NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti vs NVIDIA Tesla C2070 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti and the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 are both Fermi-era cards, but they target entirely different workloads. The GTX 560 Ti is a consumer graphics card built on the GF114 chip, while the Tesla C2070 is a compute-oriented professional accelerator built on the larger GF100 chip. Benchmark data from Geekbench OpenCL shows a single head-to-head result: the GTX 560 Ti scores 10,690, which is 10% higher than the Tesla C2070’s 9,716. That raw score difference, however, only tells part of the story, as the two cards diverge significantly in memory capacity, power requirements, and architectural design.

Where Each One Wins

The GeForce GTX 560 Ti wins the only benchmark recorded in the data. In Geekbench OpenCL, it posts a score of 10,690 against the Tesla C2070’s 9,716, a decisive 10% advantage. This win is consistent with its position among rivals: it sits at the 49th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest competitors include the AMD Radeon RX 6600S (10,629, just 0.6% behind) and the AMD Radeon Pro 450 (10,804, 1.1% ahead). The GTX 560 Ti’s victory here suggests that for OpenCL compute tasks that fit within its memory limits, it delivers more raw throughput per operation than the Tesla.

The Tesla C2070’s strengths are not reflected in the benchmark column because it loses the sole recorded test. However, its specification sheet points to where it would excel in practice. With 6 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, it offers 143.4 GB/s of bandwidth — higher than the GTX 560 Ti’s 128.3 GB/s. The Tesla also has more shading units (448 vs. 384) and more ROPs (48 vs. 32), which suggests it can handle larger data sets and higher pixel throughput. Its pixel rate is 16.07 GPixel/s, ahead of the GTX 560 Ti’s 13.17 GPixel/s. For workloads that require holding massive datasets on-card, the Tesla C2070 is the practical choice, even if its raw OpenCL score lags.

The GTX 560 Ti counters with faster memory clocks (4 Gbps effective vs. 3 Gbps effective) and a much higher texture rate (52.67 GTexel/s vs. 32.14 GTexel/s). It also has more TMUs (64 vs. 56). This makes the GTX 560 Ti better suited for texture-heavy graphics work, while the Tesla C2070’s advantage lies in memory capacity and pixel throughput.

Architecture Differences

Both cards are built on TSMC’s 40 nm process node, but they use different chips. The GTX 560 Ti uses the GF114 chip, which is part of the Fermi 2.0 architecture, while the Tesla C2070 uses the GF100 chip, the original Fermi architecture. The transistor counts reflect this: the GF100 packs 3,100 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, while the GF114 uses 1,950 million transistors on a smaller 332 mm² die. Interestingly, both have the same transistor density at 5.9M per mm², indicating that the manufacturing process is identical.

The core configurations differ in ways that shape performance. The Tesla C2070 has 448 shading units and 48 ROPs, but only 56 TMUs. The GTX 560 Ti, conversely, has 384 shading units and 32 ROPs but a higher count of 64 TMUs. This asymmetry explains the benchmark result: the GTX 560 Ti’s higher texture rate (52.67 GTexel/s vs. 32.14 GTexel/s) gives it an edge in tasks that stress texture fetching, which OpenCL workloads often do. The Tesla C2070’s higher pixel rate (16.07 GPixel/s vs. 13.17 GPixel/s) and larger ROP count suggest it is better optimized for framebuffer operations.

Memory architecture also diverges. The GTX 560 Ti uses a 256-bit bus with 1 GB of GDDR5, clocked at 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective), yielding 128.3 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla C2070 uses a 384-bit bus with 6 GB of GDDR5, clocked at 747 MHz (3 Gbps effective), yielding 143.4 GB/s. The Tesla’s memory clock is lower, but the wider bus and larger capacity compensate. Neither card supports FP16, and both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, with no Vulkan support listed. The Tesla C2070 is clearly designed for memory-bound compute tasks, while the GTX 560 Ti aims for balanced graphics performance.

Power and physical requirements also differ. The GTX 560 Ti has a 170 W TDP and requires a 450 W power supply, using two 6-pin connectors. The Tesla C2070 has a 238 W TDP and needs a 550 W power supply, using one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector. The GTX 560 Ti is shorter at 229 mm (9 inches) versus the Tesla’s 248 mm (9.8 inches). Both are dual-slot cards. The GTX 560 Ti offers two DVI outputs and one mini-HDMI 1.3a, while the Tesla C2070 has just a single DVI output, reflecting its compute-first orientation.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split. For general-purpose OpenCL compute, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti is the better performer. Its 10% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is reinforced by its higher texture rate and faster memory clock. If you are running workloads that fit within 1 GB of VRAM and benefit from high texture throughput, the GTX 560 Ti is the card to pick. It also has a lower TDP (170 W vs. 238 W) and a smaller footprint, making it easier to integrate into a standard build.

