AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT vs NVIDIA Tesla K80 Comparison

AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT vs NVIDIA Tesla K80: a matchup between a 2020 consumer gaming GPU and a 2014 dual-die compute accelerator. The data shows a decisive overall victory for the AMD card, which wins both shared benchmark tests by massive margins. The RX 5600 XT posts an average benchmark score of 20,713, placing it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla K80 averages 18,866, sitting in the 63rd percentile. This comparison is less about head-to-head competition and more about illustrating generational architectural progress, as the two cards target entirely different use cases and eras.

The Verdict

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT is the superior performer in every measurable shared test. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 5600 XT scores 68,537, a staggering 268.1% higher than the Tesla K80’s 18,620. In Geekbench Vulkan, the AMD card’s 56,218 beats the K80’s 19,111 by 194.2%. The RX 5600 XT wins 2 out of 2 head-to-head tests, while the K80 wins none.

For gaming or general graphics workloads, the RX 5600 XT is the only rational choice. Its 66th percentile ranking and 7.188 TFLOPS FP32 performance dwarf the K80’s 4.113 TFLOPS. The Tesla K80, however, was never designed for such tasks; it has no display outputs, making it a compute-only device. Its 12 GB of memory and 384-bit bus suggest a legacy server-side role, but its Kepler 2.0 architecture is outdated. The verdict is clear: pick the RX 5600 XT for any interactive or modern workload; the K80 only makes sense for legacy compute environments where its specific memory capacity is a requirement and performance is secondary.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 5600 XT wins in every category where data exists. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 68,537 versus 18,620 shows a 268.1% advantage in general-purpose compute. Its Vulkan score of 56,218 versus 19,111 demonstrates a 194.2% lead in modern graphics APIs. The AMD card also has a complete suite of DirectX and PassMark benchmarks, ranging from a PassMark DirectX 9 score of 202 to a PassMark G3D score of 13,457, while the K80 has no comparable data for those tests.

The Tesla K80’s only theoretical advantage is memory capacity: 12 GB versus 6 GB. This could matter for specific large-model compute tasks, but the K80’s memory bandwidth is actually lower at 240.6 GB/s compared to the RX 5600 XT’s 288.0 GB/s. The K80’s dual-GPU design (implied by its 2496 shading units across two dies) does not translate into any benchmark wins. In terms of pixel rate, the RX 5600 XT hits 99.84 GPixel/s versus the K80’s 42.85 GPixel/s. Texture rate favors AMD at 224.6 GTexel/s versus 171.4 GTexel/s. The data shows no scenario where the K80 outperforms the RX 5600 XT.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational. The RX 5600 XT uses the Navi 10 chip built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 10,300 million transistors into a 251 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 41.0M per mm². The Tesla K80 uses the GK210 chip with Kepler 2.0 architecture, built on a 28 nm process, housing 7,100 million transistors across a much larger 561 mm² die, resulting in just 12.7M transistors per mm². This density difference explains the RX 5600 XT’s massive performance lead despite fewer shading units (2304 versus 2496).

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The RX 5600 XT runs at a base of 1130 MHz, boosts to 1560 MHz, and has a game clock of 1375 MHz. The K80 crawls at 562 MHz base and 824 MHz boost. Memory technology also differs: the RX 5600 XT uses 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), while the K80 uses 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus at 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The AMD card’s PCIe 4.0 x16 interface doubles the bandwidth of the K80’s PCIe 3.0 x16. Power consumption favors AMD: 150 W TDP versus 300 W, with a suggested PSU of 450 W versus 700 W. The K80 has no display outputs, while the RX 5600 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. API support is also newer on AMD, including DirectX 12 (12_1) versus the K80’s DirectX 12 (11_1), and Vulkan 1.4 versus 1.2.175.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT averages 20,713, which is 1,847 points higher than the NVIDIA Tesla K80’s 18,866. The RX 5600 XT also ranks in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the K80’s 63rd.

Q: How much faster is the RX 5600 XT in OpenCL compute?

A: The RX 5600 XT scores 68,537 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 268.1% higher than the Tesla K80’s 18,620. This represents a more than 3.6x performance advantage in this test.

Q: Does the Tesla K80 have any advantage in memory capacity?

A: Yes, the K80 has 12 GB of memory versus the RX 5600 XT’s 6 GB. However, the RX 5600 XT has higher memory bandwidth at 288.0 GB/s versus the K80’s 240.6 GB/s, meaning the AMD card moves data faster despite having less capacity.

Q: Can the Tesla K80 output video to a display?

A: No. The Tesla K80 has no display outputs at all, making it a compute-only accelerator. The RX 5600 XT includes 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs for display connectivity.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RX 5600 XT has a 150 W TDP and requires a 450 W suggested PSU. The Tesla K80 has a 300 W TDP and requires a 700 W suggested PSU. Both use a single 8-pin power connector and are dual-slot cards.

Q: Which card is newer and what does that mean for driver support?

A: The RX 5600 XT was released on 2020-01-20, while the Tesla K80 launched on 2014-11-16. The RX 5600 XT supports newer APIs including DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the K80 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both are listed as end-of-life products.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two shared benchmark tests reveal the full extent of the RX 5600 XT’s dominance. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD card scores 68,537 against the K80’s 18,620, a delta of 268.1%. This test exercises general-purpose compute across a wide range of workloads, and the RX 5600 XT’s 7.188 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, combined with its 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, crushes the K80’s 4.113 TFLOPS and 240.6 GB/s. The K80’s higher shading unit count (2496 versus 2304) and larger 12 GB memory pool cannot compensate for its ancient 28 nm process and low 824 MHz boost clock.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 5600 XT posts 56,218 versus the K80’s 19,111, a 194.2% win. Vulkan is a modern low-level API, and the K80’s Kepler architecture lacks the optimizations present in RDNA 1.0. The RX 5600 XT’s support for Vulkan 1.4 versus the K80’s 1.2.175 contributes to this gap. The AMD card’s higher pixel rate (99.84 GPixel/s versus 42.85 GPixel/s) and texture rate (224.6 GTexel/s versus 171.4 GTexel/s) further underscore its superiority in graphics-centric tasks.

Beyond the head-to-head tests, the RX 5600 XT’s benchmark suite shows consistent strength across older APIs. Its PassMark DirectX 11 score of 96 and DirectX 12 score of 52 indicate solid legacy performance, while its PassMark G3D score of 13,457 places it well above the K80’s nearest rivals. The Tesla K80 has no data for DirectX or PassMark tests, suggesting it was not evaluated for gaming or consumer graphics workloads. The nearestRivals data confirms the K80’s position: it sits within 0.9% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 and the AMD Radeon RX 6600, both of which are far newer consumer cards. The RX 5600 XT, meanwhile, rivals the Intel Arc A750 and B570 within 0.8%. The 268.1% OpenCL and 194.2% Vulkan deltas are the definitive numbers; no other comparison is needed to determine the winner.