AMD Radeon R9 M380 vs NVIDIA Tesla K10 Comparison

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon R9 M380 and NVIDIA Tesla K10 are both end-of-life products, but they target different workloads despite being from the same generation of silicon. The recorded data shows the Tesla K10 holds a clear performance lead in the one benchmark where both cards appear: Geekbench OpenCL. The K10 scores 14,029, which is 10.4% higher than the R9 M380’s 12,565. However, the R9 M380 is a mobile-oriented part with modern API support, while the K10 is a dual-slot compute accelerator with no display outputs. For users who need a working GPU in a laptop or a system that outputs video, the R9 M380 is the practical choice. For raw compute throughput in a workstation server, the K10 is the stronger performer. The R9 M380 also has a higher average benchmark score across all tests in the database (15,521 versus 14,029), and it sits at the 58th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the K10’s 55th percentile. That difference is driven by the R9 M380’s Geekbench Metal score of 18,476, a test the K10 does not participate in. So the verdict is: the Tesla K10 wins in raw OpenCL performance, but the R9 M380 wins in overall versatility, modern API support, and per-GPU average score. Pick the K10 for headless compute, and the R9 M380 for anything needing a display output or a laptop form factor.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K10 scores 14,029 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 10.4% higher than the AMD Radeon R9 M380’s 12,565.

Q: Does the Tesla K10 support video output?

A: No. The database lists the Tesla K10 as having “No outputs,” so it cannot drive a display. The AMD Radeon R9 M380 is not listed with a display output restriction, implying it is a standard mobile GPU with display capability.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M380 has an average benchmark score of 15,521, while the Tesla K10 averages 14,029. The R9 M380’s Geekbench Metal score of 18,476 boosts its average, since the K10 has no Metal result.

Q: How does the Tesla K10 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The K10’s average score of 14,029 is 0.9% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (14,150), 1.1% above the AMD Radeon RX 570X (13,871), 1.5% above the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (13,821), and 1.6% above the AMD Radeon 660M (13,812).

Q: How does the AMD Radeon R9 M380 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The R9 M380’s average score of 15,521 is 0.2% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (15,548), 1.0% below the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679), 1.5% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (15,290), and 1.6% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (15,283).

Q: Does the Tesla K10 have a launch MSRP?

A: Yes, the database records a launch MSRP of 5,099 USD for the Tesla K10.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon R9 M380 is built on the Strato chip, which uses the GCN 2.0 architecture. It belongs to the Gem System (R9 M300) generation. The NVIDIA Tesla K10 uses a GK104 chip, which is based on the Kepler architecture, from the Tesla Kepler (Kxx) generation. Both are manufactured by TSMC on the same 28 nm process node, but their transistor counts and die sizes differ considerably. The R9 M380 packs 2,080 million transistors into a 160 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 13.0 million per square millimeter. The Tesla K10 has 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, with a slightly lower transistor density of 12.0 million per square millimeter. That is a 70% higher transistor count for the K10, and an 83% larger die area, reflecting a more complex dual-GPU compute design.

The R9 M380 is a single-GPU mobile part, while the K10 is a dual-GPU accelerator, which explains the much larger transistor budget. The K10’s Kepler architecture is older in design intent, but it offers far more raw compute resources. The R9 M380 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Tesla K10 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. So the K10 has a slightly newer Vulkan version, but the R9 M380 has a more flexible DirectX feature level (12_0 versus 11_0). Neither GPU has ray tracing cores or tensor cores; those are not present in either architecture. Both are end-of-life products, with the R9 M380 released in 2015 and the K10 in 2012. The R9 M380’s predecessor is Solar System and its successor is Polaris Mobile. The K10’s predecessor is Tesla Fermi and its successor is Tesla Maxwell.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet shows several differences between the two cards. The R9 M380 has a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost clock of 1000 MHz, while the Tesla K10 does not have recorded base or boost clocks in the database. Memory clocks also differ: the R9 M380 runs at 1500 MHz with 6 Gbps effective speed, while the K10 runs at 1250 MHz with 5 Gbps effective speed. Both use 4 GB of GDDR5, but the bus width differs: the R9 has a 128-bit bus, and the K10 has a 256-bit bus. That gives the K10 a large memory bandwidth advantage: 160.0 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s, which is 66.7% more bandwidth.

