NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla K80 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records only two shared benchmark results between the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile and the NVIDIA Tesla K80, and in both instances the margin is overwhelming. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 96,969 against the Tesla K80’s 18,620, a delta of 420.8%. That is not a marginal improvement; it is a generational leap expressed in compute throughput. The Vulkan result tells a similar story: the RTX 5060 Mobile posts 96,451, while the Tesla K80 manages 19,111, a delta of 404.7%. Both wins belong to the RTX 5060 Mobile, and the data shows no scenario in the shared test set where the Tesla K80 takes a lead.

To contextualize these deltas, consider the RTX 5060 Mobile’s position among its nearest rivals. Its average benchmark score is 22,435, which places it 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (22,549) and 1.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile (22,729). Conversely, it sits 1.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (22,170) and 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6700S (22,154). The Tesla K80, by contrast, averages 18,866 across its recorded tests, landing 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (18,789) and 0.5% behind the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation (18,954). The percentile data reinforces the gap: the RTX 5060 Mobile sits at the 67th percentile among all GPUs, while the Tesla K80 rests at the 63rd. That 4-point percentile difference, combined with the raw score deltas, indicates that the RTX 5060 Mobile is not merely faster; it operates in a different performance tier for compute-oriented workloads.

The magnitude of the OpenCL and Vulkan deltas (over 400% in both cases) suggests that the RTX 5060 Mobile’s advantage is not confined to a single API or workload type. OpenCL and Vulkan stress different parts of the GPU pipeline, yet the RTX 5060 Mobile crushes the Tesla K80 in both. This consistency points to fundamental architectural superiority rather than a workload-specific optimization. The Tesla K80’s scores, while respectable for its era, simply cannot keep pace with modern Blackwell-based silicon.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile wins decisively, scoring 96,969 compared to the Tesla K80’s 18,620. The delta is 420.8% in favor of the RTX 5060 Mobile.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 Mobile compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile’s average benchmark score is 22,435, which is 0.5% lower than the RX 7700 XT’s 22,549. The two are effectively neck-and-neck in aggregate performance.

Q: What is the Tesla K80’s closest rival according to the database?

A: The Tesla K80’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which scores 18,789. The Tesla K80 leads by just 0.4% (18,866 vs. 18,789), a margin well within measurement noise.

Q: Is the Tesla K80 competitive in Vulkan workloads?

A: No. The Tesla K80 scores 19,111 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 96,451. The RTX 5060 Mobile leads by 404.7%, so the Tesla K80 is not competitive in this API.

Q: Where does each GPU rank among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile sits at the 67th percentile, while the Tesla K80 sits at the 63rd. The RTX 5060 Mobile ranks higher, reflecting its stronger average score.

Q: How many benchmark wins does each GPU have in the head-to-head tests?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile wins 2 tests (both Geekbench variants), and the Tesla K80 wins 0. There are no recorded tests where the Tesla K80 outperforms the RTX 5060 Mobile.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: for anyone choosing between these two GPUs, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile is the superior performer. It wins both recorded benchmarks by margins exceeding 400%, and its average score (22,435) is 18.9% higher than the Tesla K80’s (18,866). The RTX 5060 Mobile also ranks higher in the percentile distribution (67th vs. 63rd), meaning it outperforms a larger fraction of the GPU population.

The Tesla K80’s only advantage lies in its 12 GB of memory, which is 4 GB more than the RTX 5060 Mobile’s 8 GB. However, that capacity advantage does not translate into benchmark wins. In fact, the Tesla K80’s closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, nearly matches it (0.4% difference), and the RTX 2070 is a much older card. The Tesla K80 is end-of-life, while the RTX 5060 Mobile is active production. If the choice is between a modern mobile GPU and a legacy compute card, the RTX 5060 Mobile is the clear pick based on the recorded metrics.

