NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 vs NVIDIA Tesla K20m Comparison

The Verdict

The database places these two NVIDIA cards in completely different eras and performance classes. The Tesla K20m is a legacy Kepler compute card, while the GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 is a current Blackwell flagship. The data shows the RTX 5090 D V2 is in a different league: it delivers 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 versus 3.524 TFLOPS for the K20m, a 29.7x raw compute advantage. In memory bandwidth, the 5090 D V2 offers 1.34 TB/s against 208.0 GB/s, a 6.4x gap.

However, the recorded benchmark scores tell a more nuanced story. The K20m has an average benchmark score of 19089, with a 64th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The RTX 5090 D V2 averages 16504, sitting at the 59th percentile. This means the K20m actually outperforms the 5090 D V2 in the specific tests recorded, despite the massive architectural and specification differences. The K20m's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19049, 0.2% behind), AMD Radeon RX 6600 (19036, 0.3% behind), and NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (19030, 0.3% behind). The 5090 D V2's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA T400 (16508, 0% delta), AMD Radeon PRO W7500 (16415, 0.5% ahead), and NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (16408, 0.6% ahead).

Which should you pick? Strictly from the data: if you need a current-generation gaming or workstation card with modern features, the RTX 5090 D V2 is the only sensible choice. If you are building a legacy compute system or need a Kepler-generation accelerator, the K20m has a higher average benchmark score in the database. The 5090 D V2 is active production, while the K20m is end-of-life. The 5090 D V2 has 24 GB of GDDR7, 170 RT cores, and 680 tensor cores; the K20m has none of those modern features. The launch MSRP for the K20m was 3,199 USD, while the 5090 D V2 launched at 2,299 USD.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is generational. The K20m uses the GK110 chip on the Kepler architecture, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.6M per mm². The RTX 5090 D V2 uses the GB202 chip on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, also fabricated by TSMC but on a 5 nm process. It contains 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, reaching 122.9M transistors per mm². That is a 9.8x density improvement.

The K20m has 2,496 shading units, 208 texture mapping units, and 40 ROPs. It has no RT cores and no tensor cores. The 5090 D V2 has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 170 RT cores, and 680 tensor cores. The shading unit count is 8.7x higher, TMUs are 3.3x higher, and ROPs are 4.4x higher.

Clock speeds reflect the process node leap. The K20m's memory runs at 1300 MHz (5.2 Gbps effective). The 5090 D V2 has a base clock of 2017 MHz, a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and memory at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The memory type also differs: GDDR5 on the K20m versus GDDR7 on the 5090 D V2.

The bus interfaces are different generations. The K20m uses PCIe 2.0 x16; the 5090 D V2 uses PCIe 5.0 x16. The K20m has no display outputs, while the 5090 D V2 offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. API support also diverges: the K20m supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175, while the 5090 D V2 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Where Each One Wins

The K20m wins in the database's average benchmark score. Its average of 19089 beats the 5090 D V2's 16504 by 15.7%. The K20m also holds a higher percentile ranking at 64 versus 59. The recorded benchmarks show the K20m scoring 16241 in Geekbench OpenCL and 21936 in Geekbench Vulkan. The 5090 D V2 has one recorded benchmark: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 16504. These are different tests, so direct comparison is limited, but the average scores are what the database uses for ranking.

The RTX 5090 D V2 wins in every raw specification category. It has more memory (24 GB versus 5 GB), faster memory (GDDR7 versus GDDR5), a wider bus (384 bit versus 320 bit), and vastly higher bandwidth. It has more than 8x the shading units, 3.3x the TMUs, 4.4x the ROPs, and the only RT and tensor cores. Its FP32 throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS is 29.7x the K20m's 3.524 TFLOPS. Its pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s versus 36.71 GPixel/s, an 11.5x difference. Its texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s versus 146.8 GTexel/s, an 11.1x difference.

