GPU Comparison

The benchmark data presents a clear split decision between the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and the AMD Radeon 8050S. The Tesla T4 dominates in Vulkan workloads, while the Radeon 8050S takes the lead in OpenCL. However, the margin of victory in Vulkan is significantly larger than the margin in OpenCL, making the overall performance picture more nuanced than a simple win count suggests. The Tesla T4’s average benchmark score of 66,733 places it in the 90th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon 8050S scores 62,108, landing in the 89th percentile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most dramatic disparity between these two cards appears in the Geekbench Vulkan test. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 scores 72,190, while the AMD Radeon 8050S manages only 58,398. This represents a 23.6% advantage for the Tesla T4, a substantial gap that indicates a significant difference in graphics API performance. The Tesla T4’s Vulkan score is its stronger benchmark result, exceeding its OpenCL score by roughly 18%. This suggests the Turing architecture is particularly well-optimized for Vulkan’s low-level access to GPU hardware.

In contrast, the Geekbench OpenCL test tells a different story. The AMD Radeon 8050S scores 65,818, edging out the Tesla T4’s 61,276 by 6.9%. While this is a win for the Radeon, the margin is modest compared to the Vulkan deficit it faces. The Radeon 8050S’s OpenCL score is its stronger result, outperforming its Vulkan score by about 12.7%. This indicates that the RDNA 3.5 architecture performs better in OpenCL’s more general compute model than in Vulkan’s graphics-focused paradigm.

Looking at the averages, the Tesla T4’s mean score across both tests is 66,733, which is 7.4% higher than the Radeon 8050S’s average of 62,108. The Tesla T4’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon VII at 66,004 (1.1% behind) and the NVIDIA Tesla P40 at 65,095 (2.5% behind), while it sits 2.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 and 3% ahead of the Intel Arc A770. The Radeon 8050S’s competitive set is different, with the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M just 0.3% ahead, and the Radeon Pro Vega 56, RX 7600M, and RX 9060 XT LP all trailing by roughly 2.5-2.7%.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Tesla T4 is the clear choice for Vulkan-based applications. Its 23.6% lead in this API means that any workload leveraging Vulkan’s explicit multi-threading and driver overhead reduction will see a substantial performance benefit. This makes the Tesla T4 more suitable for graphics-heavy tasks or game development scenarios where Vulkan is the primary rendering path. The card’s 40 RT cores also provide hardware-accelerated ray tracing capabilities, which can be leveraged in Vulkan’s ray tracing extensions.

The AMD Radeon 8050S wins in OpenCL, which is a common compute interface used across scientific computing, image processing, and machine learning inference. Its 6.9% advantage in this test, combined with its higher FP32 throughput of 11.47 TFLOPS compared to the Tesla T4’s 8.141 TFLOPS, suggests better raw compute performance for general-purpose workloads. The Radeon 8050S also has a higher boost clock of 2800 MHz versus 1590 MHz, which contributes to its compute advantage. However, its Vulkan deficit is a significant drawback for any application that relies on that API.

The win distribution is even at one benchmark each, but the magnitude of the Tesla T4’s Vulkan victory outweighs the Radeon’s OpenCL edge. For users prioritizing graphics performance, the Tesla T4 is the superior option. For those focused purely on compute workloads that use OpenCL, the Radeon 8050S offers a modest but real advantage.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and manufacturing processes. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 uses the TU104 chip based on the Turing architecture, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. This chip contains 13,600 million transistors on a 545 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 25.0M per mm². Turing was designed with a focus on real-time ray tracing and AI acceleration, which is reflected in the T4’s 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores.

The AMD Radeon 8050S uses the Strix Halo chip based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, fabricated on a more advanced 4 nm process, also at TSMC. Its die size is 308 mm², and while the transistor count is listed as unknown, the smaller die on a more advanced node suggests a different design philosophy. RDNA 3.5 is optimized for power efficiency and gaming performance, with 32 RT cores but no dedicated tensor cores. The Radeon 8050S’s FP16 performance is 11.47 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio with FP32), while the Tesla T4’s FP16 is 16.28 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), showing the Tesla T4’s advantage in mixed-precision workloads.

