G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, raw graphics performance, VRAM, feature set, power efficiency, pricing context, and long-term value so you can see which GPU actually makes more sense.

Radeon R9 390

2015

Why buy it

✅Costs $671 less on MSRP ($329 MSRP vs $1,000 MSRP).
✅Delivers 198.9% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 26.9 vs 9.0 G3D/$ ($329 MSRP vs $1,000 MSRP).
✅100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (8 GB vs 4 GB).

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2015-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌300% higher power demand at 300W vs 75W.
❌63.7% longer card at 275mm vs 168mm.

Tesla P4

2016

Why buy it

✅Draws 75W instead of 300W, a 225W reduction.
✅Measures 168mm instead of 275mm, a 107mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.
✅More future proof: Pascal (2016−2021) on 16nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 4 GB vs 8 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Poor future-proofing: 2016-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
204% HIGHER MSRP
$1,000 MSRPvs$329 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 9.0 vs 26.9 G3D/$ ($1,000 MSRP vs $329 MSRP).

Radeon R9 390

2015

Tesla P4

2016

Why buy it

✅Costs $671 less on MSRP ($329 MSRP vs $1,000 MSRP).
✅Delivers 198.9% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 26.9 vs 9.0 G3D/$ ($329 MSRP vs $1,000 MSRP).
✅100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (8 GB vs 4 GB).

Why buy it

✅Draws 75W instead of 300W, a 225W reduction.
✅Measures 168mm instead of 275mm, a 107mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.
✅More future proof: Pascal (2016−2021) on 16nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2015-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌300% higher power demand at 300W vs 75W.
❌63.7% longer card at 275mm vs 168mm.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 4 GB vs 8 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Poor future-proofing: 2016-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
204% HIGHER MSRP
$1,000 MSRPvs$329 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 9.0 vs 26.9 G3D/$ ($1,000 MSRP vs $329 MSRP).

Quick Answers

So, is Tesla P4 better than Radeon R9 390?

Yes, but this is not really about a huge raw performance gap. The broader synthetic picture is also very close at 8,855 vs 9,004 in G3D Mark. The bigger reason to prefer Tesla P4 is the overall package: you are getting a newer generation, no meaningful modern upscaling stack, plus much lower power draw (75W vs 300W).

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

Radeon R9 390 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting more VRAM at 8 GB instead of 4 GB and better upscaling support with FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 (2025) instead of no meaningful modern upscaling stack. That extra memory headroom makes it the safer pick for newer games, heavier textures, and higher settings over time.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper card?

Tesla P4 is the smarter buy by a wide margin. Tesla P4 is about 204.0% more expensive on MSRP at $1,000 MSRP versus $329 MSRP, and you are getting 1.7% higher G3D Mark. Radeon R9 390 really only makes sense now as a very cheap stopgap or a used-market placeholder.

When does Radeon R9 390 make more sense than Tesla P4?

Yes. Radeon R9 390 is still an excellent gaming GPU in 2026: it is still comfortable for 1080p and decent for 1440p, though 4K is more situational. It makes more sense if your priority is future-proofing and staying closer to $329 MSRP more than squeezing out the extra headroom of Tesla P4. The trade-off is that Tesla P4 currently gives you 1.7% higher G3D Mark. Radeon R9 390 still holds the G3D-per-dollar lead, so the performance win comes with a real value premium.

Games Benchmarks

Real-world benchmarks and performance projections based on comprehensive hardware analysis and comparative metrics. Values represent expected performance on High/Ultra settings at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. Modeled using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D reference profile to minimize specific CPU bottlenecks.

Note: Performance behavior can vary per game. Specific architectures may perform better or worse depending on game engine optimizations and API implementation.

Radeon R9 390 Benchmark Check

Tesla P4 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Radeon R9 390	Tesla P4
1080p
low	105 FPS	103 FPS
medium	89 FPS	89 FPS
high	73 FPS	72 FPS
ultra	49 FPS	43 FPS
1440p
low	89 FPS	90 FPS
medium	75 FPS	79 FPS
high	55 FPS	57 FPS
ultra	36 FPS	33 FPS
4K
low	36 FPS	28 FPS
medium	32 FPS	27 FPS
high	20 FPS	18 FPS
ultra	17 FPS	15 FPS

Open Radeon R9 390 Open Tesla P4

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Radeon R9 390	Tesla P4
1080p
low	198 FPS	219 FPS
medium	173 FPS	177 FPS
high	143 FPS	135 FPS
ultra	111 FPS	109 FPS
1440p
low	138 FPS	159 FPS
medium	110 FPS	128 FPS
high	88 FPS	104 FPS
ultra	67 FPS	80 FPS
4K
low	61 FPS	92 FPS
medium	50 FPS	73 FPS
high	45 FPS	61 FPS
ultra	36 FPS	45 FPS

