AMD Radeon RX 7700 vs NVIDIA Tesla M4 Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla M4 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 occupy opposite ends of the GPU spectrum, and the benchmark data reflects that chasm. In the single shared test, Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 7700 scores 106,028 against the Tesla M4’s 16,932, a delta of -84% for the older card. That is not a close contest; it is a generational gap expressed in raw compute output. The RX 7700 lands in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla M4 sits at the 60th percentile, but those rankings are misleading without context—the Tesla M4’s percentile comes from a single OpenCL result, whereas the RX 7700’s ranking is pulled down by its average across multiple tests, including low DirectX 9 and 10 scores. The data shows one clear winner in absolute performance, but the two cards are built for entirely different jobs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is decisive. AMD Radeon RX 7700 produces 106,028 points, while the NVIDIA Tesla M4 produces 16,932 points—a 526% advantage for the RX 7700 in raw score terms, or a -84% delta when viewed from the RX 7700’s perspective. That single result dwarfs every other consideration. For context, the Tesla M4’s nearest rivals in its own benchmark pool are the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17,019, delta -0.5%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17,037, delta -0.6%), and the NVIDIA T400 4 GB (16,792, delta 0.8%). The RX 7700, meanwhile, sits near the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15,862, delta -0.1%), AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16,014, delta -1%), and AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679, delta 1.1%) in its average score across all tests. That average is 15,852, which is dragged down by poor legacy DirectX results—PassMark DirectX 9 at 261, DirectX 10 at 92, and DirectX 11 at 186—while its modern workloads shine: PassMark G3D at 20,974, PassMark GPU Compute at 10,963, and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 2,865. The Tesla M4 has no such breadth; it only has that one OpenCL score.

The delta between the two in OpenCL is so large that no other metric matters for head-to-head comparison. The RX 7700’s FP32 throughput is 25.18 TFLOPS against the Tesla M4’s 2.195 TFLOPS—an 11.5x difference. Texture rate tells the same story: 393.4 GTexel/s versus 68.61 GTexel/s. Pixel rate is 236.1 GPixel/s versus 34.30 GPixel/s. Memory bandwidth is 624.1 GB/s versus 88.00 GB/s. Every measurable performance indicator points the same way. The RX 7700 wins the only benchmark where both appear, and it wins by an order of magnitude.

The Verdict

From the data, the choice is obvious for anyone needing compute performance: the AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the only viable option. It wins the sole head-to-head benchmark, and its additional benchmarks show strength in modern APIs (DirectX 12, Vulkan 1.4) and compute tasks (PassMark GPU Compute at 10,963). The Tesla M4’s single OpenCL score of 16,932 places it in the same league as a GTX 690 (17,037) or HD 7970M (17,019), which are a decade old. The RX 7700’s nearest rivals in average score—the RX 9060 at 16,014 and RTX 3060 Ti at 16,129—are still far below its peak scores, but its average is pulled down by legacy tests that do not reflect modern workloads.

Who should pick the Tesla M4? Only a scenario where the card’s unique traits matter: it is a single-slot, 50 W TDP card with no display outputs, designed for server-side compute or virtualization. It has zero display outputs, so it is not for gaming or desktop use. Its production status is end-of-life, and its successor is Tesla Pascal. The RX 7700 is active, dual-slot, has a 200 W TDP, and includes modern display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C). For any interactive or rendering task, the RX 7700 is the only rational choice. The data does not support any other conclusion.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by nearly a decade of silicon evolution. The Tesla M4 uses the GM206 chip on NVIDIA’s Maxwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 2,940 million transistors into a 228 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.9M per mm². The RX 7700 uses the Navi 32 chip on AMD’s RDNA 3.0 architecture, also TSMC-fabricated but on a 5 nm node. It contains 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, for a density of 81.2M per mm². That is a 6.3x density improvement, explaining how AMD fits 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 96 ROPs into a package that runs at 200 W.

