GPU Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla C2070 and AMD Radeon 550X represent two very different eras of GPU design, and the benchmark data reflects a closer contest than their eight-year release gap might suggest. In the single available head-to-head benchmark, the Tesla C2070 leads the Radeon 550X, but the margins are slim and the architectural philosophies are worlds apart.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it goes to the NVIDIA Tesla C2070. The Tesla scores 9,716 points against the Radeon 550X’s 8,866, a 9.6% advantage. That is a meaningful lead, but not a dominant one; it places the Tesla at the 47th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon sits just behind at the 45th percentile. In practical terms, the data shows the older NVIDIA card holding a clear edge in raw compute workloads that leverage OpenCL.

Looking at the Radeon 550X’s Vulkan score of 8,970, it is notably higher than its own OpenCL result of 8,866. This suggests the AMD card is better optimized for modern API workloads, though no direct Vulkan comparison exists for the Tesla C2070. The Tesla’s average benchmark score is 9,716, derived solely from its OpenCL result, while the Radeon’s average is 8,918, pulled down by its slightly weaker OpenCL showing.

The nearest rivals for each card put these scores into perspective. The Tesla C2070 is essentially tied with the NVIDIA Tesla M10 (9,724, just 0.1% ahead) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (9,780, 0.7% ahead), while sitting 0.5% above the Quadro P4000 and 0.7% above the Radeon Pro WX 2100. The Radeon 550X, meanwhile, is 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 and 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M265X, but trails the GeForce GTX 660 by 1.2% and the NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition by 1.3%. The data indicates neither card is a standout in its peer group; both are mid-pack performers.

Architecture Differences

The Tesla C2070 is built on NVIDIA’s Fermi architecture, using the GF100 chip fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC. It packs 3,100 million transistors onto a 529 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 5.9 million per square millimeter. This is a large, power-hungry chip from 2011, designed for compute density rather than efficiency. Its 448 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operations pipelines are configured for heavy parallel workloads. The card runs at a memory clock of 747 MHz, effectively 3 Gbps, across a 384-bit bus, delivering 143.4 GB/s of bandwidth from 6 GB of GDDR5 memory.

The Radeon 550X, in contrast, uses AMD’s GCN 4.0 architecture on the Lexa chip, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It has 2,200 million transistors on a much smaller 103 mm² die, achieving a far higher transistor density of 21.4 million per square millimeter. This is a modern, efficiency-focused design. It has 512 shading units but only 32 TMUs and 16 ROPs, reflecting its smaller memory subsystem. Its memory runs at 1750 MHz, or 7 Gbps effective, over a 128-bit bus for 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth from just 2 GB of GDDR5. The Radeon has explicit base and boost clocks of 1082 MHz and 1218 MHz, while the Tesla lists no base or boost figures.

Power consumption tells the story of their design goals. The Tesla C2070 has a 238 W TDP, requires a 550 W suggested PSU, and needs both a 6-pin and an 8-pin power connector. The Radeon 550X sips power at a 50 W TDP, works with a 250 W suggested PSU, and needs no auxiliary power connectors at all. The Tesla also uses a PCIe 2.0 x16 interface, while the Radeon uses the newer PCIe 3.0 x8 interface. Display outputs differ too: the Tesla has a single DVI port, whereas the Radeon offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a.

API support is another generational divide. The Tesla supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support listed. The Radeon 550X supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The Radeon also lists FP16 performance at 1,247.2 GFLOPS (1:1 ratio with FP32), while the Tesla lists no FP16 capability at all. Both cards are end-of-life products, but the Tesla’s FP32 output is 1,027.7 GFLOPS against the Radeon’s 1,247.2 GFLOPS, meaning the AMD card is about 21% faster in raw single-precision math.

Where Each One Wins

The Tesla C2070 wins in the OpenCL benchmark that was run head-to-head, and its 6 GB memory capacity and 384-bit bus give it a substantial bandwidth advantage for large datasets. Its 143.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth is 28% higher than the Radeon’s 112.0 GB/s, which matters for workloads that are memory-bound rather than compute-bound. The Tesla’s 48 ROPs also outnumber the Radeon’s 16, which can help with fill-rate-heavy tasks, though its pixel rate of 16.07 GPixel/s is actually lower than the Radeon’s 19.49 GPixel/s. The texture rate follows a similar pattern: the Tesla manages 32.14 GTexel/s, while the Radeon reaches 38.98 GTexel/s.

