AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT vs NVIDIA Tesla K40c Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded database contains one direct benchmark comparison between the NVIDIA Tesla K40c and the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT: Geekbench OpenCL. This is a decisive result. The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT scores 46,965 points, while the NVIDIA Tesla K40c manages 17,468 points. That is a delta of 62.8% in favor of the AMD card. In practical terms, the RX 5500 XT delivers nearly three times the OpenCL compute throughput of the older Tesla part.

The NVIDIA Tesla K40c sits at the 61st percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 17,468. Its closest rivals in the database are all within a narrow band: the AMD Radeon Pro 460 averages 17,509 (0.2% ahead), the AMD Radeon Pro 560 averages 17,551 (0.5% ahead), the AMD Radeon 780M averages 17,588 (0.7% ahead), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 averages 17,639 (1% ahead). The data shows the Tesla K40c is essentially tied with those parts in OpenCL performance, trailing the fastest of them by just 1%.

The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, by contrast, records a 57th percentile placement despite its much higher OpenCL score. Its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 14,692. That average is pulled down by a wide spread of results: the card posts 54,842 in Geekbench Metal, 46,965 in Geekbench OpenCL, 44,191 in Geekbench Vulkan, and 9,083 in Passmark G3D, but only 46 in Passmark DirectX 10, 56 in Passmark DirectX 11, 40 in Passmark DirectX 12, and 133 in Passmark DirectX 9. The nearest rivals for the RX 5500 XT reflect this mixed profile: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 averages 14,747 (0.4% ahead), the NVIDIA Quadro M2000 averages 14,532 (1.1% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M averages 14,404 (2% behind), and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 averages 14,385 (2.1% behind).

The head-to-head OpenCL result is the only direct comparison available, and it is lopsided. The RX 5500 XT wins the only recorded head-to-head test, giving it 1 win against 0 for the Tesla K40c. That 62.8% delta is far larger than any of the deltas seen between either card and its nearest rivals, which suggests the two cards are not in the same performance class for this workload despite the Tesla card's higher database percentile.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split. For anyone running OpenCL compute workloads, the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is the stronger choice, and by a wide margin. Its 46,965 OpenCL score dwarfs the Tesla K40c's 17,468, a 62.8% advantage. The RX 5500 XT also offers modern API support, including DirectX 12 (12_1), Vulkan 1.4, and half-precision FP16 throughput of 10.39 TFLOPS, none of which the Tesla card can match on paper.

The NVIDIA Tesla K40c, however, retains one distinct advantage: memory capacity. It comes with 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, yielding 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth, versus the RX 5500 XT's 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus at 224.0 GB/s. For workloads that require holding large datasets in VRAM, the Tesla card's 12 GB capacity is a meaningful asset, even if its raw compute throughput is far lower.

Who should pick which? From the recorded data, a buyer prioritizing OpenCL compute performance should choose the RX 5500 XT without hesitation. A buyer with a workload that needs more than 4 GB of framebuffer and can tolerate lower compute throughput would be the only candidate for the Tesla K40c. The Tesla card also demands a 550 W suggested PSU and uses 245 W, while the RX 5500 XT asks for only 300 W and 130 W, so system power requirements favor AMD as well.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the only recorded head-to-head benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 46,965 against the NVIDIA Tesla K40c's 17,468, a delta of 62.8%.

Q: How does the NVIDIA Tesla K40c compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The Tesla K40c averages 17,468 and sits at the 61st percentile. It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 460 by 0.2%, the AMD Radeon Pro 560 by 0.5%, the AMD Radeon 780M by 0.7%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 by 1%.

Q: What is the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT's average benchmark score and percentile?

A: The RX 5500 XT records an average benchmark score of 14,692 across all tests and sits at the 57th percentile of all GPUs in the database.

Q: Does the NVIDIA Tesla K40c have more memory than the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT?

