NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB are both end-of-life professional GPUs, but they represent different eras of NVIDIA’s design philosophy. The data shows a clear overall winner in the RTX A4500 Mobile, which posts a 32.3% higher average benchmark score than the Tesla P100. However, these are fundamentally different products with distinct architectural strengths, and the choice between them depends heavily on the specific workload and platform requirements.

The Verdict

The benchmark results are unambiguous: the RTX A4500 Mobile is the faster card in the single available head-to-head test, scoring 105307 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the Tesla P100’s 79605, a 32.3% advantage. This performance gap is reflected in the average benchmark scores, where the A4500 Mobile’s 91134 average is 14.5% higher than the P100’s 79605. The A4500 Mobile also holds a higher percentile rank at 93 versus the P100’s 92, placing it slightly better among all GPUs. For any workload that relies on raw OpenCL compute performance, the RTX A4500 Mobile is the definitive pick.

The Tesla P100, however, is not without its merits. Its primary advantage lies in memory bandwidth, where its HBM2 memory delivers 732.2 GB/s compared to the A4500 Mobile’s 512.0 GB/s GDDR6. This makes the P100 a more suitable candidate for memory-bandwidth-bound tasks, even if its overall compute throughput is lower. The P100 also has a higher texture rate (297.7 GTexel/s vs 276.0 GTexel/s), suggesting it may handle certain texture-heavy operations more efficiently. For users with existing PCIe 3.0 infrastructure who prioritize memory bandwidth over raw compute, the P100 remains a viable, albeit older, option. For everyone else, the RTX A4500 Mobile is the superior choice based on the data.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is substantial, spanning three generations of NVIDIA design. The RTX A4500 Mobile is built on the Ampere architecture using the GA104 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It packs 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². In contrast, the Tesla P100 employs the older Pascal architecture with the GP100 chip, manufactured on TSMC’s 16 nm process. The P100’s die is significantly larger at 610 mm², housing 15,300 million transistors, but its density is lower at 25.1M per mm².

The core configurations tell a story of divergent design goals. The A4500 Mobile features 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, along with dedicated hardware for modern workloads: 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores. This hardware enables DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 support. The Tesla P100, from the pre-ray-tracing era, has no RT cores or tensor cores. It offers 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with a lower DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3 API level. The shading unit count difference (5888 vs 3584) directly explains the A4500 Mobile’s higher FP32 throughput of 17.66 TFLOPS compared to the P100’s 9.526 TFLOPS.

Memory architecture is where the P100 fights back. The P100 uses HBM2 with a massive 4096-bit bus, delivering 732.2 GB/s bandwidth. The A4500 Mobile uses GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, achieving 512.0 GB/s. Both have 16 GB of memory, but the P100’s bandwidth advantage is 43%. The P100 also leads in texture rate (297.7 vs 276.0 GTexel/s) due to its higher TMU count, while the A4500 Mobile wins in pixel rate (144.0 vs 127.6 GPixel/s). Power and form factor differ drastically: the A4500 Mobile is a 140 W mobile part with no power connectors, while the P100 is a 250 W dual-slot PCIe card requiring a single 8-pin connector and a 600 W suggested PSU. The P100 also lacks display outputs, whereas the A4500 Mobile’s outputs are portable-device dependent.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a decisive victory for the RTX A4500 Mobile. The A4500 Mobile scores 105307, while the Tesla P100 manages 79605, a delta of 32.3% in favor of the newer card. This result aligns with the theoretical FP32 compute figures, where the A4500 Mobile’s 17.66 TFLOPS is 85.4% higher than the P100’s 9.526 TFLOPS. The A4500 Mobile’s higher boost clock of 1500 MHz (versus 1329 MHz) and its significantly larger shading unit count are the primary drivers of this performance gap.

However, the P100 does have a counterpoint in memory-bound scenarios. Its 732.2 GB/s bandwidth is 43% higher than the A4500 Mobile’s 512.0 GB/s. In workloads that saturate memory bandwidth, the P100 could potentially close the gap or even overtake the A4500 Mobile, despite its lower compute throughput. The Geekbench OpenCL test appears to favor compute-heavy operations, which is why the A4500 Mobile wins by such a large margin. The P100’s higher texture rate (297.7 vs 276.0 GTexel/s) suggests it may also perform relatively better in texture-fetch-heavy workloads, though no direct benchmark is available to confirm this.

