NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti vs NVIDIA Tesla K10 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and the NVIDIA Tesla K10 occupy very different corners of NVIDIA's catalog, and the recorded data reflects that gulf plainly. The RTX 3060 Ti is an Ampere-based gaming card from the GeForce 30 series, while the Tesla K10 is a Kepler-era compute accelerator that sits between the Tesla Fermi and Tesla Maxwell generations in NVIDIA's accelerator lineage. Both are now end-of-life products, but the benchmark database shows that one of them dominates every direct comparison the two share. In the single head-to-head test recorded for both parts, the Geekbench OpenCL compute benchmark, the RTX 3060 Ti posts a score of 78927 against 14029 for the Tesla K10, a delta of 462.6 percent in favor of the newer card.

Where Each One Wins

The data leaves no ambiguity here: the RTX 3060 Ti wins the only benchmark the two cards share. The Geekbench OpenCL result is the sole head-to-head measurement in the database, and it lands overwhelmingly on the Ampere side. That single data point covers general GPU compute throughput as exercised by OpenCL, which is notably the workload category the Tesla K10 was originally designed to serve as a datacenter accelerator. The K10 records no wins in this pairing.

What the Tesla K10 does offer is a different design intent, visible in the specification fields rather than the scores. It has no display outputs at all, marking it as a compute-only part rather than a graphics card for desktop use. The RTX 3060 Ti, by contrast, carries one HDMI 2.1 output and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, positioning it squarely as a consumer graphics product. So while the benchmark wins belong entirely to the RTX 3060 Ti, the K10's value in this comparison is architectural: it illustrates what a purpose-built Kepler accelerator looked like, right down to its dual 6-pin plus 8-pin power configuration and passive stance toward display connectivity.

It is also worth noting where each card sits against its own peer group. The RTX 3060 Ti holds a percentile of 59 against all GPUs in the database with an average benchmark score of 16129, placing it essentially on par with cards like the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (average score 16014, a delta of just 0.7 percent) and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (16361, a delta of -1.4 percent). The Tesla K10 sits at the 55th percentile with an average score of 14029, keeping company with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (14150, delta -0.9 percent) and the AMD Radeon RX 570X (13871, delta 1.1 percent). Both are mid-pack parts within their own frames of reference, but the frames themselves are separated by a wide performance gap.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the recorded data, the RTX 3060 Ti is the stronger performer in every measurable way. It wins the only shared benchmark by a margin of 462.6 percent, and its specification sheet is superior across every field where the two can be compared: FP32 throughput, memory bandwidth, shading units, texture units, render outputs, pixel rate, and texture rate. Anyone choosing between these two parts for compute or graphics work today would find nothing in the database supporting the K10.

The Tesla K10's relevance is historical and categorical. It predates the RTX 3060 Ti in NVIDIA's product timeline, arriving in 2012 versus 2020 for the 3060 Ti, and it represents the Kepler generation of the Tesla accelerator line, succeeded by Tesla Maxwell. It was launched at 5,099 USD, compared with a launch MSRP of 399 USD for the RTX 3060 Ti, which itself signals the professional accelerator positioning of the K10. For a benchmark database reader, the K10 is a reference point for early compute accelerators, not a contender against modern Ampere hardware. The verdict is one-sided: the RTX 3060 Ti for any workload the database measures, the K10 only as an object of architectural comparison.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains exactly one benchmark recorded for both cards, and it is decisive.

Geekbench OpenCL. The RTX 3060 Ti scores 78927. The Tesla K10 scores 14029. The delta is 462.6 percent in favor of the RTX 3060 Ti. To put that in context, the K10's OpenCL score of 14029 is closely matched by its own nearest rivals, the GeForce GTX 680 at 14150 and the AMD Radeon RX 570X at 13871, which confirms the score is representative of its class rather than an outlier. The RTX 3060 Ti's score is similarly consistent with its peer set, sitting within roughly one to two percent of the RX 9060, Radeon Pro 5600M, and RX 5700 XT on average benchmark score. The gap between the two cards is therefore a genuine generational divide, not a fluke of one test.

