NVIDIA T550 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla M60 Comparison

The NVIDIA T550 Mobile and NVIDIA Tesla M60 represent two distinct design philosophies from different architectural eras. The T550 Mobile is a low-power Turing-based mobile solution, while the Tesla M60 is a high-throughput Maxwell-based server accelerator. Benchmark data reveals a close competition, with each card claiming a victory in one of the two tested workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most significant performance gap between these two GPUs appears in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The NVIDIA T550 Mobile delivers a score of 35521, while the NVIDIA Tesla M60 trails at 29506. This translates to a 20.4% advantage for the T550 Mobile, a substantial margin that demonstrates the efficiency of the newer Turing architecture in compute-heavy workloads. The T550 Mobile's OpenCL result also places it in the 77th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla M60's score of 29506 sits in the 75th percentile, showing that the T550 Mobile is not just faster than its rival but also ranks higher in the broader GPU landscape.

The tables turn in the Geekbench Vulkan test, though the margin is much narrower. Here, the NVIDIA Tesla M60 scores 31473, narrowly edging out the T550 Mobile's 30801. The delta is only -2.1% from the perspective of the T550 Mobile, meaning the Tesla M60 is just over 2% faster. This is a much tighter contest than the OpenCL result, suggesting that the Tesla M60's raw hardware resources—specifically its higher shading unit count—can be leveraged more effectively in Vulkan's lower-level API. The Tesla M60's win here prevents a clean sweep and highlights that architectural differences can lead to workload-specific outcomes.

The average benchmark scores across both tests reinforce the overall picture. The T550 Mobile achieves an average score of 33161, which is roughly 8.8% higher than the Tesla M60's 30490. This average, however, masks the fact that the Tesla M60's Vulkan performance is competitive. When comparing to their nearest rivals, the T550 Mobile's average score of 33161 sits within 1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile (33170), the AMD Radeon Pro 570 (33207), and the NVIDIA P104-100 (32982). The Tesla M60's average of 30490 is similarly clustered with the NVIDIA CMP 70HX (30476) and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (30433), showing that both cards are well-positioned within their respective performance tiers.

In raw specifications, the Tesla M60 has a clear theoretical advantage. Its 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units dwarf the T550 Mobile's 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Tesla M60 also has a higher FP32 compute rating at 4.825 TFLOPS versus 3.410 TFLOPS for the T550 Mobile. Yet, the benchmark results show that these theoretical advantages do not always translate into real-world wins, particularly in OpenCL where the T550 Mobile's newer architecture and higher clock speeds (boost clock of 1665 MHz versus 1178 MHz) prove more impactful.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear split: the NVIDIA T550 Mobile is the superior choice for OpenCL-based applications, where it holds a 20.4% performance lead. The NVIDIA Tesla M60, conversely, is the better option for Vulkan workloads, though its advantage is a slim 2.1%. For users whose primary workload is OpenCL, the T550 Mobile's higher average score of 33161 and its 77th percentile ranking make it the definitive pick. The T550 Mobile also offers a more modern feature set with a 12 nm process node and GDDR6 memory, which may provide better compatibility or efficiency in certain stacks.

For users focused on Vulkan, the Tesla M60's win, while narrow, is the deciding factor. Its performance in that API is competitive with the T550 Mobile, and its larger 8 GB frame buffer provides more headroom for memory-intensive datasets compared to the T550 Mobile's 4 GB. The Tesla M60 is a dual-slot card with a 300 W TDP and requires an 8-pin power connector, making it suitable for server environments with ample power and space. In contrast, the T550 Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with a 23 W TDP and no power connectors, designed for mobile workstations where power efficiency and space are critical.

The choice between these two hinges entirely on the target API and the deployment environment. A mobile workstation user running OpenCL compute would favor the T550 Mobile. A server administrator deploying a Vulkan-based rendering or compute solution with access to standard server power and cooling would prefer the Tesla M60.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA T550 Mobile wins decisively in the OpenCL benchmark, a result that likely stems from its Turing architecture's improved compute efficiency and its significantly higher clock speeds. With a base clock of 1065 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, the T550 Mobile operates at a much higher frequency than the Tesla M60's 557 MHz base and 1178 MHz boost. This clock advantage, combined with the newer 12 nm process (versus the Tesla M60's 28 nm), allows the T550 Mobile to achieve higher throughput per clock in OpenCL workloads. The T550 Mobile also has a higher transistor density at 23.5M / mm² compared to the Tesla M60's 13.1M / mm², indicating a more efficient design.

