AMD Radeon VII vs NVIDIA Tesla P40 Comparison

AMD Radeon VII decisively outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla P40 in the available benchmark data, winning both head-to-head tests by substantial margins. The Radeon VII leads by 48.3% in Geekbench OpenCL and 34.6% in Geekbench Vulkan, with an average benchmark score of 66,004 versus 65,095 for the Tesla P40 — a 1.4% overall advantage. While the Tesla P40 offers more memory (24 GB vs 16 GB), the Radeon VII’s architectural advantages, including a 7 nm process node and HBM2 memory, translate into clear performance supremacy in compute workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The data shows a complete sweep for the AMD Radeon VII across the two shared benchmark tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Radeon VII scores 91,947, while the Tesla P40 manages 62,017. This represents a 48.3% delta — nearly half again as fast. That is a massive gap, not a marginal edge. The Radeon VII’s OpenCL advantage stems from its 13.44 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus the Tesla P40’s 11.76 TFLOPS, but the raw compute ratio (about 14%) does not fully explain the 48% score gap. Benchmark results indicate memory bandwidth plays a critical role: the Radeon VII delivers 1.02 TB/s from HBM2, while the Tesla P40 provides 347.1 GB/s from GDDR5, a threefold difference.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the Radeon VII scores 91,788 against 68,172 for the Tesla P40, a 34.6% delta. While narrower than the OpenCL margin, it remains a commanding win. The Vulkan gap likely reflects the same memory bandwidth disparity, as Vulkan compute workloads often stress memory throughput alongside shader execution. The Radeon VII also has a higher boost clock at 1750 MHz versus 1531 MHz for the Tesla P40, and its texture rate of 420.0 GTexel/s exceeds the Tesla P40’s 367.4 GTexel/s — a 14.3% advantage.

The Tesla P40’s only counterpoints are pixel rate and memory capacity. It posts 147.0 GPixel/s versus 112.0 GPixel/s for the Radeon VII, a 31.3% advantage in fill-rate-bound scenarios. It also doubles the Radeon VII’s memory capacity at 24 GB, which is relevant for models that exceed 16 GB. However, neither of these strengths appears in the shared benchmarks, where the Radeon VII wins both tests outright. The nearest rival data places the Radeon VII 1.4% ahead of the Tesla P40 on average score, and 2.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100, confirming its position as the stronger performer in this comparison.

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon VII is the clear winner for anyone prioritizing raw compute performance. Its 48.3% OpenCL lead and 34.6% Vulkan lead over the Tesla P40 are decisive, and its 1.4% average score edge confirms this is not a fluke of a single test. The Radeon VII’s 90th percentile ranking versus 89th for the Tesla P40 reinforces the conclusion: this is the faster card in every benchmark where both are measured.

The Tesla P40 is not without merit. Its 24 GB memory capacity is 50% larger than the Radeon VII’s 16 GB, which is a legitimate advantage for workloads that require holding larger datasets on-card. Its 96 ROPs versus 64 on the Radeon VII give it a theoretical edge in pixel-heavy operations. But the benchmark data does not show any test where the Tesla P40 wins, and its 250 W TDP compared to 295 W for the Radeon VII is the only practical metric where it leads.

For compute tasks like OpenCL and Vulkan workloads — the only tests available — the Radeon VII is the superior choice. For memory-capacity-bound inference or rendering tasks that fit within 24 GB, the Tesla P40 remains viable, but it is 1.4% slower on average and significantly slower in both measured compute APIs. The verdict is straightforward: pick the Radeon VII for speed, pick the Tesla P40 only if you need the extra memory and can accept the performance penalty.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon VII uses the Vega 20 chip on a 7 nm TSMC process, packing 13,230 million transistors into a 331 mm² die. The NVIDIA Tesla P40 uses the GP102 chip on a 16 nm TSMC process, with 11,800 million transistors across a 471 mm² die. The process node difference is stark: 7 nm versus 16 nm, which explains the Radeon VII’s transistor density of 40.0M / mm² versus 25.1M / mm² for the Tesla P40. The Radeon VII is smaller, denser, and more modern.

Memory architecture is the other major divergence. The Radeon VII uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, achieving 1.02 TB/s bandwidth. The Tesla P40 uses 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, achieving 347.1 GB/s. That is a 2.9x bandwidth advantage for the Radeon VII, offset by a 1.5x capacity advantage for the Tesla P40. The Radeon VII’s memory clock is listed at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective), while the Tesla P40 runs at 1808 MHz (7.2 Gbps effective) — but the wider bus on the Radeon VII more than compensates.

Compute capabilities also differ. Both have 3840 shading units and 240 TMUs, but the Radeon VII has 64 ROPs versus 96 on the Tesla P40. The Radeon VII posts 13.44 TFLOPS FP32 and 26.88 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), while the Tesla P40 posts 11.76 TFLOPS FP32 and a mere 183.7 GFLOPS FP16 (1:64 ratio). The FP16 difference is enormous — the Radeon VII is over 146x faster in half-precision compute — which matters for AI inference and certain scientific workloads. Neither card has ray tracing or tensor cores.

