NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla T4 Comparison

# NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla T4

The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile and NVIDIA Tesla T4 represent two distinct design philosophies from NVIDIA, targeting different workloads despite sharing the same 70 W TDP. The A3000 Mobile, built on Ampere architecture, is a mobile workstation GPU with a 91st percentile ranking, while the Tesla T4, based on Turing, is a datacenter inference accelerator with a 90th percentile ranking. Benchmark data shows a near-even split: the A3000 Mobile wins Geekbench OpenCL with a 29.1% margin, while the Tesla T4 counters with a 15.2% victory in Geekbench Vulkan. The average benchmark scores — 70,140 for the A3000 Mobile and 66,733 for the Tesla T4 — place them within 5.1% of each other, with their nearest rivals confirming competitive positioning.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX A3000 Mobile dominates in compute-oriented OpenCL workloads, a result consistent with its higher FP32 throughput. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 79,091 versus the Tesla T4's 61,276 represents a 29.1% advantage, a significant margin that suggests the A3000 Mobile is better suited for general-purpose GPU compute tasks that rely on single-precision floating-point operations. This advantage aligns with the A3000 Mobile's 10.08 TFLOPS FP32 performance compared to the Tesla T4's 8.141 TFLOPS. The A3000 Mobile also holds a 0.2% edge over the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (average score 69,986) and a 0.4% lead over the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200 (69,870), though it trails the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE by 1% (70,829) and the NVIDIA CMP 90HX by 1.7% (69,000).

The Tesla T4, conversely, wins decisively in Vulkan workloads. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 72,190 outpaces the A3000 Mobile's 61,189 by 15.2%, a reversal that highlights the T4's architectural strengths in graphics-API-heavy scenarios. The T4's nearest rivals tell a similar story: it leads the AMD Radeon VII by 1.1% (66,004) and the NVIDIA Tesla P40 by 2.5% (65,095), while trailing the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 by 2.7% (68,562) and the Intel Arc A770 by 3% (68,809). The T4's Vulkan performance appears tied to its higher boost clock of 1,590 MHz versus the A3000 Mobile's 1,230 MHz, as well as its greater number of RT cores (40 versus 32) and tensor cores (320 versus 128).

For users prioritizing raw compute throughput in OpenCL-style workloads, the A3000 Mobile is the stronger choice. For Vulkan-based rendering or API-specific tasks, the Tesla T4's 15.2% advantage makes it the clear pick. The 1-win-each split in head-to-head benchmarks reflects genuine specialization rather than overall superiority.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations, which explains their divergent performance profiles. The RTX A3000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process, housing 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 44.4 million per mm². The Tesla T4, by contrast, employs the TU104 chip fabricated on a 12 nm TSMC process, with 13,600 million transistors spread across a larger 545 mm² die, resulting in a lower density of 25.0 million per mm². The smaller, denser Ampere design gives the A3000 Mobile a modern manufacturing advantage, while the T4's larger die accommodates different hardware priorities.

The A3000 Mobile's Ampere architecture provides 4,096 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its FP32 and FP16 throughput are identical at 10.08 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), indicating full-rate FP16 execution. The Tesla T4's Turing architecture offers fewer shading units (2,560) but more TMUs (160) and equal ROPs (64). Critically, the T4's FP16 performance is 16.28 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio relative to FP32, meaning it doubles FP32 throughput when using FP16 precision — a key feature for AI inference workloads that tolerate reduced precision. The T4 also has significantly more tensor cores (320 versus 128), reinforcing its datacenter inference orientation.

Memory configurations differ substantially. The A3000 Mobile ships with 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 264.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla T4 provides 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, achieving 320.0 GB/s bandwidth — over 21% higher bandwidth and nearly three times the capacity. Both use GDDR6 at 11 Gbps and 10 Gbps effective speeds, respectively. The T4's larger memory pool is clearly aimed at model loading and large dataset processing, while the A3000 Mobile's smaller capacity reflects its mobile workstation constraints.

Form factor and connectivity diverge as well. The A3000 Mobile is portable-device-dependent with no display outputs, relying on the host laptop's panel. The Tesla T4 is a single-slot card measuring 168 mm (6.6 inches) with no display outputs, designed for server installation. The A3000 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the T4 runs on PCIe 3.0 x16. Both share identical API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher average benchmark performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile has a higher average benchmark score of 70,140 compared to the Tesla T4's 66,733, a difference of approximately 5.1%. The A3000 Mobile also holds a slightly higher percentile ranking at 91 versus 90 for the T4.

Q: How do their FP16 capabilities differ?

A: The Tesla T4 has a significant FP16 advantage with 16.28 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, meaning it doubles its FP32 throughput of 8.141 TFLOPS. The RTX A3000 Mobile offers 10.08 TFLOPS FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, identical to its FP32 performance.

Q: Which GPU is better for Vulkan-based applications?