The Tesla C2070 is the choice when memory capacity is the bottleneck. Its 6 GB of VRAM is six times larger than the GTX 560 Ti’s 1 GB, and its 143.4 GB/s bandwidth exceeds the GTX 560 Ti’s 128.3 GB/s. For datasets that exceed 1 GB, the GTX 560 Ti would fail outright, while the Tesla C2070 can proceed. Its higher pixel rate and ROP count also make it more suitable for tasks that involve heavy framebuffer writes. The trade-off is a 40% higher TDP (238 W vs. 170 W) and the need for a larger power supply.

Neither card is a clear winner across all metrics. The GTX 560 Ti wins the compute benchmark and offers better texture throughput, while the Tesla C2070 wins on memory capacity, bandwidth, and pixel rate. The decision hinges on whether your workload is memory-bound or compute-bound. If it is the latter, the GTX 560 Ti’s 10% benchmark advantage makes it the sensible pick. If it is the former, the Tesla C2070’s 6 GB frame buffer is indispensable.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The GeForce GTX 560 Ti scores 10,690 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 10% higher than the Tesla C2070’s 9,716.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The GeForce GTX 560 Ti has 1,024 MB of GDDR5, while the Tesla C2070 has 6 GB of GDDR5.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The Tesla C2070 offers 143.4 GB/s, which is higher than the GTX 560 Ti’s 128.3 GB/s.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The GTX 560 Ti has a 170 W TDP and suggests a 450 W power supply. The Tesla C2070 has a 238 W TDP and suggests a 550 W power supply.

Q: Do both cards support the same APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. Neither supports Vulkan or FP16.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The Tesla C2070 has 448 shading units, compared to the GTX 560 Ti’s 384.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a decisive win for the GeForce GTX 560 Ti. The GTX 560 Ti scores 10,690, while the Tesla C2070 scores 9,716. That is a 10% delta in favor of the GTX 560 Ti. This result is notable because the Tesla C2070 has more shading units (448 vs. 384) and a wider memory bus (384-bit vs. 256-bit), yet it still loses by a double-digit margin. The GTX 560 Ti’s advantage likely comes from its higher texture rate (52.67 GTexel/s vs. 32.14 GTexel/s) and faster effective memory speed (4 Gbps vs. 3 Gbps).

Contextualizing the scores, the GTX 560 Ti’s 10,690 places it just ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6600S (10,629, +0.6%) and just behind the AMD Radeon Pro 450 (10,804, -1.1%). The Tesla C2070’s 9,716, meanwhile, sits near the NVIDIA Quadro P4000 (9,665, +0.5%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (9,780, -0.7%). This shows that the GTX 560 Ti competes with much newer hardware, while the Tesla C2070 is closer to mid-range cards from later generations.

The benchmark result is the only head-to-head data available, so it carries significant weight. It suggests that for OpenCL tasks, the GTX 560 Ti’s architecture is more efficient despite having fewer shading units and less memory bandwidth. The Tesla C2070’s higher pixel rate (16.07 GPixel/s vs. 13.17 GPixel/s) does not translate into a compute win in this test. The GTX 560 Ti’s victory is consistent with its overall percentile ranking: 49th percentile versus the Tesla’s 47th percentile. If your application relies on OpenCL performance, the data clearly favors the GTX 560 Ti.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every major specification except for process node, foundry, transistor density, and API support. Both use TSMC’s 40 nm process, with 5.9M transistors per mm². Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, and neither lists Vulkan or FP16 support.

Core architecture: The GTX 560 Ti uses the GF114 chip with 1,950 million transistors on a 332 mm² die. The Tesla C2070 uses the GF100 chip with 3,100 million transistors on a 529 mm² die. The GTX 560 Ti has 384 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Tesla C2070 has 448 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 48 ROPs.

Clocks and memory: The GTX 560 Ti’s memory runs at 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective), while the Tesla C2070’s runs at 747 MHz (3 Gbps effective). The GTX 560 Ti has 1,024 MB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 128.3 GB/s. The Tesla C2070 has 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, yielding 143.4 GB/s.

Rates and power: The GTX 560 Ti achieves 13.17 GPixel/s pixel rate and 52.67 GTexel/s texture rate, with 1,263.4 GFLOPS FP32. The Tesla C2070 achieves 16.07 GPixel/s and 32.14 GTexel/s, with 1,027.7 GFLOPS FP32. The GTX 560 Ti has a 170 W TDP and requires a 450 W PSU with two 6-pin connectors. The Tesla C2070 has a 238 W TDP and requires a 550 W PSU with one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector.

Physical and output: The GTX 560 Ti is 229 mm (9 inches) long, while the Tesla C2070 is 248 mm (9.8 inches). Both are dual-slot. The GTX 560 Ti has 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a outputs; the Tesla C2070 has only 1x DVI. The GTX 560 Ti was released on 2011-01-24 with a launch MSRP of 249 USD; the Tesla C2070 was released on 2011-07-24 with no launch MSRP listed. The GTX 560 Ti is part of the GeForce 500 generation, while the Tesla C2070 belongs to the Tesla Fermi (x20xx) generation.