Compute resources also favor the K10. The Tesla has 1,536 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The Radeon has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. In terms of pixel rate, the K10 achieves 23.84 GPixel/s versus 16.00 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 95.36 GTexel/s versus 48.00 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 2.289 TFLOPS for the K10, versus 1.536 TFLOPS for the R9 M380. That is a 49% advantage for the Tesla. Neither GPU has a recorded FP16 value.

The power profile is different. The Tesla K10 has a TDP of 225 W, requires 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors, and recommends a 550 W power supply. It is a dual-slot card, 272 mm (10.7 inches) long. The R9 M380 has no TDP, no slot width, no power connector, and no PSU recommendation recorded, consistent with a mobile chip that relies on the laptop’s own power delivery. The bus interface is the same for both: PCIe 3.0 x16. The K10 has no display outputs; the R9 M380’s display output list is not specified.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains one head-to-head benchmark between these two cards with the same test: Geekbench OpenCL. In that test, the NVIDIA Tesla K10 scores 14,029, and the AMD Radeon R9 M380 scores 12,565. The Tesla wins by 10.4% (the delta is recorded as -10.4% from the R9’s perspective). That is a sizable lead, and it aligns with the K10’s hardware advantage in shading units, texture units, and memory bandwidth. The K10 has exactly double the shading units (1,536 versus 768), double the TMU count (128 versus 48), double the ROPs (32 versus 16), and 66.7% more memory bandwidth. Those factors translate directly into OpenCL throughput.

However, the R9 M380 does not get outperformed in every recorded benchmark. The database also lists a Geekbench Metal score for the R9 M380: 18,476. The Tesla K10 has no Metal score, so in the Metal API (used for Apple’s graphics stack), the R9 M380 is the only card with a result. The R9’s average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 15,521, which is higher than the K10’s 14,029 by 10.6%. That is because the Metal result skews the average upward, while the K10 only has a single OpenCL result.

When comparing to their closest rivals, both cards perform within a narrow band around their respective scores. The R9 M380’s 15,521 average is nearly identical to the GTX 1080 Ti (15,548, -0.2%), the Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679, -1%), the RTX 2060 (15,290, +1.5%), and the GTX 580 (15,283, +1.6%). This puts the R9 M380 in the middle of a cluster of much newer and more expensive GPUs, which is impressive for a 2015 mobile part. The Tesla K10’s 14,029 average is also closely matched to its rivals: GTX 680 (14,150, -0.9%), Radeon RX 570X (13,871, +1.1%), RTX A2000 Mobile (13,821, +1.5%), and Radeon 660M (13,812, +1.6%). The K10 is slightly below the GTX 680, but above the other three.

The biggest win for the Tesla K10 is the OpenCL head-to-head, where it leads by 10.4%. The greatest win for the R9 M380 is its Metal score and its higher average across all benchmarks. The data also shows that the R9 M380’s single benchmark wins count is 0, and the K10 has 1 win in the head-to-head. But that single test does not capture the R9’s broader API support and higher average.

In real-world terms, the R9 M380 is a capable mobile GPU that outperforms several desktop cards from its own generation, but it cannot match the raw compute of the dual-GPU Tesla K10 in OpenCL. The K10 is a server-oriented accelerator with no display output, so it is not a drop-in replacement for anything that needs video. The R9 M380 is the only one of the two that can be used in a laptop with a screen. The K10’s power requirements (225 W TDP, 550W PSU, dual-slot, 10.7-inch length) make it a workstation card, not a consumer one. The R9 M380 has no TDP or power connector data, but as a mobile GPU it is designed to fit into a laptop’s power envelope. The launch MSRP of the K10 was 5,099 USD, a price that reflects its compute-oriented positioning. The R9 M380 has no launch MSRP recorded, consistent with it being a mobile component sold to system builders rather than as a standalone retail item.

In summary, the benchmark data shows a clear performance hierarchy on the one shared test, but the overall picture is more nuanced. The Tesla K10 is the faster compute card, but the Radeon R9 M380 is the more versatile and modern-featured GPU, with better DirectX support and a higher average across all benchmarks.