AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE vs NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB Comparison
AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE
Tesla M40 24 GB
PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS
Analysis: AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE vs NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB
AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE and NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB occupy opposite ends of the GPU spectrum, yet both land in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. The RX 7650 GRE is a modern consumer card built for real-time rendering and gaming, while the Tesla M40 is a compute-oriented accelerator from a previous era, stripped of display outputs and optimized for throughput. Benchmark data shows the AMD card is dramatically faster in raw compute workloads, but the Tesla’s massive 24 GB memory pool and unique feature set make it a specialized tool for specific tasks. The head-to-head data is decisive: the RX 7650 GRE wins the only shared benchmark by 122%, but the Tesla M40 still has a role for workloads that prioritize capacity over speed.
Where Each One Wins
The AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE wins in every scenario where raw compute speed and modern API support matter. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 83,109 crushes the Tesla M40’s 37,439, a 122% advantage that reflects the generational leap between RDNA 3.0 and Maxwell 2.0. This makes the RX 7650 GRE the clear choice for gaming, real-time ray tracing, DirectX 12 Ultimate workloads, and any application that benefits from the card’s 22.08 TFLOPS FP32 performance. The card’s active production status and modern feature set—including 32 ray accelerators and support for Vulkan 1.4—position it as a versatile daily driver for a desktop PC.
The NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB wins in memory capacity and bandwidth-per-dollar-of-VRAM. Its 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus delivers 288.4 GB/s, nearly identical to the RX 7650 GRE’s 288.0 GB/s, but with three times the capacity. For workloads that require loading large datasets into VRAM—such as machine learning inference, scientific simulation, or rendering scenes that exceed 8 GB—the Tesla M40’s memory pool is a decisive advantage. The card’s 3072 shading units and 192 texture mapping units also give it parallel processing headroom, even if clock speeds are low. It is an end-of-life product, but for budget compute servers, the 24 GB capacity is unmatched at its performance tier.
FAQ
Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?
A: The AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE is far faster, scoring 83,109 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 37,439 for the Tesla M40. That is a 122% lead for the AMD card.
Q: Can the Tesla M40 output video to a monitor?
A: No. The Tesla M40 has no display outputs, making it unsuitable for gaming or any desktop use. The RX 7650 GRE, by contrast, offers 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1 connections.
Q: Which card has more memory?
A: The Tesla M40 has 24 GB of GDDR5, while the RX 7650 GRE has 8 GB of GDDR6. Despite the capacity difference, their memory bandwidth is nearly identical: 288.4 GB/s for the Tesla versus 288.0 GB/s for the AMD card.
Q: How do these cards compare in transistor density?
A: The RX 7650 GRE packs 13,300 million transistors into a 204 mm² die (65.2M per mm²), while the Tesla M40 has 8,000 million transistors on a 601 mm² die (13.3M per mm²). The AMD card’s 6 nm process versus the Tesla’s 28 nm process explains this density gap.
Q: What is the power consumption difference?
A: The RX 7650 GRE has a TDP of 170 W and requires a 450 W PSU, while the Tesla M40 has a 250 W TDP and needs a 600 W PSU. The Tesla also uses an 8-pin EPS connector instead of the AMD card’s 1x 8-pin.
Q: Which card is better for modern gaming?
A: The RX 7650 GRE is the only viable option for gaming. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), has 32 ray accelerators, and is an active product. The Tesla M40 only supports DirectX 12 (12_1), lacks ray tracing hardware, and has no display outputs.
Head-to-Head Benchmarks
The only shared benchmark between the two cards is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results are lopsided. The AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE scores 83,109 against the Tesla M40’s 37,439, yielding a 122% delta in favor of AMD. This is not a marginal win; it is a complete generational rout. The RX 7650 GRE’s FP32 throughput of 22.08 TFLOPS is more than three times the Tesla’s 6.832 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate of 172.5 GPixel/s versus 106.8 GPixel/s shows a similar advantage in fill-rate-bound tasks.
