AMD Radeon RX 7600 vs NVIDIA Tesla K40c Comparison

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the clear winner for any general-purpose or gaming workload. In the only shared benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 7600 scores 88,051 versus 17,468 for the Tesla K40c, a delta of 80.2% in favor of AMD. That is not a close contest. The RX 7600 also supports modern APIs, has display outputs, and is an active product, while the Tesla K40c is end-of-life with no display outputs. The Tesla K40c still holds appeal only for legacy compute environments where its 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus and 288.4 GB/s bandwidth matter more than raw compute throughput, but that is a narrow use case.

Buy the RX 7600 if you need a current, active GPU with modern feature support, low power draw, and strong compute performance. Buy the Tesla K40c only if you are locked into a Kepler-era compute stack or need 12 GB of memory and a 384-bit memory interface for specific memory-bound workloads. The data does not support choosing the Tesla for speed, since the RX 7600 leads by over five times in OpenCL compute. The Tesla's percentile rank of 61 versus the RX 7600's 57 reflects the fact that the RX 7600's average benchmark score of 15,171 is dragged down by its many lower-scoring tests, while its Geekbench OpenCL score is far above the Tesla's.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras. The Tesla K40c uses NVIDIA's Kepler architecture, built on the GK180 chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 7,080 million transistors into a 561 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.6 million per square millimeter. The RX 7600 uses AMD's RDNA 3.0 architecture on the Navi 33 chip, fabricated on a 6 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 13,300 million transistors on a much smaller 204 mm² die, achieving a density of 65.2 million per square millimeter. The process advantage is stark: the RX 7600 crams nearly twice the transistors into roughly one-third of the die area.

The Tesla K40c has 2,880 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The RX 7600 has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Despite fewer shading units, the RX 7600 achieves far higher throughput because of its clocks. The Tesla runs at a 745 MHz base and 876 MHz boost, while the RX 7600 runs at 1,720 MHz base, 2,250 MHz game clock, and 2,655 MHz boost. That clock advantage translates into 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 for the RX 7600 versus 5.046 TFLOPS for the Tesla. The RX 7600 also supports FP16 at 21.75 TFLOPS (1:1), while the Tesla has no listed FP16 capability.

Memory architecture differs significantly. The Tesla uses 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 7600 uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s. The bandwidth is nearly identical, but the Tesla achieves it with a much wider bus and slower memory clock (1,502 MHz, 6 Gbps effective) versus the RX 7600's 2,250 MHz, 18 Gbps effective. The RX 7600 has 32 ray tracing cores; the Tesla has none listed. The RX 7600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The Tesla supports DirectX 12 (11_0), Vulkan 1.2.175, and OpenGL 4.6.

The Tesla is a dual-slot card with no display outputs, a 245 W TDP, and requires 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors and a 550 W suggested PSU. The RX 7600 is also dual-slot but has 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1 outputs, a 165 W TDP, a single 8-pin connector, and a 450 W suggested PSU. The RX 7600 uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the Tesla uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Physically, the Tesla is 267 mm long, while the RX 7600 is 204 mm long and 115 mm tall.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in compute workloads?

A: The RX 7600 dominates. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 88,051 versus 17,468 for the Tesla K40c, a delta of 80.2% in favor of AMD. The RX 7600 also delivers 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 compute versus 5.046 TFLOPS for the Tesla.

Q: Can the Tesla K40c be used for gaming or display output?

A: No. The Tesla K40c has no display outputs, so it cannot drive a monitor. The RX 7600 has 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1 outputs. The Tesla is also end-of-life, while the RX 7600 is an active product.

Q: How do their memory subsystems compare?

A: The Tesla has 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The bandwidth is nearly identical, but the Tesla uses a much wider bus.

Q: Which card requires less power?

A: The RX 7600 has a 165 W TDP and needs a 450 W suggested PSU with a single 8-pin connector. The Tesla K40c has a 245 W TDP, requires a 550 W suggested PSU, and uses 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connectors.

Q: What is the architectural generation gap?

A: The Tesla K40c is NVIDIA's Kepler architecture on a 28 nm process with 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die. The RX 7600 is AMD's RDNA 3.0 on a 6 nm process with 13,300 million transistors on a 204 mm² die. The RX 7600 has 32 ray tracing cores, while the Tesla has none.

