NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 vs NVIDIA Tesla T4 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains two direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons between the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, both of which are computational workloads measured through Geekbench. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Tesla T4 scores 61,276 points, while the RTX 5080 produces 235,901 points. This represents a delta of -74 percent from the perspective of the Tesla T4, meaning the RTX 5080 delivers approximately four times the raw compute performance in this OpenCL workload. The margin is decisive and consistent with the substantial architectural and specification gaps between the two products.

The second comparison, Geekbench Vulkan, shows a similar pattern. The Tesla T4 achieves 72,190 points, whereas the RTX 5080 reaches 255,450 points. The delta here is -71.7 percent, again indicating that the RTX 5080 outperforms the Tesla T4 by a factor of roughly 3.5 in Vulkan compute tasks. Both wins belong to the RTX 5080, giving it a clean 2-0 record in the head-to-head section of the database. The Tesla T4 records zero wins in these direct comparisons.

These results are not marginal victories. The RTX 5080's advantage in OpenCL is 174,625 points in absolute terms, and in Vulkan the gap widens to 183,260 points. For context, the Tesla T4's average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 66,733, while the RTX 5080's average is 56,083. Notably, the RTX 5080's average is lower than its head-to-head scores because the database includes a broader set of tests for the RTX 5080, including Passmark DirectX variants and 3DMark Steel Nomad, which pull the average down. The Tesla T4's benchmark suite is limited to the two Geekbench tests, so its average score of 66,733 is essentially the midpoint of those two results.

The percentile rankings place the Tesla T4 at the 90th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the RTX 5080 sits at the 87th percentile. This is a curious inversion: the Tesla T4 ranks higher by percentile despite losing decisively in every head-to-head test. The explanation lies in the distribution of scores across the database. The Tesla T4's two benchmark scores are both strong relative to the full GPU population, whereas the RTX 5080's Passmark DirectX 9 score of 389, DirectX 12 score of 151, and DirectX 10 score of 208 are low enough to drag its percentile down. The RTX 5080's Passmark G3D score of 36,565 and GPU compute score of 21,789 are solid, but the older DirectX tests are not kind to it.

When examining the nearest rivals for each card, the data provides additional interpretive context. The Tesla T4's closest competitor is the AMD Radeon VII, which has an average score of 66,004, a delta of 1.1 percent relative to the Tesla T4. The NVIDIA Tesla P40 follows at 65,095, a 2.5 percent delta. The AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 scores 68,562, which is -2.7 percent relative to the Tesla T4, and the Intel Arc A770 scores 68,809, a -3 percent delta. These rivals cluster tightly around the Tesla T4, with deltas ranging from -3 to +2.5 percent. The RTX 5080, by contrast, has nearest rivals with a similar clustering: the AMD Radeon 8060S at 55,757 (0.6 percent delta), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55,698 (0.7 percent), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at 54,828 (2.3 percent), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE at 57,367 (-2.2 percent). The RTX 5080's average score of 56,083 places it right in the middle of this group, slightly ahead of the 8060S and RX 6750 GRE but behind the RX 9070 GRE.

The takeaway from the head-to-head data is unambiguous: in the two tests recorded, the RTX 5080 is in a different performance class. The Tesla T4's 8.141 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 320.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are dwarfed by the RTX 5080's 56.28 TFLOPS and 960.0 GB/s. The delta percentages of -74 and -71.7 reflect these specification gaps directly.

The Verdict

The data indicates that the GeForce RTX 5080 is the superior choice for any workload represented by the Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests. Its scores of 235,901 and 255,450 are roughly four times the Tesla T4's 61,276 and 72,190. For users prioritizing raw compute throughput in these general-purpose GPU workloads, the RTX 5080 is the clear selection.

However, the percentile data complicates a simple recommendation. The Tesla T4 sits at the 90th percentile among all GPUs, while the RTX 5080 sits at the 87th. This means that, across the entire database population, the Tesla T4's limited set of benchmark results places it higher relative to other GPUs than the RTX 5080's broader suite of results. The Tesla T4's two scores are both in the 60,000 to 72,000 range, which is strong for a data center card with a 70 W TDP. The RTX 5080's average is dragged down by its Passmark DirectX legacy scores, which are not representative of its modern compute capabilities.

For a workload strictly using OpenCL or Vulkan compute, the RTX 5080 wins by an enormous margin. For a workload that relies on the specific characteristics of the Tesla T4, such as its low power draw, the data shows the Tesla T4 has a 70 W TDP compared to the RTX 5080's 360 W. The Tesla T4 is also a single-slot card with no power connectors, whereas the RTX 5080 is dual-slot with a 1x 16-pin connector. These physical and power characteristics are not captured in benchmark scores but are relevant for deployment scenarios.

The database records show the Tesla T4 as end-of-life, released in September 2018, while the RTX 5080 is active, released in January 2025. The Tesla T4 belongs to the Turing architecture on a 12 nm process, while the RTX 5080 uses Blackwell 2.0 on a 5 nm process. The generation gap is substantial, and the benchmark data reflects it.

