NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 vs NVIDIA Tesla T4 Comparison

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 and NVIDIA Tesla T4 are both Turing-architecture professional accelerators, but they occupy very different roles. The Quadro RTX 6000 is a high-end workstation card with a 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the Tesla T4 sits at the 90th percentile. The recorded data shows the Quadro RTX 6000 winning both head-to-head benchmark tests, with a particularly large margin in Vulkan. This analysis walks through the benchmark splits, architecture differences, specifications, and the meaning of those numbers for different workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The Quadro RTX 6000 wins every recorded benchmark comparison in this database. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, it scores 74,179 points against the Tesla T4's 61,276, a 21.1% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap is far larger: the Quadro RTX 6000 posts 129,564 points versus 72,190 for the Tesla T4, a 79.5% lead. The data shows that for compute workloads measured by OpenCL, the Quadro RTX 6000 is ahead by roughly one-fifth, but for graphics-oriented tasks measured by Vulkan, it nearly doubles the Tesla T4's score.

The Tesla T4 has no benchmark wins in this comparison, so its strength does not show up in raw performance numbers. Instead, its advantages lie in other dimensions: physical size, power requirements, and thermal envelope. The Tesla T4 is a single-slot card, while the Quadro RTX 6000 is dual-slot. The Tesla T4 draws 70 W, compared to 260 W for the Quadro RTX 6000. The Tesla T4 has no power connectors, while the Quadro RTX 6000 requires a 6-pin and an 8-pin connector. The suggested PSU for the Tesla T4 is 250 W, while the Quadro RTX 6000 asks for a 600 W unit.

In terms of use cases, the data indicates the Quadro RTX 6000 is the clear winner for any application that relies on the benchmarked APIs, particularly Vulkan. The Tesla T4, with its 70 W power draw and single-slot design, is better suited for dense server installations where power and space constraints are the primary concern, even at the cost of raw compute.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on the Turing architecture and fabricated by TSMC on a 12 nm process. However, the chips differ. The Quadro RTX 6000 uses the TU102 chip, while the Tesla T4 uses the TU104 chip. The TU102 die is larger at 754 mm², while the TU104 is 545 mm². Transistor counts also differ: the TU102 packs 18,600 million transistors, and the TU104 has 13,600 million. Transistor density is very close, with the Quadro RTX 6000 at 24.7 million per mm² and the Tesla T4 at 25.0 million per mm².

The Quadro RTX 6000 has more of every compute resource. It has 4,608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs. The Tesla T4 has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture units, and 64 ROPs. For ray tracing, the Quadro RTX 6000 carries 72 RT cores, while the Tesla T4 has 40. Tensor cores follow the same pattern: 576 on the Quadro RTX 6000 versus 320 on the Tesla T4.

Clock speeds show a different trade-off. The Quadro RTX 6000 has a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz. The Tesla T4 has a much lower base clock of 585 MHz but a boost clock of 1590 MHz, which is not far behind the Quadro's boost. This suggests the Tesla T4 is designed to stay cool and efficient at idle, then ramp up when needed.

Memory configurations are also distinct. The Quadro RTX 6000 offers 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, yielding 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla T4 provides 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, with 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) on the Quadro RTX 6000, and 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective) on the Tesla T4.

The display outputs differ sharply. The Quadro RTX 6000 has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a and 1x USB Type-C. The Tesla T4 has no display outputs, as it is a server-oriented accelerator.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 has a much higher average benchmark score of 101,872, while the NVIDIA Tesla T4 averages 66,733.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Tesla T4 has a TDP of 70 W with no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The Quadro RTX 6000 has a TDP of 260 W, requires one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector, and needs a 600 W PSU.

Q: Do both cards support the same APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the difference in memory capacity and bandwidth?

A: The Quadro RTX 6000 has 24 GB of GDDR6 across a 384-bit bus for 672.0 GB/s. The Tesla T4 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus for 320.0 GB/s.

Q: Are both cards the same physical size?

A: No. The Quadro RTX 6000 is dual-slot with a length of 267 mm (10.5 inches) and a height of 111 mm (4.4 inches). The Tesla T4 is single-slot with a length of 168 mm (6.6 inches).

Q: Which model has more RT and tensor cores?

A: The Quadro RTX 6000 has 72 RT cores and 576 tensor cores. The Tesla T4 has 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores.

Specification Differences

The specifications that differ between the two cards are numerous. The chip is different: TU102 for the Quadro RTX 6000 versus TU104 for the Tesla T4. The die sizes are 754 mm² and 545 mm² respectively. Transistor counts are 18,600 million versus 13,600 million.

Clock speeds: the Quadro RTX 6000 has a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost of 1770 MHz, while the Tesla T4 has a base of 585 MHz and a boost of 1590 MHz. Memory clocks also differ, with the Quadro RTX 6000 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) and the Tesla T4 at 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective).

