NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 vs NVIDIA Tesla M40 Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla M40 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 represent two vastly different eras of GPU design, separated by a decade of architectural evolution. While the Tesla M40 was a compute-focused workhorse from the Maxwell generation, the RTX 5070 is a modern Blackwell-based consumer graphics card. Benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap, but the specific strengths and weaknesses of each card tell a more nuanced story for different workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark results are unequivocal in favor of the RTX 5070, with the newer card winning both available head-to-head tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5070 scores 185,269 points compared to the Tesla M40’s 39,192 points. This represents a delta of -78.8% from the perspective of the older card, meaning the RTX 5070 delivers approximately 4.7 times the raw compute performance in this API. The scale of this difference is not incremental; it is a generational leap that completely eclipses the M40’s capabilities.

The Vulkan results tell a similar story, though with a slightly smaller margin. The RTX 5070 achieves 179,413 points in Geekbench Vulkan, while the Tesla M40 manages 44,602 points. The delta here is -75.1%, indicating the RTX 5070 is roughly 4 times faster. This consistency across both OpenCL and Vulkan suggests the performance advantage is fundamental to the architecture rather than being workload-specific. The RTX 5070’s average benchmark score of 41,687 is actually lower than the M40’s 41,897, but this is a statistical artifact of the different benchmark suites used — the M40 only has two Geekbench entries, while the RTX 5070’s average includes Passmark scores where it dominates with a G3D result of 29,137.

When placed against the broader competitive landscape, the RTX 5070 sits at the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla M40 ranks at the 84th percentile. This near-identical percentile ranking is surprising given the raw performance gap, but it reflects the fact that the M40’s benchmark pool is much smaller and less diverse. The nearest rivals for the RTX 5070 include the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 with a delta of 0.2%, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 at 0.6%, and the AMD Radeon Pro 580X at -0.7%. The Tesla M40’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon Pro 580X with a delta of -0.2%, followed by the RTX 5070 itself at 0.5%.

Architecture Differences

The architectural chasm between these two GPUs is vast, beginning with the manufacturing process. The Tesla M40 uses a 28 nm node at TSMC, while the RTX 5070 is built on a 5 nm process, also at TSMC. This process shrink is the primary driver of the performance difference, allowing the RTX 5070 to pack far more transistors into a smaller space. The M40 contains 8,000 million transistors on a 601 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.3M per mm². In contrast, the RTX 5070 has 31,100 million transistors on a 263 mm² die, achieving a density of 118.3M per mm² — nearly 9 times denser.

The chip designs are equally divergent. The Tesla M40 is built on the GM200 chip using the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, while the RTX 5070 uses the GB205 chip with Blackwell 2.0. This represents a full two generations of architectural progression, skipping Pascal, Volta, Turing, and Ampere. The core configurations differ dramatically: the M40 has 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, while the RTX 5070 doubles shading units to 6,144 but reduces ROPs to 80. Both cards have 192 TMUs, but the RTX 5070 adds 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores — features entirely absent from the Maxwell architecture, which predates hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration.

Clock speeds have also seen a massive increase. The Tesla M40 operates at a base clock of 948 MHz with a boost of 1,112 MHz, while the RTX 5070 runs at 2,325 MHz base and 2,512 MHz boost. This more than doubles the operating frequency, contributing significantly to the compute throughput. The FP32 performance tells the story: the M40 delivers 6.832 TFLOPS, while the RTX 5070 achieves 30.87 TFLOPS. The RTX 5070 also offers FP16 performance at a 1:1 ratio with FP32 (30.87 TFLOPS), whereas the M40 has no listed FP16 capability. Pixel and texture rates follow the same pattern, with the RTX 5070 hitting 201.0 GPixel/s and 482.3 GTexel/s versus the M40’s 106.8 GPixel/s and 213.5 GTexel/s.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5070 wins decisively in every benchmark category where both cards have data. Its dominance in OpenCL and Vulkan makes it the clear choice for general-purpose compute, modern gaming, and any workload that can leverage its tensor cores for AI acceleration. The presence of 192 tensor cores and 48 RT cores means the RTX 5070 is purpose-built for ray-traced gaming and machine learning inference, areas where the Tesla M40 cannot compete at all. The newer card’s support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus the M40’s older DirectX 12 (12_1) further cements its advantage in modern graphics applications.

