AMD Radeon RX 7700 vs NVIDIA Tesla K20m Comparison

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded benchmark data shows a single direct comparison between the NVIDIA Tesla K20m and the AMD Radeon RX 7700, and the result is decisive. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 scores 106,028 points while the NVIDIA Tesla K20m scores 16,241 points. This represents a delta of 84.7 percent in favor of the AMD part, meaning the RX 7700 delivers more than six times the raw compute throughput in this particular workload. The margin is not subtle; it is a generational gap expressed in a single number.

Looking at the broader database context, the Tesla K20m's average benchmark score is 19,089, which places it at the 64th percentile among all GPUs tracked. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 at 19,164 (0.4 percent ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at 19,049 (0.2 percent behind), and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 at 19,036 (0.3 percent behind). These are extremely tight margins, indicating that the Tesla K20m sits in a dense cluster of mid-era performance where a few hundred points separate one product from another. The NVIDIA Quadro K6000 at 19,030 trails by just 0.3 percent, reinforcing that the K20m's performance profile is essentially indistinguishable from several contemporary workstation and consumer parts.

The AMD Radeon RX 7700, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 15,852, which lands at the 58th percentile. Its nearest rivals tell a different story: the AMD Radeon RX 9060 scores 16,014 (1 percent ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16,129 (1.7 percent ahead), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15,679 (1.1 percent behind). The AMD Radeon R9 370X is essentially tied at 15,862 (0.1 percent behind). These are again close margins, but the surrounding competition is of a much higher absolute performance class than what surrounds the Tesla K20m. The RX 7700's average score is lower than its Geekbench OpenCL result would suggest, which indicates that other workloads in the database, such as Passmark DirectX tests, pull its aggregate down.

The single head-to-head result is the only direct measurement available, and it shows a 84.7 percent win for the AMD Radeon RX 7700. No other shared test exists between these two products in the database, so the comparison must rely on that one data point plus the respective benchmark suites each card has been put through.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear verdict: the AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the superior performer in raw compute, as measured by the Geekbench OpenCL test. The 84.7 percent delta is not a marginal improvement; it is a complete overhaul of computational capability. Anyone selecting between these two cards for a workload that relies on OpenCL compute should choose the AMD part without hesitation, based strictly on the recorded numbers.

However, the verdict is not solely about peak performance. The Tesla K20m holds a higher percentile ranking, 64th versus 58th, and its average benchmark score of 19,089 exceeds the RX 7700's 15,852. This is an unusual inversion: the older card has a higher aggregate score across all its tested workloads, yet loses decisively in the one workload where both were measured. The explanation lies in the nature of the tests. The Tesla K20m was tested only in Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 16,241 and 21,936 respectively. The RX 7700 was tested across a broader range, including Passmark DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, Passmark G2D and G3D, Passmark GPU Compute, and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its Passmark scores are low in some categories, such as 92 in DirectX 10 and 96 in DirectX 12, which drag down the average despite a strong OpenCL showing.

For a user prioritizing compute density in OpenCL, the RX 7700 is the pick. For a user looking at the overall database average as a proxy for general capability, the Tesla K20m appears more balanced, but that is an artifact of limited test coverage. The head-to-head result is the most direct evidence, and it favors AMD overwhelmingly.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA Tesla K20m is built on the GK110 chip using the Kepler architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It houses 7,080 million transistors on a die size of 561 mm², yielding a transistor density of 12.6 million per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 uses the Navi 32 chip with the RDNA 3.0 architecture, also from TSMC, but on a 5 nm process. It packs 28,100 million transistors into a 346 mm² die, achieving a density of 81.2 million per square millimeter. The transistor density difference is stark: the RX 7700 crams nearly six and a half times more transistors into a smaller physical area, a direct consequence of the process node advancement from 28 nm to 5 nm.

The shading unit counts are close in absolute terms: 2,496 on the Tesla K20m versus 2,560 on the RX 7700. But the execution efficiency differs dramatically. The Tesla K20m offers 3.524 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the RX 7700 delivers 25.18 TFLOPS, a sevenfold increase. The RX 7700 also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, whereas the Tesla K20m has no listed FP16 capability. The texture and pixel rates tell a similar story: the Tesla K20m achieves 146.8 GTexel/s and 36.71 GPixel/s, while the RX 7700 reaches 393.4 GTexel/s and 236.1 GPixel/s.

