NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 vs NVIDIA Tesla M40 Comparison

The Verdict

The data separates these two NVIDIA cards into distinct eras with clear roles. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the decisive winner in every head-to-head benchmark recorded, dominating the NVIDIA Tesla M40 by margins exceeding 74% in both compute and graphics API tests. For anyone building a modern system that needs current API support, display outputs, and raw performance, the RTX 4070 is the only sensible pick from this comparison. The Tesla M40, however, retains a niche as a compute-oriented relic: its Geekbench OpenCL score of 39,192 places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, which is actually two percentage points higher than the RTX 4070's 81st percentile despite the latter's far higher absolute scores. That percentile inversion reflects the M40's position among older, slower cards, not any real competitiveness. The RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37,648 sits just 0.1% above the Tesla P4 and 0.4% above the Radeon RX Vega 56, while the M40's average of 41,897 is 1.7% above the RTX 3080 Ti and 1.9% below the RX 7650 GRE. In short: buy the RTX 4070 for any modern workload; consider the M40 only if legacy compute tasks and the absence of display outputs are acceptable.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from radically different design generations. The Tesla M40 is built on the Maxwell 2.0 architecture using the GM200 chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 8,000 million transistors across a large 601 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.3M per mm². The RTX 4070 uses the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 35,800 million transistors on a much smaller 294 mm² die, achieving a density of 121.8M per mm² — over nine times denser. This process leap explains the RTX 4070's higher clock speeds: base 1920 MHz and boost 2475 MHz versus the M40's 948 MHz base and 1112 MHz boost.

Memory configurations differ substantially. Both cards have 12 GB, but the M40 uses GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 4070 uses GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s — 75% more bandwidth despite a narrower interface. The RTX 4070 also brings modern compute features the M40 lacks entirely: 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The M40 has none of either. Shader counts favor the RTX 4070 with 5,888 shading units versus 3,072, though the M40 has more ROPs at 96 versus 64. TMUs are close: 192 for the M40 versus 184 for the RTX 4070. The RTX 4070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) while the M40 only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1); both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 4070 also offers display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a) whereas the M40 has none. Power requirements favor the newer card: the RTX 4070 draws 200 W with a suggested 550 W PSU, while the M40 draws 250 W with a 600 W PSU suggestion.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 wins everywhere that matters for modern users. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 154,858 against the M40's 39,192 — a 74.7% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 174,152 versus 44,602, a 74.4% lead. These are the only two head-to-head benchmarks available, and the RTX 4070 wins both outright. The RTX 4070's FP32 compute of 29.15 TFLOPS is more than four times the M40's 6.832 TFLOPS. Its texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s more than doubles the M40's 213.5 GTexel/s, and its pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s exceeds the M40's 106.8 GPixel/s. The RTX 4070 also offers FP16 performance at 29.15 TFLOPS (1:1), a capability the M40 does not specify. For gaming, the RTX 4070's ray tracing cores and tensor cores enable features the M40 cannot physically support. For display use, the RTX 4070's three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs and single HDMI 2.1 port are essential; the M40 has no outputs at all. The M40's only advantage is historical: it belongs to the Tesla Maxwell generation (Mxx), predating Tesla Pascal, and its 83rd percentile ranking versus the RTX 4070's 81st suggests it compares favorably against older hardware — but that is cold comfort against a card that beats it by nearly three-quarters in every direct test.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RTX 4070's FP32 throughput is 29.15 TFLOPS versus the M40's 6.832 TFLOPS, a 4.3x advantage. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4070 scores 154,858 against the M40's 39,192.

Q: Can the Tesla M40 output video to a monitor?

A: No. The M40 lists "No outputs" for display outputs, making it unsuitable for any workstation or gaming setup requiring a direct connection. The RTX 4070 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Q: Do both cards support modern graphics APIs?

A: Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. However, the RTX 4070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the M40 is capped at DirectX 12 (12_1). The RTX 4070 also adds ray tracing and tensor cores, which the M40 lacks entirely.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The RTX 4070 delivers 504.2 GB/s from 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus. The M40 provides 288.4 GB/s from 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. The RTX 4070's bandwidth is 75% higher despite a narrower bus.

Q: Which card requires more power?

A: The M40 has a 250 W TDP and suggests a 600 W PSU, while the RTX 4070 has a 200 W TDP and suggests a 550 W PSU. Despite the M40's higher power draw, it delivers far lower performance.

Q: How do their benchmark percentiles compare?

A: The M40 ranks in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 4070 ranks in the 81st. This is because the M40's average score of 41,897 is measured against older, slower hardware, whereas the RTX 4070's average of 37,648 competes against a faster modern field.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data contains only two tests, and both tell the same story with remarkable consistency. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4070 scores 154,858 against the M40's 39,192. The delta is -74.7% from the RTX 4070's perspective, meaning the M40 trails by nearly three-quarters of the newer card's performance. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4070 scores 174,152 against the M40's 44,602, a delta of -74.4%. These near-identical margins across two different API test suites suggest the performance gap is fundamental to the architecture rather than specific to one workload type.

The single largest win for the RTX 4070 comes in Vulkan, where its 174,152 score is 129,550 points higher than the M40's 44,602. That absolute difference dwarfs the M40's entire OpenCL score. In OpenCL, the RTX 4070's 154,858 is 115,666 points higher than the M40's 39,192. The M40's best result — its Vulkan score of 44,602 — is still less than 29% of the RTX 4070's worst head-to-head result. This is not a close contest by any metric. The RTX 4070 wins both tests outright, giving it 2 wins and the M40 zero. The data shows no scenario in the provided benchmarks where the M40 comes within even 25% of the RTX 4070's output. For context, the M40's nearest rival is the Tesla M40 24 GB at just 0.5% higher average score, while the RTX 4070's closest competitor is the Tesla P4 at 0.1% lower — meaning each card is already positioned near the top of its own performance tier, but those tiers are separated by a generation gap measured in years and multiple architectural leaps.