Tesla M40 vs Tesla T4

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.

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.
❌
33% HIGHER MSRP
$2,500 MSRPvs$1,880 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 4.1 vs 5.4 G3D/$ ($2,500 MSRP vs $1,880 MSRP).
❌257.1% higher power demand at 250W vs 70W.
❌58.9% longer card at 267mm vs 168mm.

Tesla T4

2018

Why buy it

✅Costs $620 less on MSRP ($1,880 MSRP vs $2,500 MSRP).
✅Delivers 32.1% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 5.4 vs 4.1 G3D/$ ($1,880 MSRP vs $2,500 MSRP).
✅Less risky long-term buy than Tesla M40: it remains the more sensible modern option while Tesla M40 is already legacy-tier future-proofing.
✅Draws 70W instead of 250W, a 180W reduction.
✅Measures 168mm instead of 267mm, a 99mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

❌Limited future-proofing: older hardware, 8 GB of VRAM, and weaker feature support mean it will age faster in upcoming AAA games.

Tesla M40

2015

Tesla T4

2018

Why buy it

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

Why buy it

✅Costs $620 less on MSRP ($1,880 MSRP vs $2,500 MSRP).
✅Delivers 32.1% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 5.4 vs 4.1 G3D/$ ($1,880 MSRP vs $2,500 MSRP).
✅Less risky long-term buy than Tesla M40: it remains the more sensible modern option while Tesla M40 is already legacy-tier future-proofing.
✅Draws 70W instead of 250W, a 180W reduction.
✅Measures 168mm instead of 267mm, a 99mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2015-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
33% HIGHER MSRP
$2,500 MSRPvs$1,880 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 4.1 vs 5.4 G3D/$ ($2,500 MSRP vs $1,880 MSRP).
❌257.1% higher power demand at 250W vs 70W.
❌58.9% longer card at 267mm vs 168mm.

Trade-offs

❌Limited future-proofing: older hardware, 8 GB of VRAM, and weaker feature support mean it will age faster in upcoming AAA games.

Quick Answers

So, is Tesla M40 better than Tesla T4?

Yes, but this is not really about a huge raw performance gap. The broader synthetic picture is also very close at 10,220 vs 10,153 in G3D Mark. The bigger reason to prefer Tesla M40 is the overall package: you are getting no meaningful modern upscaling stack.

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

Tesla T4 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer 2018 generation instead of 2015, 100.0% more ray-tracing hardware, and a 12nm 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 33.0% more expensive on MSRP at $2,500 MSRP versus $1,880 MSRP, and you are getting 0.7% higher G3D Mark. Tesla T4 really only makes sense now as a very cheap stopgap or a used-market placeholder.

When does Tesla T4 make more sense than Tesla M40?

Yes. Tesla T4 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 (70W vs 250W), future-proofing, and staying closer to $1,880 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. Tesla T4 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.

Tesla M40 Benchmark Check

Tesla T4 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Tesla M40	Tesla T4
1080p
low	151 FPS	165 FPS
medium	130 FPS	144 FPS
high	106 FPS	120 FPS
ultra	65 FPS	75 FPS
1440p
low	121 FPS	132 FPS
medium	103 FPS	110 FPS
high	76 FPS	85 FPS
ultra	47 FPS	54 FPS
4K
low	42 FPS	51 FPS
medium	38 FPS	44 FPS
high	24 FPS	32 FPS
ultra	20 FPS	27 FPS

Open Tesla M40 Open Tesla T4

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Tesla M40	Tesla T4
1080p
low	248 FPS	180 FPS
medium	214 FPS	143 FPS
high	163 FPS	119 FPS
ultra	128 FPS	103 FPS
1440p
low	173 FPS	135 FPS
medium	142 FPS	105 FPS
high	115 FPS	90 FPS
ultra	89 FPS	75 FPS
4K
low	96 FPS	79 FPS
medium	78 FPS	63 FPS
high	65 FPS	52 FPS
ultra	49 FPS	39 FPS

Open Tesla M40 Open Tesla T4

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Tesla M40	Tesla T4
1080p
low	460 FPS	457 FPS
medium	368 FPS	366 FPS
high	307 FPS	305 FPS
ultra	230 FPS	228 FPS
1440p
low	345 FPS	343 FPS
medium	276 FPS	274 FPS
high	230 FPS	228 FPS
ultra	172 FPS	171 FPS
4K
low	230 FPS	228 FPS
medium	184 FPS	183 FPS
high	153 FPS	152 FPS
ultra	115 FPS	114 FPS

