NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla M10 Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla M10 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile represent two distinct eras of GPU design, separated by architecture, target application, and physical form. The Tesla M10 is a dual-slot, rack-mounted accelerator from the Maxwell generation, designed for datacenter workloads like virtual desktop infrastructure. The RTX 3050 A Mobile is a compact Ampere-based chip intended for thin and light laptops. The benchmark data in this database shows a clear performance hierarchy, but the story is more nuanced than a simple score comparison, as each card is optimized for a fundamentally different role.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single direct head-to-head benchmark between these two GPUs, and the result is decisive. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 52,998 points, while the NVIDIA Tesla M10 scores 10,318 points. This represents an 80.5% advantage for the RTX 3050 A Mobile, making it the outright winner in the only directly comparable workload recorded. The sheer magnitude of this gap indicates that the RTX 3050 A Mobile is in a different performance class for general-purpose compute tasks, despite being a mobile part with a significantly lower power envelope.

Looking at the broader benchmark data for each card, the RTX 3050 A Mobile also demonstrates strength across a wider range of tests. Its Passmark G3D score is 11,664, and its Passmark GPU Compute score is 4,419. These figures are not directly matched by the Tesla M10, which only has Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan results recorded. However, the Tesla M10’s Geekbench Vulkan score of 9,130 is notably lower than the RTX 3050 A Mobile’s OpenCL result, suggesting that the newer architecture has a substantial lead in compute-intensive tasks regardless of API.

The average benchmark score in the database further contextualizes this split. The Tesla M10 has an average score of 9,724, placing it at the 47th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has an average score of 8,746, which places it at the 44th percentile. This is a surprising inversion: the RTX 3050 A Mobile wins the head-to-head OpenCL test by a wide margin, yet its average score across all its recorded benchmarks is lower than the Tesla M10’s average. This is explained by the RTX 3050 A Mobile’s inclusion of several Passmark DirectX tests with very low scores, such as 61 for DirectX 10, 94 for DirectX 11, and 55 for DirectX 12. These low scores drag down its overall average, even though its compute-focused OpenCL and G3D results are strong. The Tesla M10, with only two Geekbench results, has a more consistent profile.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational. The Tesla M10 is built on the Maxwell architecture, using the GM107 chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The RTX 3050 A Mobile uses the Ampere architecture, with the GA106 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. This process shrink is a primary driver of the performance difference, allowing the RTX 3050 A Mobile to pack far more transistors into a smaller relative footprint. The Tesla M10 has 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.6 million per square millimeter. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, a density of 43.5 million per square millimeter. This is a dramatic increase in complexity and efficiency.

The compute resources are also starkly different. The Tesla M10 has 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 raster output units. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 1,792 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. More critically, the RTX 3050 A Mobile includes hardware features that the Tesla M10 lacks entirely: 14 ray tracing cores and 56 tensor cores. The Tesla M10 has no such dedicated cores. This means the RTX 3050 A Mobile can accelerate ray-traced workloads and AI-based tasks like DLSS, while the Tesla M10 is purely a rasterization and compute device. The DirectX support reflects this: the Tesla M10 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), while the RTX 3050 A Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Memory configurations also differ. The Tesla M10 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 83.20 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory, also on a 128-bit bus, but delivers 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The newer memory type and higher effective clock speed (12 Gbps effective versus 5.2 Gbps effective) give the RTX 3050 A Mobile more than double the memory bandwidth, which is crucial for modern workloads. The Tesla M10’s larger capacity is a point in its favor for certain datacenter use cases, but the bandwidth deficit is severe.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3050 A Mobile wins in every direct compute comparison recorded. Its OpenCL score is vastly higher, and its architecture supports features like ray tracing and tensor cores that the Tesla M10 cannot execute at all. For any modern gaming, content creation, or AI-assisted workload, the RTX 3050 A Mobile is the clear choice. The data shows its Passmark G3D score of 11,664 is a strong result for a mobile GPU, indicating solid DirectX performance for its class. Its power draw of 45 W is remarkably low, making it suitable for thin laptops where thermal and battery constraints are paramount.

