AMD Radeon HD 7970M vs NVIDIA Tesla K20m Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark data splits the two cards cleanly along workload type, but only one comparison point is available in the database. The AMD Radeon HD 7970M takes the sole head-to-head victory in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 17019 against the NVIDIA Tesla K20m's 16241, a delta of 4.6% in AMD's favor. That single result means the AMD card wins the only directly comparable compute test recorded, but the NVIDIA part has its own strength in a different API path.

Looking at the broader benchmark records, the Tesla K20m appears in two tests: Geekbench OpenCL at 16241 and Geekbench Vulkan at 21936. Its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 19089. The Radeon HD 7970M has only one recorded benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL result of 17019, which also serves as its average. The Tesla K20m therefore demonstrates versatility across both OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, while the AMD part has no recorded Vulkan data whatsoever.

The percentile positioning reinforces this split. The Tesla K20m sits at the 64th percentile against all GPUs, while the Radeon HD 7970M rests at the 60th. That four-point percentile gap reflects the Tesla's higher average score, but the head-to-head OpenCL result shows the AMD part winning the specific test where both were measured. In practical terms, the Radeon HD 7970M holds the edge in the OpenCL compute path, while the Tesla K20m's advantage lies in its Vulkan capability, a path the AMD card cannot match because no Vulkan score exists in the database.

The nearest rivals for each card contextualize these numbers further. The Tesla K20m, with its average of 19089, sits within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (19164), 0.2% ahead of the GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19049), 0.3% ahead of the Radeon RX 6600 (19036), and 0.3% ahead of the Quadro K6000 (19030). The Radeon HD 7970M, averaging 17019, trails the GeForce RTX 3070 by 1.1% (17208), the Radeon RX 7600 XT by 0.4% (17083), and the GeForce GTX 690 by 0.1% (17037), while leading the Tesla M4 by 0.5% (16932). These deltas show both cards landing in competitive neighborhoods for their respective average scores, but the Tesla's neighborhood is simply higher.

The Verdict

The data supports a straightforward split based on workload and platform. For OpenCL compute tasks, the Radeon HD 7970M is the stronger choice, as its 17019 score beats the Tesla K20m's 16241 by 4.6% in the only directly comparable benchmark. That is a meaningful margin in a compute test, and it comes despite the AMD card having fewer shading units, fewer texture mapping units, fewer ROPs, and lower raw FP32 throughput.

However, the Tesla K20m deserves the nod for anyone needing Vulkan performance or a higher overall average. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 21936 is far above its own OpenCL result, and its average benchmark score of 19089 places it 12.2% above the AMD card's 17019 average. The percentile ranking agrees: 64th versus 60th. A buyer or system integrator choosing between these two end-of-life parts should pick the Radeon HD 7970M for OpenCL-centric workflows and the Tesla K20m for Vulkan-capable applications or scenarios where the higher average score matters more.

There is also the form factor consideration. The Tesla K20m is a dual-slot PCIe 2.0 x16 card with no display outputs, designed for compute servers. The Radeon HD 7970M is an MXM module with a portable-device-dependent display output, built for laptops or modular systems. The Radeon's 100 W TDP versus the Tesla's 225 W TDP also makes it the more power-conscious option, though the Tesla requires a 550 W suggested power supply and a pair of power connectors while the AMD module draws everything from the MXM slot. These physical differences matter as much as raw scores when choosing between them.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains exactly one head-to-head benchmark between these two cards: Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon HD 7970M wins with 17019 against the NVIDIA Tesla K20m's 16241, a 4.6% margin. That result is notable because the Tesla carries substantially more compute hardware on paper. The K20m has 2496 shading units, 208 texture mapping units, and 40 ROPs, while the HD 7970M has 1280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Tesla also has nearly double the FP32 throughput at 3.524 TFLOPS versus 2.176 TFLOPS, and significantly higher texture and pixel rates: 146.8 GTexel/s versus 68.00 GTexel/s, and 36.71 GPixel/s versus 27.20 GPixel/s respectively.

Yet the AMD part still wins the OpenCL test. The recorded data does not explain why, but the memory configuration may play a role. The Tesla K20m has 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus with 208.0 GB/s of bandwidth and 1300 MHz memory clock (5.2 Gbps effective). The Radeon HD 7970M has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth and 1200 MHz memory clock (4.8 Gbps effective). The Tesla has more memory and more bandwidth, so the AMD win cannot be attributed to memory capacity or throughput. The result simply stands as recorded.

The Tesla's Vulkan score of 21936, while not a head-to-head comparison, shows where the NVIDIA part pulls ahead. Without a Vulkan result for the AMD card, the database cannot confirm a direct win, but the absence of any recorded Vulkan score for the HD 7970M means the Tesla is the only one of the two with proven Vulkan performance. Its average benchmark score of 19089 versus the AMD's 17019 gives the Tesla a 12.2% overall advantage, driven entirely by that Vulkan result.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K20m, with an average benchmark score of 19089 across two recorded tests, compared to the AMD Radeon HD 7970M's 17019 from a single test.

