AMD Radeon Vega 11 vs NVIDIA Tesla K10 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark between the AMD Radeon Vega 11 and the NVIDIA Tesla K10 is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results are close. The Tesla K10 posts a score of 14,029, while the Vega 11 trails at 13,392. That is a 4.5% deficit for the AMD part—a meaningful but not overwhelming margin. In practical terms, the Tesla K10 is the faster compute device in this single head-to-head test, but the gap is narrow enough that real-world workloads could easily blur the line depending on driver optimization and memory behavior.

Looking at broader synthetic standing, the Vega 11’s average benchmark score across all its tested workloads is 14,352, which places it at the 56th percentile of all GPUs. The Tesla K10’s average is 14,029, sitting at the 55th percentile. Despite losing the head-to-head OpenCL run, the Vega 11 actually holds a higher aggregate average score—about 2.3% higher than the Tesla K10’s single result. This discrepancy highlights a key point: the Vega 11 has multiple benchmark results (Metal, OpenCL, Vulkan), and its strongest showing comes from Geekbench Metal at 17,392. That Metal score is substantially above anything the Tesla K10 can produce, since the NVIDIA card only has an OpenCL result in the data.

The Vega 11’s Vulkan score of 12,273 is its weakest result, yet even that is within 12.5% of the Tesla K10’s OpenCL score. When comparing the two GPUs on their common ground—OpenCL—the Tesla K10 wins decisively in that specific test, but the Vega 11 compensates with a superior Metal performance and a higher average across all benchmarks. The delta between the two average scores is small, but the percentile rankings confirm they are close competitors: 56th versus 55th percentile. In the nearest rival comparisons, the Vega 11 sits within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M and within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, while the Tesla K10 is within 0.9% of the GeForce GTX 680 and within 1.1% of the AMD Radeon RX 570X. This suggests both parts occupy a similar performance tier, despite their vastly different designs.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only head-to-head benchmark available?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K10 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 14,029 versus the AMD Radeon Vega 11’s 13,392, representing a 4.5% advantage for the Tesla K10.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Vega 11 have any benchmark where it outperforms the Tesla K10?

A: Yes. The Vega 11 scores 17,392 in Geekbench Metal, a result that has no direct equivalent from the Tesla K10 (which only has an OpenCL score). Additionally, the Vega 11’s average benchmark score of 14,352 is higher than the Tesla K10’s 14,029.

Q: How do their overall performance percentiles compare?

A: The AMD Radeon Vega 11 sits at the 56th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA Tesla K10 is at the 55th percentile. This makes them nearly equivalent in overall ranking, with the Vega 11 holding a marginal edge.

Q: What is the closest rival to the Tesla K10 in the data?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 is the closest, with an average score of 14,150, which is 0.9% higher than the Tesla K10. The AMD Radeon RX 570X is also close at 13,871, which is 1.1% lower.

Q: What is the closest rival to the AMD Radeon Vega 11?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN is the nearest rival, with an average score of 14,373, just 0.1% higher than the Vega 11. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 is also within 0.2%, at 14,385.

Q: Does the Tesla K10’s higher shading unit count guarantee a win in every test?

A: No. The Tesla K10 has 1,536 shading units versus the Vega 11’s 704, and it does win the OpenCL head-to-head. However, the Vega 11 still achieves a higher average benchmark score and a better Metal result, indicating that raw shading unit count is not the sole determinant of performance.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Tesla K10 is the clear winner in the OpenCL compute test, and it also holds advantages in raw throughput metrics. Its pixel rate of 23.84 GPixel/s is more than double the Vega 11’s 11.20 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 95.36 GTexel/s dwarfs the Vega 11’s 61.60 GTexel/s. The Tesla K10’s FP32 output of 2.289 TFLOPS exceeds the Vega 11’s 1.971 TFLOPS by roughly 16%. For workloads that rely heavily on OpenCL compute—such as certain scientific simulations or data-parallel tasks—the Tesla K10 is the stronger choice.

The AMD Radeon Vega 11 wins on versatility and API support. It offers DirectX 12 (12_1) support, while the Tesla K10 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0). The Vega 11 also supports Vulkan 1.3, whereas the Tesla K10 only reaches Vulkan 1.2.175. More importantly, the Vega 11 has a Geekbench Metal score of 17,392, which is its standout result and reflects strong performance in Apple’s Metal API—a domain where the Tesla K10 has no presence. The Vega 11 also has a higher average benchmark score (14,352 vs 14,029), suggesting that across a broader range of synthetic tests, it is the more balanced performer.