Looking at the nearest rivals provides additional context. The A4500 Mobile’s average score of 91134 places it 0.6% behind the desktop NVIDIA RTX A4500 (91671) and 1.4% behind the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 (92466). It is 4.2% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro GP100 and 4.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7600. The Tesla P100’s average of 79605 puts it 0.3% ahead of the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79396) and 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940), but 0.3% behind the GeForce RTX 5090 (79842) and 1.7% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X (80959). These figures show the A4500 Mobile competing with newer, higher-tier cards, while the P100 sits in a lower performance tier despite its bandwidth advantage.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile is significantly faster in raw compute. It delivers 17.66 TFLOPS FP32 versus the Tesla P100’s 9.526 TFLOPS, and it wins the Geekbench OpenCL test by 32.3% (105307 vs 79605).

Q: Does the Tesla P100 have any performance advantage over the RTX A4500 Mobile?

A: Yes, in memory bandwidth. The P100’s HBM2 memory provides 732.2 GB/s, which is 43% higher than the A4500 Mobile’s 512.0 GB/s. The P100 also has a higher texture rate (297.7 vs 276.0 GTexel/s).

Q: Are these GPUs compatible with the same systems?

A: No. The RTX A4500 Mobile is a mobile part with a 140 W TDP and no power connectors, using a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. The Tesla P100 is a 250 W dual-slot desktop card requiring a 1x 8-pin power connector and a 600 W suggested PSU, using PCIe 3.0 x16.

Q: What are the major feature differences regarding modern graphics APIs?

A: The RTX A4500 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, and includes 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores. The Tesla P100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3, with no RT cores or tensor cores.

Q: How do these GPUs compare to their closest rivals in average benchmark scores?

A: The A4500 Mobile’s average score of 91134 is 4.2% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro GP100 (87445) and 4.6% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO W7600 (87108). The Tesla P100’s average of 79605 is 0.3% higher than the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79396) and 0.8% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940).

Q: What is the production status and release timeframe for these products?

A: Both are end-of-life products. The RTX A4500 Mobile was released on 2022-03-21, while the Tesla P100 was released on 2016-06-19. The P100’s launch MSRP was 5,699 USD.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX A4500 Mobile is the clear winner in compute-intensive workloads. Its FP32 performance of 17.66 TFLOPS is nearly double the P100’s 9.526 TFLOPS, and it dominates the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark with a 32.3% lead. This makes it the preferred choice for general-purpose GPU compute, machine learning inference (thanks to its 184 tensor cores), and any application that leverages DirectX 12 Ultimate features or Vulkan 1.4. Its support for ray tracing via 46 RT cores is a significant advantage for rendering workloads that use this technology, which the P100 cannot handle at all.

The Tesla P100 wins in memory-bandwidth-bound scenarios. Its 732.2 GB/s HBM2 bandwidth is a substantial 43% higher than the A4500 Mobile’s GDDR6, which is critical for large data sets that exceed the compute unit’s ability to feed them. The P100’s higher texture rate (297.7 GTexel/s) also gives it an edge in certain texture-heavy graphics or simulation tasks. For users with older PCIe 3.0 platforms, the P100 is easier to integrate, and its dual-slot, 267 mm length form factor is standard for desktop workstations. The A4500 Mobile, being a mobile part, requires a laptop or mobile chassis, which limits its deployability in traditional desktop server environments.

Power consumption is another differentiator. The A4500 Mobile’s 140 W TDP is significantly lower than the P100’s 250 W, making it more energy-efficient per unit of performance. The P100’s higher power draw also necessitates a 600 W suggested PSU, whereas the A4500 Mobile requires no external power connectors. In summary, the RTX A4500 Mobile is the superior all-around performer for modern workloads, while the Tesla P100 retains a niche for memory-bandwidth-critical tasks and legacy PCIe 3.0 systems.