NVIDIA Tesla M40 vs NVIDIA TITAN V Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla M40 has a higher average benchmark score of 41,897 compared to the NVIDIA TITAN V's 34,355. This places the Tesla M40 in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, while the TITAN V sits in the 79th percentile.

Q: How do the two cards compare in OpenCL performance?

A: The TITAN V is dramatically faster in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 157,265 against the Tesla M40's 39,192. This represents a 75.1% delta, meaning the TITAN V delivers roughly four times the OpenCL performance.

Q: Is the TITAN V also faster in Vulkan workloads?

A: Yes, the TITAN V wins Geekbench Vulkan with 152,117 points versus 44,602 for the Tesla M40, a 70.7% delta. The gap is slightly smaller than in OpenCL but still overwhelming.

Q: Which card has more shading units and texture units?

A: The TITAN V has 5,120 shading units and 320 texture mapping units, while the Tesla M40 has 3,072 shading units and 192 TMUs. Both cards share the same 96 render output units.

Q: What are the memory configurations?

A: Both cards feature 12 GB of memory, but the Tesla M40 uses GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus delivering 288.4 GB/s bandwidth. The TITAN V uses HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus delivering 651.3 GB/s, more than double the bandwidth.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the TITAN V?

A: The NVIDIA TITAN V has a launch MSRP of 2,999 USD. The Tesla M40 has no recorded launch MSRP in the database.

Where Each One Wins

The data splits cleanly by workload type. The TITAN V wins both shared benchmark tests, and its advantage is far from marginal. In Geekbench OpenCL the TITAN V leads by 118,073 points, and in Geekbench Vulkan it leads by 107,515 points. These are comprehensive victories in compute-heavy, API-level tests.

However, the Tesla M40 wins the aggregate picture. Its average benchmark score of 41,897 exceeds the TITAN V's 34,355 by 7,542 points. This means the M40's overall profile across the full database is stronger, despite losing the two direct comparisons. The M40 also sits higher in the percentile distribution: 83rd versus 79th for the TITAN V.

The TITAN V's wins come from its raw shader throughput and memory subsystem. The Tesla M40's wins come from consistency across the benchmark suite and a better standing relative to all other GPUs. If the workload centers on OpenCL or Vulkan, the TITAN V is the clear choice. If the metric is overall database percentile and average score, the Tesla M40 holds the edge.

Architecture Differences

These two cards represent two distinct generations of NVIDIA GPU design. The Tesla M40 uses the GM200 chip built on Maxwell 2.0 architecture. The TITAN V uses the GV100 chip built on Volta architecture.

The manufacturing process differs. The Tesla M40 is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The TITAN V moves to a 12 nm process, also at TSMC. Transistor counts reflect this generational jump: the M40 packs 8,000 million transistors on a 601 mm² die, while the TITAN V packs 21,100 million transistors on an 815 mm² die. Transistor density rises from 13.3 million per mm² on the M40 to 25.9 million per mm² on the TITAN V.

The TITAN V introduces tensor cores, with 640 of them, a feature completely absent on the Tesla M40. This is a Volta signature. The TITAN V also supports FP16 compute at 29.80 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the M40 has no recorded FP16 output. FP32 performance is more than doubled: 14.90 TFLOPS versus 6.832 TFLOPS.

Memory architecture is fundamentally different. The M40 uses GDDR5, while the TITAN V uses HBM2. The TITAN V's memory bus is 3072 bits wide, eight times wider than the M40's 384-bit bus. This explains the massive bandwidth difference: 651.3 GB/s versus 288.4 GB/s.

Both cards share the same 96 ROPs, but the TITAN V has more shading units (5,120 versus 3,072) and more TMUs (320 versus 192). The TITAN V also has higher clock speeds: a base of 1,200 MHz and a boost of 1,455 MHz, compared to the M40's 948 MHz base and 1,112 MHz boost. Pixel rate is higher on the TITAN V at 139.7 GPixel/s versus 106.8 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 465.6 GTexel/s versus 213.5 GTexel/s.

