Intel Arc A550M vs NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear, though uneven, contest between the Intel Arc A550M and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB. Across the two benchmark workloads captured in the database, the Intel part wins both, but the margin of victory tells different stories about the nature of each GPU’s strengths.

In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Intel Arc A550M posts a score of 49,894 against the Tesla M40’s 37,439. That is a delta of 33.3% in Intel’s favor, a substantial gap that points to a fundamental throughput advantage. The Arc A550M’s FP32 compute is rated at 8.397 TFLOPS, while the Tesla M40 sits at 6.832 TFLOPS. The raw math lines up with the benchmark result: Intel is roughly 23% higher in theoretical FP32, yet the OpenCL score gap is even larger, suggesting the Arc’s architecture extracts more real-world efficiency from its shading units.

The Vulkan result is tighter. Intel scores 49,580, NVIDIA scores 45,975, a delta of 7.8%. Here the Tesla M40 closes much of the distance. Both parts support Vulkan 1.4, but the M40’s Maxwell 2.0 design is older, with no dedicated ray tracing or tensor hardware. The smaller Vulkan gap implies that the Tesla’s 3,072 shading units and 192 texture mapping units can still push geometry and raster workloads respectably, even if its compute-heavy OpenCL performance lags.

The average benchmark scores reinforce the pattern. The Arc A550M averages 49,737 across the two tests, while the Tesla M40 averages 41,707. The Intel GPU sits at the 86th percentile of all GPUs in the database, the NVIDIA at the 83rd. Neither is a slouch, but the data places the Arc A550M in a higher tier, closer to modern enthusiast parts.

Looking at nearest rivals for context, the Arc A550M’s average score of 49,737 is within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49,957) and 0.5% of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50,001). It trails the RX 6900 XT (50,951) by 2.4% but beats the RX 6800 XT (48,477) by 2.6%. The Tesla M40’s 41,707 average sits 0.5% below another Tesla M40 (41,897, a quirk of the database’s nearest neighbor list), 1.3% above the RTX 3080 Ti (41,187), and 2% above the Radeon Pro 5300 (40,870). It falls 2.4% short of the Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42,723). The Intel part competes at the level of 2020-2021 flagship GPUs; the Tesla M40 hovers near mid-range modern parts.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark wins split cleanly by workload type. The Intel Arc A550M dominates in OpenCL, a compute-centric API that stresses raw shader throughput, memory bandwidth, and parallel execution. Its 33.3% lead there is the headline number. This aligns with the Arc’s specifications: 2,048 shading units, 16 ray tracing cores, and 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth on a 128-bit GDDR6 interface. The FP16 rate of 16.79 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) also gives it a distinct advantage in half-precision workloads, which OpenCL can leverage.

The Tesla M40’s closest performance comes in Vulkan, where it trails by just 7.8%. Vulkan tends to favor geometry throughput and driver efficiency over pure compute density. The M40 has 3,072 shading units (50% more than the Arc), 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, plus a wider 384-bit memory bus delivering 288.4 GB/s. Those resources help rasterization-heavy tasks, even if the older Maxwell architecture lacks newer features.

For use cases, the Arc A550M is the better choice for OpenCL compute tasks, machine learning inference that relies on FP32 or FP16, and any workload that can tap its ray tracing cores. The Tesla M40, despite losing both benchmarks, remains competitive in Vulkan-based rendering pipelines where its larger shading unit count and higher memory bandwidth can compensate for its age. The M40’s 24 GB VRAM dwarfs the Arc’s 8 GB, which matters for large datasets, but no benchmark in the data directly tests memory capacity limits.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different eras and design philosophies. The Intel Arc A550M uses the DG2-512 chip, built on Xe-HPG architecture, part of the Alchemist generation for Arc 5 Mobile. It is fabricated on TSMC’s 6 nm process, packing 21,700 million transistors into a 406 mm² die. That yields a transistor density of 53.4 million per mm², a figure that reflects modern process scaling. The M40 uses the GM200 chip with Maxwell 2.0 architecture, from the Tesla Maxwell (Mxx) generation. It is built on a 28 nm process, also by TSMC, with 8,000 million transistors on a larger 601 mm² die. Its transistor density is just 13.3 million per mm², roughly four times lower than Intel’s part.

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The Arc A550M runs at a 900 MHz base and boosts to 2050 MHz, with memory at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The Tesla M40 has a 948 MHz base, 1112 MHz boost, and memory at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective). Intel’s higher boost clock, combined with the denser process, explains much of its compute advantage. The M40’s lower clocks are a legacy of the older 28 nm node.

