NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla P4 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains two direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons between the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile and the NVIDIA Tesla P4. In both cases, the GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile dominates.

In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 5090 Mobile scores 201,834 against the Tesla P4's 34,947. That is a delta of 477.5%, meaning the newer mobile part delivers nearly five times the raw compute throughput in this API. The gap is not incremental; it represents a generational leap in both architecture and execution resources.

The Geekbench Vulkan test tells a similar story. The RTX 5090 Mobile posts 198,405, while the Tesla P4 manages 40,309. The delta here is 392.2%. Vulkan is often a more efficient API for modern GPUs, and the RTX 5090 Mobile's Blackwell architecture clearly extracts far more performance per clock than the Pascal-based Tesla P4.

Overall, the win count is 2 for the RTX 5090 Mobile and 0 for the Tesla P4. No benchmark in the database shows the Tesla P4 ahead. The average benchmark score for the RTX 5090 Mobile is 45,152, placing it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs tracked. The Tesla P4's average is 37,628, which sits in the 81st percentile. While both are above the median, the absolute gap is substantial.

Looking at the nearest rivals in the database further contextualizes the RTX 5090 Mobile's position. Its average score is within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45,384), 0.8% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (44,795), 1% behind the Intel Arc A730M (45,592), and 1.8% behind the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation (45,972). This indicates that while the RTX 5090 Mobile leads the Tesla P4 by a wide margin, it is itself tightly clustered with a group of high-end desktop and mobile parts.

For the Tesla P4, the nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (37,648, delta of -0.1%), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507, delta of 0.3%), the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37,157, delta of 1.3%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38,135, delta of -1.3%). The Tesla P4's average score is nearly identical to these parts, meaning it holds its own against a specific tier of mid-range GPUs from later generations, but it is simply outclassed by the flagship 50-series mobile part.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 Mobile wins in every measured category. Its advantage is most pronounced in compute-heavy workloads. The Geekbench OpenCL result of 201,834 versus 34,947 shows a 477.5% lead, which is critical for tasks like rendering, physics simulation, or any general-purpose GPU compute. The Vulkan result of 198,405 versus 40,309 (392.2% lead) reinforces that this advantage extends to modern graphics APIs, which are increasingly used in professional visualization and gaming.

The Tesla P4 has no benchmark wins in the database. However, its profile suggests a different purpose. It is a single-slot, 75 W card with no display outputs and no power connectors. It was designed for server-side inference and datacenter tasks, not for client-side rendering. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 192.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for many inference workloads, but the raw throughput is far below the RTX 5090 Mobile's 24 GB of GDDR7 at 896.0 GB/s.

The RTX 5090 Mobile also benefits from its architecture. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla P4 only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1). This difference matters for feature sets like ray tracing and mesh shaders. The RTX 5090 Mobile has 82 RT cores and 328 Tensor cores; the Tesla P4 has none. For any workload that uses ray tracing or AI acceleration, the RTX 5090 Mobile is the only viable option.

In practical terms, the RTX 5090 Mobile is a general-purpose powerhouse for laptops, handling gaming, creative work, and compute with ease. The Tesla P4 is a legacy inference accelerator, useful only in specific server environments where its low power draw and small footprint matter more than peak performance.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile scores 201,834, while the NVIDIA Tesla P4 scores 34,947. The RTX 5090 Mobile leads by 477.5%.

Q: How does the Tesla P4 compare to the RTX 5090 Mobile in Vulkan?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile scores 198,405 in Geekbench Vulkan, versus 40,309 for the Tesla P4. The delta is 392.2% in favor of the RTX 5090 Mobile.

Q: Does the Tesla P4 win any benchmark?

A: No. In the head-to-head data, the RTX 5090 Mobile wins both recorded tests. The win count is 2 for the RTX 5090 Mobile and 0 for the Tesla P4.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 45,152, placing it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. The Tesla P4 has an average of 37,628, placing it in the 81st percentile.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 Mobile compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile is 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45,384), 0.8% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (44,795), 1% behind the Intel Arc A730M (45,592), and 1.8% behind the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation (45,972).

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile has 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 896.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla P4 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 192.3 GB/s bandwidth.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every fundamental specification.

The RTX 5090 Mobile uses the GB203 chip on a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die. The Tesla P4 uses the GP104 chip on a 16 nm process, also from TSMC, with 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: 120.6M per mm² for the RTX 5090 Mobile versus 22.9M per mm² for the Tesla P4.

