NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER vs NVIDIA Tesla K80 Comparison

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data between the NVIDIA Tesla K80 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is remarkably one-sided, with the RTX 2060 SUPER taking both available benchmark comparisons. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 2060 SUPER scores 76,957 against the Tesla K80's 18,620, a delta of -75.8% from the perspective of the older card. That is not a marginal gap; it is a generational chasm. The Vulkan result tells a similar story: the RTX 2060 SUPER posts 77,402 versus the Tesla K80's 19,111, corresponding to a -75.3% delta. In both tests, the newer card delivers roughly four times the raw compute throughput.

The Tesla K80's average benchmark score of 18,866 places it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 2060 SUPER averages 18,093 and sits in the 62nd percentile. This is a curious inversion: the K80 has a slightly higher average score yet loses decisively in every direct head-to-head matchup. The explanation lies in the nature of the benchmark suites. The K80's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (average 18,789, only 0.4% behind) and the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation (18,954, 0.5% ahead), suggesting that in mixed workloads the old compute card holds its own against much newer consumer parts. The RTX 2060 SUPER, meanwhile, sits close to the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18,189, 0.5% behind) and the Intel Arc A770M (18,383, 1.6% behind), indicating a different performance envelope entirely.

What the head-to-head numbers reveal is that the RTX 2060 SUPER's advantage is not incremental but exponential in the specific tests available. The OpenCL and Vulkan workloads appear to favor the architectural efficiencies of Turing over Kepler, with the newer card's higher clock speeds and dedicated compute features translating into scores that dwarf the Tesla K80's output. The delta percentages are so large that they suggest the K80 is not merely slower but fundamentally outclassed in these particular synthetic benchmarks.

# Where Each One Wins

The Tesla K80 wins nowhere in the direct head-to-head comparisons, with zero wins out of two tests. Its only claim to relevance is the higher average benchmark score (18,866 vs. 18,093) and the higher percentile ranking (63rd vs. 62nd), which is a statistical artifact of the different benchmark sets each card was subjected to. For compute-oriented tasks that resemble the Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, the RTX 2060 SUPER is the clear victor, dominating by margins that leave no room for interpretation.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's wins are comprehensive in the head-to-head suite, but its broader benchmark portfolio shows specific strengths. In Passmark G3D, it scores 16,462, and in Passmark GPU Compute it reaches 6,721. The DirectX tests are lower, with DirectX 9 at 218, DirectX 10 at 111, DirectX 11 at 130, and DirectX 12 at 61, while the G2D score of 854 reflects modest 2D performance. These numbers are not directly comparable to the K80, but they paint a picture of a card that excels in modern compute and graphics APIs rather than legacy ones.

For use cases, the data suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER is the choice for anyone running OpenCL or Vulkan applications, where its scores are astronomical relative to the K80. The Tesla K80, with its 12 GB of memory and 384-bit bus, might still appeal to workloads that require large memory capacities, though the benchmarks do not directly test that aspect. The K80's lack of display outputs makes it a compute-only device, while the RTX 2060 SUPER offers a full array of outputs including 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C, making it far more versatile for interactive use.

# Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is stark. The Tesla K80 is built on the Kepler 2.0 architecture with the GK210 chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 7,100 million transistors into a 561 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.7 million per square millimeter. The RTX 2060 SUPER, by contrast, uses the Turing architecture with the TU106 chip on a 12 nm process, also from TSMC. It contains 10,800 million transistors on a smaller 445 mm² die, achieving a density of 24.3 million per square millimeter — nearly double the K80's density.

The K80's Kepler design has 2,496 shading units, 208 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. It lacks any dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, which were not part of the Kepler feature set. The RTX 2060 SUPER has fewer shading units at 2,176, but compensates with 136 TMUs and 64 ROPs, along with 34 dedicated ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores — hardware that the K80 simply does not have. This is the fundamental architectural story: Kepler was designed for compute without specialized accelerators, while Turing adds dedicated hardware for real-time ray tracing and AI-driven tensor operations.

The process node difference is also significant. The K80's 28 nm process is a full two generations behind the RTX 2060 SUPER's 12 nm node, which explains the density improvement and the clock speed gap. The K80's base clock is 562 MHz with a boost of 824 MHz, while the RTX 2060 SUPER runs at 1,470 MHz base and 1,650 MHz boost — nearly double the clocks. This clock advantage, combined with the architectural efficiencies, drives the massive performance delta in the head-to-head tests.

# Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification. Memory capacity favors the Tesla K80 at 12 GB of GDDR5, versus the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6. The memory bus width also differs: the K80 uses a 384-bit interface, while the RTX 2060 SUPER has a 256-bit bus. Despite the narrower bus, the newer card achieves higher bandwidth at 448.0 GB/s compared to the K80's 240.6 GB/s, thanks to the faster GDDR6 memory running at 14 Gbps effective versus 5 Gbps effective on the K80.

Clock speeds are dramatically different, as noted, with the RTX 2060 SUPER's 1,470 MHz base and 1,650 MHz boost dwarfing the K80's 562 MHz and 824 MHz. The pixel rate tells the story: the RTX 2060 SUPER achieves 105.6 GPixel/s versus the K80's 42.85 GPixel/s. Texture rate is similarly lopsided at 224.4 GTexel/s versus 171.4 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 7.181 TFLOPS on the RTX 2060 SUPER against 4.113 TFLOPS on the K80, and the newer card adds 14.36 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1) capability that the K80 lacks entirely.

Power consumption is another major divergence. The Tesla K80 draws 300 W with a suggested 700 W PSU, while the RTX 2060 SUPER consumes 175 W and suggests a 450 W PSU. Both are dual-slot cards with a single 8-pin power connector, but the K80 is longer at 267 mm (10.5 inches) versus 229 mm (9 inches) for the RTX 2060 SUPER. The newer card also has a defined height of 113 mm and width of 35 mm, while the K80 lists no height or width. The K80 has no display outputs, whereas the RTX 2060 SUPER offers a full complement. API support differs as well: the K80 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175, while the RTX 2060 SUPER supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

# FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K80 has a slightly higher average benchmark score of 18,866 compared to the RTX 2060 SUPER's 18,093, despite losing both head-to-head tests.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER achieves 448.0 GB/s with 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, while the Tesla K80 manages 240.6 GB/s with 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus.

Q: Does the Tesla K80 support ray tracing?

A: No, the Tesla K80 has no dedicated ray tracing cores. The RTX 2060 SUPER has 34 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores, which the K80 lacks entirely.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Tesla K80 has a 300 W TDP and suggests a 700 W power supply, while the RTX 2060 SUPER has a 175 W TDP and suggests a 450 W power supply. Both use a single 8-pin power connector.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The Tesla K80 has 2,496 shading units, while the RTX 2060 SUPER has 2,176. However, the RTX 2060 SUPER has higher clock speeds and more ROPs (64 vs. 48), leading to better overall performance.

Q: What display outputs does each card offer?

A: The Tesla K80 has no display outputs, making it a compute-only card. The RTX 2060 SUPER offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C.

# The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the superior card in every direct benchmark comparison. In Geekbench OpenCL, it outperforms the Tesla K80 by 75.8%, and in Vulkan by 75.3%. These are not close margins; they represent a complete generational leap. The RTX 2060 SUPER's higher clock speeds (1,650 MHz boost vs. 824 MHz), greater memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s vs. 240.6 GB/s), and dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores make it the obvious choice for any workload involving modern compute APIs or graphics rendering.

The Tesla K80 retains a few nominal advantages: more memory (12 GB vs. 8 GB), a wider memory bus (384-bit vs. 256-bit), and a slightly higher average benchmark score (18,866 vs. 18,093) and percentile ranking (63rd vs. 62nd). However, these advantages do not translate into wins in the head-to-head tests. The K80's 300 W power draw versus the RTX 2060 SUPER's 175 W further cements the newer card's efficiency lead, as does its smaller physical footprint (229 mm vs. 267 mm).

For buyers choosing between these two, the RTX 2060 SUPER is the rational pick for virtually any use case. Its display outputs make it usable in interactive environments, its lower power requirement reduces system demands, and its benchmark dominance leaves no doubt about raw performance. The Tesla K80 might appeal to a niche user needing 12 GB of memory on a compute-only card, but the data shows that even in compute workloads, the RTX 2060 SUPER delivers four times the performance. The verdict is simple: the RTX 2060 SUPER wins, and it wins decisively.