NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB represent two distinct eras of GPU design, separated by a decade of architectural evolution. The benchmark data shows a clear generational divide, with the RTX 5050 Mobile delivering a dominant performance in the one shared test, while the Tesla M40 leverages its massive memory pool and older compute strengths. The head-to-head results indicate that the RTX 5050 Mobile wins the sole direct comparison, but the Tesla M40 remains relevant in specific legacy compute scenarios.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the results are stark. The RTX 5050 Mobile scores 84,171, while the Tesla M40 24 GB manages 37,439. This translates to a deltaPct of 124.8, meaning the RTX 5050 Mobile is over twice as fast in this compute workload. This is a decisive victory for the newer architecture, showcasing the efficiency gains of Blackwell 2.0 over Maxwell 2.0. The sheer magnitude of the performance gap—more than double—indicates that for modern OpenCL compute tasks, the Tesla M40 is severely outmatched.

Looking at the broader average benchmark scores, the RTX 5050 Mobile holds a narrow edge. Its average benchmark score is 43,268, compared to the Tesla M40 24 GB’s 41,707. This puts the RTX 5050 Mobile ahead by roughly 3.7% on average. However, this aggregate figure masks the differences in their competitive positioning. The RTX 5050 Mobile’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (deltaPct 0), the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (deltaPct -0.1), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER (deltaPct 0.1). These scores are virtually identical, placing the RTX 5050 Mobile in a tight cluster of high-performance cards. In contrast, the Tesla M40 24 GB’s closest competitor is the NVIDIA Tesla M40 (deltaPct -0.5), followed by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (deltaPct 1.3) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (deltaPct 2). This shows that the Tesla M40 is positioned against older, high-end workstation parts, whereas the RTX 5050 Mobile is competing with modern desktop and mobile flagships.

The Geekbench Vulkan score for the Tesla M40 24 GB is 45,975, though no comparable Vulkan score is available for the RTX 5050 Mobile. This absence prevents a direct comparison in that API, but it does highlight that the Tesla M40 retains some modern API support. The RTX 5050 Mobile’s wins tally stands at 1, with the Tesla M40 securing 0 wins, reinforcing the narrative of the newer card’s superiority in the tested domain.

Architecture Differences

The architectural chasm between these two GPUs is profound. The RTX 5050 Mobile is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using the GB207 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. This contrasts sharply with the Tesla M40’s Maxwell 2.0 architecture, which uses the GM200 chip on a 28 nm process, also from TSMC. The transistor counts reflect this generational leap: the RTX 5050 Mobile packs 16,900 million transistors into a die size of 149 mm², yielding a transistor density of 113.4M per mm². The Tesla M40, by comparison, has 8,000 million transistors on a massive 601 mm² die, resulting in a far lower density of 13.3M per mm². This is a clear indication of the miniaturization and efficiency gains achieved in the decade between releases.

Clock speeds also tell a story of efficiency. The RTX 5050 Mobile has a base clock of 1020 MHz and a boost clock of 1500 MHz, while the Tesla M40 operates at a lower 948 MHz base and 1112 MHz boost. Despite the higher clocks, the RTX 5050 Mobile has a TDP of just 50 W, compared to the Tesla M40’s 250 W. This five-fold difference in power consumption confirms the architectural improvements, allowing the newer card to deliver superior performance at a fraction of the power draw. The RTX 5050 Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors, whereas the Tesla M40 is a dual-slot card requiring an 8-pin EPS connector and a suggested 600 W power supply.

Memory configurations are another key differentiator. The RTX 5050 Mobile features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. The Tesla M40 offers 24 GB of GDDR5 memory on a wider 384-bit bus, but its bandwidth is lower at 288.4 GB/s. While the Tesla M40 has three times the memory capacity, the RTX 5050 Mobile has over 33% more bandwidth, which is critical for compute and gaming workloads. The compute resources differ significantly: the RTX 5050 Mobile has 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, alongside 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores. The Tesla M40 has 3072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, but lacks dedicated RT and tensor cores entirely, reflecting its pre-ray-tracing design.

