NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M vs NVIDIA Tesla M10 Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark database positions these two NVIDIA cards at very different points despite both being end-of-life products. The GeForce GTX 780M holds a clear performance advantage across every shared test, winning 2 out of 2 head-to-head benchmarks. Its average benchmark score of 11261 places it at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla M10 averages 9724, sitting at the 47th percentile. The GTX 780M leads by 23.8% in Geekbench OpenCL and by 39.1% in Geekbench Vulkan, making it the stronger choice for compute workloads that rely on those APIs.

The Tesla M10, however, is not without merit. It doubles the memory capacity with 8 GB versus 4 GB, and it comes as a dual-slot PCIe card with a dedicated 8-pin power connector, suggesting it was designed for server or workstation integration rather than portable systems. The GTX 780M uses an MXM module form factor with no power connectors, meaning it targets laptops or compact devices where power delivery is handled by the host system. Buyers should choose the GTX 780M if raw compute performance in OpenCL and Vulkan is the priority. The Tesla M10 makes sense only when the larger memory pool and standard PCIe mounting are essential, accepting a measurable performance deficit.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 780M wins in every measurable compute category. Its OpenCL score of 12769 exceeds the Tesla M10's 10318 by 23.8%. Its Vulkan score of 12696 beats the Tesla M10's 9130 by 39.1%. The GTX 780M also achieves a higher average benchmark score of 11261 versus 9724, a difference of roughly 15.8% when calculated from the recorded data. In terms of raw throughput, the GTX 780M delivers 2.448 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, compared to 1.672 TFLOPS for the Tesla M10, a 46.4% advantage. Its texture rate of 102.0 GTexel/s nearly doubles the Tesla M10's 52.24 GTexel/s, and its pixel rate of 25.50 GPixel/s exceeds 20.90 GPixel/s.

The Tesla M10 wins in memory capacity and system integration. It offers 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, twice the GTX 780M's 4 GB. It also runs at higher clock speeds: 1033 MHz base and 1306 MHz boost, versus 771 MHz base and 797 MHz boost for the GTX 780M. The Tesla M10's memory clock is 1300 MHz with 5.2 Gbps effective throughput, slightly above the GTX 780M's 1250 MHz and 5 Gbps effective. However, the GTX 780M's wider 256-bit memory bus gives it 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth, nearly double the Tesla M10's 83.20 GB/s from a 128-bit bus. The Tesla M10 also carries a newer Vulkan API version of 1.4 versus 1.2.175 on the GTX 780M.

Architecture Differences

The two chips come from different NVIDIA architectures. The GTX 780M uses the GK104 chip based on Kepler, built on TSMC's 28 nm process. It packs 3,540 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 12.0 million per square millimeter. The Tesla M10 uses the GM107 chip based on Maxwell, also on TSMC's 28 nm process, but with 1,870 million transistors on a smaller 148 mm² die, yielding 12.6 million transistors per square millimeter. The Maxwell chip is physically smaller but denser.

The compute resources differ substantially. The GTX 780M carries 1536 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation units. The Tesla M10 has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. This means the GTX 780M has 2.4 times the shader count, 3.2 times the TMUs, and double the ROPs. Neither card has dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores. Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but the Tesla M10 supports Vulkan 1.4 while the GTX 780M only reaches 1.2.175.

Power and physical design also diverge. The GTX 780M has a TDP of 122 W and uses an MXM-B (3.0) bus interface, with display outputs described as portable device dependent. The Tesla M10 has a TDP of 225 W, uses PCIe 3.0 x16, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and suggests a 550 W power supply. The Tesla M10 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length, while the GTX 780M's dimensions are not recorded. The Tesla M10 has no display outputs, reflecting its compute-focused role.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M averages 11261, while the NVIDIA Tesla M10 averages 9724. The GTX 780M also ranks at the 50th percentile of all GPUs versus the 47th percentile for the Tesla M10.

Q: How much faster is the GTX 780M in Vulkan compute?

A: In Geekbench Vulkan, the GTX 780M scores 12696 against the Tesla M10's 9130, a 39.1% advantage. This is the largest head-to-head margin between the two cards.

