L4 vs Tesla M40

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.

L4

2023

Why buy it

✅Costs $155 less on MSRP ($2,345 MSRP vs $2,500 MSRP).
✅More future proof: Ada Lovelace (2022−2024) on 5nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.
✅Draws 72W instead of 250W, a 178W reduction.
✅Measures 169mm instead of 267mm, a 98mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

❌Fewer clear downsides in this head-to-head, aside from the usual pricing and availability swings.

Tesla M40

2015

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2015-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
6.6% HIGHER MSRP
$2,500 MSRPvs$2,345 MSRP
❌247.2% higher power demand at 250W vs 72W.
❌58% longer card at 267mm vs 169mm.

L4

2023

Tesla M40

2015

Why buy it

✅Costs $155 less on MSRP ($2,345 MSRP vs $2,500 MSRP).
✅More future proof: Ada Lovelace (2022−2024) on 5nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.
✅Draws 72W instead of 250W, a 178W reduction.
✅Measures 169mm instead of 267mm, a 98mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

❌Fewer clear downsides in this head-to-head, aside from the usual pricing and availability swings.

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2015-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
6.6% HIGHER MSRP
$2,500 MSRPvs$2,345 MSRP
❌247.2% higher power demand at 250W vs 72W.
❌58% longer card at 267mm vs 169mm.

Quick Answers

So, is Tesla M40 better than L4?

Yes. Tesla M40 is clearly the better overall GPU here. You are also looking at 10,220 vs 10,153 in G3D Mark. On top of that, Tesla M40 is a 2015 card with no meaningful modern upscaling stack, while L4 is a 2023 model from an older generation with no meaningful modern upscaling stack. So this is not really a tight same-tier comparison. It is more a modern card against an older, weaker alternative.

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

L4 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer 2023 generation instead of 2015, 100.0% more ray-tracing hardware, and a 5nm process instead of 28nm. That makes it the safer long-run choice for modern games.

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

Tesla M40 is the smarter buy by a wide margin. Tesla M40 is about 6.6% more expensive on MSRP at $2,500 MSRP versus $2,345 MSRP, and you are getting 0.7% higher G3D Mark. L4 really only makes sense now as a very cheap stopgap or a used-market placeholder.

When does L4 make more sense than Tesla M40?

Yes. L4 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 newer architecture, lower power draw (72W vs 250W), future-proofing, and staying closer to $2,345 MSRP more than squeezing out the extra headroom of Tesla M40. The trade-off is that Tesla M40 currently gives you 0.7% higher G3D Mark. L4 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.

L4 Benchmark Check

Tesla M40 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	L4	Tesla M40
1080p
low	184 FPS	151 FPS
medium	162 FPS	130 FPS
high	134 FPS	106 FPS
ultra	86 FPS	65 FPS
1440p
low	144 FPS	121 FPS
medium	121 FPS	103 FPS
high	92 FPS	76 FPS
ultra	58 FPS	47 FPS
4K
low	59 FPS	42 FPS
medium	51 FPS	38 FPS
high	38 FPS	24 FPS
ultra	33 FPS	20 FPS

Open L4 Open Tesla M40

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	L4	Tesla M40
1080p
low	287 FPS	248 FPS
medium	231 FPS	214 FPS
high	182 FPS	163 FPS
ultra	157 FPS	128 FPS
1440p
low	219 FPS	173 FPS
medium	169 FPS	142 FPS
high	139 FPS	115 FPS
ultra	114 FPS	89 FPS
4K
low	119 FPS	96 FPS
medium	95 FPS	78 FPS
high	81 FPS	65 FPS
ultra	66 FPS	49 FPS

Open L4 Open Tesla M40

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	L4	Tesla M40
1080p
low	457 FPS	460 FPS
medium	366 FPS	368 FPS
high	305 FPS	307 FPS
ultra	228 FPS	230 FPS
1440p
low	343 FPS	345 FPS
medium	274 FPS	276 FPS
high	228 FPS	230 FPS
ultra	171 FPS	172 FPS
4K
low	228 FPS	230 FPS
medium	183 FPS	184 FPS
high	152 FPS	153 FPS
ultra	114 FPS	115 FPS

