AMD Radeon HD 8970M vs NVIDIA Tesla K40m Comparison

AMD Radeon HD 8970M and NVIDIA Tesla K40m are both end-of-life 28 nm parts, but they target completely different workloads. The data shows a single head-to-head benchmark result, with the AMD mobile GPU taking the win, yet the underlying specifications reveal why the Tesla K40m is a vastly different product. The Geekbench OpenCL score for the AMD Radeon HD 8970M is 21,237, placing it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA Tesla K40m scores 19,885, sitting in the 65th percentile. The 6.8% performance delta in favor of the AMD card is notable, but the architectural and memory differences paint a more complex picture.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the AMD Radeon HD 8970M wins decisively. It scores 21,237 points against the Tesla K40m's 19,885 points, a delta of 6.8%. This puts the AMD part ahead of the NVIDIA card in raw compute throughput for this specific workload. The AMD card's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL at 21,153 points (0.4% behind) and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile at 21,379 points (0.7% ahead), showing it sits in a tight performance cluster. The Tesla K40m, meanwhile, is bracketed by the AMD FirePro W7000 at 19,905 points (0.1% behind) and the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT at 19,765 points (0.6% ahead), indicating its score is competitive with those workstation and desktop parts.

The 6.8% delta is significant in a benchmark environment, but it is not a landslide. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M achieves this with 1,280 shading units and a boost clock of 900 MHz, producing 2.304 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The Tesla K40m, despite having more than double the shading units at 2,880, operates at a lower boost clock of 876 MHz and still manages 5.046 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The higher theoretical throughput of the Tesla K40m does not translate to a higher Geekbench OpenCL score, which suggests the benchmark favors the AMD architecture's efficiency or its memory subsystem in this particular test. The AMD card's pixel rate is 28.80 GPixel/s and texture rate is 72.00 GTexel/s, while the Tesla K40m posts 52.56 GPixel/s and 210.2 GTexel/s respectively, yet these advantages do not show up in the OpenCL result.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 8970M wins the only head-to-head benchmark, giving it a clear victory in this synthetic OpenCL test. Its 6.8% lead over the Tesla K40m suggests that for applications relying on OpenCL compute, the AMD card delivers better raw results per the data. The AMD part also has a higher boost clock at 900 MHz versus 876 MHz, and a higher memory clock at 4.8 Gbps effective versus 6 Gbps effective, though the Tesla K40m compensates with a wider 384-bit bus. The AMD card's smaller 4 GB frame buffer may be sufficient for many tasks, but the Tesla K40m's 12 GB capacity is a massive advantage for large datasets that exceed 4 GB.

The NVIDIA Tesla K40m wins on sheer specifications. It has 2,880 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, compared to the AMD card's 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. This translates to a 52.56 GPixel/s pixel rate and 210.2 GTexel/s texture rate, both far higher than the AMD part's 28.80 GPixel/s and 72.00 GTexel/s. The Tesla K40m's FP32 performance is 5.046 TFLOPS, more than double the AMD card's 2.304 TFLOPS. Memory bandwidth is another clear win: the Tesla K40m offers 288.4 GB/s over a 384-bit bus, versus 153.6 GB/s over a 256-bit bus on the AMD card. For workloads that are bandwidth-bound or require massive memory allocation, the Tesla K40m is the obvious choice based on these numbers.

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon HD 8970M is the winner in the available benchmark, and that is the data you cannot ignore. If your application is measured by Geekbench OpenCL scores, the AMD card delivers a 6.8% performance advantage over the Tesla K40m. The AMD part also carries a lower TDP of 100 W versus 245 W, making it a more power-efficient option for portable or constrained systems. Its MXM Module form factor is designed for laptops, so it fits a mobile use case that the Tesla K40m cannot serve. The Tesla K40m, by contrast, is a dual-slot card with no display outputs, requiring a 550 W suggested PSU and a 267 mm (10.5 inches) length, indicating it is meant for a desktop workstation or server chassis.