The Radeon 550X wins in raw compute throughput, with 1,247.2 GFLOPS of FP32 performance versus the Tesla’s 1,027.7 GFLOPS. It also has Vulkan support, which the Tesla lacks entirely, making it the more future-proof choice for modern API workloads. Its 14 nm process and 50 W TDP mean it can be dropped into almost any system without power supply upgrades, and its smaller 145 mm length (5.7 inches) versus the Tesla’s 248 mm (9.8 inches) makes it far easier to fit into compact cases. The Radeon’s PCIe 3.0 x8 interface, while narrower than the Tesla’s PCIe 2.0 x16, is a newer standard with higher per-lane bandwidth.

For compute tasks that rely on OpenCL specifically, the Tesla’s 9.6% lead in the head-to-head test is the deciding factor. However, the Radeon’s Vulkan score of 8,970 suggests it would be competitive or superior in Vulkan-based workloads, and its higher FP32 rate indicates better performance in shader-heavy or general-purpose compute that scales with raw FLOPs. The Tesla’s larger memory pool could be a decisive advantage for models or datasets that exceed 2 GB, which would simply fail on the Radeon.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split: pick the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 if your priority is OpenCL compute performance and you need more than 2 GB of memory capacity. Its 9.6% lead in the head-to-head OpenCL test, combined with triple the memory of the Radeon, makes it the stronger choice for workloads that fit within its 6 GB frame buffer and rely on the older API. Its 47th percentile ranking versus the Radeon’s 45th is a small but consistent edge in the database’s overall standings.

Pick the AMD Radeon 550X if you need modern API support, higher raw FP32 throughput, or minimal power draw. The Radeon’s Vulkan 1.3 support and 1,247.2 GFLOPS of FP32 performance are genuine advantages, and its 50 W TDP means it can run in systems where the Tesla’s 238 W requirement would be prohibitive. The Radeon also offers modern display outputs, including HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4a, while the Tesla is limited to a single DVI connector. For a builder assembling a low-power system or a machine that needs to handle Vulkan-based applications, the Radeon is the practical choice despite losing the OpenCL benchmark.

Neither card is a clear winner in absolute terms. The Tesla has the benchmark victory and memory capacity; the Radeon has efficiency, modern features, and raw compute rate. The decision hinges on which of those factors matters more for your specific use case, and the data supports either choice depending on the workload.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the head-to-head OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla C2070 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 9,716 against the AMD Radeon 550X’s 8,866, a delta of 9.6%.

Q: How much faster is the Radeon 550X in FP32 compute?

A: The Radeon 550X has 1,247.2 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the Tesla C2070 has 1,027.7 GFLOPS, making the Radeon approximately 21% faster in raw single-precision throughput.

Q: Does the Tesla C2070 support Vulkan?

A: No, the Tesla C2070 lists no Vulkan support. The Radeon 550X supports Vulkan 1.3, and it scores 8,970 in the Geekbench Vulkan test.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The Tesla C2070 has 6 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus with 143.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the Radeon 550X has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 112.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do their power requirements compare?

A: The Tesla C2070 has a 238 W TDP and requires a 550 W suggested PSU with both a 6-pin and 8-pin power connector. The Radeon 550X has a 50 W TDP, requires a 250 W suggested PSU, and needs no auxiliary power connectors.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The Tesla C2070 sits at the 47th percentile, while the Radeon 550X sits at the 45th percentile, based on their average benchmark scores of 9,716 and 8,918 respectively.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA Tesla C2070 | AMD Radeon 550X |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Fermi | GCN 4.0 |

| Process Node | 40 nm | 14 nm |

| Transistors | 3,100 million | 2,200 million |

| Die Size | 529 mm² | 103 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 5.9M / mm² | 21.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | Not listed | 1082 MHz |

| Boost Clock | Not listed | 1218 MHz |

| Memory Size | 6 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 384 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 143.4 GB/s | 112.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 448 | 512 |

| TMUs | 56 | 32 |

| ROPs | 48 | 16 |

| FP32 Performance | 1,027.7 GFLOPS | 1,247.2 GFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | Not listed | 1,247.2 GFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 238 W | 50 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | 250 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | 1x DVI | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 (11_0) | 12 (12_0) |

| Vulkan Support | Not listed | 1.3 |

| Length | 248 mm (9.8 inches) | 145 mm (5.7 inches) |