Open L4 Open Tesla M40

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	L4	Tesla M40
1080p
low	375 FPS	293 FPS
medium	321 FPS	252 FPS
high	275 FPS	210 FPS
ultra	223 FPS	163 FPS
1440p
low	285 FPS	217 FPS
medium	249 FPS	192 FPS
high	216 FPS	154 FPS
ultra	170 FPS	118 FPS
4K
low	171 FPS	120 FPS
medium	144 FPS	96 FPS
high	118 FPS	80 FPS
ultra	93 FPS	61 FPS

Open L4 Open Tesla M40

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of L4 and Tesla M40

L4

The L4 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in March 21 2023. It features the Ada Lovelace architecture. The core clock ranges from 795 MHz to 2040 MHz. It has 7424 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 72W. Manufactured using 5 nm process technology. It features 60 dedicated ray tracing cores for enhanced lighting effects. G3D Mark benchmark score: 10,153 points.

Tesla M40

The Tesla M40 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in November 10 2015. It features the Maxwell 2.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 948 MHz to 1112 MHz. It has 3072 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 250W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 10,220 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The L4 scores 10,153 and the Tesla M40 reaches 10,220 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.7% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The L4 is built on Ada Lovelace while the Tesla M40 uses Maxwell 2.0, both on 5 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 7,424 (L4) vs 3,072 (Tesla M40). Raw compute: 30.29 TFLOPS (L4) vs 6.832 TFLOPS (Tesla M40). Boost clocks: 2040 MHz vs 1112 MHz.

Feature	L4	Tesla M40
G3D Mark Score	10,153	10,220
Architecture	Ada Lovelace	Maxwell 2.0
Process Node	5 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	7424+142%	3072
Compute (TFLOPS)	30.29 TFLOPS+343%	6.832 TFLOPS
Boost Clock	2040 MHz+83%	1112 MHz
ROPs	80	96+20%
TMUs	240+25%	192
L1 Cache	7.5 MB+582%	1.1 MB
L2 Cache	48 MB+1500%	3 MB

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	L4	Tesla M40
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	Upscaling support
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	Standard	Standard

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards feature 8 GB of GDDR6. Bus width: 128-bit vs 256-bit. L2 Cache: 48 MB (L4) vs 3 MB (Tesla M40) — the L4 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	L4	Tesla M40
VRAM Capacity	8 GB	8 GB
Memory Type	GDDR6	GDDR6
Bus Width	128-bit	256-bit+100%
L2 Cache	48 MB+1500%	3 MB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12.2 (L4) vs 12.0 (Tesla M40). Vulkan: 1.3 vs 1.1. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.5. Maximum simultaneous displays: 0 vs 0.

Feature	L4	Tesla M40
DirectX	12.2+2%	12.0
Vulkan	1.3+18%	1.1
OpenGL	4.6+2%	4.5
Max Displays	0	0

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: 8th Gen NVENC (2x) (L4) vs NVENC 2.0 (2x) (Tesla M40). Decoder: 5th Gen NVDEC (4x) vs PureVideo HD VP6. Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9,AV1 (L4) vs MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1 (Tesla M40).

Feature	L4	Tesla M40
Encoder	8th Gen NVENC (2x)	NVENC 2.0 (2x)
Decoder	5th Gen NVDEC (4x)	PureVideo HD VP6
Codecs	MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9,AV1	MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The L4 draws 72W versus the Tesla M40's 250W — a 110.6% difference. The L4 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (L4) vs 500W (Tesla M40). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 169mm vs 267mm, occupying 1 vs 2 slots. Typical load temperature: 75°C vs 85°C.

Feature	L4	Tesla M40
TDP	72W-71%	250W
Recommended PSU	500W	500W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	PCIe-powered
Length	169mm	267mm
Height	69mm	111mm
Slots	1-50%	2
Temp (Load)	75°C-12%	85°C
Perf/Watt	141.0+245%	40.9

💰

Value Analysis

The L4 launched at $2345 MSRP, while the Tesla M40 launched at $2500. The L4 costs 6.2% less ($155 savings) on MSRP. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 4.3 (L4) vs 4.1 (Tesla M40) — the L4 offers 4.9% better value. The L4 is the newer GPU (2023 vs 2015).