Intel Arc B570 vs NVIDIA Tesla K80 Comparison

Intel Arc B570 vs NVIDIA Tesla K80 is a generational mismatch that shows how far GPU design has come. The Intel Arc B570, built on TSMC’s 5 nm process with the Xe2-HPG architecture, absolutely dominates the legacy NVIDIA Tesla K80, a 28 nm Kepler 2.0 compute card from 2014. Benchmark data shows a complete sweep for the Intel part, but the Tesla K80 still holds niche appeal due to its larger memory pool and compute-oriented design. This analysis draws exclusively on the provided facts.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results are stark and one-sided. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Intel Arc B570 scores 83,514, while the Tesla K80 manages only 18,620. That is a 348.5% advantage for Intel, meaning the Arc B570 delivers roughly 4.5 times the raw compute throughput in this API. The gap is even larger in Geekbench Vulkan, where the Arc B570 hits 96,844 against the Tesla K80’s 19,111, a 406.7% delta. These are not close contests; they are categorical wins for the modern architecture.

The Intel card’s average benchmark score of 20,556 places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla K80’s average of 18,866 sits at the 63rd percentile. Despite the massive per-test deltas, the percentile difference is small—only two points—because the Tesla K80 is still ranked among a broad field of older parts. Looking at nearest rivals, the Arc B570 trades blows with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (deltaPct 0.1) and the Intel Arc A750 (deltaPct -0.1), while the Tesla K80 sits near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (deltaPct 0.4) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (deltaPct -0.9). The raw scores tell the story: the Arc B570 is a contemporary mid-range performer, whereas the K80 is a relic that only competes with much older hardware.

Neither benchmark is close enough to require nuanced analysis. The Arc B570 wins both head-to-head tests, and the margin is so wide that the Tesla K80 never threatens in any scenario measured here. The Vulkan result is particularly telling, as the K80 supports only Vulkan 1.2.175 compared to the Arc B570’s Vulkan 1.4, suggesting the older card cannot even expose the same feature set. For any user prioritizing compute performance in modern APIs, this is not a competition.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc B570 wins in every benchmark category where data exists. It dominates compute workloads, as shown by its Geekbench OpenCL score of 83,514 versus 18,620, and its Geekbench Vulkan score of 96,844 versus 19,111. The Arc B570 also has a substantial lead in theoretical throughput: its FP32 performance is 11.52 TFLOPS against the Tesla K80’s 4.113 TFLOPS, and its FP16 output is 23.04 TFLOPS (2:1), a capability the Tesla K80 lacks entirely—the K80 has no listed FP16 figure. Pixel rate and texture rate follow the same pattern, with the Arc B570 at 200.0 GPixel/s and 360.0 GTexel/s versus the K80’s 42.85 GPixel/s and 171.4 GTexel/s.

The Tesla K80 does have one advantage: memory capacity. It offers 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, compared to the Arc B570’s 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus. However, the Arc B570 compensates with higher bandwidth—380.0 GB/s versus 240.6 GB/s—and faster effective memory speed at 19 Gbps versus 5 Gbps. For workloads that require holding very large datasets in VRAM, the K80’s extra 2 GB could matter, but the bandwidth penalty makes that capacity less useful in practice.

For gaming and graphics workloads, the Arc B570 is the clear choice. It has 18 ray tracing cores, a feature the Tesla K80 does not have, and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus the K80’s DirectX 12 (11_1). The Arc B570 also has display outputs—1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1—while the Tesla K80 has no outputs, meaning it cannot drive a monitor. The K80 is strictly a compute or server card, whereas the Arc B570 can serve as a desktop GPU. In short, the Arc B570 wins on compute, graphics, and features; the K80 only wins on raw memory size.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is immense. The Intel Arc B570 uses the BMG-G21 chip built on TSMC’s 5 nm process, packing 19,600 million transistors into a 272 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 72.1M per mm². The NVIDIA Tesla K80 uses the GK210 chip on TSMC’s 28 nm process, with 7,100 million transistors on a 561 mm² die, giving a density of just 12.7M per mm². The Intel part achieves 5.7 times the transistor density, which explains its performance advantage despite having fewer shading units (2304 versus 2496) and fewer TMUs (144 versus 208). The Arc B570 compensates with far higher clocks: 2500 MHz base and boost versus the K80’s 562 MHz base and 824 MHz boost.

Memory architecture differs significantly. The Arc B570 uses 10 GB of GDDR6 with a 160-bit bus and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla K80 uses 12 GB of GDDR5 with a 384-bit bus but only 240.6 GB/s bandwidth. The K80’s wider bus is a legacy design choice, while the Arc B570’s narrower bus is paired with faster memory to achieve higher throughput. The Arc B570 also has 80 ROPs versus the K80’s 48, which boosts pixel fill rate to 200.0 GPixel/s from 42.85 GPixel/s.

Feature support is where the two diverge most sharply. The Arc B570 includes 18 RT cores for hardware ray tracing, a technology absent from the Kepler 2.0 architecture. The Arc B570 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the K80 only reaches DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. Interface and power also differ: the Arc B570 runs on PCIe 4.0 x8 with a 150 W TDP and a 450 W suggested PSU, whereas the K80 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 with a 300 W TDP and a 700 W suggested PSU. The Arc B570 is dual-slot with one 8-pin connector, as is the K80, but the K80 lacks any display outputs.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The Intel Arc B570, with FP32 output of 11.52 TFLOPS versus the Tesla K80’s 4.113 TFLOPS. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Arc B570 scores 83,514 against 18,620, a 348.5% lead.

Q: Does the Tesla K80 support ray tracing?

A: No. The Tesla K80 has no RT cores, while the Intel Arc B570 includes 18 RT cores.

Q: Which card can output video to a display?

A: Only the Intel Arc B570, which has 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1 outputs. The Tesla K80 has no display outputs.

Q: How do their memory capacities compare?

A: The Tesla K80 has more memory at 12 GB of GDDR5, but the Intel Arc B570 has 10 GB of faster GDDR6 with higher bandwidth (380.0 GB/s versus 240.6 GB/s).

Q: What is the power requirement difference?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has a 150 W TDP and suggests a 450 W PSU, while the Tesla K80 has a 300 W TDP and suggests a 700 W PSU.

Q: Which card is more modern in API support?

A: The Intel Arc B570, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, versus the Tesla K80’s DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.175.

Specification Differences

| Specification | Intel Arc B570 | NVIDIA Tesla K80 |

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

| Chip | BMG-G21 | GK210 |

| Architecture | Xe2-HPG | Kepler 2.0 |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 19,600 million | 7,100 million |

| Die Size | 272 mm² | 561 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 72.1M / mm² | 12.7M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 2500 MHz | 562 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2500 MHz | 824 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) | 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 10 GB | 12 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 160 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 380.0 GB/s | 240.6 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2304 | 2496 |

| TMUs | 144 | 208 |

| ROPs | 80 | 48 |

| RT Cores | 18 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 200.0 GPixel/s | 42.85 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 360.0 GTexel/s | 171.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 11.52 TFLOPS | 4.113 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 23.04 TFLOPS (2:1) | None |

| TDP | 150 W | 300 W |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | 700 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

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

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (11_1) |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.2.175 |

| Production Status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release Date | 2025-01-15 | 2014-11-16 |

| Predecessor | Alchemist | Tesla Fermi |

| Successor | None | Tesla Maxwell |