The Tesla M40, despite its age, still has a role in legacy compute environments. Its Maxwell architecture is simpler and may be more predictable for certain scientific computing tasks that do not require modern features. The M40’s 12 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus provides 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is robust for its era. However, the RTX 5070’s 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 672.0 GB/s — more than double the bandwidth. The M40’s advantage is its dual-slot design with an 8-pin EPS power connector, which may be more compatible with older server infrastructure, and its lack of display outputs makes it suitable for headless compute nodes where video output is unnecessary.

For gaming, the RTX 5070 is the only viable option of the two. The M40 has no display outputs, making it impossible to connect a monitor directly. Even if it could output video, its lack of modern API support and much lower compute performance would make it unsuitable for contemporary titles. The RTX 5070, with its HDMI 2.1b and DisplayPort 2.1b outputs, is designed for consumer use and supports the latest display technologies. In compute-heavy scenarios like 3D rendering or data science, the RTX 5070’s higher FP32 and FP16 throughput, combined with tensor core acceleration, gives it a massive edge.

Specification Differences

The most striking difference between the two cards is the transistor count, where the RTX 5070’s 31,100 million dwarfs the M40’s 8,000 million. This is accompanied by a dramatic die size reduction from 601 mm² to 263 mm², enabled by the 5 nm process versus 28 nm. Transistor density increases from 13.3M per mm² to 118.3M per mm², a 9-fold improvement. Clock speeds are also vastly different, with the RTX 5070’s 2,325 MHz base and 2,512 MHz boost far exceeding the M40’s 948 MHz and 1,112 MHz.

Memory technology and bandwidth represent another major divergence. The M40 uses GDDR5 at 6 Gbps effective, while the RTX 5070 uses GDDR7 at 28 Gbps effective. Although both cards have 12 GB of memory, the bus width differs: 384-bit for the M40 versus 192-bit for the RTX 5070. The bandwidth outcome is clear — 288.4 GB/s for the M40 versus 672.0 GB/s for the RTX 5070, a 133% increase. The shading unit count doubles from 3,072 to 6,144, while TMUs remain constant at 192. ROPs actually decrease from 96 to 80, but this is offset by the much higher clock speeds and architectural efficiency.

The RTX 5070 introduces features the M40 lacks entirely: 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores. Power consumption is identical at 250 W TDP, but the power connector changes from 8-pin EPS to 1x 16-pin. The bus interface advances from PCIe 3.0 x16 to PCIe 5.0 x16, doubling the potential data transfer rate. Display outputs are another differentiator: the M40 has none, while the RTX 5070 offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. The physical dimensions differ slightly, with the M40 at 267 mm length versus the RTX 5070’s 245 mm length, 115 mm height, and 40 mm width. API support also differs, with the RTX 5070 supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus the M40’s DirectX 12 (12_1), though both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is significantly faster, with FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS compared to the Tesla M40’s 6.832 TFLOPS. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5070 scores 185,269 versus 39,192 for the M40, a delta of -78.8% from the M40’s perspective.

Q: Are these cards comparable in memory bandwidth?

A: No, the RTX 5070 provides 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth using GDDR7 memory, while the Tesla M40 offers 288.4 GB/s with GDDR5. Despite having the same 12 GB capacity, the newer card’s 192-bit bus with faster memory achieves 133% more bandwidth than the M40’s 384-bit bus.

Q: Does the Tesla M40 support ray tracing or AI acceleration?

A: No, the Tesla M40 is based on the Maxwell 2.0 architecture and has no RT cores or tensor cores. The RTX 5070, using Blackwell 2.0, includes 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads.

Q: Can the Tesla M40 be used for gaming?

A: The Tesla M40 has no display outputs, making it impossible to connect a monitor directly. It also lacks modern API support, supporting only DirectX 12 (12_1) versus the RTX 5070’s DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The RTX 5070 is the only viable gaming option with HDMI 2.1b and DisplayPort 2.1b outputs.

Q: How do these cards compare in terms of power consumption?

A: Both cards have the same 250 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 600 W. However, the Tesla M40 uses an 8-pin EPS power connector, while the RTX 5070 requires a 1x 16-pin connector.

Q: What is the manufacturing process difference?

A: The Tesla M40 is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC with 8,000 million transistors on a 601 mm² die. The RTX 5070 uses a 5 nm process, also at TSMC, with 31,100 million transistors on a much smaller 263 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 118.3M per mm² versus the M40’s 13.3M per mm².