NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti vs NVIDIA Tesla P4 Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data positions the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti as the dominant performer in every recorded comparison, while the NVIDIA Tesla P4 occupies a distinct, lower-performance tier. The RTX 4070 Ti achieves an average benchmark score of 44795, placing it at the 84th percentile of all GPUs, whereas the Tesla P4 records 37628 on average, sitting at the 81st percentile. Although the percentile gap appears modest, the head-to-head results reveal an enormous performance chasm. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4070 Ti scores 176953 against the Tesla P4's 34947, a delta of 406.3%. In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin widens further: 213808 versus 40309, a 430.4% advantage. For any workload represented by these tests, the RTX 4070 Ti is the clear choice. The Tesla P4, however, remains relevant for scenarios where its single-slot, 75 W, no-power-connector design matters more than raw throughput. The data shows that the RTX 4070 Ti is for users who need maximum compute performance; the Tesla P4 is for constrained environments prioritizing physical footprint and power simplicity. The RTX 4070 Ti launched with an MSRP of 799 USD, a fact stated here for reference only.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different architectural eras. The RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD104 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The Tesla P4 uses the older Pascal architecture with the GP104 chip, produced on a 16 nm process, also at TSMC. This process gap is reflected in transistor density: the RTX 4070 Ti packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, yielding 121.8 million transistors per square millimeter. The Tesla P4 contains 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, for a density of 22.9 million per square millimeter. Despite the Tesla P4 having a slightly larger physical die, it holds roughly one-fifth the transistor count.

Feature support diverges sharply. The RTX 4070 Ti includes 60 ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores, hardware that the Tesla P4 lacks entirely, as its record shows null values for both. The RTX 4070 Ti also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla P4 tops out at DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The compute capabilities differ in FP16 handling: the RTX 4070 Ti delivers 40.09 TFLOPS FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, whereas the Tesla P4 manages only 89.12 GFLOPS FP16 at a 1:64 ratio, indicating heavily reduced half-precision throughput on the older architecture.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data contains two benchmark tests, and the RTX 4070 Ti wins both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4070 Ti posts 176953, which is 406.3% higher than the Tesla P4's 34947. This result aligns with the raw compute specifications: the RTX 4070 Ti delivers 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 against 5.704 TFLOPS for the Tesla P4, a roughly sevenfold theoretical advantage. The measured score gap is even larger, suggesting architectural efficiency gains beyond raw FLOPs.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4070 Ti scores 213808 versus 40309 for the Tesla P4, a 430.4% delta. This slightly larger margin in Vulkan may reflect the RTX 4070 Ti's newer driver pipeline and hardware feature set, including its ray tracing and tensor cores, which can influence API-level performance even in non-ray-traced workloads. The Tesla P4's single-slot, low-power design constrains its sustained clock behavior; its 1114 MHz boost clock is less than half of the RTX 4070 Ti's 2610 MHz boost.

The broader benchmark suite for the RTX 4070 Ti reinforces its strength. It achieves 5024 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 31624 in Passmark G3D, and 18396 in Passmark GPU Compute. The Tesla P4 has no recorded scores for these tests, so direct comparisons are unavailable. However, the average benchmark scores tell the story: 44795 for the RTX 4070 Ti versus 37628 for the Tesla P4. The RTX 4070 Ti sits within 1.6% of the NVIDIA RTX A6000's average score of 44075, and it trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT by only 1.3%. The Tesla P4, by contrast, is statistically tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, which averages 37648 (a 0.1% difference), and sits just 1.3% below the AMD Radeon PRO W6400.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 4070 Ti uses 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla P4 uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing 192.3 GB/s. Although the Tesla P4 has a wider memory bus, its older memory type and lower clock speed result in less than half the bandwidth.

The compute unit counts are heavily lopsided. The RTX 4070 Ti has 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. The Tesla P4 has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Pixel fill rate is 208.8 GPixel/s for the RTX 4070 Ti versus 71.30 GPixel/s for the Tesla P4. Texture fill rate is 626.4 GTexel/s versus 178.2 GTexel/s.

Clock speeds also diverge significantly. The RTX 4070 Ti runs at a 2310 MHz base and 2610 MHz boost, while the Tesla P4 operates at 886 MHz base and 1114 MHz boost. Memory clocks differ as well: the RTX 4070 Ti's memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective), while the Tesla P4's memory runs at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective). The higher effective memory speed on the RTX 4070 Ti, combined with GDDR6X, explains its bandwidth advantage.

Power and physical design present the most practical differences. The RTX 4070 Ti has a 285 W TDP, requires a 600 W suggested power supply, uses a single 16-pin power connector, and occupies a dual-slot form factor measuring 285 mm in length, 112 mm in height, and 42 mm in width. The Tesla P4 has a 75 W TDP, a 250 W suggested power supply, no power connectors, and a single-slot design measuring 168 mm in length. The Tesla P4 also has no display outputs, while the RTX 4070 Ti offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The bus interface differs: PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RTX 4070 Ti versus PCIe 3.0 x16 for the Tesla P4.

Release timing reflects the generational gap. The Tesla P4 launched in September 2016, while the RTX 4070 Ti arrived in January 2023. The RTX 4070 Ti's predecessor is the GeForce 30 series and its successor is the GeForce 50 series. The Tesla P4's predecessor is Tesla Maxwell and its successor is Tesla Volta.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti delivers 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 versus 5.704 TFLOPS for the Tesla P4. In measured Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4070 Ti scores 176953 against 34947, a 406.3% advantage.

Q: How do the memory subsystems compare?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla P4 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 192.3 GB/s bandwidth. Despite the wider bus, the Tesla P4's bandwidth is less than half.

Q: Does the Tesla P4 support ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The Tesla P4's specifications list null values for both ray tracing cores and tensor cores. The RTX 4070 Ti includes 60 ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has a 285 W TDP and requires a 600 W suggested power supply with a single 16-pin connector. The Tesla P4 has a 75 W TDP, a 250 W suggested power supply, and needs no power connectors.

Q: Which card is better for a compact server environment?

A: The Tesla P4 is the clear fit based on physical data. It is single-slot, 168 mm long, has no power connectors, and no display outputs. The RTX 4070 Ti is dual-slot, 285 mm long, and requires a 16-pin power connection.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti scores 213808 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 430.4% higher than the Tesla P4's 40309. This is the largest recorded performance gap between the two cards.

Q: What is the performance percentile ranking for each?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti sits at the 84th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 44795. The Tesla P4 sits at the 81st percentile with an average score of 37628.