NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation vs NVIDIA Tesla P40 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains a single direct comparison between these two cards: the Geekbench OpenCL test. The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation posts a score of 326,898, while the NVIDIA Tesla P40 reaches 62,017. This is a decisive margin, with the RTX 5880 leading by 81%. Such a gap is not incremental; it represents a generational leap in raw compute throughput as measured by this workload.

Looking beyond the head-to-head, the average benchmark scores tell a more nuanced story. The Tesla P40 averages 65,095 across all recorded tests, while the RTX 5880 averages 45,972. This is surprising at first glance. The RTX 5880 wins the OpenCL test by a landslide, yet its overall average is dragged down by other recorded benchmarks. The RTX 5880 has additional entries in the database: Passmark DX10 at 167, DX11 at 228, DX12 at 70, DX9 at 335, G2D at 777, G3D at 25,096, and GPU compute at 14,208. The Tesla P40 has no such entries. The low DirectX scores, particularly the 70 in DX12, pull the RTX 5880's average down significantly. This highlights a key point: the OpenCL result reflects compute potential, while the Passmark suite, with its legacy and 2D tests, measures a different set of capabilities.

The percentile rankings reinforce this split. The Tesla P40 sits at the 89th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RTX 5880 sits at the 85th percentile. Despite the RTX 5880's massive win in the single shared test, its overall standing in the database is slightly lower. The Tesla P40's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 (1.4% slower), the AMD Radeon VII (1.4% faster), the NVIDIA CMP 30HX (2% slower), and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP (2% slower). The RTX 5880's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA RTX A2000 (0.2% faster), the Intel Arc A730M (0.8% slower), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (1.3% slower), and the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (1.4% faster). The RTX 5880, despite its modern architecture, is clustered with mid-range and mobile parts in the database's aggregate scoring. This suggests the average score is heavily influenced by the test suite composition rather than peak compute ability.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different eras of NVIDIA's design language. The Tesla P40 uses the GP102 chip built on the Pascal architecture, fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. The RTX 5880 uses the AD102 chip on the Ada Lovelace architecture, also at TSMC but on a 5 nm node. The transistor counts reflect the process jump. The P40 packs 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die, giving a density of 25.1 million transistors per square millimeter. The RTX 5880 holds 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die, for a density of 125.3 million per square millimeter. The RTX 5880 crams more than six times the transistors into a die that is only about 30% larger.

Memory configuration differs substantially. The Tesla P40 offers 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 347.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 5880 doubles the capacity to 48 GB of GDDR6, keeps the same 384-bit bus, and more than doubles bandwidth to 864.0 GB/s. Effective memory speed is 7.2 Gbps on the P40 versus 18 Gbps on the RTX 5880. Both cards share the same physical length of 267 mm and similar height around 111 to 112 mm, both dual-slot.

Compute resources are where the architectures diverge most sharply. The Tesla P40 has 3,840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. The RTX 5880 has 14,080 shading units, 440 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The RTX 5880 also introduces dedicated hardware absent from the Pascal part: 110 ray tracing cores and 440 tensor cores. The P40 has none of either. Pixel rate jumps from 147.0 GPixel/s on the P40 to 433.0 GPixel/s on the RTX 5880. Texture rate rises from 367.4 GTexel/s to 1,082.4 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput goes from 11.76 TFLOPS to 69.27 TFLOPS. FP16 is a stark contrast: the P40 manages only 183.7 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio, while the RTX 5880 delivers 69.27 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio. The Ada card handles FP16 at the same rate as FP32, a fundamental shift in compute capability.

Power and interface also differ. The Tesla P40 has a 250 W TDP with an 8-pin EPS connector. The RTX 5880 has a 285 W TDP with a single 16-pin connector. Both suggest a 600 W power supply. The P40 uses PCIe 3.0 x16; the RTX 5880 uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs are a major functional difference: the P40 has no outputs, while the RTX 5880 has four DisplayPort 1.4a connectors. The P40 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), the RTX 5880 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the shared OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation scores 326,898 versus 62,017 for the Tesla P40, a lead of 81% in that test.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The Tesla P40 has 24 GB of GDDR5. The RTX 5880 has 48 GB of GDDR6, double the capacity.

