NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 vs NVIDIA Tesla M4 Comparison

# The Verdict

The data in this comparison is unambiguous. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 dominates the NVIDIA Tesla M4 across every measurable benchmark category, with a decisive 566.3% lead in the sole shared test (Geekbench OpenCL). The RTX 3070's average benchmark score of 17,208 places it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla M4's average of 16,932 sits at the 60th percentile. Despite the narrow percentile gap, the head-to-head delta is enormous.

For any workload requiring graphics rendering, compute acceleration, or modern API support, the RTX 3070 is the clear choice from the data. Its architecture, memory subsystem, and feature set are generations ahead. The Tesla M4, however, may appeal to a narrow niche: its 50 W TDP and single-slot form factor make it a low-power compute card for environments where space and thermal constraints are paramount. But even there, the RTX 3070's 220 W TDP delivers over ten times the raw FP32 throughput per benchmark score, making the M4 difficult to justify on performance grounds alone.

Architecture Differences

The RTX 3070 uses the GA104 chip built on Ampere architecture, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It packs 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. The Tesla M4, by contrast, uses the GM206 chip on the older Maxwell 2.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 28 nm process. It contains 2,940 million transistors on a 228 mm² die, with a density of just 12.9 million per square millimeter.

This generational gap shows clearly in core counts. The RTX 3070 features 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs. It also includes 46 dedicated ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. The Tesla M4 has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing or tensor core hardware at all. The M4's FP16 capability is listed as null, meaning the card lacks native half-precision throughput, while the RTX 3070 delivers 20.31 TFLOPS in both FP32 and FP16 at a 1:1 ratio.

The process node difference is stark: 8 nm versus 28 nm. This explains the RTX 3070's ability to hit 1,725 MHz boost clocks versus the M4's 1,072 MHz boost. Both cards are end-of-life and support DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, but the RTX 3070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) while the M4 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). The RTX 3070 also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, whereas the M4 is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only benchmark shared between the two cards is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results are lopsided. The RTX 3070 scores 112,821, while the Tesla M4 scores 16,932. This represents a 566.3% advantage for the RTX 3070, which is the only recorded head-to-head data point. The RTX 3070 wins this matchup, giving it a 1-0 record in wins, while the M4 has zero wins.

To contextualize this score: the RTX 3070's OpenCL result alone is more than six times the M4's entire output. In practical terms, this means the RTX 3070 completes OpenCL compute workloads in roughly one-sixth the time of the M4, assuming linear scaling. The M4's single benchmark score of 16,932 is actually lower than the RTX 3070's Passmark G3D score of 22,214, meaning the M4's entire compute output is less than the RTX 3070's rasterization performance metric.

The RTX 3070 also has a broader benchmark footprint. It has scores across 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (3,162), Geekbench Vulkan (21,022), Passmark DirectX 10 (150), DirectX 11 (182), DirectX 12 (85), DirectX 9 (247), G2D (1,001), G3D (22,214), and GPU Compute (11,195). The M4 has only the single OpenCL result. This means the RTX 3070's average benchmark score of 17,208 is derived from ten tests, while the M4's 16,932 comes from one.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every specification field. The RTX 3070 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla M4 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, with 88.00 GB/s of bandwidth — a fivefold difference in bandwidth. The RTX 3070's memory clocks at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the M4 runs at 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective).

Clock speeds differ substantially: the RTX 3070 has a 1,500 MHz base and 1,725 MHz boost, compared to the M4's 872 MHz base and 1,072 MHz boost. Pixel rate is 165.6 GPixel/s for the RTX 3070 versus 34.30 GPixel/s for the M4. Texture rate is 317.4 GTexel/s versus 68.61 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 20.31 TFLOPS versus 2.195 TFLOPS — a 9.25x difference.

Physical and power characteristics diverge as well. The RTX 3070 is a dual-slot card measuring 242 mm in length and 112 mm in height, with a 220 W TDP and a single 12-pin power connector. It requires a 550 W suggested PSU. The Tesla M4 is a single-slot card with no listed dimensions, a 50 W TDP, no power connectors, and a 250 W suggested PSU. The M4 has no display outputs, while the RTX 3070 includes 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RTX 3070 launched on 2020-08-31 with a launch MSRP of 499 USD; the M4 launched on 2015-11-09 with no MSRP listed.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RTX 3070 delivers 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, compared to 2.195 TFLOPS for the Tesla M4 — a difference of over 9x in the RTX 3070's favor.

Q: Do both cards support ray tracing?

A: No. The RTX 3070 includes 46 dedicated RT cores and 184 tensor cores, while the Tesla M4 has no RT or tensor core hardware listed.

Q: How do their memory subsystems compare?

A: The RTX 3070 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The M4 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 88.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: The RTX 3070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the M4 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: Is the Tesla M4 more power-efficient?

A: The M4 has a 50 W TDP versus the RTX 3070's 220 W, but the RTX 3070's benchmark score is 566.3% higher in the shared OpenCL test. The M4 requires a 250 W suggested PSU, while the RTX 3070 suggests 550 W.

Q: Can either card output video?

A: The RTX 3070 has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The Tesla M4 has no display outputs, making it compute-only.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3070 wins in every benchmark category where data exists. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 112,821 absolutely dwarfs the M4's 16,932. For gaming, the RTX 3070's Passmark DirectX 9 score of 247, DirectX 10 score of 150, DirectX 11 score of 182, and DirectX 12 score of 85 show broad API coverage, while the M4 has no DirectX benchmark scores at all. The RTX 3070 also wins on memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s vs 88.00 GB/s), texture rate (317.4 GTexel/s vs 68.61 GTexel/s), and pixel fill rate (165.6 GPixel/s vs 34.30 GPixel/s).

The Tesla M4's only winning categories are power consumption and physical footprint. At 50 W, it uses one-quarter the power of the RTX 3070's 220 W. It is a single-slot card versus the RTX 3070's dual-slot design, and it requires no external power connectors. For a compute-only deployment in a space-constrained, power-limited environment — such as a dense server chassis — the M4's low profile could be an advantage. Its 4 GB GDDR5 memory and 88 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for lightweight inference or data processing tasks.

The RTX 3070's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (0.7% faster in average score) and the NVIDIA Tesla K40c (1.5% slower). The M4's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (0.5% faster) and the NVIDIA T400 4 GB (0.8% slower). Both cards sit near the 60th percentile of all GPUs, but the RTX 3070's ten benchmark scores versus the M4's single score provide far more confidence in its average. The M4's 60th percentile ranking is based on one data point, making it statistically fragile.

For modern workloads — gaming, ray tracing, AI inference with tensor cores, or high-bandwidth compute — the RTX 3070 is the only viable option according to the data. The Tesla M4 is a legacy compute accelerator from the Maxwell era, suited only for the narrowest of low-power, no-display server roles. The benchmark data shows no scenario where the M4 outperforms the RTX 3070 in raw performance. Its advantages are purely physical: lower power, smaller slot footprint, and simpler power delivery requirements.