AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT vs NVIDIA Tesla K20m Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla K20m and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT represent two very different eras of GPU design, and the benchmark data reflects a decisive generational shift. While both cards now hold end-of-life production status, their performance profiles could not be more distinct, with the AMD part dominating the shared test suite by a wide margin.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two benchmarks where both cards have direct comparative scores are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and in both instances the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT emerges as the clear victor. In the OpenCL test, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT scores 59,467, while the Tesla K20m manages only 16,241. This represents a delta of -72.7% for the NVIDIA card, meaning the AMD solution is roughly 3.7 times faster in raw compute throughput. The gap is substantial enough to suggest that the Tesla K20m's Kepler architecture is simply outclassed in modern compute workloads.

The Vulkan results tell a similar story, though with a slightly smaller margin. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT posts 56,593, versus the Tesla K20m's 21,936, a delta of -61.2%. This is still a massive deficit for the older card, but the smaller relative gap hints that Vulkan's lower-level API access may narrow the architectural differences somewhat. It is also importantly the Tesla K20m's best absolute score comes in Vulkan, not OpenCL, which could indicate that its compute units respond well to explicit API control.

Looking at the broader benchmark context, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT shows a diverse profile across API-specific tests. It scores 12,547 in Passmark G3D, 5,787 in Passmark GPU Compute, and notably weaker results in DirectX tests, with 76 in DirectX 10, 85 in DirectX 11, 59 in DirectX 12, and 153 in DirectX 9. The 2D score of 810 suggests strong desktop composition performance. These figures do not have direct Tesla K20m counterparts in the data, but they paint a picture of a card that is more balanced across different workload types. The Tesla K20m's average benchmark score across its two tests is 19,089, while the Radeon Pro 5700 XT's average across its ten tests is 18,685, a difference of only 404 points — yet the head-to-head results show the AMD card winning both direct comparisons.

Architecture Differences

The fundamental architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast. The Tesla K20m is built on NVIDIA's Kepler architecture using the GK110 chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT uses AMD's RDNA 1.0 architecture with the Navi 10 chip, also from TSMC but on a more advanced 7 nm node. This process shrink is one of the most significant factors, allowing AMD to pack 10,300 million transistors into a 251 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 41.0M per mm². In contrast, the Tesla K20m has 7,080 million transistors on a much larger 561 mm² die, with a density of only 12.6M per mm² — less than one-third of the AMD's density.

The compute resources differ in ways that explain the performance gap. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The Tesla K20m has 2,496 shading units, 208 TMUs, and only 40 ROPs. While the shading unit counts are similar, the AMD card has significantly more ROPs and a much higher pixel rate of 95.94 GPixel/s versus 36.71 GPixel/s for NVIDIA. The texture rate also favors AMD at 239.8 GTexel/s compared to 146.8 GTexel/s. The floating-point performance is where the gap becomes most pronounced: the Radeon Pro 5700 XT delivers 7.675 TFLOPS in FP32, more than double the Tesla K20m's 3.524 TFLOPS. The AMD card also supports FP16 at 15.35 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, a feature the Tesla K20m lacks entirely.

Memory configurations also diverge sharply. The Tesla K20m uses 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus, providing 208.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s — 84.6% more bandwidth. The AMD card's memory runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), while the Tesla K20m's memory is clocked at 1300 MHz (5.2 Gbps effective). The Radeon Pro 5700 XT's base clock is 1243 MHz with a boost of 1499 MHz, whereas the Tesla K20m has no listed base or boost clocks, only its memory clock. Power consumption tells a story of efficiency too: the Tesla K20m draws 225 W and requires a 550 W suggested PSU, while the Radeon Pro 5700 XT sips 130 W with a 300 W suggested PSU. The AMD card is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors, while the Tesla K20m is a dual-slot card needing 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connectors.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT wins both head-to-head benchmarks decisively, with deltas of -72.7% and -61.2% against the Tesla K20m. If a workload relies on OpenCL or Vulkan performance, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT is the only sensible choice between these two. The AMD card also offers advantages in memory capacity (16 GB versus 5 GB), bandwidth (384.0 GB/s versus 208.0 GB/s), and raw FP32 throughput (7.675 TFLOPS versus 3.524 TFLOPS). It achieves this while consuming 95 W less power and requiring no external power connectors. The Tesla K20m does retain some theoretical advantages in TMU count (208 versus 160) and a wider memory bus (320-bit versus 256-bit), but these do not translate into benchmark victories.