In terms of feature support, the RTX 5050 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Tesla M40 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The newer DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set on the RTX 5050 Mobile enables advanced rendering techniques like ray tracing and mesh shaders, which are absent on the Tesla M40. The RTX 5050 Mobile also uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, while the Tesla M40 is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. The Tesla M40 has no display outputs, making it a compute-only card, whereas the RTX 5050 Mobile’s display outputs are portable device dependent.

The Verdict

The data suggests that the RTX 5050 Mobile is the superior choice for almost any modern workload. Its 124.8% lead in OpenCL performance, coupled with its higher average benchmark score, makes it the clear winner for compute tasks. The generational leap in architecture provides features like RT cores and tensor cores that the Tesla M40 simply cannot offer, enabling modern gaming and AI workloads. The RTX 5050 Mobile achieves this with a 50 W TDP, making it suitable for thin-and-light laptops, whereas the Tesla M40’s 250 W TDP and dual-slot form factor require a dedicated workstation or server. For users prioritizing raw compute power per watt, the RTX 5050 Mobile is unequivocally the better product.

However, the Tesla M40 24 GB retains a distinct advantage in memory capacity. With 24 GB of GDDR5, it offers three times the memory of the RTX 5050 Mobile’s 8 GB. This makes the Tesla M40 a viable option for workloads that require massive datasets to be resident in GPU memory, such as certain scientific simulations or large-scale data processing. Its production status is end-of-life, but its 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs shows it still holds its own against many modern cards. For a user with a legacy application that is memory-bound and does not require modern API features, the Tesla M40 could still be a functional, albeit power-hungry, choice.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 43,268, while the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB has an average score of 41,707.

Q: What is the performance difference in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The RTX 5050 Mobile scores 84,171 compared to the Tesla M40’s 37,439, resulting in a 124.8% higher score for the RTX 5050 Mobile.

Q: How do the memory capacities and types compare?

A: The RTX 5050 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory, while the Tesla M40 24 GB has 24 GB of GDDR5 memory. The RTX 5050 Mobile offers higher bandwidth at 384.0 GB/s versus the Tesla M40’s 288.4 GB/s.

Q: Does the Tesla M40 support ray tracing?

A: No, the Tesla M40 24 GB has no RT cores. The RTX 5050 Mobile includes 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores.

Q: What are the power consumption figures for each card?

A: The RTX 5050 Mobile has a TDP of 50 W, while the Tesla M40 24 GB has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W suggested power supply.

Q: Which card is still in production?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile is listed as Active, whereas the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB is End-of-life.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5050 Mobile wins in all modern compute and graphics scenarios. Its 124.8% lead in OpenCL performance makes it the better choice for general-purpose GPU computing, machine learning inference, and any workload that can leverage its 80 tensor cores. The presence of 20 RT cores enables hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature entirely absent on the Tesla M40. For gaming, the RTX 5050 Mobile’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support and higher memory bandwidth provide a significant advantage, even with less memory. Its 50 W TDP also makes it the only viable option for mobile platforms, where the Tesla M40’s 250 W TDP and dual-slot design are impractical.

The Tesla M40 24 GB wins strictly in scenarios where memory capacity is the primary constraint. Its 24 GB frame buffer is three times larger than the RTX 5050 Mobile’s, allowing it to hold larger datasets in VRAM. This could be beneficial for certain scientific computing tasks, large-scale data analytics, or rendering scenes with massive texture sets that exceed 8 GB. Its higher pixel rate of 106.8 GPixel/s and texture rate of 213.5 GTexel/s, compared to the RTX 5050 Mobile’s 48.00 GPixel/s and 120.0 GTexel/s, suggest it may still excel in specific fill-rate-bound legacy workloads. However, these wins are narrow and heavily reliant on software that predates modern APIs. For any forward-looking use case, the data overwhelmingly favors the RTX 5050 Mobile.