Other differences: the Radeon VII offers display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a) while the Tesla P40 has no outputs, being a compute-only accelerator. The Radeon VII uses 2x 8-pin power connectors, the Tesla P40 uses an 8-pin EPS connector. The Radeon VII supports Vulkan 1.3, the Tesla P40 supports Vulkan 1.4. The Radeon VII measures 280 mm x 125 mm x 40 mm, while the Tesla P40 is 267 mm x 111 mm, with no width listed.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon VII, with 1.02 TB/s from HBM2 memory on a 4096-bit bus, versus 347.1 GB/s from GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus for the NVIDIA Tesla P40.

Q: How much faster is the Radeon VII in OpenCL?

A: The Radeon VII scores 91,947 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 48.3% higher than the Tesla P40’s 62,017.

Q: Does the Tesla P40 have more memory?

A: Yes, the Tesla P40 has 24 GB of GDDR5, while the Radeon VII has 16 GB of HBM2. The Tesla P40 has 50% more capacity.

Q: What is the FP16 performance difference?

A: The Radeon VII delivers 26.88 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), while the Tesla P40 delivers 183.7 GFLOPS FP16 (1:64 ratio) — a difference of over 146 times in favor of the Radeon VII.

Q: Which card has a smaller process node?

A: The Radeon VII is built on a 7 nm process, while the Tesla P40 uses 16 nm. The Radeon VII also has a higher transistor density at 40.0M / mm² versus 25.1M / mm².

Q: Which card supports display outputs?

A: The Radeon VII has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The Tesla P40 has no display outputs, making it compute-only.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon VII wins decisively in compute-bound workloads. Its 48.3% OpenCL lead and 34.6% Vulkan lead over the Tesla P40 make it the clear choice for general-purpose GPU computing, OpenCL-based applications, and Vulkan compute workloads. The 13.44 TFLOPS FP32 and 26.88 TFLOPS FP16 performance, combined with 1.02 TB/s memory bandwidth, gives it a dominant edge in tasks that stress arithmetic throughput and memory access patterns. The 90th percentile ranking among all GPUs further validates its strength. For any workload measured in the data, the Radeon VII wins.

The NVIDIA Tesla P40 wins in memory capacity and fill-rate efficiency. Its 24 GB of GDDR5 memory exceeds the Radeon VII’s 16 GB by half, making it the better choice for datasets that require more than 16 GB of on-card storage. Its 96 ROPs and 147.0 GPixel/s pixel rate outperform the Radeon VII’s 64 ROPs and 112.0 GPixel/s, giving it an edge in pixel-heavy rendering tasks. Its 250 W TDP is lower than the Radeon VII’s 295 W, and it uses a single 8-pin EPS connector versus dual 8-pin on the Radeon VII, potentially easing power delivery requirements. However, none of these advantages appear in the benchmark tests, where the Tesla P40 loses both available comparisons.

For a use-case split: choose the Radeon VII for compute performance, FP16-heavy workloads, and any task where memory bandwidth is the bottleneck. Choose the Tesla P40 for large-memory inference, pixel-rate-bound rendering, or environments where the lower power draw and simpler power connector matter more than raw speed. The data shows the Radeon VII is the faster card; the Tesla P40 is the more specialized one.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification category. The Radeon VII uses the Vega 20 chip on GCN 5.1 architecture, while the Tesla P40 uses GP102 on Pascal. Process nodes: 7 nm versus 16 nm, both from TSMC. Transistor counts: 13,230 million versus 11,800 million, with die sizes of 331 mm² versus 471 mm². Transistor density: 40.0M / mm² versus 25.1M / mm².

Clocks: Radeon VII runs at 1400 MHz base and 1750 MHz boost; Tesla P40 runs at 1303 MHz base and 1531 MHz boost. Memory: Radeon VII has 16 GB HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective); Tesla P40 has 24 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus at 1808 MHz (7.2 Gbps effective). Bandwidth: 1.02 TB/s versus 347.1 GB/s.

Compute units: both have 3840 shading units and 240 TMUs, but Radeon VII has 64 ROPs versus 96 ROPs. Pixel rates: 112.0 GPixel/s versus 147.0 GPixel/s. Texture rates: 420.0 GTexel/s versus 367.4 GTexel/s. FP32: 13.44 TFLOPS versus 11.76 TFLOPS. FP16: 26.88 TFLOPS versus 183.7 GFLOPS.

Power: Radeon VII is 295 W with 2x 8-pin connectors; Tesla P40 is 250 W with 8-pin EPS. Both are dual-slot and require a 600 W PSU. Interfaces: both PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs: Radeon VII has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a; Tesla P40 has none.

APIs: both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6; Radeon VII supports Vulkan 1.3, Tesla P40 supports Vulkan 1.4. Dimensions: Radeon VII is 280 mm x 125 mm x 40 mm; Tesla P40 is 267 mm x 111 mm with unknown width. Release dates: Radeon VII on 2019-02-06, Tesla P40 on 2016-09-12. Both are end-of-life. The Radeon VII’s launch MSRP was 699 USD; the Tesla P40’s was 5,699 USD.