The RX 7700 includes 40 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the Tesla K20m. The Tesla K20m has no RT cores and no tensor cores, reflecting its 2013-era design focus on compute rather than graphics acceleration. The RX 7700 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla K20m is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0), meaning the older card cannot leverage modern DX12 Ultimate features such as mesh shaders or variable rate shading in the same way.

Specification Differences

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The NVIDIA Tesla K20m comes with 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus, providing 208.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s. Despite the narrower bus, the RX 7700 achieves triple the bandwidth due to the faster memory clock: 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) versus 1300 MHz (5.2 Gbps effective) on the Tesla.

Clock speeds show the generational leap. The Tesla K20m lists no base or boost clock in the database, only the memory clock. The RX 7700 has a base clock of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. Power consumption is lower on the newer card: 200 W for the RX 7700 versus 225 W for the Tesla K20m, despite the massive performance advantage. Both use dual-slot coolers, and the suggested PSU is 550 W for each. The power connectors differ: the Tesla uses 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin, while the RX 7700 uses 2x 8-pin.

The bus interface is another divergence. The Tesla K20m uses PCIe 2.0 x16, while the RX 7700 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, offering four times the theoretical bandwidth for host communication. Display outputs are absent on the Tesla K20m, as it is a compute-oriented accelerator with no video outputs. The RX 7700 provides 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C. Physical dimensions are identical in length at 267 mm (10.5 inches), but the RX 7700 adds specified height of 135 mm (5.3 inches) and width of 50 mm (2 inches), while the Tesla lists only length.

The production status differs: the Tesla K20m is end-of-life, released on January 4, 2013, with a launch MSRP of 3,199 USD. The RX 7700 is active, released on September 17, 2025, and has no launch MSRP recorded. The Tesla belongs to the Tesla Kepler generation and succeeds Tesla Fermi, while the RX 7700 is part of Navi III (RX 7000) and follows Navi II.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark in the database?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 106,028 against the NVIDIA Tesla K20m's 16,241, a delta of 84.7 percent.

Q: How does the Tesla K20m's average benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Tesla K20m averages 19,089, which is 0.4 percent behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (19,164), 0.2 percent ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19,049), and 0.3 percent ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (19,036).

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The RX 7700 has 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth from 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, while the Tesla K20m has 208.0 GB/s from 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus.

Q: Does the Tesla K20m support ray tracing?

A: No, the Tesla K20m has no ray tracing cores. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 includes 40 RT cores.

Q: What are the FP32 compute figures for each card?

A: The Tesla K20m delivers 3.524 TFLOPS, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers 25.18 TFLOPS, a roughly sevenfold difference.

Q: Are both cards the same physical length?

A: Yes, both are 267 mm (10.5 inches) long. The RX 7700 also specifies height of 135 mm and width of 50 mm, while the Tesla K20m lists no height or width.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 wins decisively in the only shared benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, with an 84.7 percent advantage. That single result is enough to classify it as the compute leader between these two. Additionally, its architecture features give it wins in areas the Tesla K20m cannot contest: ray tracing cores, FP16 support, higher pixel and texture rates, more than triple the memory bandwidth, and a PCIe 4.0 interface. Its 16 GB of VRAM doubles the Tesla's 5 GB, which matters for large datasets. The RX 7700 also draws less power at 200 W versus 225 W, making it more efficient per watt despite the massive performance gap.

The NVIDIA Tesla K20m wins in areas that are less about raw speed and more about profile. It holds a higher percentile ranking, 64th versus 58th, and its average benchmark score of 19,089 exceeds the RX 7700's 15,852. This is because the Tesla was tested in only two workloads, Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, both of which produced respectable scores. The RX 7700's broader test suite includes Passmark DX10 and DX12 scores of 92 and 96, which are low enough to pull its average down. The Tesla K20m also has a narrower power connector requirement, using 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin rather than 2x 8-pin, which may be relevant in constrained power setups. Its PCIe 2.0 interface is older, but for compute workloads that do not rely on host memory transfers, that is less impactful.

For use cases, the RX 7700 is the clear choice for modern compute tasks, gaming, or any workload that leverages DirectX 12 Ultimate, ray tracing, or high-bandwidth memory access. The Tesla K20m is a legacy part with no display outputs, so it only makes sense in systems that require a Kepler-based compute accelerator and cannot accommodate a newer card. The database shows no scenario where the Tesla wins on performance; its advantages are entirely contextual, such as matching older software expectations or fitting into a specific power connector layout. The verdict is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 7700 dominates the head-to-head metric and offers superior specifications across nearly every field.