Beyond the shared test, the RTX 3060 Ti's broader benchmark record reinforces the picture. It posts 2626 in 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12), 47784 in Geekbench Vulkan, 20349 in PassMark G3D, 10006 in PassMark GPU Compute, and 989 in PassMark G2D, along with PassMark DirectX results of 234 (DX9), 163 (DX11), 132 (DX10), and 78 (DX12). The Tesla K10 has no entries in any of these tests in the database, which is consistent with its compute-only, display-less configuration and its era of origin. The final tally is one win for the RTX 3060 Ti and zero for the Tesla K10.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in compute benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the only benchmark recorded for both, it scores 78927 versus 14029 for the Tesla K10, a 462.6 percent advantage.

Q: Can the Tesla K10 drive a monitor?

A: No. The Tesla K10 has no display outputs. The RTX 3060 Ti has one HDMI 2.1 output and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Q: How do the two compare against other GPUs in the database?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti sits in the 59th percentile of all GPUs with an average score of 16129, nearly tied with the RX 9060 (16014). The Tesla K10 sits in the 55th percentile at 14029, close to the GeForce GTX 680 (14150).

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti, with 448.0 GB/s across a 256-bit GDDR6 bus. The Tesla K10 delivers 160.0 GB/s across a 256-bit GDDR5 bus.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. Both are listed as end-of-life. The RTX 3060 Ti launched in 2020, the Tesla K10 in 2012.

Q: Which API support is newer?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The Tesla K10 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), Vulkan 1.2.175, and OpenGL 4.6.

Architecture Differences

The architectural distance between these two parts spans multiple generations of NVIDIA design. The Tesla K10 uses the GK104 chip on the Kepler architecture, built on TSMC's 28 nm process. It packs 3,540 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.0M per mm². The RTX 3060 Ti uses the GA104 chip on the Ampere architecture, built on Samsung's 8 nm process, with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die for a density of 44.4M per mm². That density figure alone tells much of the story: nearly four times the transistors per square millimeter.

The feature sets diverge just as sharply. Kepler predates dedicated ray tracing and machine learning hardware, so the K10 has no RT cores and no tensor cores. Ampere includes both, and the RTX 3060 Ti carries 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores. The K10 also lacks an FP16 rating in the database, while the RTX 3060 Ti lists 16.20 TFLOPS for FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32. Their lineages run in opposite directions too: the K10 follows Tesla Fermi and precedes Tesla Maxwell, while the RTX 3060 Ti follows GeForce 20 and precedes GeForce 40.

Specification Differences

The fields where the two cards differ, side by side:

• Chip: GA104 (RTX 3060 Ti) versus GK104 (Tesla K10)
• Architecture: Ampere versus Kepler
• Process node: 8 nm at Samsung versus 28 nm at TSMC
• Transistors: 17,400 million versus 3,540 million
• Die size: 392 mm² versus 294 mm²
• Transistor density: 44.4M per mm² versus 12.0M per mm²
• Clocks: the RTX 3060 Ti lists a 1410 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost with 14 Gbps effective memory; the K10 lists no base, boost, or game clock, with 5 Gbps effective memory
• Memory: 8 GB GDDR6 at 448.0 GB/s versus 4 GB GDDR5 at 160.0 GB/s, both on a 256-bit bus
• Shading units: 4864 versus 1536
• TMUs: 152 versus 128
• ROPs: 80 versus 32
• RT cores: 38 versus none
• Tensor cores: 152 versus none
• Pixel rate: 133.2 GPixel/s versus 23.84 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 253.1 GTexel/s versus 95.36 GTexel/s
• FP32: 16.20 TFLOPS versus 2.289 TFLOPS
• FP16: 16.20 TFLOPS (1:1) versus not listed
• TDP: 200 W versus 225 W
• Power connectors: 1x 12-pin versus 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin
• Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16
• Display outputs: 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a versus none
• DirectX: 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus 12 (11_0)
• Vulkan: 1.4 versus 1.2.175
• Length: 242 mm versus 272 mm
• Release date: 2020 versus 2012
• Launch MSRP: 399 USD versus 5,099 USD
• Average benchmark score: 16129 versus 14029
• Percentile versus all GPUs: 59 versus 55

Fields where they match: both are dual-slot NVIDIA parts with a suggested 550 W PSU, OpenGL 4.6 support, end-of-life production status, and a 256-bit memory bus. Everywhere else, the RTX 3060 Ti leads on paper exactly as it leads in the recorded benchmark results, by a wide and unambiguous margin.