NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti vs NVIDIA Tesla M4 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single shared benchmark between the NVIDIA Tesla M4 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti: Geekbench OpenCL. The results are decisive. The GTX 1070 Ti records a score of 49,219, while the Tesla M4 manages 16,932. That places the GTX 1070 Ti ahead by a massive 65.6 percent margin. In practical terms, the GTX 1070 Ti delivers nearly three times the compute throughput in this OpenCL workload, a gap that reflects the fundamental differences in their design targets and hardware resources.

Looking at the Tesla M4's position among its nearest rivals, its 16,932 OpenCL score sits within a tight cluster. It trails the AMD Radeon HD 7970M by only 0.5 percent (that card posts 17,019) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 by 0.6 percent (17,037). It is also 0.9 percent behind the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17,083). However, the Tesla M4 edges out the NVIDIA T400 4 GB by 0.8 percent, as the T400 scores 16,792. This grouping shows that the Tesla M4, despite its low power envelope, delivers compute performance that is competitive with much larger and more power-hungry desktop cards from its era.

The GTX 1070 Ti, by contrast, sits in a different performance tier entirely within the database. Its nearest rivals, based on average benchmark score, include the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics at 14,315 (0.3 percent behind the GTX 1070 Ti's average of 14,277), the AMD Radeon Vega 11 at 14,352 (0.5 percent behind), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN at 14,373 (0.7 percent behind). The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 trails by 0.7 percent as well with 14,385. These deltas are small, but the context matters: the GTX 1070 Ti's average benchmark score across all tests is 14,277, which is lower than its OpenCL score alone because the other tests, such as Passmark DirectX 9 and DirectX 12, pull the average down.

The head-to-head OpenCL result is the only direct comparison available, but it is telling. The GTX 1070 Ti's OpenCL score of 49,219 is not just a win; it is a dominant one. The Tesla M4's score of 16,932 is respectable for its class, but it is not in the same league as the GTX 1070 Ti in raw compute throughput.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data clearly shows that the GTX 1070 Ti wins the only directly comparable test, and it wins by a wide margin. In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 1070 Ti is 65.6 percent faster than the Tesla M4. This makes the GTX 1070 Ti the clear choice for any workload that relies heavily on OpenCL compute, such as general-purpose GPU acceleration, physics simulations, or data processing tasks.

The Tesla M4, however, has its own domain of strength, though it is not reflected in the head-to-head score. Its 50 W TDP and single-slot design make it suitable for environments where power and space are constrained. The database shows no display outputs on the Tesla M4, meaning it is designed for server or compute installations where a monitor is not attached. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 88.00 GB/s of bandwidth, which is modest but sufficient for its intended role. The Tesla M4's average benchmark score of 16,932 places it in the 60th percentile of all GPUs in the database, which is a solid position for a low-power compute card.

In contrast, the GTX 1070 Ti is a consumer gaming card with display outputs (1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a). Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is nearly three times the Tesla M4's memory bandwidth. The GTX 1070 Ti also has a much higher pixel rate (107.7 GPixel/s vs. 34.30 GPixel/s) and texture rate (255.8 GTexel/s vs. 68.61 GTexel/s). These figures point to the GTX 1070 Ti being far better suited for real-time graphics rendering, gaming, and high-resolution display output.

For users selecting between these two cards, the choice is straightforward based on the data. If the workload is OpenCL compute and the environment requires low power and a small footprint, the Tesla M4 is the more appropriate option. If the workload involves graphics output, higher memory bandwidth, or any application that benefits from the GTX 1070 Ti's significantly higher compute throughput, the GTX 1070 Ti is the clear winner.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on different architectures from different generations. The Tesla M4 uses the GM206 chip based on Maxwell 2.0 architecture, which NVIDIA categorized under the Tesla Maxwell generation. The GTX 1070 Ti uses the GP104 chip based on Pascal architecture, part of the GeForce 10 series.