The Tesla M4 has 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. It has no RT cores and no tensor cores. The RX 7700 has 40 RT cores, enabling hardware ray tracing, and its FP16 throughput matches FP32 at 25.18 TFLOPS (1:1), whereas the Tesla M4 lists no FP16 capability. The RX 7700 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla M4 only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 7700’s memory interface is 256-bit with 16 GB of GDDR6, versus the Tesla M4’s 128-bit with 4 GB of GDDR5. Clock speeds differ as well: the Tesla M4 runs at 872 MHz base and 1072 MHz boost, while the RX 7700 runs at 1900 MHz base, 2041 MHz game, and 2459 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) for the Tesla M4 and 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) for the RX 7700.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification field. Process node: 28 nm versus 5 nm. Transistors: 2,940 million versus 28,100 million. Die size: 228 mm² versus 346 mm². Transistor density: 12.9M versus 81.2M per mm². Base clock: 872 MHz versus 1900 MHz. Boost clock: 1072 MHz versus 2459 MHz. Game clock: not applicable versus 2041 MHz. Memory: 4 GB GDDR5 versus 16 GB GDDR6. Bus width: 128-bit versus 256-bit. Bandwidth: 88.00 GB/s versus 624.1 GB/s. Shading units: 1024 versus 2560. TMUs: 64 versus 160. ROPs: 32 versus 96. RT cores: none versus 40. Pixel rate: 34.30 versus 236.1 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 68.61 versus 393.4 GTexel/s. FP32: 2.195 versus 25.18 TFLOPS. FP16: not listed versus 25.18 TFLOPS. TDP: 50 W versus 200 W. Slot width: single-slot versus dual-slot. Power connectors: none versus 2x 8-pin. Suggested PSU: 250 W versus 550 W. Bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs: none versus 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C. DirectX support: 12 (12_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2). Release date: 2015-11-09 versus 2025-09-17. Production status: end-of-life versus active. Predecessor: Tesla Kepler versus Navi II. Successor: Tesla Pascal versus Navi IV. The Tesla M4 has no launch MSRP listed; the RX 7700 also has no launch MSRP listed.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700. Its Geekbench OpenCL score is 106,028 versus the Tesla M4’s 16,932, a -84% delta in favor of the RX 7700. Its FP32 throughput is 25.18 TFLOPS against 2.195 TFLOPS.

Q: Does the Tesla M4 support ray tracing?

A: No. The Tesla M4 has no RT cores, while the RX 7700 has 40 RT cores. The RX 7700 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing features, whereas the Tesla M4 only supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: Which card is more power-efficient?

A: The Tesla M4 has a 50 W TDP versus the RX 7700’s 200 W TDP, and its suggested PSU is 250 W versus 550 W. However, the RX 7700 delivers substantially more performance per watt in FP32: 25.18 TFLOPS / 200 W versus 2.195 TFLOPS / 50 W.

Q: Can the Tesla M4 be used for gaming?

A: No. It has no display outputs, so it cannot connect to a monitor. Its design is for server or compute workloads, as indicated by its single-slot form factor and 50 W TDP.

Q: What are the memory differences?

A: The Tesla M4 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, providing 88.00 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7700 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 624.1 GB/s bandwidth—7x more bandwidth and 4x more capacity.

Q: Which card is newer and still in production?

A: The RX 7700 is active and was released on 2025-09-17. The Tesla M4 is end-of-life, released on 2015-11-09, with its successor being Tesla Pascal.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 wins every benchmark category where data exists. It wins the only head-to-head test (Geekbench OpenCL), and its additional scores show dominance in modern workloads: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 2,865, PassMark G3D at 20,974, and PassMark GPU Compute at 10,963. Its 16 GB memory and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for large datasets and high-resolution textures. Its 40 RT cores enable hardware ray tracing. Its display outputs (HDMI 2.1a, DisplayPort 2.1, USB Type-C) allow direct connection to modern monitors. It is the card for gaming, content creation, and any compute task that uses DirectX 12 or Vulkan.

The NVIDIA Tesla M4 wins only in niche operational characteristics: it is single-slot, consumes 50 W, and requires only a 250 W PSU. It has no display outputs, meaning it is not competing for desktop use. Its 4 GB memory and 88.00 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for lightweight server-side inference or virtualization tasks where power density matters more than raw speed. Its nearest rivals in score—HD 7970M (17,019) and GTX 690 (17,037)—are also legacy parts, confirming its vintage. The data does not show a single benchmark where the Tesla M4 outperforms the RX 7700. The RX 7700 is the clear winner for any workload that can use its features; the Tesla M4 remains relevant only for extremely constrained power or space environments where its 50 W TDP and single-slot design are non-negotiable constraints.