NVIDIA Tesla T4 vs NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a clear picture: the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal wins both recorded head-to-head comparisons against the NVIDIA Tesla T4. In Geekbench OpenCL, the TITAN X Pascal scores 66,696 against the Tesla T4’s 61,276, a margin of 8.8%. The Vulkan test shows a similar pattern, with the TITAN X Pascal reaching 77,499 versus the Tesla T4’s 72,190, a 7.4% advantage. These are not overwhelming victories, but they are consistent across both API workloads, suggesting the TITAN X Pascal holds a genuine performance edge in the tested scenarios rather than excelling in a single isolated test.

Looking at the average benchmark scores, the TITAN X Pascal aggregates 72,098 across all tests, while the Tesla T4 averages 66,733. That difference of roughly 5,365 points translates into a percentile ranking gap of just one point: the TITAN X Pascal sits at the 91st percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla T4 sits at the 90th. Both cards are firmly in the upper echelon of graphics hardware, but the TITAN X Pascal’s lead, while measurable, is not dramatic in percentile terms. The deltaPct values from the head-to-head tests — 8.8% and 7.4% — are the most precise indicators of the performance gap, and they show a consistent single-digit advantage for the Pascal card.

When placed against their respective nearest rivals, both cards hold their own. The TITAN X Pascal’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64, which averages 72,379 — a mere 0.4% ahead. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M trails by 0.5%, and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE sits 1.8% behind. The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is 1.7% ahead. This places the TITAN X Pascal in a tightly contested cluster where rival scores vary by less than two percentage points in either direction. The Tesla T4’s rival field is similarly close: the AMD Radeon VII is 1.1% ahead, the NVIDIA Tesla P40 trails by 2.5%, the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 is 2.7% ahead, and the Intel Arc A770 is 3% ahead. The Tesla T4’s average score of 66,733 puts it in a slightly lower performance band than the TITAN X Pascal, but the surrounding competition is just as dense.

The per-test breakdown reinforces the TITAN X Pascal’s superiority in raw compute. Its OpenCL score of 66,696 exceeds the Tesla T4’s 61,276 by 5,420 points. In Vulkan, the gap widens slightly in absolute terms: 77,499 versus 72,190, a difference of 5,309 points. The percentage deltas — 8.8% and 7.4% — indicate that the TITAN X Pascal’s advantage is slightly more pronounced in OpenCL than in Vulkan, but the overall trajectory is identical: the Pascal card finishes ahead in both APIs. The Tesla T4’s best showing is its Vulkan score of 72,190, which is closer to the TITAN X Pascal’s OpenCL score than its own OpenCL result, but it still falls short of the Pascal card’s Vulkan output.

Where Each One Wins

The data shows the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal as the clear winner in both benchmark categories, so the use-case split is straightforward. For applications that rely on OpenCL compute — common in scientific simulation, image processing, and certain rendering tasks — the TITAN X Pascal’s 8.8% lead over the Tesla T4 translates into measurably faster execution. Its score of 66,696 versus 61,276 means a workload that takes 100 seconds on the Tesla T4 would take roughly 92 seconds on the TITAN X Pascal, assuming linear scaling. For Vulkan-based workloads, which include modern game engines and cross-platform graphics APIs, the TITAN X Pascal’s 7.4% advantage (77,499 vs. 72,190) offers a similar proportionate speedup.

The Tesla T4 does not win any benchmark in this comparison. However, its strengths lie elsewhere in the specification sheet rather than in raw compute scores. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory versus the TITAN X Pascal’s 12 GB of GDDR5X, the Tesla T4 offers more capacity for large datasets that exceed the Pascal card’s memory ceiling. The Tesla T4 also includes 320 tensor cores and 40 RT cores, hardware that the TITAN X Pascal lacks entirely; these features make the Tesla T4 suited for AI inference and ray-traced workloads, even though those specific workloads are not reflected in the provided benchmark scores. The Tesla T4’s 70 W TDP is a fraction of the TITAN X Pascal’s 250 W, and it requires no power connectors, making it deployable in systems where power delivery is constrained.

For pure compute throughput as measured by Geekbench, the TITAN X Pascal wins every test. For memory-intensive tasks where 16 GB of capacity outweighs the Tesla T4’s lower 320.0 GB/s bandwidth versus the TITAN X Pascal’s 480.4 GB/s, the Tesla T4 becomes the more practical choice. The Tesla T4 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the TITAN X Pascal supports only DirectX 12 (12_1), so the Tesla T4 is better positioned for the latest graphics feature sets. In terms of sheer benchmark score, however, the TITAN X Pascal dominates both available data points.

The Verdict

The benchmark results are unambiguous: the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla T4 in every recorded test. With a 8.8% lead in OpenCL and a 7.4% lead in Vulkan, the TITAN X Pascal is the faster card for general-purpose compute and graphics workloads as measured by Geekbench. Its average score of 72,098 places it at the 91st percentile of all GPUs, one point higher than the Tesla T4’s 90th percentile. The TITAN X Pascal also holds a slight edge over several rivals in its immediate performance band, trailing the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition by just 1.7% and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 by 0.4%, while leading the AMD Radeon RX 6650M by 0.5% and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE by 1.8%.

The Tesla T4, despite losing both head-to-head tests, is not without justification. Its 16 GB memory capacity is 33% larger than the TITAN X Pascal’s 12 GB, and its tensor cores (320) and RT cores (40) provide hardware acceleration capabilities that the Pascal card simply does not have. The Tesla T4’s 70 W power draw and single-slot design, with no power connectors required, make it suitable for dense server deployments where the TITAN X Pascal’s 250 W draw and dual-slot footprint would be prohibitive. For users whose workloads involve AI inference or ray tracing, the Tesla T4’s specialized hardware may deliver results that the TITAN X Pascal cannot match, even with its higher raw compute scores.

