NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 vs NVIDIA Tesla K10 Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla K10 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 are two end-of-life graphics cards from different eras and with different purposes, yet their benchmark scores place them remarkably close together. The data shows a single head-to-head benchmark result, the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the Tesla K10 scores 14029 against the GTX 570's 13515, giving the K10 a 3.8% advantage. This narrow margin, combined with their differing architectures and specifications, creates a nuanced comparison where the right choice depends entirely on the user's specific needs, though both are firmly outdated by modern standards.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the available benchmark data, the NVIDIA Tesla K10 is the faster card in raw compute terms. Its 3.8% lead in the Geekbench OpenCL test is modest but consistent, and its average benchmark score of 14029 places it at the 55th percentile of all GPUs, one point higher than the GTX 570's 54th percentile. For any user prioritizing sheer floating-point compute in an OpenCL workload, the K10 is the clear pick.

However, the GTX 570 is not without its own merits. While it loses the single benchmark, it does so by a small margin, and its architecture and feature set differ enough that it may be the better choice for specific legacy use cases. The GTX 570 has display outputs (2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a), whereas the Tesla K10 has no display outputs at all, making the GTX 570 the only option for anyone needing a card that can drive a monitor directly. Furthermore, the GTX 570's smaller frame buffer of 1280 MB, while less than the K10's 4 GB, is paired with a wider 320-bit memory bus, which may be advantageous in certain bandwidth-sensitive scenarios.

The verdict is split: choose the Tesla K10 for compute-only workloads where the 3.8% performance lead matters, and choose the GeForce GTX 570 for any task requiring a visual output or where its specific memory bus configuration is beneficial. Neither card is competitive in the modern landscape, as both sit near the 55th percentile and face rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 570X (scoring 13871) and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (scoring 13821) that are within a few percentage points either way.

Where Each One Wins

The Tesla K10 wins the only benchmark that was run, the Geekbench OpenCL test, with a score of 14029 against the GTX 570's 13515. This translates to a 3.8% lead, which is the entirety of its performance advantage in the data. The K10's architecture is built for compute throughput, and its numbers reflect that: it has 1536 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and a texture rate of 95.36 GTexel/s, all of which are significantly higher than the GTX 570's corresponding figures of 480 shading units, 60 TMUs, and 43.92 GTexel/s.

The GTX 570, while losing the compute benchmark, wins in the practical category of connectivity. It is the only card of the two with display outputs, offering 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a, while the K10 provides no outputs whatsoever. Additionally, the GTX 570 has a higher pixel rate at 21.96 GPixel/s compared to the K10's 23.84 GPixel/s, though this is a minor point. The GTX 570 also uses two 6-pin power connectors, whereas the K10 requires one 6-pin and one 8-pin, which may affect compatibility with older power supplies, though both cards share the same suggested PSU rating of 550 W.

In terms of memory, the K10 offers 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the GTX 570 offers 1280 MB on a 320-bit bus, providing 152.0 GB/s. The K10 has more capacity, but the GTX 570 has a wider bus, which historically favors certain memory access patterns. For raw capacity, the K10 wins; for bus width, the GTX 570 wins.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The Tesla K10 uses the GK104 chip based on the Kepler architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. This newer node allows for a smaller die size of 294 mm² despite packing 3,540 million transistors, resulting in a transistor density of 12.0M / mm². The K10's memory operates at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective), and it supports PCIe 3.0 x16.

In contrast, the GTX 570 uses the GF110 chip based on the Fermi 2.0 architecture, also from TSMC but on an older 40 nm process. This chip is much larger at 520 mm², yet contains fewer transistors at 3,000 million, giving it a lower transistor density of 5.8M / mm². The GTX 570's memory runs at 950 MHz (3.8 Gbps effective), and it uses the older PCIe 2.0 x16 interface.

