NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950A vs NVIDIA Tesla K20Xm Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Geekbench OpenCL, the Tesla K20Xm or the GTX 950A?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K20Xm is significantly faster. It scores 17,215 points compared to the GTX 950A's 10,273 points, a lead of 67.6%.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card, and how do they rank among all GPUs?

A: The Tesla K20Xm has an average benchmark score of 12,625, placing it in the 52nd percentile. The GTX 950A has an average score of 10,273, placing it in the 48th percentile.

Q: How does the Tesla K20Xm's compute performance compare in terms of raw FP32 throughput?

A: The Tesla K20Xm delivers 3.935 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the GTX 950A delivers 1,438.7 GFLOPS (or approximately 1.44 TFLOPS).

Q: What are the memory specifications of the two cards?

A: The Tesla K20Xm features 6 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding 249.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 950A has 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 32.03 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The Tesla K20Xm has a pixel rate of 40.99 GPixel/s, which is more than double the GTX 950A's 17.98 GPixel/s.

Q: What are the TDP ratings for these two GPUs?

A: The Tesla K20Xm has a TDP of 235 W, whereas the GTX 950A has a much lower TDP of 75 W.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the recorded data, the NVIDIA Tesla K20Xm is the dominant performer. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark available, Geekbench OpenCL, with a 67.6% higher score. Its average benchmark score of 12,625 is also 22.9% higher than the GTX 950A's 10,273. Anyone needing maximum compute throughput for professional or high-end workloads should choose the Tesla K20Xm.

The GTX 950A is not without its merits, however. Its 75 W TDP is a fraction of the Tesla's 235 W, and its MXM Module form factor with no power connectors suggests it is designed for portable or low-power systems. The data indicates it is a compact, power-efficient option, but it is not a performance competitor to the Tesla K20Xm. The GTX 950A sits at the 48th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla K20Xm is at the 52nd. For users prioritizing raw compute and high memory bandwidth, the Tesla K20Xm is the only choice based on these results.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains one head-to-head benchmark between these two cards: Geekbench OpenCL. This test is decisive. The Tesla K20Xm scores 17,215, while the GTX 950A scores 10,273. This gives the Tesla K20Xm a victory by a margin of 67.6%. The Tesla wins 1 of 1 benchmark comparisons, and the GTX 950A wins none.

To contextualize the Tesla K20Xm's score, its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (average score 12,831), which is 1.6% behind the Tesla's average. Conversely, the GTX 950A's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6500M (average score 10,362), which is 0.9% ahead of the GTX 950A. The performance gap between the two cards is substantial, as the Tesla's score is not merely a marginal improvement, it is a categorical step up in compute capability.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every core specification recorded. The Tesla K20Xm uses 2,688 shading units, 224 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 48 render output units (ROPs). The GTX 950A is configured with 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. This means the Tesla has 4.2 times the shading units, 5.6 times the TMUs, and 3 times the ROPs of the GTX 950A.

The memory subsystems are also completely different. The Tesla K20Xm has a 384-bit memory bus and 6 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the GTX 950A has a 128-bit bus and 2 GB of DDR3 memory. The effective memory clock differs: the Tesla runs at 5.2 Gbps effective, while the GTX 950A runs at 2 Gbps effective. This leads to a huge bandwidth gap (249.6 GB/s vs. 32.03 GB/s). Clock speeds also differ, with the GTX 950A having a base clock of 993 MHz and a boost clock of 1,124 MHz, while the Tesla K20Xm has no base or boost clock listed in the database.

Power and physical specs are also divergent. The Tesla is a dual-slot card with a TDP of 235 W and a suggested PSU of 550 W. It is 267 mm or 10.5 inches long. It has no display outputs. The GTX 950A is an MXM Module with a TDP of 75 W and no power connectors. Its display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent". The Tesla was released on 2012-11-11, and the GTX 950A was released on 2015-03-12. The Tesla's launch MSRP was 7,699 USD, while the GTX 950A has no recorded launch MSRP.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on different NVIDIA architectures. The Tesla K20Xm is based on the Kepler architecture, specifically the GK110 chip. The GTX 950A is based on Maxwell architecture, using the GM107 chip. Both are manufactured by TSMC on a 28 nm process node. The transistor density is identical for both at 12.6M / mm².

The chip sizes are notably different. The GK110 chip in the Tesla has 7,080 million transistors on a die of 561 mm². The GM107 chip in the GTX 950A has 1,870 million transistors on a die of 148 mm². While the process node is the same, the Tesla simply has a much larger, more complex chip. The die size of the Tesla is 3.8 times larger than that of the GTX 950A.

Feature support also differs. The Tesla K20Xm supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The GTX 950A supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Vulkan API versions differ, with the GTX 950A supporting a newer specification. The Tesla K20Xm has no display outputs, while the GTX 950A output is portable-device dependent. The Tesla is a server or compute card, while the GTX 950A is a mobile or embedded solution. The Tesla's predecessor is listed as Tesla Fermi and its successor as Tesla Maxwell. The GTX 950A's predecessor is the GeForce 800A.