The NVIDIA Tesla M60 wins in the Vulkan benchmark, a result that can be attributed to its sheer hardware resources. Its 2048 shading units are double the T550 Mobile's 1024, and its 128 TMUs and 64 ROPs also double the T550 Mobile's counts. While the T550 Mobile's higher clocks help close the gap, the Tesla M60's raw parallel processing capacity appears to be better suited for the Vulkan API in this specific test. The Tesla M60 also has a wider 256-bit memory bus and a higher memory bandwidth of 160.4 GB/s, compared to the T550 Mobile's 64-bit bus and 96.00 GB/s. This increased bandwidth can be beneficial for Vulkan workloads that are memory-bound.

The T550 Mobile also wins on power efficiency by a wide margin. Its 23 W TDP is a fraction of the Tesla M60's 300 W TDP. This makes the T550 Mobile suitable for devices with stringent thermal and power budgets, while the Tesla M60 is clearly designed for a rack-mounted server with dedicated cooling and a robust power supply. The T550 Mobile's "IGP" slot width and "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs further cement its mobile identity, contrasting with the Tesla M60's "Dual-slot" width and lack of any display outputs, which is typical of a compute-only accelerator.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA T550 Mobile has a higher average benchmark score of 33161, compared to the NVIDIA Tesla M60's average of 30490.

Q: How does their OpenCL performance compare?

A: The NVIDIA T550 Mobile is significantly faster in OpenCL, scoring 35521 versus the Tesla M60's 29506, a 20.4% difference.

Q: Which GPU is faster in Vulkan?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla M60 is faster in Vulkan, scoring 31473 compared to the T550 Mobile's 30801, a margin of 2.1%.

Q: What is the difference in memory capacity and bandwidth?

A: The Tesla M60 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory with a 256-bit bus and a bandwidth of 160.4 GB/s. The T550 Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 64-bit bus and a bandwidth of 96.00 GB/s.

Q: How do their power requirements differ?

A: The T550 Mobile has a TDP of 23 W and requires no power connectors, while the Tesla M60 has a TDP of 300 W and requires a single 8-pin power connector.

Q: What are the architecture and process node differences?

A: The T550 Mobile uses the Turing architecture (TU117 chip) on a 12 nm process, while the Tesla M60 uses the Maxwell 2.0 architecture (GM204 chip) on a 28 nm process.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is significant, spanning two generations of NVIDIA design. The NVIDIA T550 Mobile is built on the Turing architecture, specifically the TU117 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. This newer process allows for a transistor density of 23.5M per mm², packing 4,700 million transistors into a 200 mm² die. In contrast, the NVIDIA Tesla M60 uses the Maxwell 2.0 architecture with the GM204 chip, built on a larger 28 nm process. This older node results in a transistor density of only 13.1M per mm², though it contains more total transistors at 5,200 million across a larger 398 mm² die.

The memory subsystems are also fundamentally different. The T550 Mobile uses 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 96.00 GB/s. Its memory clock is rated at 1500 MHz with an effective 12 Gbps data rate. The Tesla M60, released on 2015-08-29, uses 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a much wider 256-bit bus, achieving a bandwidth of 160.4 GB/s. Its memory clock is lower at 1253 MHz, with a 5 Gbps effective rate. This gives the Tesla M60 a clear advantage in memory capacity and bandwidth, which is a common trait of server-oriented cards designed for large datasets.

The compute configurations also differ sharply. The T550 Mobile has 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 106.6 GTexel/s. The Tesla M60 doubles these core counts with 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, leading to a higher pixel rate of 75.39 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 150.8 GTexel/s. The Tesla M60's FP32 throughput is 4.825 TFLOPS, while the T550 Mobile delivers 3.410 TFLOPS. The T550 Mobile does support FP16 at 6.820 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, a feature that the Tesla M60 does not list, indicating a more modern compute capability.

Other notable differences include the T550 Mobile's support for DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which is identical to the Tesla M60's API support. However, the physical form factors are polar opposites. The T550 Mobile is an IGP with no power connectors, a 23 W TDP, and a bus interface of PCIe 3.0 x16, designed for portable devices with dependent display outputs. The Tesla M60 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length, with a 300 W TDP, a single 8-pin power connector, a suggested PSU of 700 W, and no display outputs, confirming its role as a headless compute accelerator for servers.