AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX vs NVIDIA Tesla K40c Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains a single direct comparison between the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and the NVIDIA Tesla K40c: the Geekbench OpenCL test. In that benchmark, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX scores 50,465 points, while the NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17,468 points. This yields a delta of 188.9% in favor of the AMD card, meaning the RX 7900 XTX delivers nearly three times the compute performance of the Tesla K40c in this workload.

This result is decisive, but it is worth contextualizing through each card's broader database standing. The RX 7900 XTX has an average benchmark score of 19,410 across all recorded tests, while the Tesla K40c has just one recorded score, which is also its average at 17,468. The RX 7900 XTX sits at the 64th percentile among all GPUs, whereas the Tesla K40c sits at the 61st percentile. Despite the massive OpenCL gap, the percentile difference is only 3 points, which reflects how the RX 7900 XTX's other benchmark results (including some lower DirectX scores) pull its average down relative to its peak compute output.

The nearest rivals in the database further illustrate the competitive landscape. The RX 7900 XTX's closest peers by average score are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB (19,334, a 0.4% delta), the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19,602, a -1% delta), the AMD FirePro D300 (19,637, a -1.2% delta), and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp (19,177, a 1.2% delta). The Tesla K40c's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 460 (17,509, a -0.2% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551, a -0.5% delta), the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588, a -0.7% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (17,639, a -1% delta). These groupings show that the RX 7900 XTX competes with older high-end and mid-range cards, while the Tesla K40c aligns with modern integrated graphics and entry-level discrete GPUs in average score terms.

The head-to-head data records one win for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and zero wins for the NVIDIA Tesla K40c. There is no benchmark in the database where the Tesla K40c outperforms the RX 7900 XTX.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX wins the only available head-to-head comparison, the Geekbench OpenCL test, with a 188.9% advantage. This indicates that for OpenCL compute workloads, which are common in scientific simulation, data processing, and certain rendering tasks, the RX 7900 XTX is the clear choice. Its score of 50,465 versus 17,468 suggests that the newer architecture and higher raw compute throughput translate directly into faster execution for parallel compute tasks.

The NVIDIA Tesla K40c, on the other hand, does not win any recorded benchmark against the RX 7900 XTX. However, the database shows it has its own niche: its average score of 17,468 places it within 1% of the AMD Radeon Pro 460 and AMD Radeon Pro 560, which are mobile workstation GPUs. In scenarios where those cards are used, the Tesla K40c offers comparable average performance. But against the RX 7900 XTX specifically, there is no workload category in the database where the Tesla K40c takes the lead.

For gaming-oriented workloads, the RX 7900 XTX also shows broader capability. Its PassMark DirectX 11 score is 356, DirectX 9 is 330, DirectX 10 is 166, and DirectX 12 is 131. The Tesla K40c has no DirectX benchmark scores recorded, and its API support tops out at DirectX 12 (11_0), which is an older feature level. The RX 7900 XTX supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), a substantial generational jump. For users running modern games or DirectX-based applications, the RX 7900 XTX is the only one of the two with recorded data showing functional performance in those APIs.

In compute-specific scenarios beyond OpenCL, the RX 7900 XTX records a PassMark GPU Compute score of 17,689, which is close to the Tesla K40c's entire average benchmark score. This suggests that even the RX 7900 XTX's secondary compute metric nearly matches the Tesla K40c's total recorded performance.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX scores 50,465 points, while the NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17,468 points. The RX 7900 XTX leads by 188.9%.

Q: How do the two cards compare in average benchmark score?

A: The RX 7900 XTX has an average benchmark score of 19,410 across ten recorded tests, while the Tesla K40c has an average of 17,468 from a single recorded test. The RX 7900 XTX is higher by 1,942 points.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card based on average score?

A: For the RX 7900 XTX, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB (19,334, 0.4% delta), NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19,602, -1% delta), AMD FirePro D300 (19,637, -1.2% delta), and NVIDIA TITAN Xp (19,177, 1.2% delta). For the Tesla K40c, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 460 (17,509, -0.2% delta), AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551, -0.5% delta), AMD Radeon 780M (17,588, -0.7% delta), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (17,639, -1% delta).

Q: Which card supports newer DirectX features?

A: The RX 7900 XTX supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla K40c supports DirectX 12 (11_0). The RX 7900 XTX also has recorded PassMark DirectX 10, 11, 12, and 9 scores, whereas the Tesla K40c has no recorded DirectX benchmark scores.

Q: What is the percentile ranking for each card?