The Tesla M40 does not win any head-to-head benchmark in the data, but its 24 GB memory capacity is the only specification where it meaningfully exceeds the RX 7650 GRE. In OpenCL, the AMD card’s advantage comes from its higher clock speeds (1720 MHz base, 2695 MHz boost versus 948/1112 MHz), newer architecture, and superior texture rate of 345.0 GTexel/s versus 213.5 GTexel/s. The Tesla’s higher shading unit count (3072 versus 2048) cannot compensate for its much lower clock speeds and older Maxwell design.
Specification Differences
The two cards differ across nearly every measurable specification. The RX 7650 GRE uses 8 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, while the Tesla M40 uses 24 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. Despite this, memory bandwidth is virtually the same: 288.0 GB/s for AMD versus 288.4 GB/s for NVIDIA.
Clock speeds are starkly different: the RX 7650 GRE runs at 1720 MHz base / 2695 MHz boost / 2350 MHz game, while the Tesla M40 is locked at 948 MHz base / 1112 MHz boost with no game clock. The AMD card has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, while the Tesla has 3072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The Tesla’s higher unit counts do not help it in OpenCL, as the AMD card’s pixel rate (172.5 GPixel/s) and texture rate (345.0 GTexel/s) both exceed the Tesla’s (106.8 GPixel/s and 213.5 GTexel/s, respectively).
Power and connectivity also diverge. The RX 7650 GRE has a 170 W TDP and suggests a 450 W PSU, while the Tesla M40 draws 250 W and recommends a 600 W PSU. The AMD card uses a standard 1x 8-pin connector; the Tesla uses an 8-pin EPS. The RX 7650 GRE is 204 mm long and dual-slot, while the Tesla M40 is 267 mm long and also dual-slot. The AMD card supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the Tesla uses PCIe 3.0 x16.
Architecture Differences
The architectural gap between these GPUs is immense. The RX 7650 GRE is built on RDNA 3.0 (codename “Hotpink Bonefish”) using a 6 nm TSMC process, while the Tesla M40 uses the older Maxwell 2.0 architecture on a 28 nm TSMC process. This node difference explains the transistor density: the AMD card crams 13,300 million transistors into 204 mm² (65.2M per mm²), while the Tesla fits 8,000 million transistors into 601 mm² (13.3M per mm²).
The RX 7650 GRE includes 32 ray accelerators, giving it hardware support for real-time ray tracing, and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The Tesla M40 has no ray tracing hardware and only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the AMD card’s FP16 performance is listed at 22.08 TFLOPS (1:1 with FP32), whereas the Tesla M40 has no listed FP16 capability.
The Tesla M40 is part of the Tesla Maxwell (Mxx) generation, with its predecessor being Tesla Kepler and successor Tesla Pascal. The RX 7650 GRE belongs to the Navi III (RX 7000) generation, succeeding Navi II and preceding Navi IV. The AMD card is actively in production and was released on 2025-02-06, while the Tesla M40 is end-of-life and launched on 2015-11-09. The RX 7650 GRE has a launch MSRP of 279 USD.
The Verdict
The data points to a clear split: choose the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE if you need a modern GPU for gaming, ray tracing, or any application that leverages DirectX 12 Ultimate. Its 122% OpenCL lead over the Tesla M40, combined with 22.08 TFLOPS FP32 performance and an active production status, makes it the only sensible choice for a primary desktop GPU. The 8 GB memory is limiting for some professional workloads, but the card’s speed and feature set compensate for most use cases.
Choose the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB only if your priority is VRAM capacity above all else. Its 24 GB GDDR5 pool is three times larger than the RX 7650 GRE’s 8 GB, and its 288.4 GB/s bandwidth is effectively equal. This makes it a viable option for compute servers or inference tasks that must hold large models or datasets in memory. However, the Tesla M40’s 28 nm process, 250 W TDP, and lack of display outputs mean it is strictly a secondary or specialized card. For 99% of users, the RX 7650 GRE’s raw performance and modern architecture make it the superior purchase. The Tesla M40 is a niche tool; the RX 7650 GRE is a complete solution.