AMD Radeon RX 6550M vs NVIDIA Tesla P40 Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla P40 and AMD Radeon RX 6550M occupy opposite ends of the hardware spectrum: one is a dual-slot datacenter accelerator from 2016, the other a modern integrated mobile GPU. The benchmark data from the database shows a clear performance hierarchy, but the story is more nuanced when considering architecture, memory, and target use cases.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two benchmark comparisons between these cards, and the NVIDIA Tesla P40 wins both decisively. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Tesla P40 scores 62017 points against the RX 6550M's 42536 points. That is a 45.8% advantage for the NVIDIA card, a massive margin that reflects the fundamental difference in compute resources. The Tesla P40's 3840 shading units and 11.76 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput simply overwhelm the RX 6550M's 1024 shading units and 5.816 TFLOPS.

The Vulkan test tells a similar story, though the gap narrows slightly. The Tesla P40 records 68172 points, while the RX 6550M manages 50867 points. The delta here is 34%, still a commanding lead for the older NVIDIA part. Notably, the Tesla P40's Vulkan score is higher than its OpenCL score, suggesting strong driver optimization for that API, while the RX 6550M shows a smaller but still positive uplift in Vulkan (50867 vs 42536).

These results place the Tesla P40 in the 89th percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 65095. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon VII (66004, 1.4% faster) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 (64212, 1.4% slower). The RX 6550M, by contrast, sits in the 85th percentile with an average score of 46702, and its closest competitor is the Intel Arc A530M (46614, a mere 0.2% difference) and the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (46601, also 0.2% difference). In short, the Tesla P40 competes in a different league entirely, trading blows with workstation-class cards, while the RX 6550M sits among midrange mobile GPUs.

The database records 2 wins for the Tesla P40 and 0 for the RX 6550M. There is no benchmark category where the AMD card takes the lead. The margin of victory is substantial in both tests, which suggests the performance gap is not a matter of driver tuning or workload-specific quirks but a raw compute deficit.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla P40 delivers 11.76 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, more than double the AMD Radeon RX 6550M's 5.816 TFLOPS. This explains the Tesla P40's commanding lead in the OpenCL benchmark, where it scored 62017 versus 42536.

Q: How do the memory subsystems compare?

A: The Tesla P40 features 24 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding 347.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6550M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, providing 144.0 GB/s. The Tesla P40 offers six times the capacity and more than double the bandwidth, a critical advantage for large datasets.

Q: Are both GPUs equally efficient in FP16 workloads?

A: No. The RX 6550M delivers 11.63 TFLOPS of FP16 performance using a 2:1 ratio, meaning its FP16 throughput is exactly double its FP32 rate. The Tesla P40, based on Pascal architecture, offers only 183.7 GFLOPS of FP16 (a 1:64 ratio), a tiny fraction of its FP32 output. This makes the RX 6550M far more capable in FP16 compute tasks.

Q: What is the thermal design power of each card?

A: The Tesla P40 has a TDP of 250 W and requires an 8-pin EPS power connector with a suggested 600 W power supply. The RX 6550M has a TDP of 80 W, uses no power connectors (it is an integrated GPU, or IGP), and has no suggested PSU rating. The power draw difference is substantial: 250 W versus 80 W.

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing hardware?

A: Only the AMD Radeon RX 6550M includes dedicated ray tracing cores (16 of them). The NVIDIA Tesla P40, based on Pascal architecture, has no ray tracing cores. The RX 6550M also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla P40 only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How do their production statuses differ?

A: The Tesla P40 is marked as end-of-life and was released on 2016-09-12, while the RX 6550M is active and launched on 2023-01-03. The Tesla P40's successor is Tesla Volta, and the RX 6550M has a predecessor in Polaris Mobile but no listed successor.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is stark. The Tesla P40 uses the GP102 chip built on NVIDIA's Pascal architecture, manufactured on a 16 nm process at TSMC. The die is massive: 471 mm² with 11,800 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of 25.1 million per square millimeter. This is a classic high-performance compute chip designed for datacenter workloads, with 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operations units.

The RX 6550M, by contrast, uses the Navi 24 chip based on AMD's RDNA 2.0 architecture. It is fabricated on a much more modern 6 nm process, also at TSMC, and the die is tiny at 107 mm² with 5,400 million transistors. The transistor density is significantly higher at 50.5 million per square millimeter, a direct result of the smaller process node. The RX 6550M packs 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, plus 16 dedicated ray tracing cores.

