NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti vs NVIDIA Tesla K10 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single directly comparable benchmark between these two NVIDIA cards, and the result is decisively one-sided. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti records a score of 67,929, while the NVIDIA Tesla K10 manages 14,029. That represents a delta of 384.2%, meaning the GTX 1080 Ti delivers nearly five times the raw compute throughput in this workload. The GTX 1080 Ti wins the only head-to-head comparison, with one win and zero losses recorded.

Placing the GTX 1080 Ti in context, its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 15,548. The closest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon R9 M380 at 15,521 (a 0.2% advantage for the GTX 1080 Ti), the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 at 15,679 (a 0.8% deficit), and both the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 at 15,290 and 15,283 respectively, each sitting 1.7% behind. The GTX 1080 Ti also posts a Passmark G3D score of 18,600, a Passmark GPU Compute score of 9,632, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 40,511. Its Geekbench Metal score reaches 30,624.

The Tesla K10, by contrast, has a much slimmer benchmark footprint. Its only recorded score is that same Geekbench OpenCL result of 14,029, which also serves as its average benchmark score. Its nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 at 14,150 (0.9% ahead of the Tesla), the AMD Radeon RX 570X at 13,871 (1.1% behind), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile at 13,821 (1.5% behind), and the AMD Radeon 660M at 13,812 (1.6% behind). The Tesla K10's percentile ranking among all GPUs is 55, while the GTX 1080 Ti sits at 58, a modest gap in overall standing but a chasm in absolute performance.

The disparity is not merely incremental; it is structural. The GTX 1080 Ti's OpenCL output is more than quadruple that of the Tesla K10, and no other benchmark in the database shows the Tesla K10 winning or even coming close. For compute-oriented tasks measured by OpenCL, the GTX 1080 Ti is categorically superior.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, with an average benchmark score of 15,548, compared to the NVIDIA Tesla K10's 14,029.

Q: How much faster is the GTX 1080 Ti in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti scores 67,929 versus the Tesla K10's 14,029, a delta of 384.2% in favor of the GTX 1080 Ti.

Q: What is the Tesla K10's closest rival according to the database?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680, with an average score of 14,150, which is 0.9% ahead of the Tesla K10.

Q: What is the GTX 1080 Ti's closest rival according to the database?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M380, with an average score of 15,521, which trails the GTX 1080 Ti by only 0.2%.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: No. The GTX 1080 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the Tesla K10 supports DirectX 12 (11_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but Vulkan support differs: the GTX 1080 Ti lists Vulkan 1.4, while the Tesla K10 lists Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti ranks at the 58th percentile, while the Tesla K10 ranks at the 55th percentile.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different NVIDIA generations and are built on different process nodes. The GTX 1080 Ti uses the GP102 chip on the Pascal architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 16 nm process. The Tesla K10 uses the GK104 chip on the Kepler architecture, also from TSMC, but on a 28 nm process. This node difference is significant: the GTX 1080 Ti packs 11,800 million transistors into a die size of 471 mm², yielding a transistor density of 25.1 million transistors per square millimeter. The Tesla K10 contains 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, for a density of 12.0 million transistors per square millimeter. The GTX 1080 Ti achieves more than double the transistor density of the Tesla K10, which directly correlates with its higher compute throughput.

Memory configurations differ sharply as well. The GTX 1080 Ti carries 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, with memory clocked at 1,376 MHz (11 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s. The Tesla K10 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, with memory at 1,250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s. The GTX 1080 Ti offers nearly three times the memory bandwidth, a critical factor for memory-bound workloads.