Clock speeds differ significantly. The RTX 5090 Mobile has a base clock of 990 MHz and a boost clock of 1515 MHz. The Tesla P4 has a base of 886 MHz and a boost of 1114 MHz. Memory clocks also diverge: the RTX 5090 Mobile runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) while the Tesla P4 runs at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective).

Shading units are 10,496 for the RTX 5090 Mobile versus 2,560 for the Tesla P4. TMUs are 328 versus 160. ROPs are 112 versus 64. The RTX 5090 Mobile has 82 RT cores and 328 Tensor cores; the Tesla P4 has none for either.

Pixel rate is 169.7 GPixel/s for the RTX 5090 Mobile versus 71.30 GPixel/s for the Tesla P4. Texture rate is 496.9 GTexel/s versus 178.2 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 31.80 TFLOPS versus 5.704 TFLOPS. FP16 is 31.80 TFLOPS (1:1) for the RTX 5090 Mobile versus 89.12 GFLOPS (1:64) for the Tesla P4.

Power and physical design differ as well. The RTX 5090 Mobile has a TDP of 95 W and is an IGP (integrated graphics package) with no power connectors. The Tesla P4 has a TDP of 75 W, is single-slot, requires a 250 W suggested PSU, and has a length of 168 mm (6.6 inches). The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 for the RTX 5090 Mobile versus PCIe 3.0 x16 for the Tesla P4. Display outputs are portable-device-dependent for the RTX 5090 Mobile; the Tesla P4 has no outputs.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is enormous, spanning two generations.

The RTX 5090 Mobile is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, while the Tesla P4 uses the Pascal architecture. Blackwell 2.0 is a modern design that includes dedicated RT cores for ray tracing and Tensor cores for AI acceleration. Pascal, launched in 2016, has neither. This means the Tesla P4 cannot accelerate ray-traced workloads or tensor-based inference with dedicated hardware.

The process node difference is critical. The RTX 5090 Mobile uses a 5 nm process, while the Tesla P4 uses 16 nm. This directly explains the transistor density gap: 120.6M per mm² versus 22.9M per mm². The newer process allows for far more transistors on a similar die area, enabling the 45,600 million transistor count versus 7,200 million.

Memory technology also reflects the generational leap. The RTX 5090 Mobile uses GDDR7, while the Tesla P4 uses GDDR5. The bandwidth difference is stark: 896.0 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s. Both use a 256-bit bus, but the newer memory standard and clock speeds make the RTX 5090 Mobile's bandwidth nearly five times higher.

API support differs. The RTX 5090 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes feature level 12_2 capabilities like mesh shaders and variable rate shading. The Tesla P4 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), which lacks some of these modern features. Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The RTX 5090 Mobile is part of the GeForce 50 Mobile generation, succeeding the GeForce 40 Mobile. The Tesla P4 is part of the Tesla Pascal (Pxx) generation, succeeding Tesla Maxwell and followed by Tesla Volta. The Tesla P4 is end-of-life, while the RTX 5090 Mobile is active in production.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla P4 by a massive margin in every recorded benchmark. The 477.5% lead in OpenCL and 392.2% lead in Vulkan are not close calls; they reflect a completely different performance class.

The RTX 5090 Mobile is the choice for anyone needing high-end mobile graphics, compute, or AI acceleration. Its 24 GB of GDDR7 memory, 10,496 shading units, and dedicated RT and Tensor cores make it suitable for modern gaming, professional rendering, and machine learning workloads. Its 84th percentile rank among all GPUs, with an average score of 45,152, places it alongside desktop parts like the RTX 4070 Ti and the RTX 5880 Ada Generation.

The Tesla P4, with its 81st percentile rank and average score of 37,628, is still a competent GPU for its era. It matches the performance of the RTX 4070 and RX Vega 56 in the database. However, it lacks ray tracing, tensor acceleration, and modern memory bandwidth. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 and 192.3 GB/s bandwidth limit its usefulness in current workloads.

For a user choosing between these two, the decision is straightforward. The RTX 5090 Mobile is superior in every measurable way. The only scenario where the Tesla P4 might be considered is a legacy server deployment where its single-slot, 75 W form factor and lack of display outputs are specific requirements, and where the older Pascal architecture is acceptable. For any new deployment or any client-side task, the RTX 5090 Mobile is the definitive pick based on the recorded benchmark data.