AMD Radeon RX 580 vs NVIDIA Tesla K20c Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits cleanly between these two GPUs, and the verdict is overwhelmingly one-sided. The AMD Radeon RX 580 wins the only head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database, and it wins by a staggering margin. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RX 580 scores 37,453 against the Tesla K20c's 11,479, a delta of 226.3%. That is not a close contest; it is a generational gap expressed in raw compute throughput.

The RX 580 also holds a decisive advantage in the broader benchmark suite. Its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 12,928, while the Tesla K20c averages 11,479. That difference of roughly 1,449 points places the RX 580 in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, versus the K20c's 51st percentile. Neither card is a top-tier performer by modern standards, but the RX 580 sits measurably higher in the distribution.

Where the Tesla K20c might appear to "win" is in its original design intent: compute acceleration for professional and scientific workloads. The architecture, the GK110 chip, and the Tesla branding all point to a card built for number-crunching rather than gaming. However, the recorded data does not show any benchmark where the K20c outperforms the RX 580. The single head-to-head test is a total sweep for AMD. Even the K20c's closest rivals in the database, such as the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M, only beat it by 0.4%, which does nothing to close the gap to the RX 580.

The RX 580 wins on every measurable axis in the database: raw compute, average score, percentile ranking, and the sole direct comparison. The Tesla K20c does not win anywhere in the recorded results.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural lineages altogether, which explains the massive performance delta despite superficially similar specifications. The RX 580 uses the Polaris 20 chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The Tesla K20c uses the GK110 chip on NVIDIA's Kepler architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. That process node difference is foundational: 14 nm versus 28 nm means the RX 580's transistors are physically smaller and more efficient, allowing higher clock speeds and better power characteristics.

The transistor counts tell an interesting story. The K20c actually has more transistors: 7,080 million versus 5,700 million for the RX 580. However, the K20c spreads those transistors across a much larger die, 561 mm² versus 232 mm². The transistor density figures make the difference explicit: the RX 580 packs 24.6 million transistors per square millimeter, while the K20c manages only 12.6 million. That is nearly double the density for the AMD card, a direct consequence of the newer process node.

Memory configurations differ substantially. The RX 580 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The K20c has 5 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 320-bit bus, but it only reaches 208.0 GB/s due to its lower memory clock of 1300 MHz (5.2 Gbps effective). The RX 580's memory runs at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective), giving it the bandwidth advantage despite the narrower bus.

Compute resources are closer than the performance gap might suggest. The RX 580 has 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The K20c has 2,496 shading units, 208 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. NVIDIA's card actually has more of every resource type. Yet the RX 580 achieves 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 performance versus the K20c's 3.524 TFLOPS. The RX 580 also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (6.175 TFLOPS), while the K20c has no recorded FP16 capability. The clock speeds drive this: the RX 580 runs at 1257 MHz base and 1340 MHz boost, while the K20c has no recorded base or boost clocks in the database, suggesting they are either locked or irrelevant for its workload.

Connectivity and outputs differ as well. The RX 580 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and has display outputs: one HDMI 2.0b and three DisplayPort 1.4a. The K20c uses older PCIe 2.0 x16 and has no display outputs at all, confirming its role as a compute-only accelerator. API support also diverges: the RX 580 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The K20c supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RX 580 has a more modern API feature set.

The Verdict

The data points to a single conclusion: the AMD Radeon RX 580 is the superior card by every benchmark recorded in the database. The head-to-head Geekbench OpenCL result is not close, a 226.3% advantage for the RX 580. The average benchmark score favors the RX 580 by roughly 12.6%. The percentile ranking favors the RX 580 as well, 53rd versus 51st.

Who should pick the RX 580? Anyone running OpenCL workloads, which the database shows is the only shared test. The RX 580 also has modern API support, display outputs, and a much more efficient process node. It is the better choice for gaming, general compute, and any workload that benefits from higher memory bandwidth and FP32 throughput.

Who should pick the Tesla K20c? The database does not provide a performance reason to do so. The K20c loses the only head-to-head test and has a lower average score. Its advantages are purely architectural on paper: more shading units, more TMUs, more ROPs, and more transistors. But those advantages do not translate into benchmark wins. The K20c might appeal to someone needing a compute card with no display outputs in a specific legacy system, but the recorded data offers no performance justification.