Who should pick which? For users prioritizing maximum benchmark performance in OpenCL and Vulkan applications, the TITAN X Pascal is the clear choice. Its 91st percentile ranking and consistent wins in both tests make it the superior option for raw compute throughput. For users who need larger memory capacity or specialized AI/ray-tracing hardware, the Tesla T4 offers capabilities that the benchmark scores do not capture. The data shows the TITAN X Pascal as the faster card, but the Tesla T4 is the more versatile option for specific modern workloads. The TITAN X Pascal also carries a launch MSRP of 1,199 USD, while the Tesla T4’s launch MSRP is not listed in the data.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal scores 66,696, which is 8.8% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla T4’s 61,276.

Q: What is the performance gap in Vulkan between the two cards?

A: The TITAN X Pascal scores 77,499 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the Tesla T4 scores 72,190, giving the TITAN X Pascal a 7.4% advantage.

Q: How do the two cards compare in terms of memory capacity?

A: The Tesla T4 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the TITAN X Pascal has 12 GB of GDDR5X. The Tesla T4 offers 4 GB more capacity.

Q: Does the Tesla T4 have any hardware features the TITAN X Pascal lacks?

A: Yes, the Tesla T4 includes 320 tensor cores and 40 RT cores, while the TITAN X Pascal has neither. The Tesla T4 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), versus the TITAN X Pascal’s DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: What are the power consumption figures for each card?

A: The TITAN X Pascal has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W suggested PSU, while the Tesla T4 has a TDP of 70 W and a 250 W suggested PSU.

Q: How does the TITAN X Pascal’s average benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The TITAN X Pascal averages 72,098, which is 0.4% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64’s 72,379, and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M’s 71,768.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs belong to different architectural generations. The NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal uses the GP102 chip built on the Pascal architecture, fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. The Tesla T4 uses the TU104 chip on the Turing architecture, fabricated on a 12 nm process, also at TSMC. The transistor counts reflect the generational shift: the TITAN X Pascal packs 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die, while the Tesla T4 contains 13,600 million transistors on a larger 545 mm² die. Transistor density is nearly identical — 25.1M per mm² for the Pascal card and 25.0M per mm² for the Turing card — indicating that the process node change from 16 nm to 12 nm was used primarily to add features rather than shrink the chip.

The most significant architectural divergence lies in specialized compute units. The Tesla T4 includes 320 tensor cores and 40 RT cores, which are absent from the TITAN X Pascal. Tensor cores accelerate AI inference and training workloads, while RT cores handle ray-traced rendering. The Pascal architecture predates both of these hardware accelerators, so the TITAN X Pascal relies purely on its 3584 shading units for compute. The Tesla T4 has 2560 shading units, 224 TMUs versus the Tesla T4’s 160, and 96 ROPs versus the Tesla T4’s 64 — so the TITAN X Pascal has a substantial lead in traditional rasterization resources, which explains its higher pixel rate (147.0 GPixel/s vs. 101.8 GPixel/s) and texture rate (342.9 GTexel/s vs. 254.4 GTexel/s).

The FP16 capability difference is stark. The TITAN X Pascal delivers 171.5 GFLOPS FP16 at a 1:64 ratio relative to its FP32, meaning FP16 is heavily de-emphasized. The Tesla T4 delivers 16.28 TFLOPS FP16 at a 2:1 ratio, making it far more capable for half-precision workloads — a direct benefit of its tensor core design. FP32 performance favors the TITAN X Pascal at 10.97 TFLOPS versus the Tesla T4’s 8.141 TFLOPS, consistent with the benchmark results. The Tesla T4’s base clock of 585 MHz is dramatically lower than the TITAN X Pascal’s 1417 MHz, but its boost clock of 1590 MHz actually exceeds the TITAN X Pascal’s 1531 MHz, suggesting the Tesla T4 relies on aggressive boosting under load.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet reveals several key differences beyond raw performance. The TITAN X Pascal has a base clock of 1417 MHz and a boost clock of 1531 MHz, while the Tesla T4 runs at 585 MHz base and 1590 MHz boost. Memory configurations differ significantly: the TITAN X Pascal uses 12 GB of GDDR5X on a 384-bit bus with 480.4 GB/s bandwidth, whereas the Tesla T4 uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth. Memory clock speeds are nearly identical — 1251 MHz for the TITAN X Pascal and 1250 MHz for the Tesla T4, both with 10 Gbps effective data rate — but the wider bus of the TITAN X Pascal yields 50% more bandwidth.

Power requirements could not be more different. The TITAN X Pascal draws 250 W, requires a 600 W suggested PSU, and needs 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors. The Tesla T4 draws just 70 W, requires only a 250 W PSU, and needs no power connectors at all. The physical designs match these power profiles: the TITAN X Pascal is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length, while the Tesla T4 is single-slot at 168 mm. Display outputs also diverge — the TITAN X Pascal offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the Tesla T4 has no display outputs, confirming its server-oriented role.

The TITAN X Pascal supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the Tesla T4 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both share OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4 support. Release dates are separated by roughly two years: the TITAN X Pascal launched on 2016-08-01, and the Tesla T4 on 2018-09-12. Both are now end-of-life products, with the TITAN X Pascal’s predecessor being GeForce 900 and successor GeForce 20, while the Tesla T4’s predecessor was Tesla Volta and successor Server Ampere. The TITAN X Pascal has a launch MSRP of 1,199 USD; the Tesla T4’s launch MSRP is not listed.