NVIDIA RTX A6000 vs NVIDIA Tesla P4 Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A6000 and NVIDIA Tesla P4 represent two distinct generations of NVIDIA workstation and datacenter hardware. The A6000 is an Ampere-generation product built for demanding professional workloads, while the Tesla P4 is a Pascal-generation accelerator designed for low-power inference and virtualized environments. Benchmark data from the database shows a clear performance hierarchy, but the choice between them depends on workload requirements and system constraints.

The Verdict

The recorded data places the NVIDIA RTX A6000 in a dominant position. Its average benchmark score of 44075 sits at the 84th percentile among all GPUs, while the Tesla P4’s average score of 37628 lands at the 81st percentile. In direct head-to-head testing, the A6000 wins both recorded benchmarks, giving it a 2 to 0 advantage. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 193937 for the A6000 is 454.9% higher than the Tesla P4’s 34947. In Geekbench Vulkan, the A6000 scores 164462, which is 308% above the P4’s 40309.

For users who need maximum compute throughput, the RTX A6000 is the only rational choice from this comparison. Its shading units, tensor cores, and ray tracing capabilities are all present in the data, while the Tesla P4 lacks both tensor and ray tracing hardware entirely. The A6000’s 48 GB memory capacity dwarfs the P4’s 8 GB, and its 768.0 GB/s bandwidth is four times the P4’s 192.3 GB/s.

The Tesla P4 does retain relevance for specific low-power deployments. Its 75 W thermal design power and single-slot profile allow installation in space-constrained servers where the A6000’s 300 W TDP and dual-slot width would be prohibitive. The P4 also requires no external power connectors, while the A6000 needs an 8-pin EPS connector. For systems with a 250 W suggested power supply, the P4 is the workable option.

Architecture Differences

The RTX A6000 uses the GA102 chip built on Samsung’s 8 nm process, containing 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die. The Tesla P4 uses the GP104 chip fabricated by TSMC on a 16 nm process, with 7,200 million transistors across a 314 mm² die. The transistor density figures reflect this gap: 45.1M per mm² for the A6000 versus 22.9M per mm² for the P4.

Architecturally, the A6000 belongs to the Ampere generation (Workstation Ampere, Ax000 series), while the P4 belongs to the Pascal generation (Tesla Pascal, Pxx series). This generational difference explains the feature set disparity. The A6000 includes 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores. The Tesla P4 reports null values for both, meaning the hardware does not exist on that chip. The A6000’s 10752 shading units compare to 2560 on the P4, and its 336 texture mapping units outnumber the P4’s 160. The render output units count 112 versus 64.

The A6000’s FP16 performance is listed as 38.71 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio to FP32, indicating full-rate half-precision execution. The Tesla P4’s FP16 output is 89.12 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio, meaning half-precision computation runs at a small fraction of the FP32 rate. For workloads that leverage FP16 or tensor operations, the A6000 is categorically superior.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two Geekbench tests in the database tell a consistent story. In OpenCL, the RTX A6000 produces 193937 points against the Tesla P4’s 34947 points, a delta of 454.9%. This benchmark stresses general-purpose compute across the GPU’s parallel processors. The A6000’s higher shading unit count, faster memory subsystem, and larger caches all contribute to this outcome.

In Vulkan, the A6000 scores 164462 versus the P4’s 40309, a 308% advantage. Vulkan workloads often benefit from newer driver optimizations and hardware features. The A6000’s support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus the P4’s DirectX 12 (12_1) indicates newer API feature levels, which can affect graphics-heavy workloads even in compute-oriented benchmarks.

The average benchmark scores from the database reinforce these results. The A6000’s 44075 average places it slightly above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (43667, 0.9% delta) and slightly below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (44795, -1.6% delta). The Tesla P4’s 37628 average sits essentially level with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (37648, -0.1% delta) and just ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, 0.3% delta). These comparisons show that the A6000 competes with modern high-end consumer GPUs, while the P4 aligns with mid-range offerings from its era.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two products according to the database:

• Process node: A6000 at 8 nm (Samsung), P4 at 16 nm (TSMC)
• Transistors: 28,300 million versus 7,200 million
• Die size: 628 mm² versus 314 mm²
• Transistor density: 45.1M / mm² versus 22.9M / mm²
• Base clock: 1410 MHz versus 886 MHz
• Boost clock: 1800 MHz versus 1114 MHz
• Memory clock: 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) versus 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective)
• Memory size: 48 GB versus 8 GB
• Memory type: GDDR6 versus GDDR5
• Memory bus width: 384 bit versus 256 bit
• Memory bandwidth: 768.0 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s
• Shading units: 10752 versus 2560
• Texture mapping units: 336 versus 160
• Render output units: 112 versus 64
• Ray tracing cores: 84 versus none
• Tensor cores: 336 versus none
• Pixel rate: 201.6 GPixel/s versus 71.30 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 604.8 GTexel/s versus 178.2 GTexel/s
• FP32 performance: 38.71 TFLOPS versus 5.704 TFLOPS
• FP16 performance: 38.71 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 89.12 GFLOPS (1:64)
• TDP: 300 W versus 75 W
• Slot width: Dual-slot versus Single-slot
• Power connectors: 8-pin EPS versus None
• Suggested PSU: 700 W versus 250 W
• Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16
• Display outputs: 4x DisplayPort 1.4a versus No outputs
• DirectX support: 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus 12 (12_1)
• Dimensions: 267 mm length (10.5 inches) versus 168 mm length (6.6 inches)
• Release date: 2020-10-04 versus 2016-09-12

The A6000’s launch MSRP is 4,649 USD. The Tesla P4 has no recorded launch MSRP in the database.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A6000 has an average score of 44075, while the NVIDIA Tesla P4 has an average score of 37628. The A6000 also sits at the 84th percentile among all GPUs versus the P4’s 81st percentile.

Q: How much faster is the A6000 in OpenCL and Vulkan?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the A6000 scores 193937 compared to the P4’s 34947, a 454.9% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the A6000 scores 164462 versus 40309, a 308% advantage.

Q: Does the Tesla P4 support ray tracing or tensor operations?

A: No. The database lists null values for both ray tracing cores and tensor cores on the Tesla P4. The RTX A6000 includes 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores.

Q: What are the memory capacity and bandwidth differences?

A: The RTX A6000 has 48 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 768.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla P4 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 192.3 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU requires less system power infrastructure?

A: The Tesla P4 has a 75 W TDP, requires no external power connectors, and suggests a 250 W power supply. The RTX A6000 has a 300 W TDP, needs an 8-pin EPS connector, and suggests a 700 W power supply.

Q: Are there workloads where the Tesla P4 is preferable?

A: Based strictly on the data, the P4’s single-slot width, 75 W power draw, and lack of power connectors make it suitable for low-power, space-constrained servers. Its 168 mm length also fits shorter chassis. However, for any compute-intensive task, the benchmark results favor the A6000 overwhelmingly.