NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla K20c Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data splits these two GPUs cleanly along a single benchmark axis. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile wins the only head-to-head test available, the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, with a score of 57,915 against the Tesla K20c's 11,479. That is a 404.5% advantage, meaning the mobile Ampere part delivers roughly five times the compute throughput in this OpenCL workload. The Tesla K20c has no benchmark wins in the database, so its case rests entirely on other recorded characteristics rather than measured performance.

Looking at the broader benchmark suite, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile shows a much wider range of tested workloads. It has entries for 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (469 points), multiple Passmark DX levels (DX9 at 120, DX10 at 60, DX11 at 76, DX12 at 49), Passmark G2D (498), Passmark G3D (10,093), and Passmark GPU Compute (4,305). The Tesla K20c only appears with the single OpenCL result. This means the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the only one of the two with recorded data for modern DirectX 12 Ultimate workloads and for the Passmark suite, so any use-case discussion for the Tesla part must rely on its architectural profile rather than test scores.

In terms of percentile placement, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile sits at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the Tesla K20c sits at the 51st. The average benchmark score for the mobile part is 12,940, which places it within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon RX 580 (12,928) and 0.5% of the AMD Radeon 740M (12,870). The Tesla K20c averages 11,479, which is 1.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M (11,261) and 1.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (11,680). These percentile and rival comparisons indicate that the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is a slightly stronger overall performer in the database, but the gap to its nearest rivals is small, while the Tesla K20c is clustered near older mobile and mid-range desktop parts.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two is enormous, reflecting nearly a decade of GPU development. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses the GA106 chip built on Ampere architecture, fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm process. It packs 12,000 million transistors into a 276 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 43.5 million per square millimeter. The Tesla K20c uses the GK110 chip on Kepler architecture, built by TSMC on a 28 nm process. It has 7,080 million transistors spread across a much larger 561 mm² die, yielding only 12.6 million transistors per square millimeter. The density advantage for the mobile chip is roughly 3.5 times, which explains how it fits more modern features into a smaller area.

The feature sets diverge sharply. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile includes 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, both of which are entirely absent from the Tesla K20c. The Kepler part has no RT or tensor hardware at all, as those technologies did not exist in 2012. The shading unit counts are close: 2,560 for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile versus 2,496 for the Tesla K20c, a difference of only 64 units. However, the texture and pixel processing differ more substantially. The Tesla K20c has 208 texture mapping units (TMUs) and 40 raster output units (ROPs), while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has only 80 TMUs and 32 ROPs. This gives the Tesla part a higher texture rate of 146.8 GTexel/s versus 82.80 GTexel/s, and a slightly higher pixel rate of 36.71 GPixel/s versus 33.12 GPixel/s.

The FP16 story is also telling. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile achieves 5.299 TFLOPS FP32 and the same 5.299 TFLOPS FP16, running at a 1:1 ratio thanks to its tensor core support. The Tesla K20c lists FP32 at 3.524 TFLOPS but has no recorded FP16 figure at all, a common trait for Kepler-era compute cards that lacked dedicated half-precision hardware. The memory architectures are different generations as well: GDDR6 on the mobile part versus GDDR5 on the Tesla. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile runs at 12 Gbps effective memory speed, while the Tesla K20c runs at 5.2 Gbps. Even though the Tesla has a wider 320-bit bus, the bandwidth figures are close: 208.0 GB/s for the Tesla versus 192.0 GB/s for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison in the database is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the result is lopsided. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 57,915, while the Tesla K20c scores 11,479. The delta is 404.5%, meaning the mobile part is just over five times faster in this compute workload. This is not a marginal win; it is a generational gap made visible in a single number. OpenCL is a compute-focused API, so this result suggests the Ampere architecture's combination of higher clock efficiency, tensor cores, and newer process node translates into massive throughput advantages over Kepler.

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's other benchmark scores provide context for how it performs across different API levels. Its Passmark G3D score of 10,093 is by far its strongest result, while its DirectX 12 score of 49 and DirectX 11 score of 76 are much lower, likely reflecting the specific workload characteristics of those legacy tests. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 469 is a modern test that stresses ray tracing and mesh shaders, areas where the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 20 RT cores should excel. The Tesla K20c has no such modern scores, so it cannot be compared on those fronts.