Open Radeon R9 390 Open Tesla P4

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Radeon R9 390	Tesla P4
1080p
low	398 FPS	405 FPS
medium	319 FPS	324 FPS
high	266 FPS	270 FPS
ultra	199 FPS	203 FPS
1440p
low	299 FPS	304 FPS
medium	239 FPS	243 FPS
high	199 FPS	203 FPS
ultra	149 FPS	152 FPS
4K
low	199 FPS	203 FPS
medium	159 FPS	162 FPS
high	133 FPS	135 FPS
ultra	100 FPS	101 FPS

Open Radeon R9 390 Open Tesla P4

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Radeon R9 390	Tesla P4
1080p
low	224 FPS	193 FPS
medium	193 FPS	159 FPS
high	156 FPS	143 FPS
ultra	132 FPS	110 FPS
1440p
low	170 FPS	134 FPS
medium	146 FPS	114 FPS
high	113 FPS	103 FPS
ultra	92 FPS	79 FPS
4K
low	95 FPS	80 FPS
medium	75 FPS	64 FPS
high	59 FPS	52 FPS
ultra	45 FPS	38 FPS

Open Radeon R9 390 Open Tesla P4

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Radeon R9 390 and Tesla P4

Radeon R9 390

The Radeon R9 390 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in June 18 2015. It features the GCN 2.0 architecture. The boost clock speed is 1000 MHz. It has 2560 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 300W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 8,855 points. Launch price was $329.

Tesla P4

The Tesla P4 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in September 13 2016. It features the Pascal architecture. The core clock ranges from 886 MHz to 1114 MHz. It has 2560 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 16 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 9,004 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The Radeon R9 390 scores 8,855 and the Tesla P4 reaches 9,004 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.7% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon R9 390 is built on GCN 2.0 while the Tesla P4 uses Pascal, both on 28 nm vs 16 nm. Shader units: 2,560 (Radeon R9 390) vs 2,560 (Tesla P4). Raw compute: 5.12 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 390) vs 5.704 TFLOPS (Tesla P4). Boost clocks: 1000 MHz vs 1114 MHz.

Feature	Radeon R9 390	Tesla P4
G3D Mark Score	8,855	9,004+2%
Architecture	GCN 2.0	Pascal
Process Node	28 nm	16 nm
Shading Units	2560	2560
Compute (TFLOPS)	5.12 TFLOPS	5.704 TFLOPS+11%
Boost Clock	1000 MHz	1114 MHz+11%
ROPs	64	64
TMUs	160	160
L1 Cache	640 KB	960 KB+50%
L2 Cache	1 MB	2 MB+100%

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Radeon R9 390	Tesla P4
Upscaling Tech	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4	Upscaling support
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	AMD Anti-Lag	Standard

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

The Radeon R9 390 comes with 8 GB of VRAM, while the Tesla P4 has 4 GB. The Radeon R9 390 offers 100% more capacity, crucial for higher resolutions and texture-heavy games. Bus width: 512-bit vs 256-bit. L2 Cache: 1 MB (Radeon R9 390) vs 2 MB (Tesla P4) — the Tesla P4 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Radeon R9 390	Tesla P4
VRAM Capacity	8 GB+100%	4 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Bus Width	512-bit+100%	256-bit
L2 Cache	1 MB	2 MB+100%

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12.0 (Radeon R9 390) vs 12.1 (Tesla P4). Vulkan: 1.2 vs 1.4. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 6 vs 0.

Feature	Radeon R9 390	Tesla P4
DirectX	12.0	12.1
Vulkan	1.2	1.4+17%
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
Max Displays	6	0

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: VCE 2.0 (Radeon R9 390) vs NVENC 6.0 (Tesla P4). Decoder: UVD 4.2 vs PureVideo HD VP6. Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1 (Radeon R9 390) vs MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP8,VP9 (Tesla P4).

Feature	Radeon R9 390	Tesla P4
Encoder	VCE 2.0	NVENC 6.0
Decoder	UVD 4.2	PureVideo HD VP6
Codecs	MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1	MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP8,VP9

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon R9 390 draws 300W versus the Tesla P4's 75W — a 120% difference. The Tesla P4 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 750W (Radeon R9 390) vs 500W (Tesla P4). Power connectors: 6-pin + 8-pin vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 275mm vs 168mm, occupying 2 vs 1 slots. Typical load temperature: 95°C vs 75°C.

Feature	Radeon R9 390	Tesla P4
TDP	300W	75W-75%
Recommended PSU	750W	500W-33%
Power Connector	6-pin + 8-pin	PCIe-powered
Length	275mm	168mm
Height	109mm	53mm
Slots	2	1-50%
Temp (Load)	95°C	75°C-21%
Perf/Watt	29.5	120.1+307%

💰

Value Analysis

The Radeon R9 390 launched at $329 MSRP, while the Tesla P4 launched at $1000. The Radeon R9 390 costs 67.1% less ($671 savings) on MSRP. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 26.9 (Radeon R9 390) vs 9.0 (Tesla P4) — the Radeon R9 390 offers 198.9% better value. The Tesla P4 is the newer GPU (2016 vs 2015).