NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti vs NVIDIA Tesla M10 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Tesla M10 dominates this comparison in both recorded benchmark disciplines. The data shows a clear split: the Tesla M10 wins the OpenCL test by a substantial 31% margin, scoring 10318 against the GTX 650 Ti's 7877. In the Vulkan test, the Tesla M10 again takes the win, scoring 9130 versus 8229, a 10.9% advantage. The head-to-head record stands at two wins for the Tesla M10 and zero for the GTX 650 Ti.

The Tesla M10's average benchmark score of 9724 places it in the 47th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals tell an interesting story: it sits within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 2100 (9653), within 0.6% of the NVIDIA Quadro P4000 (9665), and within 0.1% of the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (9716). The only rival it trails is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, which scores 9780, a 0.6% gap. These tight margins indicate the Tesla M10 operates in a competitive performance band.

The GTX 650 Ti, by contrast, averages 8053 across benchmarks, landing in the 42nd percentile. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M (8040, 0.2% behind), the NVIDIA Quadro P5000 (8039, 0.2% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost (8067, 0.2% ahead), and the NVIDIA GRID K2 (8080, 0.3% ahead). This clustering suggests the GTX 650 Ti sits at the center of a very tight performance group.

The use-case split is straightforward. For compute-oriented workloads that stress OpenCL and Vulkan performance, the Tesla M10 is the stronger choice. Its 31% lead in OpenCL is particularly pronounced, suggesting a meaningful advantage in compute tasks that leverage that API. The GTX 650 Ti, while competitive in relative terms within its own peer group, simply operates at a lower performance tier.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different NVIDIA architectures and generations. The Tesla M10 uses the GM107 chip on the Maxwell architecture, belonging to the Tesla Maxwell (Mxx) generation. The GTX 650 Ti uses the GK106S chip on the Kepler architecture, part of the GeForce 600 generation. Both are built on TSMC's 28 nm process, but the transistor counts diverge significantly. The Tesla M10 packs 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, yielding a density of 12.6M transistors per mm². The GTX 650 Ti carries 2,540 million transistors on a larger 221 mm² die, with a slightly lower density of 11.5M per mm².

The shading unit counts differ in an interesting way. The GTX 650 Ti has more shading units (768 versus 640) and more texture mapping units (64 versus 40). Both have 16 ROPs. Despite having fewer shading units, the Tesla M10 achieves higher floating-point throughput. The Tesla M10 delivers 1.672 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the GTX 650 Ti delivers 1,425.4 GFLOPS (approximately 1.425 TFLOPS). This indicates a more efficient execution architecture in the Maxwell design.

Memory configurations also differ markedly. The Tesla M10 comes with 8 GB of GDDR5 across a 128-bit bus, achieving 83.20 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 650 Ti has 1024 MB (1 GB) of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus, with slightly higher bandwidth at 86.40 GB/s due to its faster memory clock. Clock speeds tell part of the story: the Tesla M10 runs at 1033 MHz base and 1306 MHz boost, while the GTX 650 Ti's base and boost clocks are not recorded in the database. The Tesla M10's memory runs at 1300 MHz with 5.2 Gbps effective, while the GTX 650 Ti's memory runs at 1350 MHz with 5.4 Gbps effective.

The pixel and texture rates reflect the architectural differences. The Tesla M10 achieves 20.90 GPixel/s and 52.24 GTexel/s. The GTX 650 Ti achieves 14.85 GPixel/s and 59.39 GTexel/s. The Tesla M10 wins on pixel throughput, while the GTX 650 Ti wins on texture throughput, a direct consequence of having 64 TMUs versus 40.

Power and physical specifications differ substantially. The Tesla M10 has a TDP of 225 W, requires a dual-slot cooler, a single 8-pin power connector, and a suggested 550 W power supply. It measures 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length. The GTX 650 Ti draws 110 W, fits in a single slot, uses a 6-pin connector, and suggests a 300 W power supply. It measures 145 mm (5.7 inches). The Tesla M10 has no display outputs, while the GTX 650 Ti offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.4a.

API support shows one notable difference. Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The Tesla M10 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 650 Ti supports Vulkan 1.2.175.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner for compute performance. The Tesla M10 outperforms the GTX 650 Ti in both recorded benchmarks, with a 31% lead in OpenCL and a 10.9% lead in Vulkan. Its average benchmark score is 9724, putting it 21% above the GTX 650 Ti's 8053 average.

The Tesla M10 is the choice for workloads that demand high compute throughput, particularly in OpenCL-heavy applications. Its 8 GB memory capacity, versus the GTX 650 Ti's 1 GB, also suggests a clear advantage for tasks that require large datasets resident in video memory. The higher TDP and dual-slot footprint are acceptable trade-offs for the performance gain.

The GTX 650 Ti, with its lower power draw, single-slot design, and display outputs, suits environments where physical footprint and power consumption matter more than raw compute. Its texture rate is higher, and its memory bandwidth is slightly better, but its overall benchmark scores trail significantly.