The memory architecture also diverges significantly. The Tesla T4 features 16 GB of dedicated GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon 8050S, being an integrated graphics processor (IGP), uses system shared memory with bandwidth that is system dependent. This is a critical architectural difference, as dedicated memory provides consistent performance, while shared memory performance varies with the host system’s memory configuration. The Tesla T4’s memory clock runs at 1250 MHz with 10 Gbps effective, whereas the Radeon’s memory clock is tied to system memory.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal several key differences besides the architecture. The Tesla T4 has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, while the Radeon 8050S has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. This gives the Tesla T4 a 25% advantage in shading units and a 25% advantage in TMUs, though the Radeon’s higher clocks partially compensate. The pixel rate favors the Radeon at 179.2 GPixel/s versus the Tesla T4’s 101.8 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is also higher on the Radeon at 358.4 GTexel/s versus 254.4 GTexel/s.

Power consumption is a major differentiator. The Tesla T4 has a TDP of 70 W, while the Radeon 8050S draws only 55 W. The Tesla T4 is a single-slot card with no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 250 W, while the Radeon 8050S is an IGP with no power connectors and no suggested PSU listed. The Tesla T4 has no display outputs, making it a compute-only card, while the Radeon’s display outputs are portable device dependent. The bus interface also differs, with the Tesla T4 using PCIe 3.0 x16 and the Radeon using PCIe 5.0 x16, offering much higher bandwidth for data transfer.

The Tesla T4 is 168 mm (6.6 inches) long, while the Radeon 8050S has no listed dimensions, consistent with its IGP nature. The Tesla T4 is end-of-life, having been released on 2018-09-12, while the Radeon 8050S is active, released on 2025-01-05. The Tesla T4’s predecessor is Tesla Volta and its successor is Server Ampere, while the Radeon’s predecessor is Polaris Mobile and it has no listed successor.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla T4 has a higher average benchmark score of 66,733, compared to the AMD Radeon 8050S’s 62,108. The Tesla T4 also holds a higher percentile ranking at 90 versus 89.

Q: How large is the Vulkan performance gap between the two?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla T4 leads in Geekbench Vulkan with a score of 72,190, which is 23.6% higher than the AMD Radeon 8050S’s score of 58,398.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon 8050S win any benchmarks?

A: Yes, the AMD Radeon 8050S wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 65,818, which is 6.9% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla T4’s 61,276.

Q: What are the memory configurations of each card?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla T4 has 16 GB of dedicated GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon 8050S uses system shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth.

Q: How do their power requirements differ?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla T4 has a 70 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 250 W, while the AMD Radeon 8050S has a lower 55 W TDP and no suggested PSU listed. Both use no power connectors.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla T4 has 2,560 shading units, which is 25% more than the AMD Radeon 8050S’s 2,048 shading units.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear choice based on workload type. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 is the superior card for Vulkan-based graphics applications, with a commanding 23.6% lead that dwarfs the Radeon’s advantages elsewhere. Its dedicated 16 GB GDDR6 memory, Tensor cores, and higher average benchmark score make it the stronger all-around performer, especially for tasks that can leverage Vulkan’s low-level API. Its 90th percentile ranking versus the Radeon’s 89th reinforces this position.

The AMD Radeon 8050S is the better option for OpenCL compute workloads, where its 6.9% lead and higher FP32 throughput of 11.47 TFLOPS provide a tangible edge. Its lower 55 W TDP and integration as an IGP make it a more power-efficient choice for portable devices, but its shared memory architecture and significant Vulkan deficit limit its versatility. The Radeon’s 4 nm process node gives it a manufacturing advantage, but this does not translate into overall performance superiority.

For users needing a dedicated, end-of-life server card with proven Vulkan performance and dedicated memory, the Tesla T4 is the pick. For those prioritizing OpenCL compute efficiency in an integrated package with a newer release date, the Radeon 8050S has merit. The benchmark results indicate that while the Radeon 8050S wins one test, the Tesla T4 wins the more decisive one, making it the recommended choice for most scenarios.