Memory configurations differ substantially. The Arc A550M has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla M40 has 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, yielding 288.4 GB/s. The M40’s bandwidth is 28.7% higher, but its effective data rate is lower because GDDR5 at 6 Gbps is slower per pin than GDDR6 at 14 Gbps. The wider bus compensates, but the capacity gap (24 GB vs 8 GB) is the more meaningful difference for memory-bound tasks.

Feature sets diverge sharply. The Arc A550M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing and mesh shaders, and it has 16 dedicated RT cores. The Tesla M40 tops out at DirectX 12 (12_1), with no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. Both run OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the Arc’s newer API support makes it more future-proof. The M40 has no display outputs, as it is a compute accelerator, while the Arc is portable-device dependent, meaning outputs vary by laptop. The M40 is a dual-slot card with an 8-pin EPS connector and a 600 W suggested PSU; the Arc is an IGP (integrated graphics package) with no power connector listed. The M40 measures 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length.

The Verdict

From the data alone, the Intel Arc A550M is the faster GPU in both recorded benchmarks. Its 33.3% OpenCL lead and 7.8% Vulkan lead are decisive. It also holds a higher average score (49,737 vs 41,707) and a higher percentile ranking (86th vs 83rd). Anyone prioritizing raw compute performance should choose the Arc A550M, especially for OpenCL-heavy workloads or applications that can use its FP16 throughput and ray tracing support.

The Tesla M40 24 GB is the pick only in specific circumstances. Its 24 GB memory capacity is triple the Arc’s, which is not reflected in these benchmarks but matters for datasets that exceed 8 GB. Its wider 384-bit bus and higher bandwidth (288.4 GB/s vs 224.0 GB/s) could also favor memory-intensive tasks that the current tests do not cover. But the benchmark data shows it loses every recorded contest, and its older architecture lacks features like RT cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate.

The M40’s nearest rival comparison is telling. It sits just 0.5% below another Tesla M40, suggesting its performance is near the ceiling of its design, and only 1.3% above an RTX 3080 Ti, which is a much newer part. The Arc A550M, by contrast, trades blows with the RX 6900 XT and RTX 5070 Ti, placing it in a far more modern performance class. Strictly from the numbers, the Intel Arc A550M is the superior product. The Tesla M40 is a legacy compute card with a capacity advantage that the benchmarks do not quantify.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Arc A550M averages 49,737 across its two recorded tests, while the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB averages 41,707. Intel leads by roughly 19%.

Q: How large is the OpenCL performance gap?

A: The Arc A550M scores 49,894 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the Tesla M40’s 37,439, a 33.3% advantage for Intel.

Q: Does the Tesla M40 win any benchmark?

A: No. The data records two head-to-head tests, and the Intel Arc A550M wins both. The Tesla M40 has zero wins.

Q: What memory advantages does the Tesla M40 have?

A: The Tesla M40 offers 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth. The Arc A550M has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Are these GPUs still in production?

A: Both are marked as end-of-life in the database. The Arc A550M has no recorded release date, while the Tesla M40 was released on 2015-11-09.

Q: How do they compare in API support?

A: The Arc A550M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Tesla M40 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Only the Arc has ray tracing cores.

Specification Differences

| Field | Intel Arc A550M | NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | DG2-512 | GM200 |

| Architecture | Xe-HPG | Maxwell 2.0 |

| Generation | Alchemist (Arc 5 Mobile) | Tesla Maxwell (Mxx) |

| Process Node | 6 nm | 28 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | TSMC |

| Transistors | 21,700 million | 8,000 million |

| Die Size | 406 mm² | 601 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 53.4M / mm² | 13.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 900 MHz | 948 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2050 MHz | 1112 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1750 MHz, 14 Gbps effective | 1502 MHz, 6 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 24 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 288.4 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2048 | 3072 |

| TMUs | 128 | 192 |

| ROPs | 64 | 96 |

| RT Cores | 16 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 131.2 GPixel/s | 106.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 262.4 GTexel/s | 213.5 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 8.397 TFLOPS | 6.832 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 16.79 TFLOPS (2:1) | None |

| TDP | 60 W | 250 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 8-pin EPS |

| Suggested PSU | None | 600 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | No outputs |

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Length | None | 267 mm (10.5 inches) |

| Release Date | None | 2015-11-09 |

| Predecessor | None | Tesla Kepler |

| Successor | None | Tesla Pascal |