The manufacturing process differs substantially. The Tesla M4 is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, while the GTX 1070 Ti uses a 16 nm process, also at TSMC. This process shrink allows the GTX 1070 Ti to pack far more transistors into a similar die area. The Tesla M4 contains 2,940 million transistors on a 228 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 12.9 million per mm². The GTX 1070 Ti contains 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, yielding a density of 22.9 million per mm². That is nearly double the density, enabling the GTX 1070 Ti to house significantly more compute units.

The compute resources are vastly different. The Tesla M4 has 1,024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The GTX 1070 Ti has 2,432 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. These are not incremental differences; they represent a fundamental scale-up in parallel processing capability. The GTX 1070 Ti's FP32 throughput is 8.186 TFLOPS, while the Tesla M4's is 2.195 TFLOPS. The GTX 1070 Ti also has a FP16 rate of 127.9 GFLOPS (at 1:64 ratio), while the Tesla M4 has no recorded FP16 performance in the database.

Both cards support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so their API compatibility is identical. However, the underlying hardware is from different eras, with the Tesla M4 released in November 2015 and the GTX 1070 Ti released in November 2017. The Tesla M4's predecessor was the Tesla Kepler line, and its successor was Tesla Pascal. The GTX 1070 Ti's predecessor was the GeForce 900 series, and its successor was the GeForce 20 series.

The memory architecture also differs significantly. The Tesla M4 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, while the GTX 1070 Ti uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The memory clock speeds are different as well: the Tesla M4 runs at 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective), while the GTX 1070 Ti runs at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). This combination of wider bus and faster clock gives the GTX 1070 Ti its 256.3 GB/s bandwidth, versus the Tesla M4's 88.00 GB/s.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every major specification. The Tesla M4 has a base clock of 872 MHz and a boost clock of 1072 MHz. The GTX 1070 Ti has a base clock of 1607 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz. The GTX 1070 Ti's clocks are substantially higher, contributing to its compute advantage.

Memory capacity differs: 4 GB on the Tesla M4 versus 8 GB on the GTX 1070 Ti. Memory type is the same (GDDR5), but bus width and bandwidth differ as described above. The GTX 1070 Ti has twice the ROPs (64 vs. 32) and more than double the TMUs (152 vs. 64).

Power consumption is a major differentiator. The Tesla M4 has a TDP of 50 W and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The GTX 1070 Ti has a TDP of 180 W and a suggested PSU of 450 W. The Tesla M4 is single-slot with no power connectors, while the GTX 1070 Ti is dual-slot and requires a single 8-pin power connector. The physical dimensions also differ: the GTX 1070 Ti measures 267 mm in length, 112 mm in height, and 40 mm in width, while the Tesla M4 has no recorded dimensions in the database.

Display outputs are another key difference. The Tesla M4 has no display outputs, confirming its compute-only purpose. The GTX 1070 Ti offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, making it a full-featured graphics card for consumer use.

The GTX 1070 Ti has a recorded launch MSRP of 399 USD. The Tesla M4 has no launch MSRP in the database. The GTX 1070 Ti also has a wider range of benchmark results, including Passmark DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, G2D, G3D, and GPU Compute tests, as well as Geekbench Metal and Vulkan tests. The Tesla M4 only has a Geekbench OpenCL result.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti scores 49,219 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the NVIDIA Tesla M4 scores 16,932. The GTX 1070 Ti is 65.6 percent faster in this test.

Q: What is the power consumption difference between the two cards?

A: The Tesla M4 has a TDP of 50 W and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The GTX 1070 Ti has a TDP of 180 W and a suggested PSU of 450 W.

Q: Can the Tesla M4 output video to a display?

A: No. The Tesla M4 has no display outputs, indicating it is designed for compute or server use. The GTX 1070 Ti, by contrast, offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Q: How does memory bandwidth compare between the two?

A: The Tesla M4 has 88.00 GB/s of bandwidth from 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. The GTX 1070 Ti has 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth from 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The Tesla M4 has 2,940 million transistors on a 228 mm² die. The GTX 1070 Ti has 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die. The GTX 1070 Ti also has a higher transistor density: 22.9 million per mm² versus 12.9 million per mm².

Q: When was each GPU released?

A: The Tesla M4 was released on November 9, 2015. The GTX 1070 Ti was released on November 1, 2017. Both are now end-of-life products.