AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT vs NVIDIA Tesla P40 Comparison

The Verdict

The data separates these two cards into very different jobs. The NVIDIA Tesla P40 is a compute-oriented accelerator with a 24 GB frame buffer, built for server inference and memory-heavy workloads. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a consumer RDNA 2.0 part aimed at high-refresh gaming and general-purpose graphics. Benchmark results show the RX 6800 XT wins both recorded head-to-head tests by a wide margin: 63.8% in Geekbench OpenCL and 50.2% in Geekbench Vulkan. If your priority is raw graphics throughput, the RX 6800 XT is the clear pick.

However, the Tesla P40 holds a unique advantage in VRAM capacity. With 24 GB versus 16 GB, it offers 50% more memory. That matters for model loading, large datasets, or any workload that spills over 16 GB. The P40 also has a higher percentile rank among all GPUs at 89, compared to 85 for the RX 6800 XT, which reflects its strength in compute-oriented benchmarks relative to the broader database. The RX 6800 XT's average benchmark score of 48,477 is lower than the P40's 65,095, but that average includes many gaming tests where the P40 cannot even output video. The P40 has no display outputs, so it is not a gaming card at all.

Choose the RX 6800 XT if you need a functioning desktop GPU with modern APIs, real-time ray tracing hardware, and a full set of display outputs. Choose the Tesla P40 if you need maximum VRAM and compute density in a server chassis, and you already have a separate GPU for display duties. The P40's launch MSRP was 5,699 USD, while the RX 6800 XT launched at 649 USD, but the P40 is an end-of-life server part, so current market pricing will differ from those figures.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6800 XT wins in every scenario that involves interactive graphics. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 171,304 crushes the P40's 62,017, a 63.8% advantage. The Vulkan gap is nearly as large: 136,875 versus 68,172, a 50.2% lead. In gaming, the RX 6800 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the P40 only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1). The RX 6800 XT also has 72 ray tracing cores, which the P40 lacks entirely. For any modern game that uses mesh shaders, variable rate shading, or ray traced effects, the RX 6800 XT is the only viable option.

The Tesla P40 wins on memory capacity and compute-oriented features. Its 24 GB GDDR5 buffer is 8 GB larger than the RX 6800 XT's 16 GB GDDR6. That extra capacity is critical for workloads like large language model inference, where the model weights must fit in VRAM. The P40 also uses the Pascal architecture, which has a 1:64 FP16 to FP32 ratio (183.7 GFLOPS FP16 versus 11.76 TFLOPS FP32). That means FP16 is not a strength, but the card was designed for FP32-heavy scientific computing and neural network inference. The P40's 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs are all lower than the RX 6800 XT's 4608, 288, and 128 respectively, so it loses on raw pixel throughput. However, the P40's 89th percentile ranking versus 85th for the RX 6800 XT suggests that in the database's full GPU population, the P40 outperforms more of its peers in aggregate benchmark scores.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from entirely different design philosophies. The Tesla P40 uses the GP102 chip on TSMC's 16 nm process, packing 11,800 million transistors into a 471 mm² die. That yields a transistor density of 25.1 million per mm². The RX 6800 XT uses Navi 21 on TSMC's 7 nm node, with 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, achieving 51.5 million per mm². The smaller process node gives the RX 6800 XT more than double the transistor density, which explains its higher clock speeds and efficiency.

Clock behavior differs sharply. The P40 runs at a 1303 MHz base and 1531 MHz boost. The RX 6800 XT starts at 1825 MHz base, has a 2015 MHz game clock, and boosts to 2250 MHz. The RX 6800 XT's memory runs at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective data rate, while the P40's GDDR5 runs at 1808 MHz with 7.2 Gbps effective. Despite the P40's wider 384-bit bus, its bandwidth of 347.1 GB/s is far below the RX 6800 XT's 512.0 GB/s, thanks to the newer GDDR6 memory.

Feature sets diverge completely. The P40 is a Tesla series compute card with no display outputs, an 8-pin EPS power connector, and a 600 W suggested PSU. The RX 6800 XT has 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C, uses dual 8-pin connectors, and suggests a 700 W PSU. The P40 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RX 6800 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The RX 6800 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and has 72 ray tracing cores. The P40 only supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and has no ray tracing hardware. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

FP16 compute tells a story of different priorities. The P40 offers 183.7 GFLOPS FP16, which is a 1:64 ratio to its FP32 of 11.76 TFLOPS. The RX 6800 XT delivers 41.47 TFLOPS FP16 at a 2:1 ratio to its 20.74 TFLOPS FP32. For workloads that leverage FP16, the RX 6800 XT is vastly superior. For pure FP32 compute, the RX 6800 XT also wins at 20.74 TFLOPS versus 11.76 TFLOPS, a 76.4% advantage.

