AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT vs NVIDIA Tesla P40 Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla P40 and AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT are two very different GPUs from different eras, and the benchmark data reflects that chasm. The Tesla P40 is a compute-oriented card from 2016, while the RX 6950 XT is a gaming flagship from 2022. In the head-to-head benchmarks available, the RX 6950 XT wins decisively in both tests, but the P40 holds its own as a high-percentile performer in its own right. The data shows that the RX 6950 XT is the superior choice for anyone needing raw graphics and compute performance, while the Tesla P40 might be relevant only for specific legacy compute tasks or situations where its unique 24 GB memory pool is a hard requirement.

The Verdict

The benchmark results are unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT is the faster card. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6950 XT scores 205,998 against the Tesla P40’s 62,017, a 69.9% gap in favor of AMD. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 6950 XT scores 165,212 against 68,172, a 58.7% advantage. If you are choosing between these two for general-purpose compute or any modern workload, the RX 6950 XT is the clear winner.

However, the Tesla P40 is not a bad card; it is just an older one. Its average benchmark score of 65,095 places it at the 89th percentile of all GPUs, which is higher than the RX 6950 XT’s 88th percentile. This suggests that the P40, despite its age, remains a capable compute card when compared to the entire database. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 (1.4% slower) and the AMD Radeon VII (1.4% faster), showing it sits in a competitive performance tier for its generation. The RX 6950 XT, despite its higher benchmark scores, has a lower average score of 58,392, which is dragged down by its weaker performance in legacy DirectX tests.

The verdict is simple: buy the RX 6950 XT if you want performance. Buy the Tesla P40 only if you have a specific need for its 24 GB of GDDR5 memory and do not care about the massive performance deficit. The P40’s launch MSRP was 5,699 USD, which is a staggering figure compared to the RX 6950 XT’s 1,099 USD launch MSRP.

Architecture Differences

These two cards come from completely different architectural lineages. The Tesla P40 is built on NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture, using the GP102 chip on a 16 nm process from TSMC. It packs 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 25.1 million per mm². In contrast, the RX 6950 XT is built on AMD’s RDNA 2.0 architecture, using the Navi 21 chip on a 7 nm process, also from TSMC. It packs 26,800 million transistors on a slightly larger 520 mm² die, achieving a much higher transistor density of 51.5 million per mm².

The architectural differences are stark. The RX 6950 XT is a modern GPU with 80 ray tracing cores, while the Tesla P40 has none. The RX 6950 XT also features a DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) API support, whereas the P40 only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the underlying hardware is fundamentally different. The RX 6950 XT is designed for real-time rendering and gaming, while the Tesla P40 is a compute-focused accelerator with no display outputs.

Memory technology also diverges. The P40 uses 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, while the RX 6950 XT uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. The newer GDDR6 memory operates at a much higher effective speed, giving the RX 6950 XT significantly more bandwidth despite the narrower bus. The P40’s memory runs at 7.2 Gbps effective, while the RX 6950 XT’s runs at 18 Gbps effective. This is a generational leap in memory technology.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data is limited to two tests, but both show a dominant performance from the RX 6950 XT. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6950 XT scores 205,998, which is 69.9% higher than the Tesla P40’s 62,017. This is a massive margin that reflects not only the newer architecture but also the higher clock speeds and greater compute throughput. The P40’s FP32 performance is rated at 11.76 TFLOPS, while the RX 6950 XT is rated at 23.65 TFLOPS, exactly double.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap narrows slightly but remains decisive. The RX 6950 XT scores 165,212 against the P40’s 68,172, a 58.7% advantage. Vulkan is a lower-level API that can sometimes favor older architectures, but here the sheer compute power of the RX 6950 XT overwhelms the P40. The RX 6950 XT’s texture rate of 739.2 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 295.7 GPixel/s dwarf the P40’s 367.4 GTexel/s and 147.0 GPixel/s.