Q: Does the Tesla M10 have more memory?

A: Yes. The Tesla M10 comes with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the GTX 780M has 4 GB. However, the GTX 780M's 256-bit memory bus provides 160.0 GB/s bandwidth, versus 83.20 GB/s on the Tesla M10's 128-bit bus.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient according to the data?

A: The GTX 780M has a lower TDP of 122 W and requires no power connectors, while the Tesla M10 has a TDP of 225 W and needs one 8-pin connector plus a 550 W recommended power supply. The GTX 780M also delivers higher FP32 throughput at 2.448 TFLOPS versus 1.672 TFLOPS.

Q: What are the closest rivals for each card in the database?

A: The GTX 780M's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200, which scores 11228 and is only 0.3% behind. The Tesla M10's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, scoring 9780, which is 0.6% ahead of the Tesla M10.

Q: Which card supports a newer Vulkan version?

A: The Tesla M10 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 780M supports Vulkan 1.2.175. Both cards support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two shared benchmark tests for these GPUs, and the GTX 780M wins both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 780M scores 12769 versus 10318 for the Tesla M10, a delta of 23.8%. This aligns with the architectural gap: the GTX 780M has 1536 shading units and 128 TMUs, while the Tesla M10 has 640 shading units and 40 TMUs. The wider memory bus also helps, as 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth feeds the compute units far more effectively than 83.20 GB/s.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin widens considerably. The GTX 780M scores 12696, and the Tesla M10 scores 9130, a 39.1% difference. This is the stronger result for the GTX 780M, suggesting that its Kepler architecture handles the Vulkan workload more efficiently despite the Tesla M10's newer Maxwell design and higher clock speeds. The Tesla M10's boost clock of 1306 MHz is substantially higher than the GTX 780M's 797 MHz boost, yet it cannot compensate for the much smaller compute configuration.

The average benchmark scores reinforce this pattern. The GTX 780M's average of 11261 puts it 15.8% above the Tesla M10's 9724. Looking at nearest rivals, the GTX 780M sits within 0.3% of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (11228) and the AMD FirePro W4300 (11225), and it is 1.6% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q (11088). The Tesla M10, by contrast, is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (9716) and 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (9780). These comparisons place the GTX 780M in a slightly higher performance tier overall.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every recorded specification. The GTX 780M uses the GK104 chip with Kepler architecture, while the Tesla M10 uses the GM107 chip with Maxwell architecture. Both are built on TSMC's 28 nm process, but the GTX 780M has 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, and the Tesla M10 has 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die. Transistor density is 12.0M per mm² for the GTX 780M and 12.6M per mm² for the Tesla M10.

Clock speeds favor the Tesla M10: 1033 MHz base and 1306 MHz boost, compared to 771 MHz base and 797 MHz boost for the GTX 780M. Memory clocks are close, with the Tesla M10 at 1300 MHz and 5.2 Gbps effective, versus 1250 MHz and 5 Gbps effective for the GTX 780M. Memory capacity differs, 8 GB on the Tesla M10 versus 4 GB on the GTX 780M, but the GTX 780M has a 256-bit bus and 160.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the Tesla M10 has a 128-bit bus and 83.20 GB/s.

Compute resources heavily favor the GTX 780M: 1536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, against 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs on the Tesla M10. Pixel rate is 25.50 GPixel/s versus 20.90 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 102.0 GTexel/s versus 52.24 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 2.448 TFLOPS versus 1.672 TFLOPS. Neither card has RT cores or tensor cores, and neither lists FP16 performance.

Power and physical specifications differ sharply. The GTX 780M has a 122 W TDP, uses an MXM-B (3.0) interface, and has no power connectors or display outputs beyond portable device dependent options. The Tesla M10 has a 225 W TDP, uses PCIe 3.0 x16, requires one 8-pin connector, recommends a 550 W power supply, and has no display outputs at all. The Tesla M10 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length, while the GTX 780M uses an MXM module form factor with no recorded dimensions. Release dates also differ: the GTX 780M launched in May 2013, and the Tesla M10 launched in May 2016.