by Geekbench. But strictly based on the benchmark scores provided, the RX 6550M is the superior performer. The data suggests that architectural efficiency and higher clocks overcome the M40’s advantages in core count and memory bus width. For a modern user, the RX 6550M is the recommended pick, provided their workloads fit within its 4 GB memory limit.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast. The AMD Radeon RX 6550M uses the Navi 24 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC. It packs 5,400 million transistors into a 107 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 50.5 million per square millimeter. In contrast, the NVIDIA Tesla M40 uses the GM200 chip based on Maxwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. The M40 has 8,000 million transistors spread across a massive 601 mm² die, but its transistor density is only 13.3 million per square millimeter. This is a fundamental difference: the RX 6550M crams nearly four times more transistors into a much smaller space, enabling higher clocks and better power efficiency.

The RX 6550M features 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, along with 16 ray tracing cores. The Tesla M40 has 3072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, but no ray tracing cores. Despite having three times the shader count, the M40’s lower clock speeds (948 MHz base, 1112 MHz boost) hamper its performance. The RX 6550M runs at 2000 MHz base and 2840 MHz boost, a massive clock advantage. The architecture also differs in API support: the RX 6550M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the M40 only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the newer RDNA 2.0 design is built for modern workloads, including ray tracing, which the M40 lacks entirely. The M40 is a compute-focused card with no display outputs, while the RX 6550M is an integrated GPU (IGP) for mobile devices, with display outputs dependent on the portable device.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every measurable specification. The process node is 6 nm for the RX 6550M versus 28 nm for the Tesla M40, representing a massive generational leap. Transistor count is 5,400 million for the AMD card versus 8,000 million for the NVIDIA card, but die size is 107 mm² versus 601 mm². Clocks: the RX 6550M has a 2000 MHz base and 2840 MHz boost, while the M40 operates at 948 MHz base and 1112 MHz boost. Memory configuration is starkly different: the RX 6550M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 144.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the M40 has 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card’s memory runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while the M40’s memory runs at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective). The RX 6550M has 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, versus the M40’s 3072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The RX 6550M includes 16 ray tracing cores; the M40 has none. FP32 performance is 5.816 TFLOPS for the RX 6550M versus 6.832 TFLOPS for the M40. The RX 6550M also supports FP16 at 11.63 TFLOPS (2:1), while the M40 has no FP16 support listed. Power consumption is 80 W for the AMD card versus 250 W for the NVIDIA card. The RX 6550M is an IGP with no power connectors, while the M40 is dual-slot, requires an 8-pin EPS connector, and suggests a 600 W PSU. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x4 for the RX 6550M versus PCIe 3.0 x16 for the M40. The M40 has a length of 267 mm (10.5 inches), while the RX 6550M has no listed dimensions. Production status: the RX 6550M is Active, while the M40 is End-of-life.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6550M wins, scoring 42,536 against the NVIDIA Tesla M40’s 39,192, a delta of 8.5%.

Q: What is the margin in the Vulkan test?

A: The RX 6550M scores 50,867, while the M40 scores 44,602, giving the AMD card a 14% advantage.

Q: How much VRAM does each card have?

A: The RX 6550M has 4 GB of GDDR6, while the Tesla M40 has 12 GB of GDDR5.

Q: What are the TDPs of these GPUs?

A: The RX 6550M has a TDP of 80 W, while the M40 has a TDP of 250 W.

Q: Which GPU has a higher FP32 throughput?

A: The Tesla M40 has a higher FP32 rating at 6.832 TFLOPS, compared to the RX 6550M’s 5.816 TFLOPS, yet the M40 still loses both benchmarks.

Q: Does the Tesla M40 support ray tracing?

A: No, the M40 has no ray tracing cores, while the RX 6550M includes 16 ray tracing cores.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6550M wins in every benchmark provided, but the data points to specific strengths. It excels in Vulkan workloads, with a 14% lead, making it the better choice for modern APIs and gaming scenarios. Its higher clock speeds (2840 MHz boost) and 16 ray tracing cores suggest it is built for real-time rendering and ray-traced effects. The 80 W TDP makes it ideal for mobile devices where power efficiency is critical. The RX 6550M also supports FP16 at 11.63 TFLOPS, which is useful for AI inference and certain compute tasks that can leverage half-precision. Its 85th percentile ranking indicates it outperforms the vast majority of GPUs in the database, despite its modest 4 GB memory capacity.

The NVIDIA Tesla M40, despite losing both benchmarks, has its own domain of advantage. Its 12 GB of VRAM and 288.4 GB/s memory bandwidth, coupled with a 384-bit bus, make it better suited for workloads that require large memory footprints, such as training large models or processing big datasets that do not fit in 4 GB. Its higher FP32 throughput (6.832 TFLOPS) could theoretically benefit compute tasks that are not memory-bound. The M40 also has more shading units (3072) and TMUs (192), which might help in specific parallel compute patterns. However, its 250 W TDP and dual-slot design restrict it to desktop or server environments. The M40 is end-of-life, so it offers no future driver support or warranty. For users with legacy compute pipelines that require massive VRAM, the M40 is the only viable choice. But for anyone measuring performance through Geekbench, the RX 6550M is the unequivocal winner, delivering more performance per watt and per transistor.