NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti vs NVIDIA Tesla K20m Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive performance advantage for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti across both shared benchmark tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3060 Ti scores 78,927 points against 16,241 for the Tesla K20m, a delta of 79.4% in favor of the newer card. This is not a marginal gap; it represents a fundamental generational leap in compute throughput, as the RTX 3060 Ti delivers nearly five times the raw OpenCL performance of the Kepler-based professional card.

The Vulkan results tell a similar story, though with a slightly narrower margin. The RTX 3060 Ti posts 47,784 points, while the Tesla K20m manages 21,936, leaving the K20m 54.1% behind. Even in an API that the older card supports, the Ampere architecture's superior shader throughput and modern scheduling capabilities dominate. The K20m's Vulkan score of 21,936 is respectable for a 2013 product, but it still falls far short of the RTX 3060 Ti's output.

Looking at the broader database averages, the RTX 3060 Ti holds an average benchmark score of 16,129 across all recorded tests, while the Tesla K20m averages 19,089. Interestingly, the K20m's average is boosted by its strong OpenCL result, which sits above the RTX 3060 Ti's own average when factoring in the latter's wider test suite including DirectX and Passmark workloads. However, this aggregate figure can mislead; the head-to-head comparisons are where the true relationship emerges. The RTX 3060 Ti wins both shared tests outright, and the database records 0 wins for the K20m against 2 for the RTX 3060 Ti.

Relative to their nearest rivals, the RTX 3060 Ti sits 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 9060 and 1.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 370X, while trailing the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M by 1.4% and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT by 1.4%. The Tesla K20m, by contrast, is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at 0.2% ahead, and 0.3% ahead of both the AMD Radeon RX 6600 and the NVIDIA Quadro K6000, while sitting 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780. These tight margins around the K20m's average indicate that its performance profile is well understood within its contemporary class, but that class is simply not competitive with the RTX 3060 Ti's tier.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from entirely different eras of NVIDIA's design philosophy. The Tesla K20m uses the GK110 chip on the Kepler architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti uses the GA104 chip on the Ampere architecture, built on Samsung's 8 nm node. This process shrink alone explains much of the performance delta, as the RTX 3060 Ti packs 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die, while the K20m holds 7,080 million transistors on a much larger 561 mm² die. The resulting transistor density tells the story: 44.4M per mm² for Ampere versus 12.6M per mm² for Kepler.

The K20m's memory subsystem is a 5 GB GDDR5 configuration on a 320-bit bus, delivering 208.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 5.2 Gbps effective. The RTX 3060 Ti counters with 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, achieving 448.0 GB/s at 14 Gbps effective. The RTX 3060 Ti more than doubles the bandwidth despite a narrower bus, a direct consequence of the faster memory standard. Both cards carry dual-slot coolers, but the K20m requires 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors while the RTX 3060 Ti uses a single 12-pin connector. Both share a 550 W suggested power supply rating, though the K20m's TDP is 225 W versus 200 W for the RTX 3060 Ti.

The compute resources diverge sharply. The Tesla K20m has 2,496 shading units, 208 texture mapping units, and 40 ROPs. The RTX 3060 Ti has 4,864 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The RTX 3060 Ti nearly doubles the shader count and doubles the ROP count, while sacrificing some texture units. Critically, the RTX 3060 Ti adds 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores, hardware that the K20m lacks entirely. These dedicated units enable ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads that the K20m cannot execute through dedicated hardware.

Pixel and texture rates follow the architectural lead. The K20m outputs 36.71 GPixel/s and 146.8 GTexel/s, while the RTX 3060 Ti reaches 133.2 GPixel/s and 253.1 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput is equally lopsided: 3.524 TFLOPS for the K20m versus 16.20 TFLOPS for the RTX 3060 Ti. The RTX 3060 Ti also supports FP16 at 16.20 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), a feature the K20m does not expose. The RTX 3060 Ti's API support includes DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the K20m tops out at DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6.

The bus interface also differs: the K20m uses PCIe 2.0 x16, while the RTX 3060 Ti uses PCIe 4.0 x16, doubling the available host bandwidth. The K20m has no display outputs, reflecting its compute-oriented professional role, whereas the RTX 3060 Ti provides 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Physical dimensions place the K20m at 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length, while the RTX 3060 Ti is 242 mm (9.5 inches) long and 112 mm (4.4 inches) tall.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The Tesla K20m averages 19,089 across its recorded tests, while the RTX 3060 Ti averages 16,129. However, the K20m's average is based on only two tests, whereas the RTX 3060 Ti's includes a broader DirectX and Passmark suite, so the aggregate does not reflect their head-to-head relationship.

