AMD Radeon RX 7900M vs NVIDIA Tesla T4 Comparison

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M and NVIDIA Tesla T4 occupy entirely different corners of the GPU market, and the benchmark data makes that separation clear. The RX 7900M is a mobile gaming-class part with a 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the Tesla T4 is a low-power server accelerator that still manages a 90th percentile position.

For anyone choosing between these two, the decision hinges on workload type, not raw performance alone. The RX 7900M dominates every recorded head-to-head test, posting 111.3% higher OpenCL scores and 119.9% higher Vulkan scores than the Tesla T4. Its average benchmark score of 97487 sits far above the Tesla T4's 66733, a gap of roughly 46%. The RX 7900M also carries 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 192 ROPs, versus 2560, 160, and 64 respectively on the Tesla T4. If raw compute throughput is the priority, the RX 7900M is the clear choice.

But the Tesla T4 is not without rationale. It draws only 70 W, runs on a single-slot design, requires no power connectors, and fits a 168 mm length. The RX 7900M is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no listed dimensions and no power connectors, but its 180 W TDP points to a more demanding power envelope. The Tesla T4 also boasts 320 tensor cores, which the RX 7900M lacks entirely, making it the only option here for workloads that rely on tensor operations. The Tesla T4 is end-of-life, while the RX 7900M remains active in production, which matters for availability and long-term support.

In short: The RX 7900M is the performance winner by a large margin in every recorded benchmark. The Tesla T4 is the efficiency and tensor-focused alternative, but it trails significantly in conventional graphics and compute tests. Choose the RX 7900M for raw speed, choose the Tesla T4 for low-power server deployments or tensor-specific inference tasks.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon RX 7900M uses the Navi 31 chip built on TSMC's 5 nm process, packing 57,700 million transistors into a 529 mm² die. That translates to a transistor density of 109.1 million per square millimeter. The Tesla T4 uses NVIDIA's TU104 chip on a 12 nm process, with 13,600 million transistors on a 545 mm² die, yielding just 25.0 million transistors per square millimeter. The density advantage is massive: the RX 7900M packs more than four times as many transistors per area.

Memory configurations differ too. Both cards have 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, but the RX 7900M runs memory at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla T4 runs at 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective) for 320.0 GB/s, which is about 44% less bandwidth. The RX 7900M also has a higher base clock of 1825 MHz and a boost of 2090 MHz, while the Tesla T4 starts at a very low 585 MHz and boosts to 1590 MHz.

The compute feature sets diverge as well. The RX 7900M has 72 ray tracing cores but no tensor cores, while the Tesla T4 has 40 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores. The RX 7900M delivers 38.52 TFLOPS of FP32 and 77.05 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1), whereas the Tesla T4 delivers 8.141 TFLOPS of FP32 and 16.28 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1). The RX 7900M's pixel rate is 401.3 GPixel/s and texture rate is 601.9 GTexel/s, versus 101.8 GPixel/s and 254.4 GTexel/s on the Tesla T4.

Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Bus interfaces differ: the RX 7900M uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the Tesla T4 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The RX 7900M has no display outputs (portable device dependent), and the Tesla T4 also has no outputs. Release dates are far apart: the Tesla T4 launched on 2018-09-12, and the RX 7900M on 2023-10-18. The Tesla T4's predecessor is Tesla Volta and its successor is Server Ampere; the RX 7900M's predecessor is Polaris Mobile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results are unambiguous. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 7900M scores 129499 against the Tesla T4's 61276, a delta of 111.3% in favor of AMD. That is more than double the score. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens: 158760 versus 72190, a 119.9% advantage for the RX 7900M. The RX 7900M wins both recorded head-to-head tests, with no wins for the Tesla T4.

Context from the nearest rivals list strengthens the picture. The RX 7900M's average benchmark score of 97487 puts it 0.4% above the AMD Radeon Pro VII (97131), 4.3% below the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 (101872), 5.4% above the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 (92466), and 6.3% above the NVIDIA RTX A4500 (91671). The Tesla T4's average score of 66733 is 1.1% above the AMD Radeon VII (66004), 2.5% above the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (65095), 2.7% below the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 (68562), and 3.0% below the Intel Arc A770 (68809). So the RX 7900M sits near the top of its performance class, while the Tesla T4 is mid-pack relative to its immediate neighbors.

The biggest win for the RX 7900M comes in Vulkan, where it nearly doubles the Tesla T4's score. The OpenCL gap is slightly smaller but still enormous. No benchmark in the recorded data favors the Tesla T4.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RX 7900M, with 38.52 TFLOPS FP32 and 77.05 TFLOPS FP16, versus 8.141 TFLOPS FP32 and 16.28 TFLOPS FP16 on the Tesla T4.

Q: Do both cards have the same memory capacity?

A: Yes, both have 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, but the RX 7900M has 576.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 320.0 GB/s on the Tesla T4.

Q: Which one has tensor cores?

A: Only the Tesla T4, which has 320 tensor cores. The RX 7900M has no tensor cores but does have 72 ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The RX 7900M is rated at 180 W TDP, while the Tesla T4 is rated at 70 W TDP. The Tesla T4 also comes with a suggested power supply of 250 W.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. The RX 7900M is active in production, while the Tesla T4 is end-of-life.

Q: Which one has a higher percentile ranking?

A: The RX 7900M sits at the 94th percentile among all GPUs, while the Tesla T4 sits at the 90th percentile.

Where Each One Wins

RX 7900M wins on raw compute and graphics throughput. The data shows 111.3% higher OpenCL and 119.9% higher Vulkan scores. It also leads in shading units, texture units, ROPs, ray tracing cores, pixel rate (401.3 GPixel/s versus 101.8), texture rate (601.9 GTexel/s versus 254.4), and FP32/FP16 throughput. It has more bandwidth (576.0 GB/s), a faster boost clock (2090 MHz versus 1590), and a much higher transistor density (109.1 million per mm² versus 25.0). Any workload that depends on shader compute, rasterization, or pure FLOPS will strongly favor the RX 7900M. It also benefits from a newer process node (5 nm versus 12 nm) and a newer release date (2023 vs 2018).

Tesla T4 wins on power efficiency and tensor operations. It draws 70 W versus 180 W, which means a vastly lower thermal footprint. It runs on a single-slot design with no power connectors, and its 168 mm length makes it easier to integrate into dense servers. The 320 tensor cores are the only tensor hardware in this comparison, so any workload that specifically targets tensor math (such as certain AI inference paths) will require the Tesla T4. Its PCIe 3.0 x16 interface is older than the RX 7900M's PCIe 4.0 x16, but that is offset by the lower power requirements. The Tesla T4 also has a higher transistor count per die (13,600 million) only because the die is larger, but the density is much lower. For environments with strict power budgets or server chassis constraints, the Tesla T4 is the more practical fit.

The neither-win scenario: For gaming or general desktop use, the RX 7900M has no display outputs, so it cannot directly drive a monitor. The Tesla T4 also has no outputs. Both are compute-oriented in practice, despite the RX 7900M's gaming heritage. If display output is needed, neither card qualifies, but the RX 7900M is the only one with a portable device dependent output set, which means its outputs depend on the host device.

The decisive factor: The RX 7900M wins 2 out of 2 head-to-head benchmarks and has a far higher average score (97487 vs 66733). The Tesla T4's only unique advantages are its 70 W power draw, 320 tensor cores, and single-slot form factor. For anyone who does not need tensor cores or extreme power efficiency, the RX 7900M is the clear performance pick. For anyone building a low-power inference or tensor-focused server, the Tesla T4 remains a viable, specialized option.