NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla K80 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a stark generational divide. In the only two directly comparable tests — Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan — the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile decisively outperforms the Tesla K80. The OpenCL result shows the RTX 4050 Mobile scoring 74,748 points against the K80’s 18,620, a lead of 301.4%. The Vulkan test tells a similar story: the RTX 4050 Mobile’s 75,235 score dwarfs the K80’s 19,111, a 293.7% advantage. These are not marginal wins; they are absolute routs.

The RTX 4050 Mobile’s wins are so large that they nearly erase the K80 from statistical relevance in these workloads. For context, the RTX 4050 Mobile’s average benchmark score of 19,049 places it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, as does the K80’s average of 18,866. However, this near-parity in aggregate scores is misleading. The K80’s average is derived from only two data points (its Geekbench scores), while the RTX 4050 Mobile has nine benchmark results, including several older DirectX tests where it scores poorly (e.g., 79 in Passmark DirectX 10, 130 in DirectX 11). When the shared test suite is isolated, the RTX 4050 Mobile is over three times faster.

The nearest rivals for each card further highlight the context. The RTX 4050 Mobile’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 6600, which averages 19,036 (a 0.1% difference), and the NVIDIA Tesla K20m at 19,089 (a -0.2% difference). Meanwhile, the K80 sits near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (18,789, +0.4%) and the RTX 2000 Ada Generation (18,954, -0.5%). In short, the RTX 4050 Mobile is competing with modern mid-range desktop GPUs, while the K80 is bracketed by a 2018 enthusiast card and a modern workstation part. The head-to-head data leaves no ambiguity: the RTX 4050 Mobile is the clear performance victor.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by almost a decade of silicon evolution, and the specifications reflect this chasm. The RTX 4050 Mobile uses the AD107 chip on TSMC’s 5 nm process, packing 18,900 million transistors into a 159 mm² die — a transistor density of 118.9 million per square millimeter. In contrast, the Tesla K80 uses the GK210 chip on a 28 nm process, with 7,100 million transistors spread across a massive 561 mm² die, yielding a density of just 12.7 million per square millimeter. The RTX 4050 Mobile is built on Ada Lovelace architecture, while the K80 uses Kepler 2.0; the former offers feature support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the latter tops out at DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.175.

Memory configurations diverge sharply. The RTX 4050 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus, delivering 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The K80 offers 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, providing 240.6 GB/s. Despite the K80’s larger capacity and wider bus, its older memory technology and lower effective clock (5 Gbps vs. 16 Gbps) mean it only holds a 25% bandwidth advantage, which is insufficient against the RTX 4050 Mobile’s architectural efficiency. The shader configurations also differ: the RTX 4050 Mobile has 2,560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, while the K80 has 2,496 shading units, 208 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The K80’s higher TMU count (208 vs. 80) gives it a higher texture rate (171.4 GTexel/s vs. 140.4 GTexel/s), but the RTX 4050 Mobile’s pixel rate is nearly double (84.24 GPixel/s vs. 42.85 GPixel/s).

The most critical architectural divergence is in compute features. The RTX 4050 Mobile includes 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads; the K80 has neither. This translates to a massive FP32 throughput difference: the RTX 4050 Mobile delivers 8.986 TFLOPS, while the K80 manages only 4.113 TFLOPS. The RTX 4050 Mobile also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (8.986 TFLOPS), whereas the K80 has no FP16 support listed. Power and physical requirements are equally divergent: the RTX 4050 Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with a 50 W TDP and no power connectors, while the K80 is a dual-slot card with a 300 W TDP, a single 8-pin connector, and a suggested 700 W PSU. The K80 also has no display outputs, making it a compute-only accelerator, while the RTX 4050 Mobile’s outputs are portable-device dependent.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4050 Mobile wins in every measurable shared benchmark, but its strengths are not uniform across all workloads. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 75,235 indicates strong performance in modern graphics APIs, making it suitable for games and applications that leverage Vulkan. The OpenCL score of 74,748 suggests robust general-purpose compute performance, particularly for tasks that can utilize its tensor cores and RT cores. The RTX 4050 Mobile’s high FP32 throughput (8.986 TFLOPS) and FP16 support make it a capable choice for AI inference and machine learning tasks, though its 6 GB memory may limit dataset sizes.

The Tesla K80’s only theoretical advantages are memory capacity (12 GB) and memory bandwidth (240.6 GB/s). In workloads that are memory-bound and do not require modern features, the K80’s larger frame buffer could be beneficial. However, its FP32 throughput of 4.113 TFLOPS is less than half of the RTX 4050 Mobile’s, and its lack of FP16 support, RT cores, and tensor cores means it cannot accelerate the same breadth of workloads. The K80’s higher texture rate (171.4 GTexel/s) might help in texture-heavy compute tasks, but this is a narrow niche. In practice, the data shows the RTX 4050 Mobile wins on all fronts that matter for modern software.

The RTX 4050 Mobile’s low TDP (50 W) and IGP form factor make it suitable for thin-and-light laptops, where the K80’s 300 W TDP and dual-slot design are impossible to integrate. The K80’s end-of-life production status and lack of display outputs further cement its role as a legacy compute card for older data center workloads, not a contemporary competitor. The RTX 4050 Mobile’s active production status and 2023 release date (January 2, 2023) mean it is a current product with driver support for newer APIs.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile is the better GPU by a wide margin. Its 301.4% lead in OpenCL and 293.7% lead in Vulkan over the Tesla K80 are not incremental improvements but generational leaps. For any user prioritizing modern gaming, AI, or general compute performance, the RTX 4050 Mobile is the only rational choice. The K80’s 12 GB memory and higher bandwidth cannot compensate for its inferior compute throughput and lack of modern features.

The RTX 4050 Mobile should be selected by anyone needing a current, power-efficient (50 W vs. 300 W) solution with hardware ray tracing and tensor cores. Its 6 GB GDDR6 memory, while smaller, is paired with 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth and a 16 Gbps effective memory clock, which is sufficient for most workloads. The K80 should only be considered for legacy compute environments that require its specific Kepler architecture or where the 12 GB memory is a hard requirement, but even then, its 4.113 TFLOPS FP32 and lack of FP16 support make it a poor choice for modern tasks.

The percentile rankings (both 63rd) are a statistical artifact of differing benchmark suites, not a reflection of real-world parity. The RTX 4050 Mobile’s nearest rivals (RX 6600, RTX 2000 Ada) are modern parts, while the K80’s rivals (RTX 2070, Quadro K6000) are older. The RTX 4050 Mobile is the clear winner for new purchases, and the Tesla K80 is a relic that the data recommends against for any new deployment.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4050 Mobile than the Tesla K80 in OpenCL?

A: The RTX 4050 Mobile scores 74,748 versus the K80’s 18,620, a lead of 301.4%.

Q: Does the Tesla K80 have ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The K80 has no RT cores and no tensor cores, while the RTX 4050 Mobile has 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The Tesla K80 has 12 GB of GDDR5, while the RTX 4050 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6. The K80’s bandwidth is 240.6 GB/s versus 192.0 GB/s for the RTX 4050 Mobile.

Q: Which card has a higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The RTX 4050 Mobile delivers 8.986 TFLOPS, more than double the K80’s 4.113 TFLOPS.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The RTX 4050 Mobile has a 50 W TDP and is an IGP with no power connectors, while the K80 has a 300 W TDP, requires a single 8-pin connector, and suggests a 700 W PSU.

Q: Which GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: Only the RTX 4050 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The Tesla K80 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1).