A: Yes. The Tesla K40c has 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 5500 XT has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has the higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is slightly ahead at 5.196 TFLOPS, versus 5.046 TFLOPS for the NVIDIA Tesla K40c.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Tesla K40c has a 245 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 550 W, while the RX 5500 XT has a 130 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 300 W.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification category. The NVIDIA Tesla K40c uses a GK180 chip from the Kepler architecture, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die. The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT uses a Navi 14 chip from RDNA 1.0, built on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die.

Clock speeds differ substantially. The Tesla K40c runs at a 745 MHz base and 876 MHz boost, with memory at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective). The RX 5500 XT runs at a 1607 MHz base, 1845 MHz boost, and a 1717 MHz game clock, with memory at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

Memory configurations diverge sharply. The Tesla K40c offers 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 5500 XT offers 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute unit counts also differ. The Tesla K40c has 2,880 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The RX 5500 XT has 1,408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Pixel and texture rates follow: the Tesla card produces 52.56 GPixel/s and 210.2 GTexel/s, while the RX 5500 XT produces 59.04 GPixel/s and 162.4 GTexel/s.

FP32 throughput is close, with the Tesla K40c at 5.046 TFLOPS and the RX 5500 XT at 5.196 TFLOPS. The RX 5500 XT also supports FP16 at 10.39 TFLOPS (2:1), while the Tesla K40c has no recorded FP16 figure.

Power and physical specifications differ as well. The Tesla K40c has a 245 W TDP, a dual-slot design, 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connectors, a 550 W suggested PSU, and a 267 mm length. The RX 5500 XT has a 130 W TDP, a dual-slot design, 1x 8-pin power connector, a 300 W suggested PSU, and a 180 mm length.

The Tesla K40c uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and has no display outputs. The RX 5500 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x8 and has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Architecture Differences

The architecture gap between these two cards is generational. The NVIDIA Tesla K40c belongs to the Tesla Kepler generation, using the Kepler architecture with the GK180 chip. Its predecessor is Tesla Fermi and its successor is Tesla Maxwell. The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT belongs to the Navi (RX 5000) generation, using RDNA 1.0 architecture with the Navi 1 4 chip. Its predecessor is Vega and its successor is Navi II.

The process node difference is stark: 28 nm for the Tesla K40c versus 7 nm for the RX 5500 XT. Both are fabricated by TSMC, but the transistor density reflects the node gap: 12.6M transistors per mm² for the Tesla card, and 40.5M per mm² for the AMD card. Despite having fewer total transistors (6,400 million versus 7,080 million), the RX 5500 XT packs them into a much smaller 158 mm² die compared to the Tesla's 561 mm².

API support differs. The Tesla K40c supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RX 5500 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The RX 5500 XT has no ray tracing cores or tensor cores recorded, and neither does the Tesla K40c. Neither card carries those specialized units in the database.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT wins on raw compute performance. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 46,965 is 62.8% higher than the Tesla K40c's 17,468. It also wins on power efficiency, with a 130 W TDP versus 245 W, and a suggested PSU of 300 W versus 550 W. The RX 5500 XT is smaller at 180 mm versus 267 mm, and it has modern display outputs, whereas the Tesla K40c has none. The RX 5500 XT also offers a higher boost clock (1845 MHz versus 876 MHz), higher pixel rate (59.04 GPixel/s versus 52.56 GPixel/s), and higher FP32 throughput (5.196 TFLOPS versus 5.046 TFLOPS). It supports FP16 at 10.39 TFLOPS, which the Tesla card does not.

The NVIDIA Tesla K40c wins on memory capacity and bandwidth. Its 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus provides 288.4 GB/s, versus 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus at 224.0 GB/s. It also has more shading units (2,880 versus 1,408), more TMUs (240 versus 88), more ROPs (48 versus 32), and a higher texture rate (210.2 GTexel/s versus 162.4 GTexel/s). Its database percentile is higher as well, at 61% versus 57%.

For workloads that fit within 4 GB of VRAM, the RX 5500 XT is the better performer by the only direct benchmark available. For workloads that require more than 4 GB of VRAM, the Tesla K40c's 12 GB capacity is the deciding factor, despite its lower compute scores. The data does not show a scenario where the Tesla card wins on speed; its advantage is purely capacity and bandwidth.