Memory capacity is 24 GB versus 16 GB, with bus widths of 384 bit versus 256 bit, and bandwidths of 672.0 GB/s versus 320.0 GB/s. The compute units are nearly halved on the Tesla T4: 4,608 shading units versus 2,560, 288 texture units versus 160, and 96 ROPs versus 64. RT cores are 72 versus 40, and tensor cores are 576 versus 320.

Pixel and texture rates show the same pattern. The Quadro RTX 6000 achieves 169.9 GPixel/s and 509.8 GTexel/s, while the Tesla T4 reaches 101.8 GPixel/s and 254.4 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 16.31 TFLOPS versus 8.141 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 32.62 TFLOPS versus 16.28 TFLOPS.

The power and physical dimensions are major differences. TDP is 260 W versus 70 W. The Quadro RTX 6000 is dual-slot with two power connectors; the Tesla T4 is single-slot with none. The suggested PSU is 600 W versus 250 W. The Quadro RTX 6000 is 267 mm long and 111 mm high, while the Tesla T4 is 168 mm long. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 1.4a plus USB Type-C on the Quadro RTX 6000, and none on the Tesla T4.

Both are end-of-life products. The Quadro RTX 6000 was released in August 2018, and the Tesla T4 in September 2018. The Quadro RTX 6000 has a launch MSRP of 6,299 USD. No launch MSRP is recorded for the Tesla T4.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head table includes two benchmark tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Quadro RTX 6000 scores 74,179 and the Tesla T4 scores 61,276. The Quadro RTX 6000 wins by 21.1%. This is a substantial margin, but not overwhelming. It suggests that in compute workloads that are not optimized for specific hardware features, the Quadro RTX 6000 still holds a strong lead due to its higher shader count, texture units, and memory bandwidth.

The second test, Geekbench Vulkan, is far more one-sided. The Quadro RTX 6000 scores 129,564 versus 72,190 for the Tesla T4, a difference of 79.5%. This nearly doubling of performance indicates that the Quadro RTX 6000's additional hardware resources, especially its 72 RT cores and 576 tensor cores, translate directly into Vulkan performance in a way that the Tesla T4's 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores cannot match. Vulkan is a low-level API that can stress shader and geometry throughput, and the Quadro RTX 6000's 1770 MHz boost clock, combined with 672 GB/s of memory bandwidth, gives it a decisive edge.

These two wins give the Quadro RTX 6000 a 2-0 record in the head-to-head comparison. The average benchmark score for the Quadro RTX 6000 is 101,872, which is 52.7% higher than the Tesla T4's 66,733. The percentile rankings also reflect this: the Quadro RTX 6000 sits at the 94th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla T4 is at the 90th.

Looking at the nearest rivals from the database, the Quadro RTX 6000's average score places it 4.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 790M, 4.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro VII, but behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo by 4.6% and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600X by 5.1%. For the Tesla T4, its average score is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon VII, 2.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P40, but behind the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 by 2.7% and the Intel Arc A770 by 3%. These figures show that the Tesla T4 sits in a much lower performance tier, even among its own rivals.

The Verdict

The data shows that the Quadro RTX 6000 is the stronger compute option by a wide margin. Its 21.1% lead in OpenCL and 79.5% lead in Vulkan are not marginal differences. For any workload that uses these APIs, the Quadro RTX 6000 will deliver significantly more frames, more operations, or more throughput. It also has 24 GB of memory versus 16 GB, nearly double the bandwidth, and twice the shading units, texture units, and ROPs. The Quadro RTX 6000 is also the only one with display outputs, making it a direct workstation choice for users who need to attach monitors or VR headsets.

The Tesla T4 has no benchmark wins, but it has a clear purpose in the data. Its 70 W TDP is roughly a quarter of the Quadro RTX 6000's 260 W. It requires no extra power connectors and only a 250 W PSU, while the Quadro RTX 6000 needs a 600 W PSU. The Tesla T4 is also a single-slot card at 168 mm, versus the dual-slot 267 mm Quadro RTX 6000. For a server with many GPUs, these physical and power savings are decisive. The Tesla T4 still offers Turing features such as RT cores and tensor cores, so it is not a non-accelerated card, but it delivers about half the performance.

The verdict from the recorded data is straightforward. Pick the Quadro RTX 6000 if you need maximum performance in OpenCL or Vulkan, if you require 24 GB of memory, or if you need display outputs. Pick the Tesla T4 if your priority is power efficiency, single-slot density, or minimal power supply requirements. The Tesla T4 is not a better performer by any metric in this database, but its physical and power profile is a different class entirely. Both are end-of-life products, with the Quadro RTX 6000 having a launch MSRP of 6,299 USD and the Tesla T4 having no recorded launch MSRP.

The benchmark results are clear. The Quadro RTX 6000 is the performance leader, and the Tesla T4 is the efficiency leader. There is no overlap in what they are designed for. The data does not suggest a single right choice; it suggests two different right choices depending on the context.