Q: Do both cards support ray tracing or tensor operations?

A: No. The RTX 5880 has 110 ray tracing cores and 440 tensor cores. The Tesla P40 has neither, as it lacks both types of dedicated hardware.

Q: What are the transistor counts and process nodes?

A: The Tesla P40 uses 11,800 million transistors on a 16 nm TSMC process. The RTX 5880 uses 76,300 million transistors on a 5 nm TSMC process.

Q: Can the Tesla P40 output video to displays?

A: No, the Tesla P40 has no display outputs. The RTX 5880 has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The Tesla P40 averages 65,095 across recorded tests, while the RTX 5880 averages 45,972. The P40 sits at the 89th percentile of all GPUs; the RTX 5880 sits at the 85th.

The Verdict

The data points to two very different tools. The Tesla P40, released in 2016, is an end-of-life product from the Pascal era. Its strength in the database is consistency: it has a higher average benchmark score and a higher percentile ranking than the RTX 5880. Its nearest rivals are all within 2% of its average score, indicating a stable, well-understood performance envelope. For workloads that resemble the recorded tests outside of OpenCL, the P40 holds its own.

The RTX 5880 Ada Generation, released in 2024 and still active, is the compute monster. Its 81% lead in OpenCL is the single most decisive data point in this comparison. It doubles memory capacity, more than doubles memory bandwidth, and offers FP16 throughput at parity with FP32, a feature the P40 lacks entirely. The presence of ray tracing and tensor cores means it can handle workloads the P40 cannot even attempt.

The verdict depends on the workload. If the task is dominated by the OpenCL compute path, the RTX 5880 is the clear choice. If the task aligns with the broader set of database benchmarks, the Tesla P40's higher average score and percentile suggest it remains competitive in certain legacy or specialized contexts. The P40's lack of display outputs makes it unsuitable for any interactive or display-driven work. The RTX 5880, with its four DisplayPort outputs, is the only one of the two that can drive a monitor directly.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA Tesla P40 | NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Pascal | Ada Lovelace |

| Process Node | 16 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 11,800 million | 76,300 million |

| Die Size | 471 mm² | 609 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 25.1M / mm² | 125.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1303 MHz | 975 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1531 MHz | 2460 MHz |

| Memory Size | 24 GB | 48 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Clock | 7.2 Gbps effective | 18 Gbps effective |

| Memory Bandwidth | 347.1 GB/s | 864.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3840 | 14080 |

| TMUs | 240 | 440 |

| ROPs | 96 | 176 |

| RT Cores | None | 110 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 440 |

| Pixel Rate | 147.0 GPixel/s | 433.0 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 367.4 GTexel/s | 1,082.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 11.76 TFLOPS | 69.27 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 183.7 GFLOPS (1:64) | 69.27 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 285 W |

| Power Connectors | 8-pin EPS | 1x 16-pin |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | 4x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2016-09-12 | 2024-01-04 |

| Launch MSRP | 5,699 USD | Not listed |

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5880 wins in raw compute. Its 81% OpenCL lead is the headline. It wins on memory capacity, bandwidth, shading units, TMUs, ROPs, pixel rate, texture rate, FP32, and FP16. It is the only card here with ray tracing and tensor cores. It wins on modern connectivity with PCIe 4.0 and has display outputs for direct monitor connection. It also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, a newer feature level.

The Tesla P40 wins in the aggregate database standing. Its average benchmark score of 65,095 is higher, and its 89th percentile ranking beats the RTX 5880's 85th. It has a lower TDP at 250 W versus 285 W. Its base clock is higher at 1303 MHz versus 975 MHz, though its boost clock is far lower at 1531 MHz versus 2460 MHz. It also has a listed launch MSRP of 5,699 USD, which can be stated once as a historical data point.

For compute-heavy, modern workloads, especially those leveraging FP16, ray tracing, or tensor operations, the RTX 5880 is the only viable option in this pairing. For workloads that mirror the database's broader test mix and favor the P40's profile, the older card remains surprisingly relevant. The P40 is a legacy compute accelerator with no display capability. The RTX 5880 is a current-generation workstation card with full display support and vastly superior peak compute. The choice is not about which is better overall, but which matches the specific task at hand.