The TITAN V has display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a), while the Tesla M40 has no outputs at all. The TITAN V is a GeForce 10 generation product, while the M40 belongs to the Tesla Maxwell generation. The M40's predecessor is Tesla Kepler and its successor is Tesla Pascal. The TITAN V's predecessor is GeForce 900 and its successor is GeForce 20.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA Tesla M40 | NVIDIA TITAN V |

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

| Chip | GM200 | GV100 |

| Architecture | Maxwell 2.0 | Volta |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 12 nm |

| Transistors | 8,000 million | 21,100 million |

| Die Size | 601 mm² | 815 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.3M / mm² | 25.9M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 948 MHz | 1200 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1112 MHz | 1455 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1502 MHz | 848 MHz |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | HBM2 |

| Memory Bus | 384 bit | 3072 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 288.4 GB/s | 651.3 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3072 | 5120 |

| TMUs | 192 | 320 |

| Tensor Cores | N/A | 640 |

| FP32 | 6.832 TFLOPS | 14.90 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | N/A | 29.80 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| Pixel Rate | 106.8 GPixel/s | 139.7 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 213.5 GTexel/s | 465.6 GTexel/s |

| Power Connectors | 8-pin EPS | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| Release Date | 2015-11-09 | 2017-12-06 |

| Height | N/A | 112 mm |

| Width | N/A | 40 mm |

Both cards share the same 12 GB memory capacity, 250 W TDP, dual-slot design, 600 W suggested PSU, PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, 267 mm length, DirectX 12 (12_1) support, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4, and end-of-life production status.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct comparisons between these cards, and the TITAN V wins both decisively.

Geekbench OpenCL: The TITAN V scores 157,265 against the Tesla M40's 39,192. This is a delta of 75.1% in favor of the TITAN V. The TITAN V is more than four times faster. This test stresses general compute capabilities, and the TITAN V's 5,120 shading units at 1,455 MHz boost, combined with 651.3 GB/s of HBM2 bandwidth, produce a massive throughput advantage.

Geekbench Vulkan: The TITAN V scores 152,117 against the M40's 44,602. The delta is 70.7%. While slightly narrower than the OpenCL gap, this is still a dominant win. Vulkan workloads benefit from the Volta architecture's execution efficiency and the doubled FP32 rate.

The Tesla M40 wins no direct head-to-head test in this dataset. Its 0 wins are scored against the TITAN V's 2 wins. However, the M40's average benchmark score of 41,897 remains higher than the TITAN V's 34,355. This is because the M40's two scores (39,192 and 44,602) are both close to its average, while the TITAN V's many benchmark scores include several very low Passmark results (153 in DirectX 10, 152 in DirectX 11, 81 in DirectX 12) that drag its average down.

For context, the TITAN V's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A1000 with an average score of 34,207 and a 0.4% delta, and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB at 34,154 with a 0.6% delta. The Tesla M40's nearest rivals include the M40 24 GB at 41,707 with a 0.5% delta, and the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE at 42,723 with a negative 1.9% delta.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear but nuanced picture. For compute-heavy workloads that use OpenCL or Vulkan, the NVIDIA TITAN V is the dominate choice. The 75.1% OpenCL lead and 70.7% Vulkan lead are enormous margins that any application would notice. The TITAN V's 14.90 TFLOPS FP32, 640 tensor cores, and 651.3 GB/s bandwidth are the architectural reasons for this dominance.

For users who care about the overall benchmark database percentile, the Tesla M40 is actually stronger. It sits in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, versus the TITAN V's 79th percentile. The M40's average score of 41,897 beats the TITAN V's 34,355. This is because the TITAN V's Passmark scores are inconsistent with its compute performance, a characteristic that pulls its average down.

The M40 is a Maxwell architecture card with 3,072 shading units and 288.4 GB/s bandwidth. It has no tensor cores and no FP16 support. The TITAN V is a Volta card with 5,120 shading units, 640 tensor cores, and 29.80 TFLOPS FP16 throughput. The TITAN V also has display outputs, making it usable in a desktop, while the M40 has none.

Both cards are end-of-life products with a 250 W TDP and 600 W PSU recommendation. The TITAN V was released on 2017-12-06 and the M40 on 2015-11-09. The TITAN V's launch MSRP is 2,999 USD.

The verdict depends on the workload: choose the TITAN V for maximum compute throughput in OpenCL and Vulkan, choose the Tesla M40 for a higher aggregate benchmark percentile and a more consistent score profile. The TITAN V is the architectural innovator with tensor cores and HBM2, but the M40 holds its own in the broader database comparison.