These architectural differences manifest in the compute capabilities. The K10's Kepler architecture is designed for high shader throughput, with 1536 shading units and a floating-point performance of 2.289 TFLOPS. The GTX 570's Fermi 2.0 architecture, while older, is not without its strengths, but its 480 shading units and 1,405.4 GFLOPS FP32 performance are significantly lower. The K10 also leads in texture rate (95.36 vs 43.92 GTexel/s), but the GTX 570 leads in ROPs (40 vs 32), which affects pixel processing.

In terms of API support, both cards support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The K10 also supports Vulkan 1.2.175, while the GTX 570 has no Vulkan support listed. The K10's generation is "Tesla Kepler (Kxx)" with a predecessor of Tesla Fermi and a successor of Tesla Maxwell, while the GTX 570 belongs to the GeForce 500 series, succeeding the GeForce 400 and preceding the GeForce 600.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K10 is faster, scoring 14029 compared to the GTX 570's 13515, a 3.8% difference.

Q: Can either card be used for display output?

A: Only the GeForce GTX 570 has display outputs, with 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. The Tesla K10 has no outputs.

Q: What are the memory capacities of each card?

A: The Tesla K10 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the GTX 570 has 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory.

Q: Do both cards support the same APIs?

A: Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The Tesla K10 additionally supports Vulkan 1.2.175, while the GTX 570 has no Vulkan support listed.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The Tesla K10 has a transistor density of 12.0M / mm², whereas the GTX 570 has 5.8M / mm².

Q: What is the launch MSRP of each card?

A: The Tesla K10 had a launch MSRP of 5,099 USD, while the GTX 570 had a launch MSRP of 349 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only head-to-head benchmark available is the Geekbench OpenCL test. In this test, the Tesla K10 scores 14029, while the GTX 570 scores 13515. The K10 wins this test with a delta of 3.8%. This is a clear, if narrow, victory for the K10.

Looking at the percentile data, the K10's score places it at the 55th percentile of all GPUs, while the GTX 570 sits at the 54th percentile. This one-point difference in percentile ranking confirms that the K10 is slightly better positioned relative to the broader GPU landscape. The K10's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (scoring 14150, which is 0.9% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 570X (scoring 13871, which is 1.1% lower), showing that the K10 sits in a tight competitive cluster.

The GTX 570's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7770M (scoring 13536, which is 0.2% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT (scoring 13543, which is 0.2% higher), indicating that the GTX 570's performance is similarly clustered among its peers. The delta between the two cards in the head-to-head test (3.8%) is larger than the deltas between each card and its nearest rivals (all under 1.6%), which underscores that the K10's advantage over the GTX 570 is more significant than the noise in the benchmark data.

Specification Differences

The specification differences between the two cards are substantial, reflecting their different generations and design goals. The Tesla K10 is built on a 28 nm process with a 294 mm² die size and 3,540 million transistors, while the GTX 570 uses a 40 nm process with a 520 mm² die and 3,000 million transistors. The K10's transistor density is 12.0M / mm², more than double the GTX 570's 5.8M / mm².

Memory configurations differ: the K10 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth and a memory clock of 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective), while the GTX 570 has 1280 MB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus with 152.0 GB/s bandwidth and a memory clock of 950 MHz (3.8 Gbps effective). The K10 has more shading units (1536 vs 480), more TMUs (128 vs 60), but fewer ROPs (32 vs 40). The K10's pixel rate is 23.84 GPixel/s vs the GTX 570's 21.96 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 95.36 GTexel/s vs 43.92 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance is 2.289 TFLOPS for the K10 and 1,405.4 GFLOPS for the GTX 570.

The power and connectivity differ as well. The K10 has a TDP of 225 W and requires 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin power connectors, while the GTX 570 has a TDP of 219 W and uses 2x 6-pin connectors. Both cards are dual-slot and have a suggested PSU of 550 W. The K10 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the GTX 570 uses PCIe 2.0 x16. The K10 has no display outputs, while the GTX 570 has 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. The K10 is 272 mm long (10.7 inches), and the GTX 570 is 267 mm long (10.5 inches). Finally, the K10 supports Vulkan 1.2.175, while the GTX 570 does not list Vulkan support.