NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 vs NVIDIA Tesla M2090 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a single decisive benchmark result in this comparison: the OpenCL compute test. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 scores 15,283 points, while the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 scores 13,075 points. That gives the GTX 580 a 16.9% lead over the Tesla M2090, a substantial margin in raw compute performance. The GTX 580 wins the only head-to-head test recorded, taking 1 win versus 0 for the Tesla.

This score places the GTX 580 at the 58th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the Tesla M2090 sits at the 53rd percentile. The percentile gap is small, but the score gap is not. The GTX 580 is meaningfully ahead in this workload, and the data does not show any test where the Tesla M2090 outperforms it.

The nearest rival data reinforces the picture. The GTX 580 is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, which scores 15,290, a delta of 0%. It is also within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon 680M (15,270) and 0.6% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (15,199). The Tesla M2090, by contrast, sits close to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER, which scores 12,986, a delta of 0.7%, and is 0.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (13,189). The Tesla M2090 is also 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12,940) and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 580 (12,928). In other words, the GTX 580 competes at a much higher performance tier than the Tesla M2090, despite both cards sharing the same underlying chip.

The 16.9% delta is the headline number. It means the GTX 580 completes OpenCL workloads nearly a sixth faster than the Tesla M2090. For compute tasks that scale with raw shader throughput, that is a real advantage. The Tesla M2090 is not a slow card by the standards of its era, but in this benchmark it is clearly the slower of the two.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, with a score of 15,283 compared to the Tesla M2090's 13,075. That is a 16.9% advantage for the GTX 580.

Q: How does the GTX 580 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 580 scores 15,283, which is within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon 680M (15,270) and 0.6% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (15,199). It is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 at 15,290.

Q: Where does the Tesla M2090 rank among its nearest competitors?

A: The Tesla M2090 scores 13,075, putting it 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (12,986) and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12,940). It is 0.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (13,189).

Q: Do both cards use the same chip and architecture?

A: Yes. Both are built on the GF110 chip using the Fermi 2.0 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 40 nm process. Both have 3,000 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 5.8M per mm².

Q: What is the memory configuration of each card?

A: The GTX 580 has 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 192.4 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla M2090 has 6 GB of GDDR5 on the same 384-bit bus but with slightly lower bandwidth at 177.4 GB/s.

Q: What is the memory clock difference?

A: The GTX 580 runs its memory at 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective), while the Tesla M2090 runs at 924 MHz (3.7 Gbps effective).

Architecture Differences

Both cards are built on the same GF110 chip, the same Fermi 2.0 architecture, and the same TSMC 40 nm process. The transistor count is identical at 3,000 million, and the die size is identical at 520 mm², resulting in the same transistor density of 5.8M per mm². The shading unit count is also identical: 512 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operation units on both cards. Neither card has ray tracing cores or tensor cores.

The architectural differences are therefore not in the core design but in how the chips are configured and clocked. The GTX 580 has a higher memory clock at 1002 MHz versus 924 MHz on the Tesla M2090, and this translates into higher memory bandwidth: 192.4 GB/s versus 177.4 GB/s. The GTX 580 also has higher pixel and texture rates. Its pixel rate is 24.70 GPixel/s versus 20.83 GPixel/s on the Tesla, and its texture rate is 49.41 GTexel/s versus 41.66 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance follows the same pattern: the GTX 580 delivers 1.581 TFLOPS, while the Tesla M2090 delivers 1,332.2 GFLOPS (approximately 1.33 TFLOPS).

The Tesla M2090 compensates with a much larger memory pool: 6 GB versus 1536 MB on the GTX 580. That is four times the capacity, which matters for workloads that need large data sets resident on the GPU. But the GTX 580 has the higher memory bandwidth, so for bandwidth-bound tasks the consumer card is the stronger option.

The feature sets are nearly identical. Both cards expose DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, and neither has Vulkan support listed. The bus interface is PCIe 2.0 x16 on both. The key functional difference is display output: the GTX 580 has 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a, while the Tesla M2090 has no display outputs at all. This reflects their intended roles, a consumer graphics card versus a compute accelerator.