Q: How much faster is the AMD card in OpenCL?

A: The Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the Tesla K20m's 16241, a 4.6% advantage for AMD.

Q: Does the Tesla K20m support Vulkan?

A: Yes, it records a Geekbench Vulkan score of 21936 and lists Vulkan API version 1.2.175 support.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon HD 7970M have a Vulkan score?

A: No, the database contains no Vulkan benchmark for the Radeon HD 7970M, though it does list Vulkan 1.2.170 API support.

Q: How do these cards rank against all other GPUs?

A: The Tesla K20m sits at the 64th percentile, while the Radeon HD 7970M sits at the 60th percentile.

Q: What are the closest rivals to each card by average score?

A: The Tesla K20m's nearest rivals are the GeForce GTX 780 (0.4% ahead), GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (0.2% behind), Radeon RX 6600 (0.3% behind), and Quadro K6000 (0.3% behind). The Radeon HD 7970M's nearest rivals are the GeForce RTX 3070 (1.1% ahead), Radeon RX 7600 XT (0.4% ahead), GeForce GTX 690 (0.1% ahead), and Tesla M4 (0.5% behind).

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural lineages entirely. The NVIDIA Tesla K20m uses the GK110 chip built on the Kepler architecture, part of the Tesla Kepler (Kxx) generation, fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. The AMD Radeon HD 7970M uses the Wimbledon chip built on GCN 1.0, part of the London (HD 7900M) generation, also fabricated by TSMC on 28 nm. Both use the same process node and foundry, but the transistor counts diverge sharply. The Tesla packs 7,080 million transistors onto a 561 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.6 million per square millimeter. The AMD chip contains 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, with a higher density of 13.2 million per square millimeter. The Tesla die is more than 2.6 times larger, which explains its much higher transistor budget.

The compute resources follow the die size. The Tesla K20m has 2496 shading units, 208 texture mapping units, and 40 ROPs. The Radeon HD 7970M has 1280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The Tesla leads in every category, and the resulting throughput numbers reflect that: the Tesla produces 3.524 TFLOPS of FP32, 146.8 GTexel/s of texture rate, and 36.71 GPixel/s of pixel rate. The AMD card produces 2.176 TFLOPS, 68.00 GTexel/s, and 27.20 GPixel/s. Neither card has ray tracing cores or tensor cores, and neither has a recorded FP16 value.

Memory architecture also differs. The Tesla uses 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus, with 208.0 GB/s bandwidth and a 1300 MHz memory clock (5.2 Gbps effective). The AMD card uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, with 153.6 GB/s bandwidth and a 1200 MHz memory clock (4.8 Gbps effective). The Tesla offers more capacity and higher bandwidth, a configuration suited to large compute workloads.

API support shows subtle differences. The Tesla lists DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The AMD card lists DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The DirectX feature level differs slightly, with AMD supporting 11_1 versus NVIDIA's 11_0, and the Vulkan revision is marginally newer on the NVIDIA side.

Specification Differences

The physical and power specifications set these cards far apart. The Tesla K20m carries a 225 W TDP, uses a dual-slot form factor, requires 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors, and needs a 550 W suggested power supply. It measures 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length. The Radeon HD 7970M has a 100 W TDP, comes as an MXM Module, requires no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU listed. It has no recorded dimensions. The Tesla connects via PCIe 2.0 x16, while the AMD card uses MXM-B (3.0). Display outputs also differ: the Tesla has none, while the AMD card's outputs are listed as portable device dependent.

Release timing and market positioning differ as well. The Tesla K20m launched on 2013-01-04 with a launch MSRP of 3,199 USD. The Radeon HD 7970M launched earlier, on 2012-04-23, and has no launch MSRP recorded. Both are end-of-life products. The Tesla's predecessor is Tesla Fermi and its successor is Tesla Maxwell. The AMD card's predecessor is Vancouver and its successor is Solar System.

Memory size and bandwidth are clear differentiators, with the Tesla offering 5 GB versus 2 GB, 320-bit versus 256-bit bus, and 208.0 GB/s versus 153.6 GB/s. The shading unit count, TMU count, and ROP count all favor the Tesla, as do the pixel rate, texture rate, and FP32 throughput figures. The AMD card counters with a lower TDP, a smaller die, higher transistor density, and a more compact MXM form factor. The benchmark data shows the AMD card winning the only direct compute comparison despite the NVIDIA part's hardware advantages, which makes the Radeon HD 7970M the more efficient performer in OpenCL, while the Tesla K20m holds the overall average score lead.