For users who need raw compute throughput in OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX 5060 Mobile is in a different league. For anyone constrained to the Tesla K80’s ecosystem (e.g., legacy CUDA compute without modern API support), the data still shows it is far behind. The verdict: the RTX 5060 Mobile wins outright on performance, and the Tesla K80’s only remaining relevance is as a historical data point.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ fundamentally across nearly every specification. The RTX 5060 Mobile uses a 5 nm process node, while the Tesla K80 uses 28 nm. The RTX 5060 Mobile’s die size is 181 mm², compared to the Tesla K80’s 561 mm². Transistor counts also diverge sharply: the RTX 5060 Mobile packs 21,900 million transistors, versus 7,100 million on the Tesla K80. Transistor density tells the story: 121.0M per mm² for the RTX 5060 Mobile, versus 12.7M per mm² for the Tesla K80.

Clock speeds favor the RTX 5060 Mobile as well. Its base clock is 952 MHz with a boost of 1455 MHz, while the Tesla K80 runs at 562 MHz base and 824 MHz boost. Memory configurations differ: the RTX 5060 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla K80 has 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, but only achieves 240.6 GB/s. Memory clock is 1500 MHz (24 Gbps effective) for the RTX 5060 Mobile, versus 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective) for the Tesla K80.

Compute resources: the RTX 5060 Mobile has 3328 shading units, 104 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The Tesla K80 has 2496 shading units, 208 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The RTX 5060 Mobile also includes 26 RT cores and 104 tensor cores; the Tesla K80 has neither. Pixel and texture rates: the RTX 5060 Mobile posts 69.84 GPixel/s and 151.3 GTexel/s, while the Tesla K80 manages 42.85 GPixel/s and 171.4 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 9.684 TFLOPS for the RTX 5060 Mobile, versus 4.113 TFLOPS for the Tesla K80. The RTX 5060 Mobile also supports FP16 at 9.684 TFLOPS (1:1); the Tesla K80 has no recorded FP16 capability.

Power and physical specs differ drastically. The RTX 5060 Mobile has a TDP of 45 W, is IGP-class (integrated into a laptop), and draws power via the motherboard with no external connectors. The Tesla K80 is a dual-slot card, 267 mm long, with a 300 W TDP and a single 8-pin power connector, requiring a 700 W suggested PSU. The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 for the RTX 5060 Mobile, versus PCIe 3.0 x16 for the Tesla K80. Display outputs: the RTX 5060 Mobile is portable-device dependent, while the Tesla K80 has no outputs at all.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is as wide as the performance gap. The RTX 5060 Mobile is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture (chip GB206), part of the GeForce 50-series. The Tesla K80 uses the Kepler 2.0 architecture (chip GK210), from the Tesla Kepler generation. These are separated by multiple architectural generations, which explains the massive compute differences.

The RTX 5060 Mobile’s 5 nm process (TSMC) allows for 121.0M transistors per mm², a density nearly ten times that of the Tesla K80’s 28 nm process (12.7M per mm²). This density advantage enables the RTX 5060 Mobile to fit 3328 shading units and dedicated RT and tensor cores into a 181 mm² die, while the Tesla K80 needs 561 mm² for fewer shading units and no specialized cores.

The Tesla K80 lacks ray tracing and tensor core hardware entirely. The RTX 5060 Mobile includes 26 RT cores and 104 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. The Tesla K80’s Kepler architecture predates these features. Additionally, the RTX 5060 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla K80 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1). Vulkan support differs: the RTX 5060 Mobile supports Vulkan 1.4, the Tesla K80 supports 1.2.175. OpenGL is identical at 4.6.

The FP16 capability is another differentiator. The RTX 5060 Mobile achieves 9.684 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 with FP32), which is critical for modern machine learning inference. The Tesla K80 has no recorded FP16 performance, reflecting its older compute focus. The RTX 5060 Mobile’s GDDR7 memory (384.0 GB/s) also outpaces the Tesla K80’s GDDR5 (240.6 GB/s) despite the latter’s wider 384-bit bus, proof of the newer memory technology.

Production status and release timing further underscore the generational divide. The RTX 5060 Mobile is Active, released in May 2025, succeeding the GeForce 40 Mobile. The Tesla K80 is End-of-life, released in November 2014, with its predecessor being Tesla Fermi and its successor Tesla Maxwell. The RTX 5060 Mobile supports PCIe 5.0, while the Tesla K80 is stuck on PCIe 3.0. These architectural differences, from process node to memory type to core configuration, collectively explain why the RTX 5060 Mobile dominates in every recorded benchmark.