NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla K40c Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark comparison between the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile and the NVIDIA Tesla K40c is decisively lopsided. The database records only one shared test, Geekbench OpenCL, and the results show a massive gap. The RTX 4050 Mobile scores 74,748, while the Tesla K40c manages 17,468. That is a 327.9% difference in favor of the newer card. In practical terms, the RTX 4050 Mobile delivers more than four times the compute throughput in this workload, a gap that dwarfs nearly any generational comparison in the database.

The RTX 4050 Mobile also holds a lead in the aggregate benchmark average, sitting at 19,049 compared to the Tesla K40c's 17,468. While the Geekbench OpenCL test is the only direct head-to-head, the overall average score incorporates a wider set of workloads for the RTX 4050 Mobile, including DirectX 10, 11, 12, and 9 tests, as well as Passmark's 2D and compute suites. The Tesla K40c has only the single OpenCL entry, so its average is identical to that score.

Looking at the percentile rankings, the RTX 4050 Mobile sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while the Tesla K40c is at the 61st. That two-point gap is modest, but it understates the real-world difference in this specific test. The Tesla K40c's nearest rivals tell a telling story: it trades blows with the AMD Radeon Pro 460 (0.2% behind), the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (0.5% behind), the AMD Radeon 780M (0.7% behind), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (1% behind). Those are all modern or upper-midrange parts, and the K40c is within 1% of all of them in average score.

The RTX 4050 Mobile, by contrast, finds itself in a tighter cluster around the 19,000 mark. It is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6600, 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K6000, 0.2% behind the NVIDIA Tesla K20m, and 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation. This grouping suggests the RTX 4050 Mobile is a solid midrange performer in the database's overall scoring, while the Tesla K40c is a legacy compute card that has been overtaken by even integrated-class GPUs in some metrics.

The Verdict

The data points to one clear conclusion: the RTX 4050 Mobile is the superior choice for nearly any workload. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 74,748 versus 17,468 is not a close contest; it is a rout. The RTX 4050 Mobile also carries a higher percentile rank, a higher average benchmark score, and a much more modern feature set. The Tesla K40c, launched in 2013 with a 245 W power draw and no display outputs, is a relic of the Kepler compute era. It has 12 GB of VRAM and a 384-bit bus, which gives it more memory capacity and bandwidth than the RTX 4050 Mobile, but that advantage does not translate into better compute scores in the recorded data.

For a builder looking at a modern laptop GPU, the RTX 4050 Mobile is the obvious pick. It wins the only shared benchmark by a factor of four, draws far less power, and supports current APIs. For a buyer considering the Tesla K40c, the data suggests it is only relevant for legacy compute tasks where its 12 GB memory pool and 288.4 GB/s bandwidth might be useful, but even then, the raw performance deficit is staggering. The K40c has no display outputs, so it cannot drive a monitor; it is a compute-only accelerator. The RTX 4050 Mobile, being a mobile part with portable-device-dependent outputs, is a far more flexible product.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras. The RTX 4050 Mobile uses the AD107 chip on the Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 18,900 million transistors into a 159 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 118.9 million per square millimeter. The Tesla K40c, in contrast, uses the GK180 chip on the Kepler architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. It has 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die, with a density of 12.6 million per square millimeter. The process shrink alone explains a large part of the performance gap: the RTX 4050 Mobile has more than double the transistor count in less than a third of the die area.

Architecturally, the RTX 4050 Mobile brings features that simply did not exist on Kepler. It has 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. The Tesla K40c has neither, as those units had not been introduced at the time. The RTX 4050 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The Tesla K40c supports DirectX 12 (11_0), Vulkan 1.2.175, and OpenGL 4.6. The newer card also has a 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratio, meaning it can process half-precision at the same rate as full-precision. The Tesla K40c has no recorded FP16 capability.

The memory subsystems also reflect their eras. The RTX 4050 Mobile uses GDDR6 with a 96-bit bus and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla K40c uses GDDR5 with a 384-bit bus and 288.4 GB/s bandwidth. The older card has a wider bus and higher memory bandwidth, but it is paired with a much slower core. The RTX 4050 Mobile's clock speeds are far higher: 1455 MHz base and 1755 MHz boost, versus the K40c's 745 MHz base and 876 MHz boost.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets differ on nearly every field. The RTX 4050 Mobile has 2,560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The Tesla K40c has 2,880 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The older card has more shading units and far more TMUs, but its pixel rate is lower: 52.56 GPixel/s versus the RTX 4050 Mobile's 84.24 GPixel/s. The texture rate favors the K40c at 210.2 GTexel/s versus 140.4 GTexel/s, but the newer card's FP32 throughput is nearly double: 8.986 TFLOPS versus 5.046 TFLOPS.