Who should pick the AMD Radeon HD 8970M? Anyone running OpenCL workloads on a mobile platform where the 100 W power envelope and MXM slot are available, and where the 4 GB memory is sufficient. The benchmark data shows it outperforms the Tesla K40m in this specific test, so for compute tasks that fit within its memory limits, it offers better performance per the numbers. Who should pick the NVIDIA Tesla K40m? Anyone needing 12 GB of memory, 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth, or 5.046 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The benchmark deficit is real but modest at 6.8%, and the Tesla K40m's massive memory capacity and higher theoretical throughput make it the better choice for large-scale compute tasks that cannot fit in 4 GB. It also supports Vulkan 1.2.175 versus the AMD card's 1.2.170, a minor API version advantage.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21,237, which is 6.8% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla K40m's 19,885.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between the two cards?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K40m has 12 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the AMD Radeon HD 8970M has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory.

Q: How do the FP32 compute performances compare?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K40m delivers 5.046 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, more than double the AMD Radeon HD 8970M's 2.304 TFLOPS.

Q: What are the TDP ratings for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8970M has a TDP of 100 W, and the NVIDIA Tesla K40m has a TDP of 245 W.

Q: Which card supports a newer Vulkan version?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K40m supports Vulkan 1.2.175, while the AMD Radeon HD 8970M supports Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: Do both cards have the same process node?

A: Yes, both are manufactured on TSMC's 28 nm process, but the Tesla K40m uses 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die, while the AMD card uses 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon HD 8970M is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture with the Neptune chip, part of the Solar System generation (HD 8900M). The NVIDIA Tesla K40m uses the Kepler architecture with the GK110B chip, from the Tesla Kepler (Kxx) generation. Both are fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process, but the similarities end there. The AMD chip has 2,800 million transistors packed into a 212 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.2M per mm². The NVIDIA chip is far larger, containing 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die, with a lower density of 12.6M per mm². This reflects the Kepler design's use of many more cores, as the Tesla K40m features 2,880 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, versus the AMD card's 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs.

The memory architecture also diverges. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M uses a 256-bit bus with 4 GB of GDDR5, achieving 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla K40m widens the bus to 384-bit and doubles down with 12 GB of GDDR5, pushing bandwidth to 288.4 GB/s. Both cards support DirectX 12 (11_1) and OpenGL 4.6, but the Tesla K40m has a slightly newer Vulkan version at 1.2.175 versus 1.2.170. The AMD card has no display outputs, while the Tesla K40m is described as having "No outputs," so neither is designed for direct display connection. The AMD part is a portable MXM Module, whereas the Tesla K40m is a dual-slot card with a 267 mm (10.5 inches) length, indicating a desktop or server form factor.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every core specification. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M has a base clock of 850 MHz and a boost clock of 900 MHz, while the NVIDIA Tesla K40m runs at 745 MHz base and 876 MHz boost. The Tesla K40m's memory runs at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), while the AMD card's memory is at 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective). Shading units are 1,280 versus 2,880, TMUs are 80 versus 240, and ROPs are 32 versus 48, all favoring the Tesla K40m. Pixel rate is 28.80 GPixel/s on the AMD card and 52.56 GPixel/s on the Tesla K40m, while texture rate is 72.00 GTexel/s versus 210.2 GTexel/s.

Memory size is a major differentiator: 4 GB on the AMD card versus 12 GB on the NVIDIA card. The bus width is 256-bit versus 384-bit, and bandwidth is 153.6 GB/s versus 288.4 GB/s. FP32 compute is 2.304 TFLOPS for the AMD card and 5.046 TFLOPS for the Tesla K40m. TDP is 100 W for the AMD card and 245 W for the NVIDIA card. The AMD card is an MXM Module, while the Tesla K40m is dual-slot, with a suggested PSU of 550 W for the Tesla K40m. The Tesla K40m has a launch MSRP of 7,699 USD, while the AMD card has no listed launch MSRP. Release dates are also distinct, with the AMD card released on 2013-05-13 and the Tesla K40m on 2013-11-21.