GPU Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla P40 and Intel Arc A570M represent two very different approaches to GPU design, separated by nearly seven years of architectural evolution. The data shows a single head-to-head benchmark result, with the Tesla P40 winning the Geekbench OpenCL test by a margin of 6.5%, scoring 62,017 against the Arc A570M’s 58,239. While the P40 takes the win, the A570M’s score places it in a remarkably tight competitive cluster, with its nearest rival (AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT) sitting just 0.3% higher, and the NVIDIA P102-100 just 0.5% higher. The Tesla P40, by contrast, sits in a slightly wider field, leading the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 by 1.4% and trailing the AMD Radeon VII by 1.4%.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the NVIDIA Tesla P40 posts a score of 62,017 versus the Intel Arc A570M’s 58,239. This translates to a 6.5% advantage for the P40, a meaningful but not overwhelming gap. The P40’s score is also higher than its own average benchmark score of 65,095 would suggest, indicating that the OpenCL workload is not its strongest suite. Conversely, the A570M’s OpenCL result is its only recorded benchmark, so it serves as both its peak and its average.

Looking at the broader competitive landscape, the Tesla P40’s 6.5% lead over the A570M is consistent with how each card fares against its own peers. The P40’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon VII, which scores 66,004 and outperforms the P40 by 1.4%, and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100, which trails by 1.4%. The A570M’s rivals are even closer: the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT leads it by a mere 0.3%, while the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM trails by 0.3%. This suggests that while the P40 has a clear edge in this head-to-head, the A570M is operating in a highly competitive performance band where small margins separate contenders.

The deltaPct values reveal that the P40’s win is not a dominant one. A 6.5% margin in a synthetic compute workload like OpenCL could easily flip in other tests, particularly those favoring the A570M’s newer architecture features. However, the data does not include any additional head-to-head results, so the OpenCL outcome stands as the sole basis for comparison. The P40’s higher absolute score is supported by its raw compute specifications: 11.76 TFLOPS FP32 against the A570M’s 5.325 TFLOPS, and a texture rate of 367.4 GTexel/s versus 166.4 GTexel/s. These figures align with the benchmark outcome, though they do not account for architectural efficiency differences.

The Verdict

The data indicates that the NVIDIA Tesla P40 is the stronger performer in the single available benchmark, with a 6.5% lead in Geekbench OpenCL. For users prioritizing raw compute throughput in OpenCL workloads, the P40 is the clear choice based on this result. Its 89th percentile ranking among all GPUs also places it slightly above the A570M’s 88th percentile, reinforcing its overall performance standing. The P40’s 24 GB of GDDR5 memory and 347.1 GB/s bandwidth provide a substantial memory resource advantage over the A570M’s 8 GB GDDR6 at 224.0 GB/s, which could matter in memory-intensive tasks beyond the tested workload.

However, the Intel Arc A570M is not far behind. Its 88th percentile ranking and the extremely tight margins against its nearest rivals (all within 0.7%) suggest that it is a highly competent performer in its own right. The A570M’s 6 nm process node and Xe-HPG architecture bring modern features like 16 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2), which the P40 lacks. For users who need those features, the A570M’s slightly lower raw score may be an acceptable trade-off. The P40, being an end-of-life product from 2016, offers no such modern API advantages, limited to DirectX 12 (12_1).

The verdict from the data is straightforward: the P40 wins on raw benchmark score and memory capacity, while the A570M wins on architectural modernity and feature set. Neither card dominates across all criteria, but if the benchmark score is the primary decision factor, the Tesla P40 is the pick. If feature support and efficiency are more important, the A570M’s 75 W TDP versus the P40’s 250 W TDP represents a significant power efficiency advantage that the raw score does not capture.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Tesla P40 wins in scenarios where raw compute throughput and large memory capacity are paramount. Its 24 GB memory pool is three times larger than the A570M’s 8 GB, making it better suited for workloads that require massive datasets to reside in VRAM. The P40’s FP32 performance of 11.76 TFLOPS is more than double the A570M’s 5.325 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate of 147.0 GPixel/s exceeds the A570M’s 83.20 GPixel/s. These specifications, combined with the 6.5% OpenCL benchmark win, position the P40 as the choice for compute-heavy applications like scientific simulation or large-scale data processing where memory capacity and raw FP32 throughput are critical.

