AMD Radeon RX 7700S vs NVIDIA Tesla M60 Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 7700S and NVIDIA Tesla M60 represent two very different approaches to GPU design, one aimed at modern mobile gaming and the other at datacenter acceleration. The benchmark data shows a clear performance hierarchy, but the reasons behind it are rooted in a decade of architectural evolution. The RX 7700S wins both head-to-head tests, yet the Tesla M60 holds its own in specific legacy server workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most significant gap appears in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The AMD Radeon RX 7700S scores 62983, while the NVIDIA Tesla M60 scores 29506. This is a 113.5% delta, meaning the AMD part more than doubles the NVIDIA card's score. This test is heavily compute-oriented, and the RX 7700S's raw FP32 throughput of 20.48 TFLOPS versus the Tesla M60's 4.825 TFLOPS directly explains the result. The AMD card's 6 nm process node and RDNA 3.0 architecture deliver a massive generational leap in raw compute capability.

The Vulkan test narrows the gap substantially. Here, the RX 7700S scores 36380, while the Tesla M60 scores 31473, a 15.6% delta in favor of AMD. This suggests that while the AMD card is still faster, the NVIDIA card's Maxwell architecture handles Vulkan's driver overhead and draw calls relatively well. The Tesla M60's 256-bit memory bus and 2048 shading units, identical in count to the AMD card, keep it competitive in this API. However, the RX 7700S still wins, likely due to its higher clock speeds (2500 MHz boost versus 1178 MHz boost) and newer instruction set optimizations.

The overall average benchmark scores reflect this trend. The RX 7700S has an average score of 33849, placing it in the 78th percentile of all GPUs. The Tesla M60 averages 30490, which puts it in the 75th percentile. The delta between their average scores is about 11%, much smaller than the OpenCL gap suggests. This indicates that the Tesla M60's strengths in specific workloads, particularly those that use its full memory bandwidth, prevent it from being completely outclassed.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700S is significantly faster. It scores 62983 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 29506 for the NVIDIA Tesla M60, a 113.5% advantage. Its FP32 throughput of 20.48 TFLOPS is more than four times the Tesla M60's 4.825 TFLOPS.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The AMD card wins again, scoring 36380 versus 31473. This is a 15.6% delta. The Tesla M60 is more competitive here than in OpenCL, suggesting its Maxwell architecture handles Vulkan efficiently, but it cannot overcome the clock speed and architecture advantages of the newer AMD part.

Q: Are the memory configurations identical?

A: Both cards have 8 GB of memory, but the types differ. The RX 7700S uses GDDR6 with a 128-bit bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla M60 uses GDDR5 with a 256-bit bus but only 160.4 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card has much higher bandwidth despite the narrower bus.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700S is listed as Active. The NVIDIA Tesla M60 is End-of-life, with a predecessor of Tesla Kepler and a successor of Tesla Pascal.

Q: Which card has better driver API support?

A: The RX 7700S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla M60 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD card has a more modern DirectX feature level.

Q: How do the cards rank against their nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7700S is 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB and 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A5000 based on average scores. The Tesla M60 is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6700 and 1.3% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6800.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX 7700S uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 6 nm process. It is based on the Navi 33 chip, codenamed Hotpink Bonefish. This is a modern, efficient design with 13,300 million transistors packed into a 204 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 65.2M / mm². The architecture includes 32 ray tracing cores, a feature the Tesla M60 completely lacks. It also supports a 2:1 FP16 rate, offering 40.96 TFLOPS of FP16 compute.

The NVIDIA Tesla M60 uses the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 28 nm process. Its chip is the GM204, with 5,200 million transistors on a much larger 398 mm² die, giving a density of only 13.1M / mm². This is an older, less dense design. It has no ray tracing cores and no listed FP16 support. The Tesla M60 is a dual-slot card, 267 mm long, with a 1x 8-pin power connector and a 700 W suggested PSU. It has no display outputs, as it is designed for compute servers.

The AMD card is an integrated form factor (IGP), relies on portable device dependent outputs, and uses no power connectors, pulling a 100 W TDP. The NVIDIA part draws 300 W. The process node difference (6 nm versus 28 nm) is the single biggest architectural differentiator, explaining the massive efficiency and clock speed advantages of the AMD part.

Specification Differences

The clock speeds show the generational gap. The RX 7700S has a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz, with a game clock of 2200 MHz. The Tesla M60 has a base of 557 MHz and a boost of 1178 MHz. Memory clocks differ as well: 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for AMD versus 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA.

Memory bandwidth is a key difference: 288.0 GB/s for the RX 7700S versus 160.4 GB/s for the Tesla M60. The AMD card achieves this with a 128-bit bus and GDDR6, while the NVIDIA card uses a 256-bit bus with GDDR5. Both have 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, but the pixel rate and texture rate are much higher on the AMD card: 160.0 GPixel/s and 320.0 GTexel/s versus 75.39 GPixel/s and 150.8 GTexel/s, respectively.

The bus interface differs: PCIe 4.0 x16 on AMD versus PCIe 3.0 x16 on NVIDIA. The AMD card has a 100 W TDP, while the NVIDIA card has a 300 W TDP. The AMD card is listed as an IGP slot width with no power connectors, while the NVIDIA card is dual-slot with a single 8-pin connector. The release dates are far apart: January 2023 for AMD and August 2015 for NVIDIA. The AMD card has a DirectX 12 Ultimate API, while the NVIDIA card has DirectX 12 (12_1).

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7700S wins in every benchmark recorded in the database. It dominates in OpenCL compute, where its 2:1 FP16 ratio and modern shader architecture allow it to process workloads over twice as fast as the Tesla M60. It also wins in Vulkan, though by a smaller margin. For any modern gaming, ray tracing, or general compute task, the RX 7700S is unequivocally the superior choice. Its 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 20.48 TFLOPS of FP32 power make it ideal for high-resolution textures and complex rendering.

The NVIDIA Tesla M60 has no benchmark wins. However, its strengths lie in legacy server environments. Its 256-bit memory bus, while slower in total bandwidth, provides a wider path for certain data patterns. The card is end-of-life, but its Maxwell architecture is well-understood and stable in older datacenter deployments. It has no display outputs, which is a feature for headless compute nodes. The 300 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it was built for rack-mounted servers with adequate cooling, not for portable devices.

The RX 7700S, by contrast, is designed for mobility. Its 100 W TDP and IGP form factor make it suitable for laptops. It offers ray tracing cores, which the Tesla M60 cannot accelerate. For users who need a GPU that can play modern games or run recent AI workloads, the RX 7700S is the clear winner. For those maintaining an old server infrastructure based on Maxwell, the Tesla M60 remains a known quantity.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 7700S outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla M60 in every recorded test. The 113.5% lead in OpenCL and 15.6% lead in Vulkan, combined with a higher average benchmark score (33849 versus 30490), establish the RX 7700S as the faster card. Its architecture is more advanced, its clocks are significantly higher, and its memory bandwidth is nearly double.

The Tesla M60's only advantage is its legacy position. It is an end-of-life product from 2015, and its 28 nm process and Maxwell 2.0 architecture are obsolete. The 75th percentile ranking shows it is still capable, but it is no match for the 78th percentile RX 7700S.

For anyone building a new system, the choice is obvious: the RX 7700S should be selected for its performance, efficiency, and modern feature set. For those locked into a legacy Tesla Maxwell infrastructure, the M60 still functions, but it offers no performance benefit over the AMD card. The RX 7700S wins on every metric the database records, making it the definitive choice for both gaming and compute workloads. The Tesla M60 is a relic that, while functional, cannot compete with the architectural advances of RDNA 3.0.