For users choosing between these two end-of-life products, the benchmark data strongly favors the Tesla M10 for any compute-oriented workload. The GTX 650 Ti's advantages are limited to physical characteristics, not performance.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins in OpenCL performance?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla M10 wins decisively, scoring 10318 against the GTX 650 Ti's 7877, a 31% advantage.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The Tesla M10 averages 9724 across recorded benchmarks, while the GTX 650 Ti averages 8053. The Tesla M10 sits in the 47th percentile of all GPUs, the GTX 650 Ti in the 42nd.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The Tesla M10 has 8 GB of GDDR5, while the GTX 650 Ti has 1024 MB (1 GB). Both use a 128-bit bus, but the GTX 650 Ti has slightly higher bandwidth at 86.40 GB/s versus 83.20 GB/s.

Q: Do they support the same APIs?

A: Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The Tesla M10 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 650 Ti supports Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The GTX 650 Ti has more shading units (768 versus 640) and more TMUs (64 versus 40). Despite this, the Tesla M10 achieves higher FP32 throughput at 1.672 TFLOPS versus 1,425.4 GFLOPS.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The Tesla M10 has a 225 W TDP, uses a dual-slot cooler, requires a single 8-pin connector, and suggests a 550 W power supply. The GTX 650 Ti has a 110 W TDP, uses a single slot, requires a 6-pin connector, and suggests a 300 W power supply.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest win for the Tesla M10 comes in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The Tesla M10 scores 10318, while the GTX 650 Ti scores 7877. The delta is 31%, a substantial margin that indicates the Tesla M10's Maxwell architecture executes compute workloads with considerably higher efficiency. This is the single biggest performance gap in the comparison.

The Vulkan benchmark shows a narrower but still decisive win. The Tesla M10 scores 9130, against the GTX 650 Ti's 8229. The delta is 10.9%. While the GTX 650 Ti closes some of the gap in Vulkan compared to OpenCL, it still trails by a meaningful margin. The Tesla M10's Vulkan 1.4 support, compared to the GTX 650 Ti's Vulkan 1.2.175, may contribute to this advantage.

The Tesla M10's average benchmark score of 9724 puts it in a peer group where the closest rival, the GTX 1070, scores 9780. The GTX 650 Ti's average of 8053 places it alongside the GRID K2 (8080) and the GTX 650 Ti Boost (8067). The performance gap between the two cards is consistent across both benchmark disciplines, with the Tesla M10 holding a 20.7% advantage in average score.

Pixel rate also favors the Tesla M10, which achieves 20.90 GPixel/s compared to the GTX 650 Ti's 14.85 GPixel/s. The texture rate is the one metric where the GTX 650 Ti leads, at 59.39 GTexel/s versus 52.24 GTexel/s, a consequence of its higher TMU count.

Specification Differences

The specifications where the two cards differ are extensive. The Tesla M10 uses the GM107 chip on Maxwell architecture from the Tesla Maxwell (Mxx) generation. The GTX 650 Ti uses the GK106S chip on Kepler from the GeForce 600 generation. Transistor counts differ: 1,870 million for the Tesla M10, 2,540 million for the GTX 650 Ti. Die sizes are 148 mm² and 221 mm² respectively, giving transistor densities of 12.6M per mm² and 11.5M per mm².

Clock specifications show the Tesla M10 has a base clock of 1033 MHz and boost of 1306 MHz, while the GTX 650 Ti has no recorded base or boost clocks. Memory clocks are 1300 MHz (5.2 Gbps effective) for the Tesla M10 and 1350 MHz (5.4 Gbps effective) for the GTX 650 Ti.

Memory configuration differs in size: 8 GB for the Tesla M10, 1024 MB for the GTX 650 Ti. Both use GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, with bandwidths of 83.20 GB/s and 86.40 GB/s respectively. Shading units are 640 versus 768, TMUs are 40 versus 64, and ROPs are 16 for both.

Performance rates differ: pixel rate is 20.90 GPixel/s for the Tesla M10 and 14.85 GPixel/s for the GTX 650 Ti. Texture rate is 52.24 GTexel/s versus 59.39 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 1.672 TFLOPS versus 1,425.4 GFLOPS.

Power and physical specs diverge considerably. TDP is 225 W versus 110 W. The Tesla M10 is dual-slot, the GTX 650 Ti is single-slot. Power connectors are 1x 8-pin versus 1x 6-pin. Suggested PSU is 550 W versus 300 W. Length is 267 mm versus 145 mm. Display outputs: the Tesla M10 has none, the GTX 650 Ti has 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.4a.

Vulkan support differs: 1.4 for the Tesla M10, 1.2.175 for the GTX 650 Ti. Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. Release dates are 2016-05-17 for the Tesla M10 and 2012-10-08 for the GTX 650 Ti. The GTX 650 Ti has a recorded launch MSRP of 149 USD.