NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D vs NVIDIA Tesla P40 Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D vs NVIDIA Tesla P40

The data presents a generational contrast between two NVIDIA accelerators with vastly different design goals. The GeForce RTX 5090 D, built on Blackwell 2.0, is an active consumer flagship, while the Tesla P40 is an end-of-life Pascal-era compute card. Across the two shared benchmarks, the RTX 5090 D dominates by margins exceeding 400%, reflecting not just architectural age but a fundamental shift in compute capability. The average benchmark scores—77,712 for the RTX 5090 D versus 65,095 for the Tesla P40—place them in different performance tiers, though the P40 still ranks in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, indicating it remains competitive against the broader field despite its age.

The Verdict

The RTX 5090 D is the clear choice for anyone requiring maximum compute throughput, modern API support, or real-time rendering features. Its 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance is roughly 8.9 times the Tesla P40's 11.76 TFLOPS, and its 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth is over five times the P40's 347.1 GB/s. The GeForce card also leads decisively in the two directly comparable benchmarks: it scores 310,674 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 62,017 for the P40 (a 400.9% delta), and 376,915 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 68,172 (452.9% delta). For any workload included in this data—be it OpenCL compute or Vulkan rendering—the RTX 5090 D is overwhelmingly faster.

The Tesla P40, however, retains a niche for specific deployment scenarios. Its 24 GB of GDDR5 memory is substantial, its 250 W TDP is less than half the 5090 D's 575 W, and it requires a 600 W suggested PSU versus 950 W. As an end-of-life product with no display outputs, it targets server environments where power efficiency per watt and passive compute density matter more than raw speed. The data shows it holds a 1.4% edge over the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 in average benchmark score, and its 89th percentile ranking means it still outperforms most GPUs. Choose the Tesla P40 only if the workload is memory-capacity-bound rather than compute-bound, and if the lower power draw is a hard requirement. Otherwise, the RTX 5090 D's benchmark superiority is unambiguous.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are separated by three architectural generations. The RTX 5090 D uses the GB202 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process, packing 92,200 million transistors into a 750 mm² die—a transistor density of 122.9 million per square millimeter. The Tesla P40 uses the GP102 chip on a 16 nm TSMC process, with 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die, yielding just 25.1 million transistors per square millimeter. This density difference explains much of the performance gap: the newer chip crams nearly eight times more transistors into a die that is only 1.6 times larger.

The compute architectures diverge fundamentally. The RTX 5090 D implements Blackwell 2.0 with 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units. It also includes 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. The Tesla P40, based on Pascal, provides 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with no RT cores and no tensor cores—it cannot accelerate ray tracing or tensor operations in hardware. The FP16 throughput tells the story: the RTX 5090 D delivers 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio with FP32), while the Tesla P40 manages only 183.7 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio), a 570-fold difference in half-precision capability.

Memory technology has also advanced. The RTX 5090 D uses 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, achieving 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The Tesla P40 uses 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, with 347.1 GB/s bandwidth. The newer card also supports PCIe 5.0 x16 versus the P40's PCIe 3.0 x16, doubling the potential host interface bandwidth. Display outputs differ as well: the RTX 5090 D provides 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b, while the Tesla P40 has no outputs, confirming its compute-only server role.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows the RTX 5090 D scoring 310,674 against the Tesla P40's 62,017, a 400.9% advantage. This metric exercises general-purpose compute across a range of workloads, and the 5.0x score ratio aligns closely with the 8.9x raw FP32 ratio—the discrepancy suggests memory bandwidth and scheduling overheads partially mitigate the raw compute gap. The RTX 5090 D's 1.79 TB/s bandwidth and 176 ROPs help sustain higher utilization, while the P40's 347.1 GB/s becomes a bottleneck for data-intensive kernels.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin widens to 452.9%, with the RTX 5090 D scoring 376,915 versus 68,172. Vulkan is a low-level graphics and compute API, and here the Blackwell architecture's modern features—including hardware ray tracing and advanced rasterization—yield an even larger advantage. The 5.5x score ratio exceeds the FP32 compute ratio, indicating that the RTX 5090 D benefits from architectural efficiency gains beyond raw throughput. The Tesla P40's DirectX 12 (12_1) support and lack of RT cores place it at a disadvantage in any modern rendering workload that leverages these features.

