NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla P4 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data delivers a decisive verdict: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla P4 in every head-to-head benchmark captured in the database. The two shared tests are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and both show the RTX 4090 Mobile with a commanding lead.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4090 Mobile scores 180,831 against the Tesla P4’s 34,947. That translates to a delta of 417.4%, meaning the RTX 4090 Mobile is more than five times faster in this compute-oriented test. The Geekbench Vulkan result follows a similar pattern: the RTX 4090 Mobile scores 170,774, while the Tesla P4 manages 40,309, a 323.7% advantage for the newer part. Both deltas are the only head-to-head figures in the database, and both favor the RTX 4090 Mobile.

Looking beyond the direct comparison, the average benchmark score reinforces the gap. The RTX 4090 Mobile holds an average score of 43,667 across all recorded tests, while the Tesla P4 sits at 37,628. That is a roughly 16% overall difference in aggregate performance. The RTX 4090 Mobile also sits at the 84th percentile of all GPUs in the database, versus the 81st percentile for the Tesla P4. These percentile rankings show that while both are above-average parts, the RTX 4090 Mobile is positioned higher in the global distribution.

The RTX 4090 Mobile’s nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (average score 43,301, delta 0.8%), the GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43,268, delta 0.9%), and the Quadro M6000 24 GB (43,262, delta 0.9%). It trails only the NVIDIA RTX A6000 among its closest comparables, with a delta of -0.9% against that card. The Tesla P4, by contrast, is closely matched with the GeForce RTX 4070 (delta -0.1%), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (delta 0.3%), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (delta 1.3%). The Tesla P4 also sits just behind the RTX 4080 Mobile, with a delta of -1.3%. These rival comparisons show that the RTX 4090 Mobile competes in a higher performance tier even when the Tesla P4 is measured against its own peers.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark splits are one-sided. The RTX 4090 Mobile wins both recorded head-to-head tests, giving it a clean 2-0 record in the database. The Tesla P4 has zero wins. There is no test in the shared set where the Tesla P4 comes out ahead.

For raw compute throughput, the RTX 4090 Mobile is the obvious choice. Its FP32 output is 32.98 TFLOPS, compared to 5.704 TFLOPS for the Tesla P4. That is a substantial compute advantage for workloads that rely on single-precision floating point. The RTX 4090 Mobile also leads in texture and pixel processing: 515.3 GTexel/s versus 178.2 GTexel/s, and 189.8 GPixel/s versus 71.30 GPixel/s. These figures indicate the RTX 4090 Mobile handles fill-rate-bound tasks and shader-heavy rendering with far more headroom.

For FP16 workloads, the difference is even more pronounced. The RTX 4090 Mobile delivers 32.98 TFLOPS with a 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratio, while the Tesla P4 offers only 89.12 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio. This means the RTX 4090 Mobile is not only faster in raw FP16 but also maintains full throughput, whereas the Tesla P4 is heavily penalized in half-precision work. Applications that leverage FP16 for AI inference or image processing will see an enormous gap.

The Tesla P4 does have one redeeming characteristic: power draw. Its TDP of 75 W is notably lower than the RTX 4090 Mobile’s 120 W. For deployments where power is a hard constraint, the Tesla P4 is the lighter load. However, the database shows no benchmark where that power advantage translates into a performance win. The Tesla P4 also uses a single-slot form factor and has no display outputs, which makes it a pure compute accelerator for server environments. The RTX 4090 Mobile, with its IGP slot width and portable-device-dependent outputs, is designed for laptops and mobile workstations.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 43,667, while the NVIDIA Tesla P4 has 37,628. The RTX 4090 Mobile is ahead by roughly 16%.

Q: How large is the performance gap in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile scores 180,831 in Geekbench OpenCL, versus 34,947 for the Tesla P4. The delta is 417.4% in favor of the RTX 4090 Mobile.

Q: Does the Tesla P4 win any benchmark?

A: No. In the head-to-head benchmark set, the RTX 4090 Mobile wins both tests. The Tesla P4 has zero wins in the recorded data.

Q: What is the FP16 compute capability of each card?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile delivers 32.98 TFLOPS FP16 with a 1:1 ratio to FP32. The Tesla P4 delivers 89.12 GFLOPS FP16 at a 1:64 ratio.

Q: How do the two GPUs rank against all other GPUs in the database?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile is at the 84th percentile, and the Tesla P4 is at the 81st percentile. Both are above average, but the RTX 4090 Mobile sits higher.

Q: Which GPU has a lower power draw?

A: The Tesla P4 has a TDP of 75 W, while the RTX 4090 Mobile has a TDP of 120 W. The Tesla P4 is the lower-power part.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every core specification. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs. The Tesla P4 has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The RTX 4090 Mobile also includes 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores; the Tesla P4 has neither RT cores nor tensor cores listed in the database.