Power and physical specs diverge sharply. The RTX 4050 Mobile has a 50 W TDP, is integrated (IGP slot width), and requires no power connectors. The Tesla K40c draws 245 W, is dual-slot, and needs a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connection, with a suggested PSU of 550 W. The K40c is 267 mm long (10.5 inches), while the RTX 4050 Mobile's dimensions are not recorded. The bus interfaces differ: PCIe 4.0 x8 for the RTX 4050 Mobile, PCIe 3.0 x16 for the Tesla K40c.

Memory capacity favors the K40c: 12 GB of GDDR5 versus 6 GB of GDDR6. But the newer card's memory runs at 16 Gbps effective, while the K40c's runs at 6 Gbps effective. The RTX 4050 Mobile has a release date of 2023-01-02, while the K40c launched on 2013-10-07. The production status is Active for the RTX 4050 Mobile and End-of-life for the K40c. The Tesla K40c has a recorded launch MSRP of 7,699 USD; the RTX 4050 Mobile has none listed. The RTX 4050 Mobile's predecessor is the GeForce 30 Mobile and successor is the GeForce 50 Mobile. The K40c's predecessor is Tesla Fermi and successor is Tesla Maxwell.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile scores 74,748, while the NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17,468. The RTX 4050 Mobile leads by 327.9%.

Q: Does the Tesla K40c have more memory than the RTX 4050 Mobile?

A: Yes. The Tesla K40c has 12 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the RTX 4050 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6. The K40c also has a wider 384-bit bus and higher bandwidth at 288.4 GB/s versus 192.0 GB/s.

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing?

A: Only the RTX 4050 Mobile. It has 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores. The Tesla K40c has no ray tracing or tensor cores, as those features were introduced later.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The RTX 4050 Mobile has a 50 W TDP and requires no power connectors. The Tesla K40c has a 245 W TDP and needs a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connector, with a suggested 550 W PSU.

Q: Can the Tesla K40c output to a display?

A: No. The Tesla K40c has no display outputs. The RTX 4050 Mobile's outputs are portable-device dependent, meaning it is designed for laptop or mobile use.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RTX 4050 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 19,049, while the Tesla K40c averages 17,468. The RTX 4050 Mobile sits at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, the K40c at the 61st.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4050 Mobile wins in the only direct benchmark comparison, and it wins by a wide margin. The Geekbench OpenCL test shows a 327.9% advantage, which means for any compute task that scales with raw shader throughput, the RTX 4050 Mobile is the clear choice. Its FP32 rate of 8.986 TFLOPS versus 5.046 TFLOPS reinforces this. It also wins on efficiency: 50 W versus 245 W is a fivefold power draw difference, making it the obvious pick for battery-powered or thermally constrained systems. Its support for modern APIs, DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and ray tracing, means it can handle current games and compute frameworks without compatibility issues.

The Tesla K40c does have a few areas where it holds a nominal edge. Its 12 GB memory capacity is double that of the RTX 4050 Mobile, which could matter for workloads that require very large datasets in VRAM, such as certain machine learning inference or scientific computing tasks. Its memory bandwidth of 288.4 GB/s is higher, and its texture rate of 210.2 GTexel/s exceeds the RTX 4050 Mobile's 140.4 GTexel/s. The K40c also has more texture mapping units (240 versus 80) and more shading units (2,880 versus 2,560). However, these advantages do not translate into better benchmark scores; the K40c's pixel rate is lower, its FP32 is lower, and its overall compute performance is far behind.

For a builder assembling a new system, the RTX 4050 Mobile is the only rational pick from these two. The Tesla K40c is end-of-life, draws 245 W, has no display outputs, and is outclassed by four times in the recorded benchmark. The only scenario where the K40c makes sense is a legacy compute server where the 12 GB pool and existing Kepler software stack are mandatory, and even then, the power and cooling requirements are significant. The database's verdict is unambiguous: the RTX 4050 Mobile wins the head-to-head, holds a higher percentile, and offers a feature set that is years ahead.