The Tesla M10 has a different kind of advantage. Its 8 GB of memory capacity, while slower, is double that of the RTX 3050 A Mobile. In a virtual desktop environment where multiple users need to run isolated sessions, having more memory per GPU can be more important than raw throughput. The Tesla M10 also has a higher average benchmark score in the database (9,724 versus 8,746), which suggests that in the specific tests it runs, it is more consistent. Its dual-slot design and 225 W power draw, while high, are acceptable for a server chassis. The Tesla M10 is also older, with a release date in 2016, meaning it is likely available in legacy systems that cannot be easily upgraded to newer mobile parts.

The Vulkan score for the Tesla M10 (9,130) is its second recorded result. While lower than the RTX 3050 A Mobile’s OpenCL score, it is a respectable figure for a Maxwell-era card, indicating it can handle modern API workloads at a basic level. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has no Vulkan score recorded, so the Tesla M10’s Vulkan capability is not directly comparable in this database, but the score itself is notable.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla M10 has an average benchmark score of 9,724, compared to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile’s average of 8,746.

Q: What is the biggest performance difference in the head-to-head test?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 52,998, which is 80.5% higher than the Tesla M10’s 10,318.

Q: Does the RTX 3050 A Mobile support ray tracing?

A: Yes, it has 14 ray tracing cores. The Tesla M10 has no ray tracing cores.

Q: How does memory bandwidth compare between the two?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the Tesla M10 has 83.20 GB/s.

Q: Which card has more memory capacity?

A: The Tesla M10 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The Tesla M10 has a TDP of 225 W, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has a TDP of 45 W.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA Tesla M10 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile |

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

| Architecture | Maxwell | Ampere |

| Chip | GM107 | GA106 |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 1,870 million | 12,000 million |

| Die Size | 148 mm² | 276 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.6M / mm² | 43.5M / mm² |

| Shading Units | 640 | 1,792 |

| TMUs | 40 | 56 |

| ROPs | 16 | 32 |

| RT Cores | None | 14 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 56 |

| Base Clock | 1033 MHz | 1065 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1306 MHz | 1343 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1300 MHz, 5.2 Gbps effective | 1500 MHz, 12 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 83.20 GB/s | 192.0 GB/s |

| Pixel Rate | 20.90 GPixel/s | 42.98 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 52.24 GTexel/s | 75.21 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 1.672 TFLOPS | 4.813 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | None recorded | 4.813 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 225 W | 45 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | None |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX Support | 12 (11_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Length | 267 mm (10.5 inches) | Not recorded |

| Release Date | 2016-05-17 | 2023-12-31 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | End-of-life |

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion for most users: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile is the superior performer. Its 80.5% lead in the head-to-head OpenCL test is decisive, and its architecture includes features like ray tracing and tensor cores that are entirely absent from the Tesla M10. Its 4.813 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is nearly three times the Tesla M10’s 1.672 TFLOPS, and its memory bandwidth is more than double. For any workload that benefits from modern compute capabilities, be it gaming, rendering, or machine learning inference, the RTX 3050 A Mobile is the only rational choice.

The Tesla M10’s sole tangible advantage is memory capacity. With 8 GB, it can address more data simultaneously than the RTX 3050 A Mobile’s 4 GB. This makes it potentially viable for specific virtual desktop scenarios where each user requires a larger memory footprint, but the trade-off is severe: lower bandwidth, lower compute throughput, no dedicated acceleration cores, and a 225 W power draw that is five times higher than the RTX 3050 A Mobile’s 45 W. The higher average benchmark score for the Tesla M10 is a statistical artifact of the limited tests recorded for it, not evidence of overall superiority.

For a mobile or compact system, the RTX 3050 A Mobile is the clear winner. Its performance class, feature set, and power efficiency align with modern laptop designs. For a legacy datacenter deployment where 8 GB of memory is an absolute requirement and compute speed is secondary, the Tesla M10 could still serve a niche purpose. However, based strictly on the recorded benchmark data, the RTX 3050 A Mobile outperforms the Tesla M10 in every measurable compute dimension, and the Tesla M10’s higher memory capacity does not compensate for its dramatic shortfall in speed and capability. The verdict is that the RTX 3050 A Mobile is the better GPU, and the Tesla M10 is a relic of a different computing era.