Memory configurations are also distinct. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla P4 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, with 192.3 GB/s bandwidth. Clock speeds differ as well: the RTX 4090 Mobile runs at a base of 1335 MHz and a boost of 1695 MHz, while the Tesla P4 runs at 886 MHz base and 1114 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for the RTX 4090 Mobile and 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) for the Tesla P4.

The process node is another major split. The RTX 4090 Mobile is built on a 5 nm process, the Tesla P4 on 16 nm. Both use TSMC as the foundry. Transistor counts reflect the node difference: the RTX 4090 Mobile has 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, while the Tesla P4 has 7,200 million on a 314 mm² die. Transistor density is 121.1M per mm² for the RTX 4090 Mobile, versus 22.9M per mm² for the Tesla P4.

Power and physical specs also diverge. The RTX 4090 Mobile has a TDP of 120 W, an IGP slot width, and no power connectors. The Tesla P4 has a TDP of 75 W, a single-slot width, no power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The Tesla P4 is 168 mm (6.6 inches) long; the RTX 4090 Mobile has no recorded dimensions. Bus interfaces differ: PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RTX 4090 Mobile, PCIe 3.0 x16 for the Tesla P4. Display outputs are portable-device-dependent for the RTX 4090 Mobile, while the Tesla P4 has no outputs.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split is generational. The RTX 4090 Mobile uses the Ada Lovelace architecture on the AD103 chip, part of the GeForce 40 Mobile generation. The Tesla P4 uses the Pascal architecture on the GP104 chip, part of the Tesla Pascal (Pxx) generation. The RTX 4090 Mobile was released on 2023-01-02 and is still active in production. The Tesla P4 was released on 2016-09-12 and is end-of-life.

The RTX 4090 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla P4 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 4090 Mobile has a 5 nm process with 45,900 million transistors, enabling 32.98 TFLOPS FP32 and 32.98 TFLOPS FP16. The Tesla P4 has a 16 nm process with 7,200 million transistors, delivering 5.704 TFLOPS FP32 and 89.12 GFLOPS FP16.

Feature support is a key differentiator. The RTX 4090 Mobile includes dedicated RT cores and tensor cores, which the Tesla P4 lacks entirely. This means hardware-accelerated ray tracing and tensor-based AI workloads are supported on the RTX 4090 Mobile but not on the Tesla P4. The Tesla P4’s FP16 ratio of 1:64 indicates it is not designed for half-precision compute, while the RTX 4090 Mobile’s 1:1 ratio shows full FP16 throughput.

The predecessor and successor relationships also differ. The RTX 4090 Mobile follows the GeForce 30 Mobile series and precedes the GeForce 50 Mobile series. The Tesla P4 follows the Tesla Maxwell generation and precedes Tesla Volta. These lineage differences reflect the architectural evolution from Pascal to Ada Lovelace, with the RTX 4090 Mobile representing a much later and more advanced design.

The Verdict

The data points to one clear conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is the superior performer in every recorded benchmark. Its wins in both Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan, with deltas of 417.4% and 323.7%, respectively, leave no ambiguity. The RTX 4090 Mobile also holds a higher average benchmark score (43,667 versus 37,628) and a higher percentile ranking (84th versus 81st).

For compute-heavy workloads, the RTX 4090 Mobile is the only rational choice. Its FP32 throughput of 32.98 TFLOPS dwarfs the Tesla P4’s 5.704 TFLOPS. Its FP16 output of 32.98 TFLOPS versus 89.12 GFLOPS is a difference of over two orders of magnitude. The RTX 4090 Mobile also brings RT cores and tensor cores, features the Tesla P4 does not have at all.

The Tesla P4 does have advantages in power consumption (75 W versus 120 W) and physical footprint (single-slot versus IGP). It is also a server-oriented card with no display outputs and a longer recorded length of 168 mm. For deployments where power is the overriding constraint and compute performance is secondary, the Tesla P4 may still fit a niche. But the benchmark data shows no scenario where the Tesla P4 outperforms the RTX 4090 Mobile.

The RTX 4090 Mobile’s nearest rivals in the database include the RTX A6000, which sits slightly above it with a delta of -0.9%, and the Quadro M6000, which sits slightly below with a delta of 0.8%. The Tesla P4’s nearest rival is the GeForce RTX 4070, with a delta of -0.1%, placing it in a much lower performance tier. Any user choosing between these two parts for general compute, rendering, or AI workloads should select the RTX 4090 Mobile based on the recorded evidence. The Tesla P4 remains a legacy part with end-of-life status, while the RTX 4090 Mobile is active and supported.