Q: Does the Tesla K20m support Vulkan?

A: Yes, the K20m supports Vulkan 1.2.175, but in the shared Vulkan benchmark it scores 21,936 against the RTX 3060 Ti's 47,784, a 54.1% deficit.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The K20m delivers 208.0 GB/s over a 320-bit GDDR5 bus, while the RTX 3060 Ti delivers 448.0 GB/s over a 256-bit GDDR6 bus, more than doubling the bandwidth.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has 4,864 shading units, nearly double the K20m's 2,496. The RTX 3060 Ti also has 80 ROPs versus 40, and 152 TMUs versus 208.

Q: Does the Tesla K20m have ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No, the K20m has no RT cores or tensor cores. The RTX 3060 Ti includes 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads.

Q: Which card has the larger die?

A: The K20m's GK110 die measures 561 mm², while the RTX 3060 Ti's GA104 die measures 392 mm². The RTX 3060 Ti packs more transistors into the smaller die due to the 8 nm process.

Specification Differences

• Process Node: 28 nm (TSMC) for the K20m versus 8 nm (Samsung) for the RTX 3060 Ti
• Transistors: 7,080 million versus 17,400 million
• Die Size: 561 mm² versus 392 mm²
• Transistor Density: 12.6M / mm² versus 44.4M / mm²
• Base Clock: Not specified for the K20m versus 1410 MHz for the RTX 3060 Ti
• Boost Clock: Not specified for the K20m versus 1665 MHz for the RTX 3060 Ti
• Memory Clock: 1300 MHz (5.2 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective)
• Memory Size: 5 GB versus 8 GB
• Memory Type: GDDR5 versus GDDR6
• Memory Bus: 320 bit versus 256 bit
• Memory Bandwidth: 208.0 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s
• Shading Units: 2,496 versus 4,864
• TMUs: 208 versus 152
• ROPs: 40 versus 80
• RT Cores: None versus 38
• Tensor Cores: None versus 152
• Pixel Rate: 36.71 GPixel/s versus 133.2 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: 146.8 GTexel/s versus 253.1 GTexel/s
• FP32: 3.524 TFLOPS versus 16.20 TFLOPS
• FP16: Not specified versus 16.20 TFLOPS (1:1)
• TDP: 225 W versus 200 W
• Power Connectors: 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin versus 1x 12-pin
• Bus Interface: PCIe 2.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16
• Display Outputs: No outputs versus 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
• DirectX Support: 12 (11_0) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2)
• Vulkan Support: 1.2.175 versus 1.4
• Length: 267 mm versus 242 mm
• Height: Not specified versus 112 mm
• Release Date: 2013-01-04 versus 2020-11-30
• Launch MSRP: 3,199 USD versus 399 USD

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion: the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the superior card for any workload that can leverage its architecture. In the two benchmarks where both cards were measured, the RTX 3060 Ti wins decisively, with a 79.4% advantage in OpenCL and a 54.1% advantage in Vulkan. Its FP32 throughput of 16.20 TFLOPS versus 3.524 TFLOPS, combined with more than double the memory bandwidth, positions it as the clear choice for compute-heavy tasks.

The Tesla K20m retains relevance only in very specific legacy contexts. Its 5 GB GDDR5 frame buffer and 208.0 GB/s bandwidth were competitive in 2013, and its 64th percentile ranking against all GPUs shows it still outperforms a majority of the database's entries. But its nearest rivals, such as the RTX 4050 Mobile and RX 6600, sit within 0.3% of its average score, indicating that even its peer group has moved on. The K20m's lack of display outputs and absence of RT and tensor cores further limit its utility in modern systems.

For buyers choosing between these two, the RTX 3060 Ti is the only sensible pick for gaming, content creation, or general-purpose compute. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate support, Vulkan 1.4, and dedicated ray tracing hardware make it future-proof in ways the K20m cannot match. The K20m, meanwhile, belongs in archival or specialized compute environments where its Kepler-era feature set and 5 GB memory footprint are still acceptable. The benchmark database does not record a single test where the K20m wins, and the architectural gap is too wide to bridge. The RTX 3060 Ti wins on raw performance, feature support, and efficiency, making the verdict unambiguous.