NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla P40 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive victory for the NVIDIA Tesla P40 across both benchmark disciplines. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Tesla P40 scores 62017 against the RTX A1000 Mobile's 48703, a margin of 27.3%. This is a substantial lead, but the gap widens considerably in the Vulkan test. There, the Tesla P40 achieves 68172, while the RTX A1000 Mobile manages only 46782, resulting in a 45.7% advantage for the older, desktop-oriented card.

The OpenCL result is interesting because it suggests that raw compute throughput, in which the Tesla P40 excels, matters more than architectural efficiency in this particular workload. The RTX A1000 Mobile, despite being from a newer generation, cannot close the gap. The Vulkan result is even more telling. A 45.7% delta indicates that the Tesla P40's massive shading core count and memory bandwidth translate directly into performance in graphics-adjacent compute tasks. The data implies that the Tesla P40 is not just ahead, it is in a different performance tier altogether.

When placed against their respective nearest rivals, the two cards occupy different positions in the broader GPU landscape. The Tesla P40's average benchmark score is 65095, placing it at the 89th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest competitor, the AMD Radeon VII, scores 66004, which puts the Tesla P40 1.4% behind. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 sits 1.4% behind the Tesla P40 with a score of 64212. The NVIDIA CMP 30HX and AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP are both 2% behind. This clustering suggests the Tesla P40 sits right at the top of a performance band, trading blows with high-end workstation and enthusiast cards.

The RTX A1000 Mobile, by contrast, has an average score of 47743 and sits at the 85th percentile. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, is 1.5% ahead with a score of 48477. The remaining rivals, the AMD Radeon RX 6550M, Intel Arc A530M, and AMD Radeon RX 5600M, are all between 2.2% and 2.5% behind. This shows the mobile card is competitive within its own performance envelope, but that envelope is far below the Tesla P40's level. The 85th percentile ranking is respectable, but the direct head-to-head data demonstrates a clear hierarchy.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent fundamentally different design philosophies separated by several years of architectural evolution. The Tesla P40 uses the GP102 chip based on the Pascal architecture, manufactured on a 16 nm process at TSMC. It packs 11,800 million transistors into a 471 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 25.1M per mm². This is a large, power-hungry chip designed for maximum throughput in data center and professional workloads.

The RTX A1000 Mobile uses the GA107 chip based on the Ampere architecture, built on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It contains 8,700 million transistors on a much smaller 200 mm² die, achieving a significantly higher transistor density of 43.5M per mm². This density advantage reflects the newer manufacturing process, allowing more transistors per area, even though the absolute transistor count is lower.

Memory configurations highlight the different target applications. The Tesla P40 offers 24 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 347.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX A1000 Mobile has only 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, with 176.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla P40's memory bandwidth is nearly double, and its capacity is six times larger. This makes the Tesla P40 far better suited for large datasets and memory-intensive compute tasks.

Clock speeds tell a story of desktop versus mobile power envelopes. The Tesla P40 has a base clock of 1303 MHz and a boost clock of 1531 MHz. The RTX A1000 Mobile runs much lower, with a base of 630 MHz and a boost of 1140 MHz. The memory clocks differ as well: 1808 MHz (7.2 Gbps effective) for the Tesla P40 versus 1375 MHz (11 Gbps effective) for the RTX A1000 Mobile. The higher effective memory speed on the mobile card cannot compensate for the narrower bus.

Compute capabilities diverge sharply. The Tesla P40 has 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. Its FP32 throughput is 11.76 TFLOPS, while FP16 performance is a mere 183.7 GFLOPS, a 1:64 ratio indicating no dedicated FP16 acceleration. The RTX A1000 Mobile has 2048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with FP32 performance of 4.669 TFLOPS. Crucially, it also features 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores, and FP16 performance matches FP32 at 4.669 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio). This makes the mobile card far more versatile for modern workloads like ray tracing and AI inference.

Power consumption reflects the gulf in performance and form factor. The Tesla P40 is a 250 W dual-slot card requiring an 8-pin EPS connector and a 600 W suggested power supply. The RTX A1000 Mobile is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a 60 W TDP and no power connectors, drawing entirely from the laptop's power delivery system. The Tesla P40 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the mobile card uses PCIe 4.0 x8. The Tesla P40 has no display outputs, indicating its compute-only role, whereas the RTX A1000 Mobile's outputs are portable device dependent.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the recorded benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla P40 wins both head-to-head tests. It scores 62017 in Geekbench OpenCL and 68172 in Geekbench Vulkan, compared to the RTX A1000 Mobile's 48703 and 46782 respectively.

Q: How large is the performance gap between the two cards?

A: The Tesla P40 leads by 27.3% in Geekbench OpenCL and by 45.7% in Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: Does the RTX A1000 Mobile have any architectural advantages?

A: Yes, it features 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores, neither of which exist on the Tesla P40. It also provides FP16 performance at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, while the Tesla P40's FP16 is limited to 1:64.

Q: How do their memory configurations compare?

A: The Tesla P40 has 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 347.1 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX A1000 Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 176.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are their respective positions among all GPUs?