For users who need the highest compute scores in the recorded tests, the RTX 5080 is the answer. For users who require a low-power, single-slot accelerator with no external power requirement, the Tesla T4 has merits that the RTX 5080 cannot match, based on the specifications. The choice depends on whether the workload is compute-bound or power-constrained.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 wins with a score of 235,901, compared to the NVIDIA Tesla T4's 61,276, a delta of -74 percent from the Tesla T4's perspective.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The Tesla T4 has an average benchmark score of 66,733, and the RTX 5080 has an average of 56,083. The RTX 5080's average is lower than its head-to-head scores due to additional tests in its record.

Q: How does the Tesla T4 rank among all GPUs?

A: The Tesla T4 is at the 90th percentile among all GPUs in the database. The RTX 5080 is at the 87th percentile.

Q: What are the closest rivals to the Tesla T4?

A: The nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon VII with an average score of 66,004 (1.1 percent delta), the NVIDIA Tesla P40 at 65,095 (2.5 percent), the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 at 68,562 (-2.7 percent), and the Intel Arc A770 at 68,809 (-3 percent).

Q: What are the closest rivals to the RTX 5080?

A: The nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon 8060S at 55,757 (0.6 percent), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55,698 (0.7 percent), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at 54,828 (2.3 percent), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE at 57,367 (-2.2 percent).

Q: Does the Tesla T4 have any wins in the head-to-head benchmarks?

A: No, the Tesla T4 records zero wins. The RTX 5080 wins both recorded head-to-head tests.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every recorded specification. The Tesla T4 uses the TU104 chip with the Turing architecture, while the RTX 5080 uses the GB203 chip with Blackwell 2.0. The process node is 12 nm for the Tesla T4 and 5 nm for the RTX 5080, both from TSMC. Transistor counts are 13,600 million for the Tesla T4 and 45,600 million for the RTX 5080, with die sizes of 545 mm² and 378 mm² respectively. Transistor density is 25.0M per mm² for the Tesla T4 and 120.6M per mm² for the RTX 5080.

Clock speeds differ substantially: the Tesla T4 has a base clock of 585 MHz and a boost of 1590 MHz, while the RTX 5080 runs at 2295 MHz base and 2617 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective) for the Tesla T4 and 1875 MHz (30 Gbps effective) for the RTX 5080. Memory type is GDDR6 for the Tesla T4 and GDDR7 for the RTX 5080, with equal 16 GB capacity and 256-bit bus width. Memory bandwidth is 320.0 GB/s for the Tesla T4 and 960.0 GB/s for the RTX 5080.

Shading units number 2,560 for the Tesla T4 and 10,752 for the RTX 5080. Texture mapping units are 160 versus 336, and ROPs are 64 versus 112. Ray tracing cores are 40 for the Tesla T4 and 84 for the RTX 5080, while tensor cores are 320 versus 336. Pixel rates are 101.8 GPixel/s and 293.1 GPixel/s, texture rates are 254.4 GTexel/s and 879.3 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 8.141 TFLOPS and 56.28 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 16.28 TFLOPS (2:1) and 56.28 TFLOPS (1:1).

Power and physical specifications diverge: the Tesla T4 has a TDP of 70 W, is single-slot, has no power connectors, and suggests a 250 W PSU. The RTX 5080 has a TDP of 360 W, is dual-slot, requires a 1x 16-pin power connector, and suggests a 750 W PSU. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 for the Tesla T4 and PCIe 5.0 x16 for the RTX 5080. The Tesla T4 has no display outputs, while the RTX 5080 has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. Dimensions are 168 mm length for the Tesla T4, and 304 mm length, 137 mm height, 40 mm width for the RTX 5080. Production status is end-of-life versus active, with release dates of September 2018 and January 2025.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between the two GPUs is generational. The Tesla T4 is built on the Turing architecture, which the database lists as part of the Tesla Turing (Txx) generation. The RTX 5080 uses Blackwell 2.0, part of the GeForce 50 generation. The process node difference is stark: 12 nm for the Tesla T4 versus 5 nm for the RTX 5080, both fabricated by TSMC. This accounts for the transistor density difference of 25.0M per mm² versus 120.6M per mm², which is nearly a five-fold increase.

The Tesla T4's predecessor is listed as Tesla Volta, with a successor of Server Ampere, indicating its data center lineage. The RTX 5080's predecessor is GeForce 40, with a successor of GeForce 60, showing its consumer gaming lineage. The API support is identical for both: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The FP16 capability differs, with the Tesla T4 running at half rate (2:1) while the RTX 5080 runs at full rate (1:1), meaning the RTX 5080's FP16 throughput equals its FP32 throughput at 56.28 TFLOPS.

The ray tracing cores increase from 40 to 84, and tensor cores from 320 to 336, though the RTX 5080's tensor cores are from a newer architecture generation. The Tesla T4's lack of display outputs confirms its server-oriented design, while the RTX 5080's HDMI and DisplayPort outputs indicate a consumer graphics card intended for direct display connection. The PCIe interface upgrade from 3.0 to 5.0 doubles the potential bandwidth for data transfer between the GPU and host system, though the database does not provide measured PCIe throughput figures.