NVIDIA Tesla P4 vs NVIDIA TITAN RTX Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data divides these two NVIDIA accelerators cleanly by workload category. The NVIDIA Tesla P4, a Pascal-generation compute card, holds its ground in the OpenCL and Vulkan synthetic tests that stress raw compute and memory throughput, but it does not win a single direct comparison in the recorded head-to-head set. The NVIDIA TITAN RTX, built on the Turing architecture, dominates both shared benchmark disciplines, posting scores roughly four times higher in each case. The TITAN RTX wins every benchmark where both cards have recorded results, which makes the use-case split straightforward: the Tesla P4 is a low-power inference or rendering auxiliary card, while the TITAN RTX is a workstation-class compute engine.

The Tesla P4's strength lies in its efficiency profile, not its absolute performance. With a 75 W thermal design power and no power connectors required, it fits into systems where the TITAN RTX's 280 W draw and dual 8-pin connectors would be impractical. The TITAN RTX, conversely, targets users who need maximum throughput in memory-bandwidth-hungry tasks. Its 24 GB GDDR6 frame buffer versus the P4's 8 GB GDDR5, and its 672.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 192.3 GB/s, explain the massive score gaps in compute-heavy workloads. The data shows the TITAN RTX is the clear winner for anyone prioritizing raw performance, while the P4 serves environments where power delivery and physical footprint are the limiting factors.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations, and the gap shows in nearly every silicon-level metric. The Tesla P4 uses the GP104 chip on the Pascal architecture, fabricated on a 16 nm TSMC process. It packs 7,200 million transistors into a 314 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 22.9 million per square millimeter. The TITAN RTX uses the TU102 chip on the Turing architecture, built on a 12 nm TSMC process. It houses 18,600 million transistors across a 754 mm² die, achieving a density of 24.7 million per square millimeter. The TITAN RTX's larger, denser silicon directly translates into more compute resources.

Core counts differ substantially. The Tesla P4 has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The TITAN RTX more than doubles the shading units to 4,608, raises TMUs to 288, and increases ROPs to 96. The TITAN RTX also introduces hardware that the P4 lacks entirely: 72 RT cores for ray tracing and 576 tensor cores for AI acceleration. The P4 has no such dedicated units. Clock speeds favor the TITAN RTX as well, with a base of 1350 MHz and boost of 1770 MHz against the P4's 886 MHz base and 1114 MHz boost. Memory technology differs, with the P4 using GDDR5 at 6 Gbps effective and the TITAN RTX using GDDR6 at 14 Gbps effective. The bus widths, 256 bit versus 384 bit, compound the bandwidth disparity.

The feature sets reflect their intended roles. The P4 has no display outputs, making it a pure compute or server card. The TITAN RTX includes 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C, so it can drive monitors directly. API support also differs: the P4 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the TITAN RTX supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing features. Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, according to the database. The TITAN RTX also carries a 2,499 USD launch MSRP, a figure the database records without further commentary.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head results show a decisive TITAN RTX advantage in both shared tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Tesla P4 scores 34,947 while the TITAN RTX scores 144,858. That is a 75.9% deficit for the P4 relative to the TITAN RTX, meaning the TITAN RTX delivers roughly four times the OpenCL compute throughput. The gap is slightly smaller in Geekbench Vulkan, where the P4 scores 40,309 and the TITAN RTX scores 136,073. The delta here is 70.4%, so the P4 retains a marginally better relative standing in the Vulkan API, but it still trails by a wide margin.

These results align with the architectural differences. The TITAN RTX's higher shading unit count, faster clocks, and 3.5 times the memory bandwidth create a massive compute ceiling. The P4's lower power budget and older architecture limit its throughput, though its Vulkan score is closer to its OpenCL score than the TITAN RTX's, suggesting the Pascal card handles the Vulkan driver stack relatively efficiently. The TITAN RTX's OpenCL score is particularly strong, reflecting its tensor core and RT core capabilities even in non-specialized workloads. The database records zero wins for the Tesla P4 and two wins for the TITAN RTX in the head-to-head set.

FAQ

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The NVIDIA TITAN RTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, while the NVIDIA Tesla P4 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The TITAN RTX's bandwidth is 672.0 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s for the P4.

Q: Does the Tesla P4 support ray tracing?

A: No. The Tesla P4 uses the Pascal architecture with no RT cores. The TITAN RTX includes 72 RT cores and 576 tensor cores, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which enables ray tracing features.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The Tesla P4 has a 75 W thermal design power and requires no power connectors, while the TITAN RTX has a 280 W TDP and needs two 8-pin connectors. The suggested power supply is 250 W for the P4 and 600 W for the TITAN RTX.

Q: Can either card output video to a monitor?

A: The Tesla P4 has no display outputs. The TITAN RTX includes 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C.

Q: How do their compute scores compare in the database?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the TITAN RTX scores 144,858 versus the P4's 34,947, a 75.9% advantage for the TITAN RTX. In Geekbench Vulkan, the TITAN RTX scores 136,073 versus 40,309, a 70.4% advantage.

Q: Which card has a higher overall percentile ranking?

A: The Tesla P4 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, while the TITAN RTX sits at the 76th percentile. However, the P4's average benchmark score is 37,628, which is higher than the TITAN RTX's 31,676, because the TITAN RTX's average includes more varied and lower-scoring tests.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear performance hierarchy. The NVIDIA TITAN RTX is the superior compute card by every recorded benchmark metric. Its OpenCL score of 144,858 and Vulkan score of 136,073 dwarf the Tesla P4's 34,947 and 40,309 respectively. The TITAN RTX also offers 24 GB of GDDR6 memory, 4,608 shading units, and dedicated RT and tensor cores, making it suitable for the most demanding rendering, AI, and scientific workloads. The P4, with 8 GB of GDDR5 and 2,560 shading units, cannot match this throughput.

However, the Tesla P4 has its own niche. Its 75 W TDP, single-slot design, and lack of power connectors make it deployable in dense server environments where the TITAN RTX's 280 W draw and dual-slot footprint would be prohibitive. The P4's 81st percentile ranking versus the TITAN RTX's 76th percentile also suggests that, across the entire GPU landscape, the P4's efficiency profile is comparatively strong, even if its raw scores lag. The TITAN RTX's average benchmark score of 31,676 is dragged down by low Passmark DirectX scores, which likely reflect driver or workload mismatch rather than hardware weakness.

For a user who needs maximum compute and has the power budget, the TITAN RTX is the obvious choice. For a user who needs a low-power compute card in a constrained slot, the Tesla P4 remains a viable option. The verdict from the database is unambiguous: the TITAN RTX wins on performance, the P4 wins on efficiency, and neither card is a substitute for the other in its intended deployment.