A: The Tesla P40 is at the 89th percentile with an average benchmark score of 65095. The RTX A1000 Mobile is at the 85th percentile with an average score of 47743.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The Tesla P40 has a 250 W TDP and requires a dual-slot cooler with an 8-pin EPS connector. The RTX A1000 Mobile is an IGP with a 60 W TDP and no power connectors.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split based on workload and form factor. The NVIDIA Tesla P40 is the undeniable performance leader, winning both head-to-head benchmarks by margins of 27.3% and 45.7%. Its 24 GB memory capacity, 384-bit bus, and 11.76 TFLOPS of FP32 performance make it a formidable compute card for tasks that need raw throughput and large memory footprints. Its average benchmark score of 65095 places it at the 89th percentile, and its nearest rivals include high-end cards like the AMD Radeon VII and Radeon Pro WX 9100. Anyone needing maximum compute density in a server or workstation context should favor the Tesla P40.

The RTX A1000 Mobile, however, is not without merit. Its 60 W TDP and IGP form factor mean it can be integrated into laptops without external power connectors. It brings modern features the Tesla P40 lacks: 16 ray tracing cores, 64 tensor cores, and full-rate FP16 performance. Its 85th percentile ranking, with an average score of 47743, shows it is competitive among mobile and compact GPUs. For workloads involving ray tracing, AI inference, or FP16 compute, the RTX A1000 Mobile is the only viable choice of the two, despite its lower raw scores.

The choice depends entirely on the use case. A static compute node with power to spare should take the Tesla P40. A portable workstation requiring modern feature support should take the RTX A1000 Mobile. The benchmark data cannot recommend the mobile card for raw performance, but it clearly wins on architectural capability and efficiency.

Specification Differences

Chip and Architecture: The Tesla P40 uses the GP102 chip on the Pascal architecture. The RTX A1000 Mobile uses the GA107 chip on the Ampere architecture.

Process Node and Foundry: The Tesla P40 is built on a 16 nm process at TSMC. The RTX A1000 Mobile is built on an 8 nm process at Samsung.

Transistors and Die Size: The Tesla P40 has 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die. The RTX A1000 Mobile has 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die. Transistor density is 25.1M per mm² for the Tesla P40 and 43.5M per mm² for the RTX A1000 Mobile.

Clocks: The Tesla P40 has a base clock of 1303 MHz and a boost of 1531 MHz, with memory at 1808 MHz (7.2 Gbps effective). The RTX A1000 Mobile has a base of 630 MHz and a boost of 1140 MHz, with memory at 1375 MHz (11 Gbps effective).

Memory: The Tesla P40 offers 24 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 347.1 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX A1000 Mobile offers 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 176.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute Units: The Tesla P40 has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with no ray tracing or tensor cores. The RTX A1000 Mobile has 2048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores.

Performance Rates: The Tesla P40 achieves 147.0 GPixel/s pixel rate and 367.4 GTexel/s texture rate. The RTX A1000 Mobile achieves 36.48 GPixel/s and 72.96 GTexel/s.

FP32 and FP16: The Tesla P40 delivers 11.76 TFLOPS FP32 and 183.7 GFLOPS FP16 (1:64). The RTX A1000 Mobile delivers 4.669 TFLOPS FP32 and 4.669 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1).

Power and Form Factor: The Tesla P40 has a 250 W TDP, is dual-slot, uses an 8-pin EPS connector, and has a 600 W suggested PSU. The RTX A1000 Mobile has a 60 W TDP, is an IGP, has no power connectors, and no suggested PSU.

Bus Interface and Display Outputs: The Tesla P40 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and has no display outputs. The RTX A1000 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x8 and its display outputs are portable device dependent.

DirectX Support: The Tesla P40 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The RTX A1000 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Release Dates: The Tesla P40 was released on 2016-09-12. The RTX A1000 Mobile was released on 2022-03-29.

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA Tesla P40 wins in raw compute performance. It dominates the Geekbench OpenCL test by 27.3% and the Vulkan test by 45.7%. Its 11.76 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 347.1 GB/s memory bandwidth make it ideal for heavy number-crunching. The 24 GB memory capacity is a massive advantage for workloads that need to hold large models or datasets in VRAM. Its 89th percentile ranking and rivalry with cards like the AMD Radeon VII (1.4% ahead) and Radeon Pro WX 9100 (1.4% behind) show it belongs to the high-end tier.

NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile wins in modern feature support and power efficiency. It has 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores, enabling ray-traced rendering and AI acceleration that the Tesla P40 cannot perform. Its FP16 performance is equal to FP32 at 4.669 TFLOPS, making it dramatically better for FP16 workloads than the Tesla P40's 183.7 GFLOPS. The 60 W TDP and IGP form factor allow deployment in portable devices without external power connectors. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is a generation ahead of the Tesla P40's 12_1.

The Tesla P40 wins on memory capacity and bandwidth. Six times the memory (24 GB vs 4 GB) and nearly double the bandwidth (347.1 GB/s vs 176.0 GB/s) give it a clear edge for memory-bound tasks. The RTX A1000 Mobile wins on transistor density, 43.5M per mm² versus 25.1M per mm², reflecting its newer 8 nm process. The Tesla P40's larger physical footprint (267 mm length, dual-slot) is a drawback, but the RTX A1000 Mobile's IGP status means it cannot be used as a standalone card. The data shows complementary strengths: one is a compute powerhouse, the other a modern, efficient mobile processor.