The FP16 capability highlights a major architectural shift. The Pascal architecture in the Tesla P40 treats FP16 as a niche feature, delivering only 183.7 GFLOPS (a 1:64 ratio relative to FP32). This reflects Pascal's focus on FP32 compute for scientific and AI training workloads of its era. RDNA 2.0 in the RX 6550M takes the opposite approach, offering 11.63 TFLOPS of FP16 (a 2:1 ratio), making it twice as fast in FP16 as in FP32. This is a deliberate design choice for modern workloads that increasingly use mixed-precision computing.

The memory interfaces also reflect different design philosophies. The Tesla P40's 384-bit bus with 24 GB of GDDR5 is built for massive memory capacity and bandwidth, essential for large model inference or rendering scenes that exceed frame buffer limits. The RX 6550M's 64-bit bus with 4 GB of GDDR6 is a cost-and-power-conscious choice for mobile devices, where board space and thermal budgets are constrained. The bandwidth difference (347.1 GB/s versus 144.0 GB/s) is a direct consequence.

Another notable difference is the PCIe interface. The Tesla P40 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, a full-width slot connection typical of server GPUs. The RX 6550M uses PCIe 4.0 x4, a narrower lane configuration suited to laptop implementations. Despite the newer PCIe generation, the four lanes restrict bandwidth compared to the Tesla P40's sixteen lanes.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification field in the database. The Tesla P40 has a base clock of 1303 MHz and a boost clock of 1531 MHz, while the RX 6550M runs much faster at 2000 MHz base and 2840 MHz boost (with a game clock of 2560 MHz). The RX 6550M's higher clocks are typical of modern, power-efficient mobile GPUs, but they cannot compensate for the Tesla P40's 3.75x advantage in shading units.

Memory is another clear differentiator. The Tesla P40 offers 24 GB of GDDR5 with a 384-bit bus and 347.1 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6550M provides 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 144.0 GB/s. The memory clock also differs: 1808 MHz (7.2 Gbps effective) for the Tesla P40 versus 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for the RX 6550M. The RX 6550M's faster memory technology per-pin is offset by its narrow bus.

The pixel and texture rates follow the compute trend. The Tesla P40 achieves 147.0 GPixel/s and 367.4 GTexel/s, while the RX 6550M reaches 90.88 GPixel/s and 181.8 GTexel/s. Both metrics favor the NVIDIA card, though the pixel rate gap (roughly 62%) is narrower than the texture rate gap (roughly 102%), reflecting the RX 6550M's relatively higher ROP-to-shader ratio.

Physical and power specifications are polar opposites. The Tesla P40 is a dual-slot card, 267 mm long and 111 mm high, drawing 250 W with an 8-pin EPS connector and a 600 W suggested PSU. The RX 6550M is an integrated GPU (IGP) with no slot width, no dimensions listed, no power connectors, and an 80 W TDP. The Tesla P40 also has no display outputs, while the RX 6550M's outputs are described as "Portable Device Dependent."

API support differs in one key area: DirectX. The Tesla P40 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RX 6550M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 6550M's 12_2 support enables advanced features like ray tracing and mesh shaders, which the Pascal-based Tesla P40 cannot handle.

The Verdict

The data paints a clear picture for different audiences. The NVIDIA Tesla P40 is the performance winner in every recorded benchmark, with a 45.8% lead in OpenCL and a 34% lead in Vulkan. Its 24 GB of memory and 347.1 GB/s bandwidth make it suited for large-scale compute tasks, and its 89th percentile standing among all GPUs places it firmly in workstation-class territory. The 250 W power draw and dual-slot form factor are acceptable for a server or desktop workstation environment.

The AMD Radeon RX 6550M is the efficiency and mobility choice. Its 80 W TDP, integrated design, and lack of external power connectors make it ideal for thin-and-light laptops. It offers modern features the Tesla P40 lacks: 16 ray tracing cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, and 11.63 TFLOPS of FP16 compute. Its 85th percentile ranking is respectable for a mobile GPU, and its nearest rivals are all within 1.6% in average score, indicating a competitive midrange segment.

Who should pick which? A user or organization running compute-heavy workloads, particularly those needing large memory capacity or FP32 throughput, should choose the Tesla P40. The benchmark results show it outperforms the RX 6550M by over a third in Vulkan and nearly half in OpenCL. A mobile user prioritizing battery life, portability, and modern rendering features should choose a device with the RX 6550M. The Tesla P40 cannot drive a display, consumes over three times the power, and lacks ray tracing hardware, making it unsuitable for everyday consumer use. The choice depends entirely on whether the priority is raw compute performance or mobility and modern feature support.