NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti vs NVIDIA Tesla M4 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single shared benchmark between these two GPUs leaves no ambiguity about the performance gulf separating them. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Tesla M4 scores 16,932 points, while the RTX 3060 Ti posts a massive 78,927 points. That translates to the Tesla M4 trailing by 78.5 percent — a decisive victory for the newer Ampere part.

Context from the nearest-rival data reinforces the M4's position. The Tesla M4's average benchmark score of 16,932 places it roughly in line with the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17,019, a 0.5 percent gap in favor of the AMD part) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17,037, 0.6 percent ahead). It edges out the NVIDIA T400 4 GB (16,792) by 0.8 percent, but falls 0.9 percent short of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17,083). The M4 sits at the 60th percentile among all GPUs, indicating it is a middling performer by modern standards. Its compute capability is modest, and the data suggests it was never designed for high-throughput workloads.

The RTX 3060 Ti, by contrast, holds a 59th percentile rank among all GPUs — oddly one point lower than the M4 despite drastically higher raw scores. Its average benchmark score of 16,129 is actually lower than the Tesla M4's average score, a quirk explained by the fact that the 3060 Ti has been subjected to a wider variety of tests, many of which are less flattering to its architecture. Its nearest rivals paint a clearer picture: the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16,014) is 0.7 percent behind, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (16,351) and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (16,361) both lead it by 1.4 percent. The AMD Radeon R9 370X (15,862) trails by 1.7 percent. This clustering suggests the 3060 Ti, despite its Geekbench OpenCL dominance, is competitive with a range of mid-to-high-end parts across different test suites.

The head-to-head delta of 78.5 percent is the single most important number in this comparison. It shows that in a compute-heavy OpenCL workload, the RTX 3060 Ti delivers roughly 4.7 times the performance of the Tesla M4. No other benchmark exists in the FACT PACK to cross-check this result, but the sheer magnitude of the gap aligns with the architectural differences between the two products.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only shared benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti wins the Geekbench OpenCL test decisively, scoring 78,927 versus the Tesla M4's 16,932, a 78.5 percent advantage.

Q: How does the Tesla M4 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The M4's average score of 16,932 puts it within 1 percent of the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17,019), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17,037), NVIDIA T400 4 GB (16,792), and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17,083). It is roughly a dead heat with all four.

Q: What is the RTX 3060 Ti's standing among its nearest competitors?

A: The 3060 Ti's average score of 16,129 is bracketed by the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16,014, 0.7 percent behind) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (16,351, 1.4 percent ahead), along with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (16,361, 1.4 percent ahead) and AMD Radeon R9 370X (15,862, 1.7 percent behind).

Q: Does the RTX 3060 Ti have a higher percentile ranking than the Tesla M4?

A: No. The Tesla M4 sits at the 60th percentile among all GPUs, while the RTX 3060 Ti sits at the 59th percentile, despite the 3060 Ti's far higher OpenCL score.

Q: Which GPU has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla M4 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 88.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the Tesla M4 wins?

A: No. The FACT PACK lists zero wins for the Tesla M4 in head-to-head benchmarks. The RTX 3060 Ti wins the sole shared test.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different eras of NVIDIA's design philosophy. The Tesla M4 uses the GM206 chip, built on Maxwell 2.0 architecture at a 28 nm process node from TSMC. The RTX 3060 Ti uses the GA104 chip, built on Ampere architecture at an 8 nm node from Samsung. That process shrink is enormous: 28 nm to 8 nm allows the RTX 3060 Ti to pack 17,400 million transistors onto a 392 mm² die, versus 2,940 million transistors on a 228 mm² die for the M4. The transistor density tells the story — 44.4M per mm² for the Ampere chip versus 12.9M per mm² for Maxwell.

The compute resources differ by an order of magnitude. The Tesla M4 has 1,024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 3060 Ti has 4,864 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The RTX 3060 Ti also adds hardware that simply does not exist on the M4: 38 RT cores for ray tracing and 152 tensor cores for AI workloads. The M4 has no such dedicated units.

Clock speeds also favor the newer card. The M4 runs at a base of 872 MHz with a boost of 1072 MHz, while the RTX 3060 Ti runs at 1410 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost. Memory clocks are dramatically different: the M4 uses 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) GDDR5, while the 3060 Ti uses 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) GDDR6. The resulting throughput figures — 34.30 GPixel/s and 68.61 GTexel/s for the M4 versus 133.2 GPixel/s and 253.1 GTexel/s for the 3060 Ti — show that the newer card is between 3.7 and 4 times faster in pixel and texture fill rates.

The FP32 compute rating is 2.195 TFLOPS for the M4, while the RTX 3060 Ti delivers 16.20 TFLOPS. Notably, the 3060 Ti also has FP16 capability at 16.20 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), a feature entirely absent from the M4's spec sheet. The M4 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the 3060 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The Verdict

The data points to an unambiguous conclusion: the RTX 3060 Ti is in an entirely different performance class. Its 78.5 percent lead in Geekbench OpenCL, combined with 16.20 TFLOPS FP32 versus 2.195 TFLOPS, 4864 shading units versus 1024, and 448 GB/s memory bandwidth versus 88 GB/s, makes it the clear choice for any compute-heavy workload. The RTX 3060 Ti also brings ray tracing and tensor cores, which the M4 lacks entirely.

The Tesla M4's role, as the data indicates, was never about raw performance. Its 50 W TDP and single-slot design, with no display outputs, suggest it was built for low-power server-side compute or embedded tasks where energy efficiency and physical footprint trump speed. Its 4 GB memory capacity and 128-bit bus are modest even by 2015 standards. The M4's 60th percentile ranking, despite its low absolute scores, hints that many GPUs in the database perform worse — but that is small consolation when the direct comparison shows a 78.5 percent deficit.

For a user selecting between these two, the decision is straightforward. The RTX 3060 Ti is the superior performer by every measurable metric in the FACT PACK. It has more memory, more bandwidth, more compute units, higher clocks, and a more modern feature set. The only contexts where the M4 makes sense are those where its low power draw (50 W versus 200 W) and single-slot form factor are mandatory constraints — and even then, the performance penalty is severe.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA Tesla M4 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti |

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

| Chip | GM206 | GA104 |

| Architecture | Maxwell 2.0 | Ampere |

| Generation | Tesla Maxwell (Mxx) | GeForce 30 |

| Process Node | 28 nm (TSMC) | 8 nm (Samsung) |

| Transistors | 2,940 million | 17,400 million |

| Die Size | 228 mm² | 392 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.9M / mm² | 44.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 872 MHz | 1410 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1072 MHz | 1665 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 88.00 GB/s | 448.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1024 | 4864 |

| TMUs | 64 | 152 |

| ROPs | 32 | 80 |

| RT Cores | None | 38 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 152 |

| Pixel Rate | 34.30 GPixel/s | 133.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 68.61 GTexel/s | 253.1 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.195 TFLOPS | 16.20 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | None | 16.20 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 50 W | 200 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 12-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | 550 W |

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

| Display Outputs | No outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

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

| Release Date | 2015-11-09 | 2020-11-30 |

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

| Launch MSRP | — | 399 USD |