Specification Differences

The two cards share the same chip, architecture, process node, foundry, transistor count, die size, transistor density, shading units, TMUs, ROPs, and API support. The differences are in clocks, memory, power, dimensions, and output configuration.

Memory clock: the GTX 580 runs at 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective), the Tesla M2090 at 924 MHz (3.7 Gbps effective).

Memory size: the GTX 580 has 1536 MB, the Tesla M2090 has 6 GB. Both use GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus.

Memory bandwidth: the GTX 580 delivers 192.4 GB/s, the Tesla M2090 delivers 177.4 GB/s.

Pixel rate: 24.70 GPixel/s on the GTX 580 versus 20.83 GPixel/s on the Tesla M2090.

Texture rate: 49.41 GTexel/s on the GTX 580 versus 41.66 GTexel/s on the Tesla M2090.

FP32 performance: 1.581 TFLOPS on the GTX 580 versus 1,332.2 GFLOPS on the Tesla M2090.

TDP: the GTX 580 is rated at 244 W, the Tesla M2090 at 250 W. Both use dual-slot cooling and require 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors. The suggested power supply is 550 W for the GTX 580 and 600 W for the Tesla M2090.

Dimensions: the GTX 580 is 267 mm (10.5 inches) long and 111 mm (4.4 inches) high. The Tesla M2090 is 248 mm (9.8 inches) long, with no height listed.

Display outputs: the GTX 580 has 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. The Tesla M2090 has no outputs.

Release timing: the GTX 580 launched on 2010-11-08, the Tesla M2090 on 2011-07-24. The GTX 580 has a listed launch MSRP of 499 USD; the Tesla M2090 has no recorded launch MSRP.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner for general compute performance: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark, posting a 16.9% higher OpenCL score than the Tesla M2090. It also has higher memory bandwidth, higher pixel rate, higher texture rate, and higher FP32 throughput. In raw performance per the recorded measurements, the GTX 580 is simply the faster card.

The Tesla M2090 is not without its strengths. Its 6 GB memory capacity is four times the GTX 580's 1536 MB, making it the better choice for workloads that need large memory footprints. But the Tesla M2090 loses in every performance metric recorded, and its nearest rivals in the database are slower cards like the GTX 1660 SUPER and RX 580, whereas the GTX 580 competes with the RTX 2060.

For anyone choosing between these two for compute tasks where memory capacity is not the limiting factor, the GTX 580 is the better pick. For tasks that require fitting very large data sets into GPU memory, the Tesla M2090 has the capacity advantage, but at the cost of lower speed in every measured category.

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580: The GTX 580 wins on raw compute performance, as shown by its 16.9% higher OpenCL score. It also wins on memory bandwidth (192.4 GB/s versus 177.4 GB/s), pixel rate (24.70 GPixel/s versus 20.83 GPixel/s), texture rate (49.41 GTexel/s versus 41.66 GTexel/s), and FP32 throughput (1.581 TFLOPS versus 1,332.2 GFLOPS). It has a higher memory clock (1002 MHz versus 924 MHz) and a lower TDP (244 W versus 250 W), meaning it delivers more performance while drawing less power. The GTX 580 also has display outputs, so it can serve as a traditional graphics card, and it is shorter in length at 267 mm versus 248 mm, though the GTX 580 is taller at 111 mm. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 2060 and RTX 3050 OEM, placing it in a higher performance tier.

NVIDIA Tesla M2090: The Tesla M2090 wins on memory capacity, offering 6 GB versus 1536 MB on the GTX 580. That is the primary advantage, and it matters for compute workloads that require large data sets to reside in GPU memory without host-side transfers. The Tesla M2090 is also slightly shorter at 248 mm versus 267 mm, which can help in tightly packed server chassis. Its nearest rivals include the GTX 1660 SUPER and RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, a lower performance tier than the GTX 580's rivals, but its larger memory allocation is a genuine differentiator. For compute tasks that are memory-capacity bound rather than throughput bound, the Tesla M2090 is the only one of the two that can handle the data set. In every recorded performance metric, however, the GTX 580 is ahead.