FAQ

Q: Which card has more VRAM?

A: The Tesla P40 has 24 GB of GDDR5, while the RX 6800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6. The P40 offers 50% more capacity, which matters for large datasets or models that exceed 16 GB.

Q: Can the Tesla P40 output video to a monitor?

A: No. The P40 has no display outputs. It is designed for server compute tasks where a separate GPU handles display duties. The RX 6800 XT has 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing?

A: The RX 6800 XT has 72 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The Tesla P40 has no ray tracing cores and only supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How do their benchmark scores compare?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6800 XT scores 171,304 versus 62,017 for the P40, a 63.8% lead. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 6800 XT scores 136,875 versus 68,172, a 50.2% advantage.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 6800 XT has 512.0 GB/s with a 256-bit GDDR6 bus. The P40 has 347.1 GB/s with a 384-bit GDDR5 bus. The newer memory technology gives the RX 6800 XT the win despite a narrower bus.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The RX 6800 XT uses TSMC's 7 nm process and achieves 51.5 million transistors per mm². The P40 uses 16 nm and achieves 25.1 million per mm². The RX 6800 XT has more than double the density.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct head-to-head tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6800 XT scores 171,304 against the P40's 62,017. That is a delta of 63.8% in favor of AMD. The difference is enormous and reflects the architectural gap. The RX 6800 XT has 20.74 TFLOPS FP32 compute versus 11.76 TFLOPS for the P40, a 76.4% raw compute advantage. OpenCL workloads that scale with shader throughput will favor the RX 6800 XT by that same magnitude.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 6800 XT scores 136,875 versus 68,172 for the P40, a 50.2% lead. Vulkan is a lower-level API that benefits from efficient command processing and higher clock speeds. The RX 6800 XT's boost clock of 2250 MHz versus 1531 MHz for the P40 gives it a 47% frequency advantage. Combined with 4608 shading units versus 3840, the RX 6800 XT has both more cores and higher clocks, which explains the Vulkan result.

The RX 6800 XT also wins on memory bandwidth. Its 512.0 GB/s is 47.5% higher than the P40's 347.1 GB/s. In bandwidth-sensitive Vulkan compute tasks, that difference compounds with the clock speed gap. The RX 6800 XT's pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s is nearly double the P40's 147.0 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 648.0 GTexel/s is 76.4% higher than 367.4 GTexel/s. These metrics align with the benchmark deltas.

For the P40, the only recorded wins are not in these direct tests. Its 24 GB VRAM is the sole advantage in the head-to-head data. The P40's 89th percentile ranking versus 85th for the RX 6800 XT suggests that when compared against all GPUs in the database, the P40 sits higher relative to its peers. That is likely because the P40's compute-oriented design excels in non-graphics benchmarks, while the RX 6800 XT's average score is dragged down by gaming tests that the P40 cannot even participate in.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA Tesla P40 | AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT |

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

| Architecture | Pascal | RDNA 2.0 |

| Process node | 16 nm TSMC | 7 nm TSMC |

| Transistors | 11,800 million | 26,800 million |

| Die size | 471 mm² | 520 mm² |

| Transistor density | 25.1M / mm² | 51.5M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1303 MHz | 1825 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1531 MHz | 2250 MHz |

| Game clock | N/A | 2015 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1808 MHz, 7.2 Gbps effective | 2000 MHz, 16 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 24 GB GDDR5 | 16 GB GDDR6 |

| Memory bus | 384 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 347.1 GB/s | 512.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 3840 | 4608 |

| TMUs | 240 | 288 |

| ROPs | 96 | 128 |

| Ray tracing cores | None | 72 |

| FP32 compute | 11.76 TFLOPS | 20.74 TFLOPS |

| FP16 compute | 183.7 GFLOPS (1:64) | 41.47 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| Pixel rate | 147.0 GPixel/s | 288.0 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 367.4 GTexel/s | 648.0 GTexel/s |

| TDP | 250 W | 300 W |

| Power connectors | 8-pin EPS | 2x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 700 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display outputs | No outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DP 1.4a, 1x USB-C |

| DirectX support | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Release date | 2016-09-12 | 2020-10-27 |

| Launch MSRP | 5,699 USD | 649 USD |