The Intel Arc A570M wins in areas of architectural efficiency and modern feature support. Its 16 ray tracing cores provide hardware-accelerated ray tracing that the P40 completely lacks, making it the better option for any workload involving ray-traced rendering. The A570M also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading, whereas the P40 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). The A570M’s FP16 performance of 10.65 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) is vastly superior to the P40’s 183.7 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio), making the Intel card dramatically better for mixed-precision workloads that leverage FP16 acceleration. Furthermore, the A570M’s 75 W TDP makes it suitable for portable or power-constrained devices, given its IGP form factor and portable-device-dependent display outputs, while the P40 requires a dual-slot chassis with an 8-pin EPS connector and a 600 W suggested PSU.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla P40 scores 62,017, which is 6.5% higher than the Intel Arc A570M’s 58,239.

Q: How does each card compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Tesla P40 leads the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 by 1.4% but trails the AMD Radeon VII by 1.4%. The Arc A570M leads the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM by 0.3% but trails the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT by 0.3%.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between the two cards?

A: The Tesla P40 has 24 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the Arc A570M has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, a threefold difference.

Q: Does the Intel Arc A570M support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the A570M has 16 ray tracing cores, while the Tesla P40 has no ray tracing cores listed.

Q: What are the FP32 performance figures for each GPU?

A: The Tesla P40 delivers 11.76 TFLOPS FP32, compared to the Arc A570M’s 5.325 TFLOPS FP32.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The Tesla P40 has a 250 W TDP, while the Arc A570M has a 75 W TDP, making the Intel card significantly more power-efficient.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The NVIDIA Tesla P40 uses the GP102 chip with the Pascal architecture, fabricated on a 16 nm TSMC process. It packs 11,800 million transistors into a 471 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 25.1 million transistors per mm². The Intel Arc A570M uses the DG2-256 chip with the Xe-HPG architecture, built on a 6 nm TSMC process. It contains 11,500 million transistors on a much smaller 269 mm² die, achieving a significantly higher transistor density of 42.8 million transistors per mm². This density advantage reflects the newer manufacturing process and architectural design philosophy.

The compute configurations differ substantially. The Tesla P40 features 3,840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. The Arc A570M has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The P40’s higher counts directly contribute to its superior pixel rate (147.0 GPixel/s vs. 83.20 GPixel/s) and texture rate (367.4 GTexel/s vs. 166.4 GTexel/s). However, the A570M adds 16 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the P40. Neither card lists tensor cores, though the A570M’s FP16 throughput of 10.65 TFLOPS (2:1) dwarfs the P40’s 183.7 GFLOPS (1:64), indicating a major difference in mixed-precision capability.

Memory subsystems also diverge. The P40 uses 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 347.1 GB/s bandwidth at a memory clock of 1808 MHz (7.2 Gbps effective). The A570M uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s bandwidth at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The P40’s wider bus and larger capacity make it better suited for memory-heavy workloads, while the A570M’s faster memory type offers higher per-pin efficiency. Clock speeds are also notably different: the P40 runs at a base of 1303 MHz with a boost of 1531 MHz, while the A570M runs at a base of 900 MHz and a boost of 1300 MHz, reflecting the trade-off between raw speed and power efficiency.

The interface and power profiles are starkly contrasted. The P40 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the A570M uses PCIe 4.0 x8, offering similar effective bandwidth in the newer standard. The P40 is a dual-slot card requiring an 8-pin EPS connector and a 600 W suggested PSU, with no display outputs, indicating a compute-only accelerator. The A570M is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors listed, no suggested PSU, and display outputs that are portable-device dependent, indicating its mobile or embedded target market. The P40’s production status is end-of-life with a launch MSRP of 5,699 USD, while the A570M remains active. The P40’s release date is 2016-09-12, and its predecessor is Tesla Maxwell with successor Tesla Volta; the A570M has no listed predecessor or successor. Finally, the P40 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the A570M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, giving the Intel card a more modern API feature set.