NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 vs NVIDIA Tesla P40 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is in a completely different performance class than the NVIDIA Tesla P40, with benchmark data showing a lead of over 400% in both available compute tests. The RTX 5090 dominates the Tesla P40 across every measurable metric in the fact pack, reflecting a generational gap of nearly a decade in architecture and design philosophy.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data contains exactly two benchmark comparisons, and the RTX 5090 wins both by overwhelming margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5090 scores 334,370 against the Tesla P40's 62,017, a delta of 439.2%. The Vulkan test shows an even larger gap: the RTX 5090 achieves 376,728 while the Tesla P40 manages only 68,172, representing a 452.6% advantage for the newer card. These are not incremental improvements; they are order-of-magnitude shifts in compute capability.

The RTX 5090's average benchmark score of 79,842 places it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla P40's average of 65,095 lands in the 89th percentile. This means the RTX 5090 is not merely faster than the P40 — it sits in a higher tier of overall GPU performance. The RTX 5090's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (within 0.3%), the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (within 0.6%), and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (within 1.1%). The Tesla P40's closest competitors are the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 (1.4% ahead), the AMD Radeon VII (1.4% behind), and the NVIDIA CMP 30HX (2% behind).

The RTX 5090 also has a much richer benchmark profile, with scores across 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (18,355), Passmark G3D (39,650), Passmark GPU Compute (26,756), and various DirectX tests. The Tesla P40 only has Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan results in the fact pack, making direct comparisons limited but entirely one-sided. The RTX 5090's Passmark G2D score of 1,413 further illustrates its broader capability set.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5090 than the Tesla P40 in OpenCL?

A: The RTX 5090 scores 334,370 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the Tesla P40's 62,017, a 439.2% advantage.

Q: Which card has a higher overall performance percentile?

A: The RTX 5090 sits in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla P40 is in the 89th percentile, based on their average benchmark scores of 79,842 and 65,095 respectively.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, while the Tesla P40 has 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 347.1 GB/s bandwidth.

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

A: No. The fact pack lists null values for both RT cores and tensor cores on the Tesla P40, while the RTX 5090 has 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX 5090 has a TDP of 575 W with a suggested 950 W PSU and a 16-pin connector, while the Tesla P40 has a 250 W TDP with a suggested 600 W PSU and an 8-pin EPS connector.

Q: Are both cards currently in production?

A: No. The RTX 5090 is listed as Active production, while the Tesla P40 is End-of-life.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast and explains the benchmark disparity. The RTX 5090 uses the GB202 chip built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC. The Tesla P40 uses the GP102 chip on the older Pascal architecture with a 16 nm process node, also from TSMC. This process shrink alone allows the RTX 5090 to pack 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 122.9M per mm². The Tesla P40 has 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die, with a density of just 25.1M per mm².

The RTX 5090 features 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, alongside 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. The Tesla P40 has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with no RT or tensor cores at all. This means the RTX 5090 supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads that the Tesla P40 cannot handle at all. The RTX 5090's FP32 throughput is 104.8 TFLOPS, and its FP16 performance matches at 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio). The Tesla P40's FP32 is 11.76 TFLOPS, and its FP16 is just 183.7 GFLOPS with a 1:64 ratio, making it extremely weak at half-precision workloads.

The RTX 5090 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla P40 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 5090 uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while the Tesla P40 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, doubling the available bandwidth for data transfer. The RTX 5090 has display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b), while the Tesla P40 has no display outputs at all, confirming its server-centric design.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification field. The RTX 5090 has a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, while the Tesla P40 runs at 1303 MHz base and 1531 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) for the RTX 5090 versus 1808 MHz (7.2 Gbps effective) for the Tesla P40. The RTX 5090's pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s; the Tesla P40's rates are 147.0 GPixel/s and 367.4 GTexel/s.

The RTX 5090 measures 304 mm by 137 mm by 40 mm, while the Tesla P40 is smaller at 267 mm by 111 mm with no width listed. Both are dual-slot cards. The RTX 5090 was released on 2025-01-29 with a predecessor of GeForce 40 and successor of GeForce 60. The Tesla P40 was released on 2016-09-12, with a predecessor of Tesla Maxwell and successor of Tesla Volta. The RTX 5090 has a launch MSRP of 1,999 USD, while the Tesla P40 has a launch MSRP of 5,699 USD.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 wins in every benchmark category where data exists. It is 439.2% ahead in OpenCL and 452.6% ahead in Vulkan compute tasks. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth makes it suited for large datasets and high-resolution textures, while the Tesla P40's 24 GB GDDR5 with 347.1 GB/s bandwidth is a fraction of that capability. The RTX 5090's tensor cores enable AI inference and training workloads that the Tesla P40 cannot perform, and its RT cores enable real-time ray tracing.

The Tesla P40's only advantage is its lower power draw: 250 W versus 575 W. Its smaller physical footprint (267 mm length versus 304 mm) and PCIe 3.0 compatibility could make it easier to slot into older servers. However, the fact pack shows no benchmark where the Tesla P40 wins. Its end-of-life production status and lack of display outputs further limit its use cases to legacy compute deployments.

The RTX 5090 also has a broader API support profile with DirectX 12 Ultimate, and its active production status means ongoing driver and software support. The Tesla P40's FP16 performance of 183.7 GFLOPS is negligible compared to the RTX 5090's 104.8 TFLOPS, making the newer card over 570 times faster in half-precision compute — a critical metric for AI workloads.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the superior GPU in every measured benchmark and specification category. It offers over 400% better compute performance in OpenCL and Vulkan, has 8 GB more memory with a dramatically faster memory type and bus width, and supports modern features like ray tracing and tensor cores that the Tesla P40 entirely lacks. The RTX 5090's 92nd percentile ranking versus the Tesla P40's 89th percentile confirms its higher standing in the overall GPU landscape.

For any workload involving modern gaming, AI inference, machine learning, or high-performance compute, the RTX 5090 is the clear choice. Its 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance, 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth, and PCIe 5.0 interface provide a foundation for demanding applications. The Tesla P40, with its 11.76 TFLOPS FP32 and 347.1 GB/s bandwidth, is only suitable for legacy compute tasks that cannot leverage newer architectures. Its end-of-life status means no future updates, and its lack of display outputs makes it unsuitable for workstation use.

The RTX 5090's higher TDP of 575 W requires a robust power supply, but the performance return is massive. The Tesla P40's lower 250 W TDP is its only practical advantage, and even that is offset by the RTX 5090's vastly superior performance per benchmark point. The RTX 5090 is the recommended purchase for anyone needing top-tier GPU compute, while the Tesla P40 should only be considered for specialized, low-power legacy deployments. Given the 452.6% Vulkan delta and 439.2% OpenCL delta, there is no scenario in the data where the Tesla P40 is the better performer.