A: The RX 7900 XTX ranks at the 64th percentile among all GPUs, and the Tesla K40c ranks at the 61st percentile.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the Tesla K40c wins?

A: No. The head-to-head data records one win for the RX 7900 XTX and zero wins for the Tesla K40c.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every core specification. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA Tesla K40c has 12 GB of GDDR5 memory on the same 384-bit bus width, but bandwidth is only 288.4 GB/s. Clock speeds are also far apart: the RX 7900 XTX has a base clock of 1929 MHz, a boost clock of 2498 MHz, and a game clock of 2365 MHz, with memory at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). The Tesla K40c runs at a base of 745 MHz and a boost of 876 MHz, with memory at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective).

The compute units differ sharply. The RX 7900 XTX has 6,144 shading units, 384 texture mapping units, 192 raster output units, and 96 ray tracing cores. The Tesla K40c has 2,880 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, with no ray tracing cores. Pixel and texture rates reflect this: the RX 7900 XTX achieves 479.6 GPixel/s and 959.2 GTexel/s, while the Tesla K40c achieves 52.56 GPixel/s and 210.2 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance is similarly lopsided: the RX 7900 XTX delivers 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 and 122.8 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), while the Tesla K40c delivers 5.046 TFLOPS FP32 and has no FP16 figure recorded.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The RX 7900 XTX has a TDP of 355 W, uses two 8-pin power connectors, and recommends a 750 W power supply. The Tesla K40c has a TDP of 245 W, uses one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector, and recommends a 550 W power supply. The RX 7900 XTX is 287 mm long, 110 mm tall, and 51 mm wide; the Tesla K40c is 267 mm long with no recorded height or width. Both are dual-slot cards. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RX 7900 XTX and PCIe 3.0 x16 for the Tesla K40c. Display outputs differ completely: the RX 7900 XTX has 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C, while the Tesla K40c has no display outputs. The launch MSRP for the RX 7900 XTX is 999 USD, and for the Tesla K40c it is 7,699 USD.

Architecture Differences

The architecture gap is generational. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture on the Navi 31 chip, with a codename of Plum Bonito, and belongs to the Navi III (RX 7000) generation. It is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 109.1M per mm². The NVIDIA Tesla K40c uses the Kepler architecture on the GK180 chip, belongs to the Tesla Kepler (Kxx) generation, and is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.6M per mm². The process node difference is substantial: 5 nm versus 28 nm, which explains the RX 7900 XTX's much higher transistor count on a slightly smaller die.

The RX 7900 XTX has dedicated ray tracing cores (96 of them), which the Tesla K40c lacks entirely. The RX 7900 XTX also supports Vulkan 1.4, while the Tesla K40c supports Vulkan 1.2.175. OpenGL support is identical at 4.6 for both. DirectX support differs as noted earlier: 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus 12 (11_0). The RX 7900 XTX has a successor listed as Navi IV, while the Tesla K40c lists Tesla Maxwell as its successor. The Tesla K40c's predecessor is Tesla Fermi, and the RX 7900 XTX's predecessor is Navi II. The RX 7900 XTX was released on 2022-11-02, while the Tesla K40c was released on 2013-10-07. Both are marked as end-of-life in production status.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear overall winner: the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. In the only direct benchmark comparison, it leads by 188.9% in Geekbench OpenCL. Its average benchmark score of 19,410 exceeds the Tesla K40c's 17,468, and it holds a higher percentile ranking at 64 versus 61. Across every recorded metric where both cards have data, the RX 7900 XTX is faster, often by a wide margin. The RX 7900 XTX also offers 24 GB of memory versus 12 GB, higher bandwidth, more shading units, ray tracing support, and a modern display output suite, making it suitable for both compute and graphics workloads.

The NVIDIA Tesla K40c, however, still has a role for specific users. Its 245 W TDP is lower than the RX 7900 XTX's 355 W, and its recommended power supply is 550 W versus 750 W. For systems with strict power limits or older PCIe 3.0 platforms, the Tesla K40c is the more conservative choice. Its 12 GB of GDDR5 memory and 288.4 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for many legacy compute tasks, and its average score places it within 1% of modern integrated graphics like the AMD Radeon 780M. Users who need a compute card without display outputs, as the Tesla K40c has none, may also find that acceptable for headless server deployments. But for anyone comparing the two directly with access to both, the RX 7900 XTX wins every measured category. The Tesla K40c's only advantages are lower power draw and a smaller physical footprint, neither of which compensates for a 188.9% compute deficit.