The verdict is unambiguous: the RX 580 wins. The K20c is a relic of an older process node and architecture, and the benchmarks reflect that reality.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 580 averages 12,928 points across all recorded benchmarks, while the NVIDIA Tesla K20c averages 11,479 points.

Q: How much faster is the RX 580 in the head-to-head OpenCL test?

A: The RX 580 scores 37,453 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the K20c's 11,479, a 226.3% advantage for the AMD card.

Q: Do the K20c's higher core counts give it any benchmark advantage?

A: No. The K20c has 2,496 shading units, 208 TMUs, and 40 ROPs, all more than the RX 580, but it still loses the only recorded head-to-head benchmark by a wide margin.

Q: What memory configurations do the two cards use?

A: The RX 580 uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The K20c uses 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus with 208.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card supports newer APIs?

A: The RX 580 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, while the K20c supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: Does the Tesla K20c have display outputs?

A: No, the K20c has no display outputs, while the RX 580 includes one HDMI 2.0b and three DisplayPort 1.4a connectors.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records exactly one head-to-head benchmark between these two cards: Geekbench OpenCL. The result is a complete mismatch. The AMD Radeon RX 580 scores 37,453, while the NVIDIA Tesla K20c scores 11,479. The delta percentage of 226.3% means the RX 580 is more than three times faster in this test. OpenCL is a general-purpose compute API, and this result suggests the RX 580's combination of higher clocks, newer architecture, and better memory bandwidth overwhelms the K20c's larger core count.

The average benchmark scores reinforce the head-to-head result. The RX 580's average of 12,928 places it 0.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and 0.4% behind the GTX 1660 SUPER, according to the nearest rivals data. The K20c's average of 11,479 places it 0.4% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M and 1.3% behind the RX 7800 XT. Neither card is at the top of its peer group, but the RX 580 sits in a higher performance tier overall.

The RX 580 also has a wider benchmark portfolio in the database. It has recorded scores for 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (1,005), Geekbench Metal (45,235), Geekbench Vulkan (45,173), and multiple Passmark tests including DirectX 9 (124), DirectX 10 (46), DirectX 11 (60), DirectX 12 (43), G2D (769), G3D (8,813), and GPU Compute (3,488). The K20c has only one recorded benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL score. This disparity means the RX 580's average is based on a much broader set of workloads, while the K20c's average is a single data point.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every major specification category. The process node is the most fundamental difference: the RX 580 uses 14 nm at GlobalFoundries, while the K20c uses 28 nm at TSMC. The RX 580 has 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, for a density of 24.6 million per square millimeter. The K20c has 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die, for a density of 12.6 million per square millimeter.

Clock speeds differ significantly on the memory side. The RX 580's memory runs at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective), while the K20c's memory runs at 1300 MHz (5.2 Gbps effective). The RX 580 has no recorded base or boost clock for its core, and neither does the K20c.

Memory capacity and bandwidth favor the RX 580. The RX 580 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 256.0 GB/s. The K20c has 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus, yielding 208.0 GB/s. The RX 580 achieves higher bandwidth despite the narrower bus because of its faster memory clock.

Compute resource counts favor the K20c in raw numbers. The K20c has 2,496 shading units, 208 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. The RX 580 has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. However, the RX 580's pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s exceeds the K20c's 36.71 GPixel/s, and the RX 580's texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s exceeds the K20c's 146.8 GTexel/s. The RX 580's FP32 throughput of 6.175 TFLOPS is nearly double the K20c's 3.524 TFLOPS, and the RX 580 also has FP16 at 6.175 TFLOPS, while the K20c has no FP16 capability.

Power and connectivity also differ. The RX 580 has a TDP of 185 W with a suggested PSU of 450 W and a single 8-pin power connector. The K20c has a TDP of 225 W with a suggested PSU of 550 W and dual power connectors (one 6-pin and one 8-pin). The RX 580 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and has display outputs; the K20c uses PCIe 2.0 x16 and has no outputs. The RX 580 is 241 mm long (9.5 inches), while the K20c is 267 mm long (10.5 inches). Both are dual-slot cards. The RX 580 launched with an MSRP of 229 USD; the K20c launched with an MSRP of 3,199 USD.