The RX 6950 XT also shines in other benchmark categories not directly compared head-to-head. Its Passmark G3D score is 28,070, and its Passmark GPU Compute score is 14,199. It even scores 222,653 in Geekbench Metal, which is not surprising given its modern architecture. The Tesla P40 has no comparable data in these tests, but its average benchmark score of 65,095 versus the RX 6950 XT’s 58,392 is misleading. The P40’s average is boosted by its strong performance in compute-oriented workloads, while the RX 6950 XT’s average is pulled down by low scores in legacy DirectX tests like Passmark DirectX 9 (303) and DirectX 10 (164).

FAQ

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla P40 has 24 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. The P40 has a larger capacity, but the RX 6950 XT has faster memory.

Q: How much faster is the RX 6950 XT in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RX 6950 XT scores 205,998, which is 69.9% higher than the Tesla P40’s 62,017. This is a substantial performance lead.

Q: Does the Tesla P40 support ray tracing?

A: No, the Tesla P40 does not have ray tracing cores. The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT has 80 ray tracing cores, making it suitable for modern ray-traced workloads.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The Tesla P40 has a TDP of 250 W, while the RX 6950 XT has a TDP of 335 W. The RX 6950 XT requires a 700 W power supply, while the P40 suggests a 600 W unit.

Q: Which card has a higher benchmark percentile ranking?

A: The Tesla P40 ranks at the 89th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 6950 XT ranks at the 88th percentile. Despite being older, the P40 is ranked slightly higher in overall percentile.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: No, both cards are end-of-life. The Tesla P40 was succeeded by Tesla Volta, and the RX 6950 XT was succeeded by Navi III.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT wins in every directly comparable benchmark. It is faster in Geekbench OpenCL by 69.9% and in Geekbench Vulkan by 58.7%. It also has a higher FP32 throughput (23.65 TFLOPS vs 11.76 TFLOPS), higher texture rate (739.2 GTexel/s vs 367.4 GTexel/s), and higher pixel rate (295.7 GPixel/s vs 147.0 GPixel/s). The RX 6950 XT is the clear winner for any workload that can leverage modern compute features, including ray tracing, DirectX 12 Ultimate, and higher memory bandwidth (576.0 GB/s vs 347.1 GB/s). It is also a smaller card in terms of slot width (triple-slot vs dual-slot) but taller and wider.

The NVIDIA Tesla P40 wins in only one category: memory capacity. With 24 GB of GDDR5, it offers 8 GB more memory than the RX 6950 XT. This could be a deciding factor for specific compute tasks that require large memory pools, such as certain machine learning models or large dataset processing. The P40 also has a lower TDP of 250 W versus 335 W, making it more power-efficient in terms of raw wattage. However, this efficiency is meaningless when the performance per watt is so much lower. The P40’s average benchmark score of 65,095 is higher than the RX 6950 XT’s 58,392, but this is due to the RX 6950 XT’s poor performance in legacy DirectX tests, which are irrelevant for modern use cases.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification. The Tesla P40 uses a 16 nm process, while the RX 6950 XT uses a 7 nm process. The P40 has 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die, while the RX 6950 XT has 26,800 million on a 520 mm² die. Clock speeds are also vastly different: the P40 has a base clock of 1303 MHz and a boost of 1531 MHz, while the RX 6950 XT has a base of 1860 MHz, a game clock of 2100 MHz, and a boost of 2310 MHz.

Memory specifications show a trade-off between capacity and speed. The P40 has 24 GB of GDDR5 with a 384-bit bus and 347.1 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6950 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 with a 256-bit bus and 576.0 GB/s bandwidth. The shading units differ significantly: 3840 on the P40 versus 5120 on the RX 6950 XT. The RX 6950 XT also has 80 ray tracing cores, which the P40 lacks. The P40 has no display outputs, while the RX 6950 XT has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 2x DisplayPort 1.4a. Power requirements differ, with the P40 using an 8-pin EPS connector and the RX 6950 XT using 2x 8-pin connectors. The P40 is shorter at 267 mm but the same length as the RX 6950 XT; the RX 6950 XT is taller (120 mm vs 111 mm) and has a defined width of 50 mm, while the P40’s width is not specified. Finally, the P40 supports PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RX 6950 XT supports PCIe 4.0 x16.