Compute resources are also vastly different. The GTX 1080 Ti has 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 88 raster operations pipelines. The Tesla K10 has 1,536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Pixel rate on the GTX 1080 Ti is 139.2 GPixel/s versus 23.84 GPixel/s on the Tesla K10. Texture rate on the GTX 1080 Ti is 354.4 GTexel/s versus 95.36 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance tells the same story: the GTX 1080 Ti delivers 11.34 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the Tesla K10 delivers 2.289 TFLOPS. The GTX 1080 Ti also records an FP16 rate of 177.2 GFLOPS (at a 1:64 ratio), while the Tesla K10 has no recorded FP16 capability.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The GTX 1080 Ti has a TDP of 250 W with a suggested power supply of 600 W, while the Tesla K10 has a TDP of 225 W and a suggested 550 W power supply. Both are dual-slot cards and both use a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connector configuration. The GTX 1080 Ti measures 267 mm in length, 112 mm in height, and 40 mm in width. The Tesla K10 is 272 mm in length, with no recorded height or width. The GTX 1080 Ti provides display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a), while the Tesla K10 has no display outputs, reflecting its compute-oriented design.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion for most use cases: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the superior card in raw performance. Its OpenCL score is 384.2% higher than the Tesla K10's, its average benchmark score is 1,519 points higher, and it wins the only head-to-head test in the database. The GTX 1080 Ti also has a higher percentile ranking (58 versus 55) and a far larger memory subsystem, with 11 GB of GDDR5X and 484.4 GB/s bandwidth versus 4 GB of GDDR5 and 160.0 GB/s. For any compute workload measured by OpenCL, the GTX 1080 Ti is the rational choice.

The Tesla K10, however, is not without a niche. Its nearest rival in the database is the GeForce GTX 680, and it sits within a narrow band of scores: the RTX A2000 Mobile is only 1.5% behind, and the Radeon RX 570X is 1.1% behind. The Tesla K10's 28 nm Kepler architecture is older, but its 225 W TDP is lower than the GTX 1080 Ti's 250 W, and its suggested power supply is 550 W versus 600 W. For scenarios where display output is irrelevant and power draw is a strict constraint, the Tesla K10 could be considered, but the benchmark evidence shows it is dramatically outclassed in compute throughput. The GTX 1080 Ti should be the default pick for anyone prioritizing performance, while the Tesla K10 is only appropriate for legacy compute deployments where its specific power profile and lack of display outputs are acceptable.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification category. The GTX 1080 Ti uses the GP102 chip on the Pascal architecture with a 16 nm process, while the Tesla K10 uses the GK104 chip on the Kepler architecture with a 28 nm process. Transistor counts are 11,800 million versus 3,540 million, and die sizes are 471 mm² versus 294 mm². Transistor density is 25.1 million per mm² versus 12.0 million per mm².

Memory specifications diverge completely: the GTX 1080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR5X on a 352-bit bus, while the Tesla K10 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. Memory bandwidth is 484.4 GB/s versus 160.0 GB/s. The GTX 1080 Ti's memory clock is 1,376 MHz (11 Gbps effective), while the Tesla K10's is 1,250 MHz (5 Gbps effective).

Compute resources favor the GTX 1080 Ti: 3,584 shading units versus 1,536, 224 TMUs versus 128, and 88 ROPs versus 32. Pixel rate is 139.2 GPixel/s versus 23.84 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 354.4 GTexel/s versus 95.36 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 11.34 TFLOPS versus 2.289 TFLOPS. The GTX 1080 Ti has an FP16 rating of 177.2 GFLOPS; the Tesla K10 has none recorded.

Power and physical specs differ modestly: TDP is 250 W versus 225 W, suggested PSU is 600 W versus 550 W. Both use dual-slot designs and identical power connectors. The GTX 1080 Ti is 267 mm long, 112 mm high, and 40 mm wide; the Tesla K10 is 272 mm long with no recorded height or width. Display outputs exist on the GTX 1080 Ti (1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a) but not on the Tesla K10. API support differs: DirectX 12 (12_1) versus DirectX 12 (11_0), and Vulkan 1.4 versus 1.2.175, with OpenGL 4.6 on both. Release dates are March 2017 for the GTX 1080 Ti and April 2012 for the Tesla K10.