The RTX 5090 D wins both head-to-head tests, with a 2-0 record. The Tesla P40 has no benchmark wins in this comparison. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 376,915 for the RTX 5090 D is notably higher than its OpenCL score, suggesting the Vulkan driver path extracts more performance from the hardware, while the Tesla P40 shows the opposite pattern (68,172 Vulkan versus 62,017 OpenCL), though the difference is smaller in absolute terms.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 5090 D uses a 5 nm process versus 16 nm, and its 92,200 million transistors dwarf the P40's 11,800 million. The die size is 750 mm² versus 471 mm², and transistor density is 122.9M/mm² versus 25.1M/mm². Clock speeds are higher on the newer card: base 2017 MHz versus 1303 MHz, boost 2407 MHz versus 1531 MHz.

Memory configuration diverges sharply: 32 GB GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus versus 24 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, with bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s versus 347.1 GB/s. The RTX 5090 D has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 170 RT cores, and 680 tensor cores. The Tesla P40 has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and no RT or tensor cores. Pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s versus 147.0 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s versus 367.4 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 104.8 TFLOPS versus 11.76 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 104.8 TFLOPS versus 183.7 GFLOPS.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The RTX 5090 D draws 575 W TDP with a 950 W suggested PSU and uses a 1x 16-pin connector. The Tesla P40 draws 250 W with a 600 W suggested PSU and uses an 8-pin EPS connector. Both are dual-slot, but the RTX 5090 D is larger: 304 mm length versus 267 mm, 137 mm height versus 111 mm, and 48 mm width versus unspecified. The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16. DirectX support is 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus 12 (12_1), while OpenGL and Vulkan versions match at 4.6 and 1.4 respectively. Production status is Active versus End-of-life, and release dates are 2025-01-29 versus 2016-09-12.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL compute workloads?

A: The RTX 5090 D scores 310,674 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the Tesla P40's 62,017, representing a 400.9% advantage.

Q: Does the Tesla P40 support ray tracing or tensor operations?

A: No. The Tesla P40 has no RT cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 5090 D includes 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RTX 5090 D offers 1.79 TB/s bandwidth from 32 GB GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus. The Tesla P40 provides 347.1 GB/s from 24 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus.

Q: Which card has better Vulkan performance?

A: The RTX 5090 D scores 376,915 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 68,172 for the Tesla P40, a 452.9% delta favoring the newer card.

Q: Can the Tesla P40 output video to displays?

A: No. The Tesla P40 has no display outputs. The RTX 5090 D includes 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The Tesla P40 has a 250 W TDP with a 600 W suggested PSU. The RTX 5090 D has a 575 W TDP with a 950 W suggested PSU.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 D wins every benchmark category present in the data. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 310,674 and Vulkan score of 376,915 are both multiples of the Tesla P40's corresponding scores. For gaming, real-time rendering, ray-traced workloads, AI inference, or any FP16-intensive task, the RTX 5090 D is the only viable choice—the Tesla P40 cannot even accelerate tensor operations. The newer card's 32 GB GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth also make it superior for large dataset processing, and its PCIe 5.0 interface doubles the host transfer rate. The RTX 5090 D's 92nd percentile ranking versus the P40's 89th further confirms its broader superiority.

The Tesla P40 wins in efficiency and deployment flexibility, though not in performance. Its 250 W TDP means it consumes 325 W less than the RTX 5090 D, and its 600 W suggested PSU requirement allows installation in systems with smaller power supplies. The 24 GB memory capacity is still substantial for server workloads that prioritize capacity over bandwidth. The P40's dual-slot design at 267 mm length is shorter than the 5090 D's 304 mm, potentially fitting in more compact chassis. Its end-of-life status may appeal to organizations seeking low-cost compute density, and its 1.4% benchmark advantage over the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 shows it remains competitive within its generation. The absence of display outputs is a feature in headless server environments. For organizations with existing PCIe 3.0 infrastructure, the P40 avoids the need for PCIe 5.0 motherboard upgrades. The Tesla P40 wins on power efficiency per unit of compute and on memory capacity per watt, making it suitable for dense inference farms or compute clusters where absolute speed is secondary to density and thermal management.