Intel Arc A770 vs NVIDIA Tesla P40 Comparison

The Intel Arc A770 and NVIDIA Tesla P40 represent two very different answers to the same question: what does a high-performance GPU look like? The data shows the Arc A770 is the clear winner in raw compute benchmarks, but the Tesla P40 offers a unique advantage in memory capacity. The verdict is straightforward: the Arc A770 is for anyone needing modern performance and feature support, while the Tesla P40 is for specific, memory-hungry compute workloads where its lack of display outputs and older architecture are non-issues.

The Verdict

The benchmark data is not close. In the two head-to-head tests, the Intel Arc A770 wins both, with a 76% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and a 38.3% lead in Geekbench Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 68,809 places it at the 90th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla P40’s average score of 65,095 places it at the 89th percentile. Despite the similar percentile ranking, the Arc A770 is the better all-around performer, especially in applications that leverage modern APIs. The Tesla P40 is a specialist tool. Its 24 GB of memory is 8 GB more than the Arc A770, which is a significant advantage for large datasets that exceed 16 GB. However, this comes with a massive trade-off: it has no display outputs, making it useless for a standard desktop setup. Choose the Arc A770 for a versatile, powerful graphics card that can handle gaming and compute. Choose the Tesla P40 only if you need more than 16 GB of memory for a server-side compute task and do not need to connect a monitor.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures. The Intel Arc A770 uses the Xe-HPG architecture, specifically the DG2-512 chip, and is part of the Alchemist generation. It is fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC, packing 21,700 million transistors into a 406 mm² die. This results in a transistor density of 53.4M per mm². The architecture is modern, featuring 32 dedicated ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). In contrast, the NVIDIA Tesla P40 is based on the much older Pascal architecture, using the GP102 chip. It is built on a 16 nm process, also at TSMC, with 11,800 million transistors on a larger 471 mm² die, giving it a lower transistor density of 25.1M per mm². The Pascal architecture lacks dedicated ray tracing cores and only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The Arc A770 also has a significant advantage in half-precision compute, offering 39.32 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), while the Tesla P40 is severely limited at 183.7 GFLOPS FP16 (1:64). The Arc A770 uses the PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the Tesla P40 uses the older PCIe 3.0 x16.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark results show a decisive victory for the Intel Arc A770. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Arc A770 scores 109,175, while the Tesla P40 scores 62,017. This is a 76% advantage for the Arc A770, a massive gap that highlights the difference in raw compute throughput. The Arc A770’s FP32 performance of 19.66 TFLOPS is substantially higher than the Tesla P40’s 11.76 TFLOPS, which explains this lead. The Vulkan test tells a similar story, but with a smaller margin. The Arc A770 scores 94,284, while the Tesla P40 scores 68,172, giving the Arc A770 a 38.3% lead. While the Tesla P40 is competitive in Vulkan relative to its OpenCL performance, it still falls far short of the Arc A770. The data suggests that the Arc A770’s modern architecture scales better with both compute APIs. The Tesla P40’s closest rivals include the AMD Radeon VII, which is 1.4% faster, and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100, which it beats by 1.4%. The Arc A770’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA CMP 90HX, is only 0.3% faster, showing the Arc A770 is well-positioned against its direct competition.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in raw compute performance?

A: The Intel Arc A770 is significantly faster. It wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a 76% higher score and the Geekbench Vulkan test with a 38.3% higher score.

Q: Does the Tesla P40 have any advantages over the Arc A770?

A: Yes. The Tesla P40 has 24 GB of memory, which is 50% more than the Arc A770's 16 GB. This is its primary advantage for workloads with memory footprints larger than 16 GB.

Q: Can I use the Tesla P40 for gaming?

A: The data suggests it is not suitable for a standard desktop. The Tesla P40 has no display outputs, meaning it cannot connect to a monitor directly.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: The Intel Arc A770 is more modern, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and featuring 32 ray tracing cores. The Tesla P40 supports only DirectX 12 (12_1) and has no ray tracing cores.

Q: How does the memory bandwidth compare?

A: The Arc A770 has a higher memory bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s, compared to the Tesla P40's 347.1 GB/s, despite the Tesla P40 having a wider 384-bit bus.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Arc A770 has a TDP of 225 W and requires a 550 W power supply, using a 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin connector. The Tesla P40 has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W power supply, using an 8-pin EPS connector.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A770 wins in all performance benchmarks and in any scenario where modern features are beneficial. Its 32 ray tracing cores make it a viable option for games that support real-time ray tracing, a feature entirely absent on the Tesla P40. Its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate ensures compatibility with the latest game titles and graphics effects. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth, it is well-suited for high-resolution gaming and general compute tasks. Its higher pixel rate (307.2 GPixel/s) and texture rate (614.4 GTexel/s) also make it superior for graphics-intensive workloads. The Arc A770 is the obvious choice for a desktop workstation that needs to do a bit of everything.

The NVIDIA Tesla P40 wins only in the specific scenario where memory capacity is the limiting factor. Its 24 GB of GDDR5 memory is its sole, but compelling, advantage. For machine learning inference or data processing tasks where the entire model or dataset fits within 24 GB but not within 16 GB, the Tesla P40 is the only option of the two. However, this comes with significant caveats. It is a compute-only card with no display outputs, so it must be paired with a separate GPU for display. Its 250 W TDP is higher than the Arc A770’s 225 W, and its older PCIe 3.0 interface may bottleneck data transfer speeds. For developers who need to run large models that exceed 16 GB and do not require a display, the Tesla P40’s extra memory is worth the performance deficit. For everyone else, the Arc A770 is the superior product.

Specification Differences

| Specification | Intel Arc A770 | NVIDIA Tesla P40 |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Architecture | Xe-HPG | Pascal |

| Process Node | 6 nm | 16 nm |

| Transistors | 21,700 million | 11,800 million |

| Die Size | 406 mm² | 471 mm² |

| Base Clock | 2100 MHz | 1303 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2400 MHz | 1531 MHz |

| Memory Size | 16 GB | 24 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus | 256 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 347.1 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 4096 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 256 | 240 |

| ROPs | 128 | 96 |

| RT Cores | 32 | None |

| FP32 Performance | 19.66 TFLOPS | 11.76 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 39.32 TFLOPS (2:1) | 183.7 GFLOPS (1:64) |

| TDP | 225 W | 250 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 8-pin EPS |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | 600 W |

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

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 2.0 | No outputs |

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