The average benchmark score difference reinforces the gap. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile averages 12,940 across all its recorded tests, while the Tesla K20c averages 11,479. That is a 12.7% difference, which is smaller than the OpenCL gap because the mobile part's Passmark DX scores are relatively low. However, the OpenCL result is the only directly comparable test, and it dominates the overall picture.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ on nearly every specification field. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses a 128-bit memory bus with 4 GB of GDDR6, while the Tesla K20c uses a 320-bit bus with 5 GB of GDDR5. The bandwidths are 192.0 GB/s versus 208.0 GB/s, favoring the Tesla by 8.3%. Clock speeds differ as well: the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has a base clock of 735 MHz and a boost of 1035 MHz, while the Tesla K20c has no recorded base or boost clocks. Memory speed is 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for the mobile part versus 1300 MHz (5.2 Gbps effective) for the Tesla.

Power and physical design could not be more different. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is rated at 75 W TDP, is an integrated GPU (IGP) with no power connectors, and is portable-device dependent for display outputs. The Tesla K20c is a dual-slot card rated at 225 W TDP, requires a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connector, suggests a 550 W power supply, has no display outputs, and measures 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length. The bus interfaces also differ: PCIe 4.0 x16 for the mobile part versus PCIe 2.0 x16 for the Tesla.

API support shows the age gap. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Tesla K20c supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The DirectX feature level difference is significant: 12_2 indicates full ray tracing and mesh shader support, while 11_0 is a legacy feature level. The release dates are also far apart: the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile launched on May 10, 2021, while the Tesla K20c launched on November 11, 2012. The production status for both is end-of-life.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher FP32 compute performance?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile reaches 5.299 TFLOPS FP32, while the Tesla K20c reaches 3.524 TFLOPS. The mobile part is about 50% higher in raw single-precision throughput.

Q: Does the Tesla K20c support ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The Tesla K20c has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile includes 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores.

Q: Why does the Tesla K20c have a higher texture rate despite being older?

A: The Tesla K20c has 208 TMUs versus 80 on the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. This yields 146.8 GTexel/s versus 82.80 GTexel/s, a 77% advantage for the Tesla part.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, while the Tesla K20c has 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus. The Tesla has slightly higher bandwidth at 208.0 GB/s versus 192.0 GB/s.

Q: Which GPU has better DirectX support?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing and mesh shaders. The Tesla K20c only supports DirectX 12 (11_0), a legacy feature level.

Q: How does the Tesla K20c compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Tesla K20c averages 11,479, which is 1.9% ahead of the GTX 780M (11,261) and 1.7% behind the GTX 1660 (11,680). It sits at the 51st percentile of all GPUs.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split by use case. For any modern workload involving DirectX 12 Ultimate features, ray tracing, tensor operations, or OpenCL compute, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the obvious choice. Its 404.5% OpenCL win over the Tesla K20c is decisive, and its support for newer APIs means it can handle software that the Kepler part simply cannot run. The 53rd percentile placement and average score of 12,940 put it in line with mid-range desktop parts like the Radeon RX 580 and GTX 1660 SUPER, which is strong for a mobile chip.

The Tesla K20c retains value only in narrow legacy compute scenarios. Its 5 GB memory capacity and 208.0 GB/s bandwidth edge over the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile could benefit workloads that are bandwidth-bound, and its 208 TMUs give it a texture rate of 146.8 GTexel/s, which is far higher than the mobile part. However, its lack of RT cores, tensor cores, and modern API support limits it to older compute stacks. The 225 W TDP and dual-slot form factor are also significant drawbacks for any deployment.

For a portable system or any modern gaming, rendering, or AI-assisted workload, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the only sensible pick. For a stationary compute server needing raw texture throughput or legacy Kepler compatibility, the Tesla K20c still has a place, but its 51st percentile and single benchmark score suggest it is a niche product. The recorded data shows that the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the stronger all-around GPU, with the Tesla K20c trailing in every measured performance category except raw texture rate and memory bandwidth.