Q: Does the RX 7600 support newer APIs?

A: Yes. The RX 7600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The Tesla supports DirectX 12 (11_0), Vulkan 1.2.175, and OpenGL 4.6.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA Tesla K40c | AMD Radeon RX 7600 |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Kepler | RDNA 3.0 |

| Chip | GK180 | Navi 33 |

| Process node | 28 nm | 6 nm |

| Transistors | 7,080 million | 13,300 million |

| Die size | 561 mm² | 204 mm² |

| Transistor density | 12.6M / mm² | 65.2M / mm² |

| Base clock | 745 MHz | 1,720 MHz |

| Boost clock | 876 MHz | 2,655 MHz |

| Game clock | None listed | 2,250 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1,502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) | 2,250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) |

| Memory size | 12 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory bus width | 384 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 288.4 GB/s | 288.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 2,880 | 2,048 |

| TMUs | 240 | 128 |

| ROPs | 48 | 64 |

| RT cores | None listed | 32 |

| Pixel rate | 52.56 GPixel/s | 169.9 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 210.2 GTexel/s | 339.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 5.046 TFLOPS | 21.75 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | None listed | 21.75 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 245 W | 165 W |

| Power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | 450 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display outputs | No outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1a, 3x DisplayPort 2.1 |

| DirectX support | 12 (11_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan support | 1.2.175 | 1.4 |

| Length | 267 mm (10.5 inches) | 204 mm (8 inches) |

| Height | None listed | 115 mm (4.5 inches) |

| Production status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release date | 2013-10-07 | 2023-05-24 |

| Predecessor | Tesla Fermi | Navi II |

| Successor | Tesla Maxwell | Navi IV |

| Launch MSRP | 7,699 USD | 269 USD |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL. The RX 7600 scores 88,051, while the Tesla K40c scores 17,468. The delta is 80.2% in favor of the RX 7600. That is a massive margin, more than five times the raw score. The Tesla's nearest rivals in the database, the AMD Radeon Pro 460 at 17,509 and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17,551, are both within 0.5% of its score, confirming that the Tesla sits in a much lower performance tier. The RX 7600's nearest rivals, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM at 15,199 and the AMD Radeon 680M at 15,270, are within 0.7% of its average score, but that average includes many lower-scoring tests. In the head-to-head OpenCL test, the RX 7600 is far ahead of the Tesla.

The RX 7600 also shows its strength in other benchmark categories. In Passmark G3D, it scores 16,634. In Passmark GPU Compute, it scores 8,790. It posts 3,4401 in Geekbench Vulkan and 2,310 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The Tesla has no comparable scores in these tests, so the database only records one shared benchmark. The wins tally is 0 for the Tesla and 1 for the RX 7600.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7600 wins in every measurable category. It has higher compute throughput, higher pixel rate (169.9 GPixel/s versus 52.56 GPixel/s), higher texture rate (339.8 GTexel/s versus 210.2 GTexel/s), and more than four times the FP32 performance. It also supports ray tracing, modern APIs, and display outputs. For any workload involving rendering, gaming, or general GPU compute, the RX 7600 is the superior choice.

The Tesla K40c wins only in memory capacity and bus width. It has 12 GB versus 8 GB, and a 384-bit bus versus 128-bit. Its bandwidth of 288.4 GB/s is marginally higher than the RX 7600's 288.0 GB/s. For workloads that are heavily memory-capacity-bound, such as certain large dataset processing tasks, the extra 4 GB could matter. But the RX 7600's far higher compute throughput and similar bandwidth mean the Tesla's advantage is limited to situations where the dataset simply does not fit in 8 GB.

The Tesla also has a higher percentile rank at 61 versus the RX 7600's 57, but that reflects the average benchmark score across all GPUs, and the RX 7600's average of 15,171 is pulled down by its many low-scoring legacy DirectX tests. The RX 7600's OpenCL score of 88,051 is the definitive measure, and it leaves no doubt about which card is faster. The Tesla's 2013 release date and end-of-life status further reinforce that it is a legacy part, while the RX 7600 from 2023 remains active and supported.