AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 vs NVIDIA Tesla P4 Comparison

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 and NVIDIA Tesla P4 serve fundamentally different purposes, and the benchmark data reflects that divide. The RX Vega 64 is a high-throughput consumer graphics card, while the Tesla P4 is a low-power, compute-oriented accelerator without display outputs. In the recorded head-to-head benchmarks, the RX Vega 64 wins both tests decisively: 79% ahead in Geekbench OpenCL and 66.3% ahead in Geekbench Vulkan. The average benchmark score for the RX Vega 64 is 50001, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla P4 averages 37628, in the 81st percentile. The RX Vega 64 is the clear performance pick for general compute and graphics workloads. The Tesla P4, however, is the choice for environments where power and physical footprint are constrained, given its 75 W TDP, single-slot design, and lack of power connectors, though its raw compute output is markedly lower.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different manufacturers and architectures. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 uses the Vega 10 chip built on GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm process. It contains 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 25.3M per mm². The NVIDIA Tesla P4 uses the GP104 chip on Pascal architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 16 nm process. It contains 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, with a density of 22.9M per mm².

Memory configurations differ substantially. The RX Vega 64 has 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 483.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla P4 also has 8 GB, but it is GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing 192.3 GB/s. That bandwidth gap is a major factor in the performance difference.

Compute resources also differ. The RX Vega 64 has 4096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The Tesla P4 has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Clock speeds are higher on the AMD card: base 1247 MHz, boost 1546 MHz, versus the Tesla P4's base 886 MHz and boost 1114 MHz. Pixel rate is 98.94 GPixel/s for the RX Vega 64 versus 71.30 GPixel/s for the Tesla P4. Texture rate is 395.8 GTexel/s versus 178.2 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 12.66 TFLOPS versus 5.704 TFLOPS. FP16 performance diverges dramatically: the RX Vega 64 achieves 25.33 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, while the Tesla P4 manages only 89.12 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio, meaning the AMD card is far better suited for half-precision work.

Power and physical design are starkly different. The RX Vega 64 has a 295 W TDP, requires two 8-pin power connectors, and a suggested 600 W power supply. It is dual-slot, 280 mm long, 111 mm high, and 40 mm wide. The Tesla P4 has a 75 W TDP, requires no power connectors, and a suggested 250 W power supply. It is single-slot and 168 mm long. The RX Vega 64 has display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a), while the Tesla P4 has no outputs. Both use PCIe 3.0 x16. API support is similar for DirectX (12_1) and OpenGL (4.6), but the Tesla P4 supports Vulkan 1.4 while the RX Vega 64 supports Vulkan 1.3.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the recorded benchmarks, the RX Vega 64 wins every head-to-head test. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 62552 versus the Tesla P4's 34947, a 79% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 67032 versus 40309, a 66.3% advantage. Additionally, the RX Vega 64 has a Geekbench Metal score of 68750, which the Tesla P4 cannot match because it has no display outputs and no Metal benchmark recorded. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1669 for the RX Vega 64 further demonstrates its graphics capability, while the Tesla P4 has no such score in the database.

The Tesla P4's wins are not in performance but in efficiency and form factor. Its 75 W TDP is 220 W lower than the RX Vega 64's 295 W TDP. It draws power solely from the PCIe slot, requiring no external connectors, and it fits in a single slot, making it suitable for dense server installations. Its 168 mm length is 112 mm shorter than the RX Vega 64's 280 mm. The Tesla P4's suggested power supply is 250 W versus 600 W, indicating a far lower system power requirement. For workloads that prioritize low power draw and compact physical footprint over raw compute, the Tesla P4 is the better fit.

The database also shows that the RX Vega 64's average score of 50001 sits nearly 33% above the Tesla P4's 37628. The RX Vega 64's percentile rank of 86 versus 81 indicates it outperforms a larger fraction of the GPU population. The nearest rivals for the RX Vega 64 include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti at 0.1% higher score, the Intel Arc A550M at 0.5% higher, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT at 1.9% lower, and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT at 3.1% lower. The Tesla P4's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 at 0.1% lower, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 0.3% higher, the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 at 1.3% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 1.3% lower.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64. Its FP32 throughput is 12.66 TFLOPS versus the Tesla P4's 5.704 TFLOPS, and it wins both recorded benchmarks by large margins.

Q: Can the Tesla P4 output video to a display?

A: No. The Tesla P4 has no display outputs, while the RX Vega 64 has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RX Vega 64 has 483.8 GB/s from 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus. The Tesla P4 has 192.3 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus.

Q: Which card requires less system power?

A: The Tesla P4. It has a 75 W TDP, no power connectors, and a suggested 250 W power supply. The RX Vega 64 has a 295 W TDP, two 8-pin connectors, and a suggested 600 W power supply.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX Vega 64 averages 50001, placing in the 86th percentile. The Tesla P4 averages 37628, placing in the 81st percentile. The RX Vega 64 is roughly 33% higher in average score.

Q: Which card supports Vulkan 1.4?

A: The Tesla P4 supports Vulkan 1.4. The RX Vega 64 supports Vulkan 1.3. Both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two benchmarks recorded for both cards are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 wins both. In OpenCL, the RX Vega 64 scores 62552 against the Tesla P4's 34947, a delta of 79%. This is the larger of the two margins. In Vulkan, the RX Vega 64 scores 67032 against 40309, a delta of 66.3%. Both deltas are substantial and indicate that the RX Vega 64 is not just marginally faster but has a commanding lead in general-purpose compute workloads.

Breaking down the numbers, the RX Vega 64's OpenCL score is 27605 points higher than the Tesla P4's. Its Vulkan score is 26723 points higher. The Vulkan score for the RX Vega 64 (67032) is actually higher than its OpenCL score (62552), suggesting the architecture handles Vulkan particularly well. The Tesla P4's Vulkan score (40309) is also higher than its OpenCL score (34947), but the absolute gap remains large.

The RX Vega 64 also has two additional benchmark scores that the Tesla P4 lacks: a Geekbench Metal score of 68750 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1669. These cannot be compared directly, but they add to the RX Vega 64's overall average score of 50001. The Tesla P4's average of 37628 is derived solely from its two Geekbench scores.

The delta percentages align with the architectural differences. The RX Vega 64's higher clock speeds (1247 MHz base, 1546 MHz boost versus 886 MHz base, 1114 MHz boost), greater shading unit count (4096 versus 2560), and much higher memory bandwidth (483.8 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s) all contribute to the observed performance gap. The FP32 compute difference of 12.66 TFLOPS versus 5.704 TFLOPS is roughly 2.2x, which is consistent with the 79% and 66.3% benchmark deltas, though the OpenCL result is closer to the compute ratio. The Vulkan result is slightly lower, possibly due to driver or workload characteristics, but still shows a dominant win.

In terms of nearest rivals, the RX Vega 64's average score of 50001 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti at 49957 (0.1% higher for the RTX card) and the Intel Arc A550M at 49737 (0.5% higher). It is 1.9% above the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 3.1% below the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. The Tesla P4's average of 37628 is essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 at 37648 (0.1% lower for the Tesla), 0.3% above the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, 1.3% above the AMD Radeon PRO W6400, and 1.3% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile. These comparisons show that the RX Vega 64 competes with modern mid-range to high-end cards, while the Tesla P4 aligns with lower-tier or older-generation parts in average compute performance.