For gaming or general-purpose graphics, the Vega 11 is the more practical device. It is an integrated GPU (IGP) with motherboard-dependent display outputs, meaning it can drive displays directly. The Tesla K10 has no display outputs, making it a compute-only accelerator. The Vega 11’s system-shared memory architecture means it can dynamically use whatever system RAM is available, whereas the Tesla K10 is limited to its fixed 4 GB GDDR5 frame buffer. For systems where display output and memory flexibility are priorities, the Vega 11 is the obvious winner despite losing the OpenCL compute test.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs diverge sharply on nearly every hardware specification. The AMD Radeon Vega 11 is built on a 12 nm process at GlobalFoundries, while the NVIDIA Tesla K10 uses a 28 nm process at TSMC. The Vega 11 packs 4,940 million transistors into a 210 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 23.5M per mm². The Tesla K10 has 3,540 million transistors on a larger 294 mm² die, with a density of just 12.0M per mm². This makes the Vega 11 nearly twice as dense in transistor packing.

Memory configurations are fundamentally different. The Vega 11 uses system-shared memory with no dedicated VRAM, and its bandwidth is system-dependent. The Tesla K10 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla K10’s memory clock is 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective), while the Vega 11 has no dedicated memory clock.

Compute resources also differ significantly. The Tesla K10 has 1,536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Vega 11 has 704 shading units, 44 TMUs, and only 8 ROPs. The Tesla K10’s pixel rate of 23.84 GPixel/s and texture rate of 95.36 GTexel/s are both far higher than the Vega 11’s 11.20 GPixel/s and 61.60 GTexel/s. FP32 performance favors the Tesla K10 at 2.289 TFLOPS versus 1.971 TFLOPS. The Vega 11 also supports FP16 at 3.942 TFLOPS (2:1), while the Tesla K10 has no listed FP16 capability.

Power and physical requirements are starkly different. The Vega 11 has a 15 W TDP and no power connectors, making it suitable for low-power integrated systems. The Tesla K10 has a 225 W TDP, requires a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connector, and needs a 550 W suggested PSU. The Tesla K10 is a dual-slot card measuring 272 mm (10.7 inches) in length, while the Vega 11 is an IGP with no physical slot. The Tesla K10 uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface; the Vega 11 uses an IGP bus interface.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two parts is generational. The AMD Radeon Vega 11 is based on the GCN 5.0 architecture, using the Picasso chip, and is part of the Vega IGP generation. The NVIDIA Tesla K10 is based on the Kepler architecture, using the GK104 chip, and belongs to the Tesla Kepler generation. The Vega 11’s GCN 5.0 design is significantly newer, having been released in 2019, while the Tesla K10 dates back to 2012. This seven-year gap explains the process node difference: 12 nm versus 28 nm.

The Vega 11’s architecture supports a fuller feature set, including DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3, while the Tesla K10’s Kepler architecture tops out at DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. The Vega 11 also includes FP16 support at a 2:1 ratio, a feature absent from the Tesla K10’s specifications. Both parts lack ray tracing and tensor cores, but the Vega 11’s newer architecture provides better API compliance and modern feature support.

The Tesla K10’s Kepler architecture was designed for high-throughput compute in accelerators, as evidenced by its dual-slot form factor, lack of display outputs, and 225 W TDP. The Vega 11’s GCN 5.0 architecture is optimized for integrated graphics, with a 15 W TDP and system-shared memory. The transistor counts reflect different design philosophies: the Vega 11 crams more transistors (4,940 million) into a smaller die (210 mm²), while the Tesla K10 uses fewer transistors (3,540 million) on a larger die (294 mm²). The Founder’s process advantage—12 nm versus 28 nm—allows the Vega 11 to achieve higher density and lower power despite having more transistors. In terms of production status, both are end-of-life, but the Vega 11’s predecessor is GCN 3.0 IGP and its successor is Vega II IGP, while the Tesla K10’s predecessor is Tesla Fermi and its successor is Tesla Maxwell.