A: The Tesla T4 wins the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark with a score of 72,190, outperforming the RTX A3000 Mobile's 61,189 by 15.2%. This suggests the T4 has an edge in Vulkan-specific workloads.

Q: What are the memory capacity and bandwidth specifications?

A: The Tesla T4 provides 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth on a 256-bit bus. The RTX A3000 Mobile offers 6 GB of GDDR6 with 264.0 GB/s bandwidth on a 192-bit bus.

Q: How do the tensor core counts compare?

A: The Tesla T4 has 320 tensor cores, significantly more than the RTX A3000 Mobile's 128 tensor cores. This aligns with the T4's intended use in AI inference tasks.

Q: What are the physical form factors?

A: The RTX A3000 Mobile is a portable-device-dependent GPU with no display outputs, while the Tesla T4 is a single-slot card measuring 168 mm (6.6 inches) with no display outputs. The T4 is designed for server installations.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile | NVIDIA Tesla T4 |

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

| Chip | GA104 | TU104 |

| Architecture | Ampere | Turing |

| Process Node | 8 nm | 12 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | TSMC |

| Transistors | 17,400 million | 13,600 million |

| Die Size | 392 mm² | 545 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 44.4M / mm² | 25.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 600 MHz | 585 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1230 MHz | 1590 MHz |

| Memory Speed | 1375 MHz (11 Gbps effective) | 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 6 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 192 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 264.0 GB/s | 320.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 4096 | 2560 |

| TMUs | 128 | 160 |

| ROPs | 64 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 32 | 40 |

| Tensor Cores | 128 | 320 |

| Pixel Rate | 78.72 GPixel/s | 101.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 157.4 GTexel/s | 254.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 10.08 TFLOPS | 8.141 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 10.08 TFLOPS (1:1) | 16.28 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 70 W | 70 W |

| Slot Width | (not specified) | Single-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | None |

| Suggested PSU | (not specified) | 250 W |

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

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | No outputs |

| Length | (not specified) | 168 mm (6.6 inches) |

| Release Date | 2021-04-11 | 2018-09-12 |

| Predecessor | Quadro Turing-M | Tesla Volta |

| Successor | Ada-MW | Server Ampere |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two available head-to-head benchmarks reveal a complementary performance relationship. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A3000 Mobile scores 79,091 against the Tesla T4's 61,276, yielding a 29.1% delta in favor of the Ampere part. This is a substantial margin that reflects the A3000 Mobile's higher shading unit count (4,096 versus 2,560) and superior FP32 throughput (10.08 TFLOPS versus 8.141 TFLOPS). The A3000 Mobile's 26% advantage in FP32 performance translates directly into OpenCL compute wins, where single-precision arithmetic dominates.

The Geekbench Vulkan benchmark flips the result decisively. The Tesla T4 achieves 72,190, while the A3000 Mobile manages 61,189 — a 15.2% margin for the Turing part. This outcome is more surprising given the T4's lower shading unit count, but several factors explain it. The T4's boost clock is 29% higher (1,590 MHz versus 1,230 MHz), compensating for reduced core count. Its pixel rate of 101.8 GPixel/s versus 78.72 GPixel/s suggests better rasterization throughput, and the texture rate of 254.4 GTexel/s versus 157.4 GTexel/s indicates stronger texture processing. Vulkan workloads often leverage these fixed-function units, and the T4's 160 TMUs versus 128 TMUs provide a 25% advantage in texture operations.

The T4's higher RT core count (40 versus 32) and tensor core count (320 versus 128) may also contribute to Vulkan performance in ray-traced or compute-heavy scenes, though benchmark specifics are not available. The 2:1 FP16 ratio on the T4 could accelerate certain Vulkan compute shaders that use half-precision arithmetic.

Looking at the broader competitive landscape, the A3000 Mobile's OpenCL score places it just 0.2% above the Quadro P6000 and 0.4% above the Radeon Pro WX 8200, indicating it sits at the top of its performance tier. The Tesla T4's Vulkan score puts it 1.1% ahead of the Radeon VII and 2.5% ahead of the Tesla P40, though it trails the Instinct MI25 and Arc A770 by 2.7% and 3%, respectively. These deltas are modest, suggesting both GPUs are well-positioned within their respective performance brackets.

The average benchmark scores reinforce the split: the A3000 Mobile's 70,140 average is 5.1% higher than the T4's 66,733, but the T4's Vulkan dominance prevents a clean overall victory. For buyers, the choice hinges on workload: OpenCL-heavy compute favors the A3000 Mobile by 29.1%, while Vulkan-centric applications favor the Tesla T4 by 15.2%. The A3000 Mobile's newer architecture and denser transistor layout (44.4M/mm² versus 25.0M/mm²) deliver higher single-precision throughput, while the T4's older, larger die compensates with more specialized hardware for FP16 and tensor operations.