That said, the nearest rivals data provides context that complicates a simple "AMD wins" verdict. The Tesla K20m's average score of 19,089 places it within 0.2% of the GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile and 0.3% of the Radeon RX 6600, with a -0.4% delta against the GeForce GTX 780. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT's average of 18,685 sits 0.3% above the Radeon RX 560X and 0.8% above the FirePro D500, but 0.6% below the GeForce RTX 2070 and 1% below the Tesla K80. Both cards occupy similar percentile positions — 64th for NVIDIA and 63rd for AMD — suggesting that while the AMD card wins this specific head-to-head, neither is a top-tier performer in the broader GPU landscape. The Tesla K20m's launch MSRP was 3,199 USD, a figure that reflects its enterprise positioning, but the Radeon Pro 5700 XT has no listed launch MSRP.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K20m has a slightly higher average benchmark score of 19,089, compared to the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT's 18,685, despite losing both head-to-head comparisons.

Q: How much faster is the Radeon Pro 5700 XT in OpenCL?

A: The AMD card scores 59,467 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the Tesla K20m's 16,241, a delta of -72.7% for the NVIDIA card, meaning AMD is approximately 3.7 times faster.

Q: Does the Tesla K20m support FP16 computations?

A: No, the Tesla K20m has no listed FP16 performance, while the Radeon Pro 5700 XT delivers 15.35 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Tesla K20m has a TDP of 225 W and suggests a 550 W PSU, while the Radeon Pro 5700 XT has a TDP of 130 W and suggests a 300 W PSU.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 XT offers 384.0 GB/s, nearly double the Tesla K20m's 208.0 GB/s, despite having a narrower 256-bit bus versus 320-bit.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No, both the NVIDIA Tesla K20m and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT are listed as end-of-life products.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT wins in every direct benchmark comparison available. Its 59,467 OpenCL score versus 16,241 for the Tesla K20m indicates dominance in compute-heavy tasks like scientific simulation or data processing. The Vulkan result of 56,593 versus 21,936 further cements its lead in cross-platform graphics workloads. The AMD card also wins on memory capacity (16 GB versus 5 GB), which could be critical for large datasets that exceed the Tesla K20m's frame buffer. Its FP32 throughput of 7.675 TFLOPS versus 3.524 TFLOPS suggests it can handle twice the mathematical operations per second. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT's higher pixel rate (95.94 GPixel/s versus 36.71 GPixel/s) and texture rate (239.8 GTexel/s versus 146.8 GTexel/s) point to advantages in rasterization-heavy scenarios.

The NVIDIA Tesla K20m's wins are more subtle and confined to specific metrics. It has more texture mapping units (208 versus 160), which could theoretically aid in texture-heavy workloads, though its lower texture rate mitigates this advantage. Its wider 320-bit memory bus provides more parallel access paths, though the GDDR5 memory type and lower bandwidth cap its utility. The Tesla K20m also has a higher average benchmark score (19,089 versus 18,685), driven by its Vulkan performance relative to its OpenCL score. For users constrained to the Kepler architecture's specific software ecosystem, the Tesla K20m's compatibility with older CUDA toolchains might be a practical consideration, though the data does not quantify this. The card's dual-slot form factor and external power connectors suggest it was designed for server installations, whereas the Radeon Pro 5700 XT's IGP design with no connectors suits integrated Mac systems.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification category. The process node is 28 nm for NVIDIA versus 7 nm for AMD, with transistor counts of 7,080 million versus 10,300 million and die sizes of 561 mm² versus 251 mm². Transistor density is 12.6M per mm² for the Tesla K20m and 41.0M per mm² for the Radeon Pro 5700 XT. The NVIDIA card has no listed base or boost clocks, while AMD lists 1243 MHz base and 1499 MHz boost. Memory speed is 1300 MHz (5.2 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for AMD. Memory capacity is 5 GB GDDR5 versus 16 GB GDDR6, with bus widths of 320-bit versus 256-bit and bandwidths of 208.0 GB/s versus 384.0 GB/s.

Compute unit counts differ: 2,496 shading units, 208 TMUs, and 40 ROPs for the Tesla K20m; 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs for the Radeon Pro 5700 XT. Pixel rates are 36.71 GPixel/s versus 95.94 GPixel/s, and texture rates are 146.8 GTexel/s versus 239.8 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 3.524 TFLOPS versus 7.675 TFLOPS, with FP16 only available on the AMD card at 15.35 TFLOPS. TDP is 225 W versus 130 W, with slot widths of dual-slot versus IGP. Power connectors are 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin for NVIDIA versus none for AMD, and suggested PSUs are 550 W versus 300 W. The bus interface is PCIe 2.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs are "No outputs" for both. The Tesla K20m measures 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length with no height or width listed, while AMD lists no dimensions. DirectX support is 12 (11_0) for NVIDIA versus 12 (12_1) for AMD, with OpenGL 4.6 for both and Vulkan 1.2.175 versus 1.4. The NVIDIA card was released on 2013-01-04, while AMD's release date is 2020-08-03.