Open Tesla M40 Open Tesla T4

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Tesla M40	Tesla T4
1080p
low	293 FPS	307 FPS
medium	252 FPS	265 FPS
high	210 FPS	220 FPS
ultra	163 FPS	173 FPS
1440p
low	217 FPS	226 FPS
medium	192 FPS	202 FPS
high	154 FPS	163 FPS
ultra	118 FPS	125 FPS
4K
low	120 FPS	132 FPS
medium	96 FPS	112 FPS
high	80 FPS	92 FPS
ultra	61 FPS	67 FPS

Open Tesla M40 Open Tesla T4

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Tesla M40 and Tesla T4

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.

Tesla T4

The Tesla T4 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in September 13 2018. It features the Turing architecture. The core clock ranges from 585 MHz to 1590 MHz. It has 2560 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 70W. Manufactured using 12 nm process technology. It features 40 dedicated ray tracing cores for enhanced lighting effects. G3D Mark benchmark score: 10,153 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The Tesla M40 scores 10,220 and the Tesla T4 reaches 10,153 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.7% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Tesla M40 is built on Maxwell 2.0 while the Tesla T4 uses Turing, both on 28 nm vs 12 nm. Shader units: 3,072 (Tesla M40) vs 2,560 (Tesla T4). Raw compute: 6.832 TFLOPS (Tesla M40) vs 8.141 TFLOPS (Tesla T4). Boost clocks: 1112 MHz vs 1590 MHz.

Feature	Tesla M40	Tesla T4
G3D Mark Score	10,220	10,153
Architecture	Maxwell 2.0	Turing
Process Node	28 nm	12 nm
Shading Units	3072+20%	2560
Compute (TFLOPS)	6.832 TFLOPS	8.141 TFLOPS+19%
Boost Clock	1112 MHz	1590 MHz+43%
ROPs	96+50%	64
TMUs	192+20%	160
L1 Cache	1.1 MB	2.5 MB+127%
L2 Cache	3 MB	4 MB+33%

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Tesla M40	Tesla T4
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: 256-bit vs 256-bit. L2 Cache: 3 MB (Tesla M40) vs 4 MB (Tesla T4) — the Tesla T4 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Tesla M40	Tesla T4
VRAM Capacity	8 GB	8 GB
Memory Type	GDDR6	GDDR6
Bus Width	256-bit	256-bit
L2 Cache	3 MB	4 MB+33%

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12.0 (Tesla M40) vs 12 Ultimate (Tesla T4). Vulkan: 1.1 vs 1.4. OpenGL: 4.5 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 0 vs 0.

Feature	Tesla M40	Tesla T4
DirectX	12.0	12 Ultimate
Vulkan	1.1	1.4+27%
OpenGL	4.5	4.6+2%
Max Displays	0	0

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 2.0 (2x) (Tesla M40) vs NVENC (Turing) (Tesla T4). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP6 vs NVDEC (Turing). Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1 (Tesla M40) vs H.264,H.265/HEVC,MPEG-2,VC-1,VP8,VP9 (Tesla T4).

Feature	Tesla M40	Tesla T4
Encoder	NVENC 2.0 (2x)	NVENC (Turing)
Decoder	PureVideo HD VP6	NVDEC (Turing)
Codecs	MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1	H.264,H.265/HEVC,MPEG-2,VC-1,VP8,VP9

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Tesla M40 draws 250W versus the Tesla T4's 70W — a 112.5% difference. The Tesla T4 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (Tesla M40) vs 500W (Tesla T4). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 267mm vs 168mm, occupying 2 vs 1 slots. Typical load temperature: 85°C vs 76°C.

Feature	Tesla M40	Tesla T4
TDP	250W	70W-72%
Recommended PSU	500W	500W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	PCIe-powered
Length	267mm	168mm
Height	111mm	69mm
Slots	2	1-50%
Temp (Load)	85°C	76°C-11%
Perf/Watt	40.9	145.0+255%

💰

Value Analysis

The Tesla M40 launched at $2500 MSRP, while the Tesla T4 launched at $1880. The Tesla T4 costs 24.8% less ($620 savings) on MSRP. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 4.1 (Tesla M40) vs 5.4 (Tesla T4) — the Tesla T4 offers 31.7% better value. The Tesla T4 is the newer GPU (2018 vs 2015).