For modern workloads like ray tracing, AI inference, or DirectX 12 Ultimate gaming, the 5090 D V2 is clearly the only option. For legacy compute tasks that rely on Kepler-era OpenCL or Vulkan performance, the K20m's recorded scores suggest it remains competitive in the database's rankings.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Tesla K20m has an average benchmark score of 19089, while the RTX 5090 D V2 averages 16504. The K20m leads by 15.7%.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D V2 support ray tracing?

A: Yes. The RTX 5090 D V2 has 170 RT cores. The Tesla K20m has no RT cores.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The Tesla K20m has 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus. The RTX 5090 D V2 has 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 384-bit bus.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. The Tesla K20m is end-of-life, while the RTX 5090 D V2 is active production.

Q: Which card has tensor cores?

A: Only the RTX 5090 D V2 has tensor cores, with 680 of them. The Tesla K20m has no tensor cores.

Q: How do their FP32 performance numbers compare?

A: The RTX 5090 D V2 delivers 104.8 TFLOPS FP32, which is 29.7x the Tesla K20m's 3.524 TFLOPS.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database has no direct head-to-head benchmark entries between these two cards. Instead, each card has its own recorded tests. The K20m shows 16241 in Geekbench OpenCL and 21936 in Geekbench Vulkan. The 5090 D V2 shows 16504 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. These tests measure different things: OpenCL and Vulkan are general compute and graphics APIs, while 3DMark Steel Nomad is a specific DX12 gaming workload.

The average benchmark scores are the most comparable metric. The K20m's 19089 average places it 15.7% above the 5090 D V2's 16504. However, this comparison is limited by the different test suites. The K20m's nearest rivals include the RTX 4050 Mobile at 19049 (0.2% lower), RX 6600 at 19036 (0.3% lower), and Quadro K6000 at 19030 (0.3% lower). The GTX 780 is slightly ahead at 19164 (0.4% higher). The 5090 D V2's nearest rivals are the T400 at 16508 (0% delta), Radeon PRO W7500 at 16415 (0.5% higher), and RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell at 16408 (0.6% higher).

In raw throughput, the 5090 D V2 dominates. Its FP32 of 104.8 TFLOPS is 29.7x the K20m's 3.524 TFLOPS. Its pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s is 11.5x the K20m's 36.71 GPixel/s. Its texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s is 11.1x the K20m's 146.8 GTexel/s. Memory bandwidth is 1.34 TB/s versus 208.0 GB/s, a 6.4x gap. The 5090 D V2 also has a much larger transistor budget: 92,200 million versus 7,080 million, a 13x difference.

The K20m's strength lies in its recorded benchmark scores, particularly the Vulkan result of 21936. This suggests the Kepler architecture still handles certain compute workloads well in the database's testing environment. The 5090 D V2's single 3DMark score of 16504 is lower, but that test is a modern DX12 workload that the K20m cannot run at all due to its older API support.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification field. The K20m uses the GK110 chip on Kepler architecture; the 5090 D V2 uses GB202 on Blackwell 2.0. The process node is 28 nm versus 5 nm. Transistor count is 7,080 million versus 92,200 million. Die size is 561 mm² versus 750 mm². Transistor density is 12.6M per mm² versus 122.9M per mm².

Memory: 5 GB GDDR5 with 320-bit bus and 208.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 24 GB GDDR7 with 384-bit bus and 1.34 TB/s bandwidth. Shading units: 2496 versus 21760. TMUs: 208 versus 680. ROPs: 40 versus 176. RT cores: none versus 170. Tensor cores: none versus 680.

Pixel rate: 36.71 GPixel/s versus 423.6 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 146.8 GTexel/s versus 1,636.8 GTexel/s. FP32: 3.524 TFLOPS versus 104.8 TFLOPS. FP16: not available on the K20m versus 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1) on the 5090 D V2.

TDP: 225 W versus 575 W. Power connectors: 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin versus 1x 16-pin. Suggested PSU: 550 W versus 950 W. Bus interface: PCIe 2.0 x16 versus PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs: none versus 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b.

DirectX support: 12 (11_0) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2). Vulkan: 1.2.175 versus 1.4. OpenGL is the same at 4.6. Dimensions: the K20m is 267 mm (10.5 inches) long; the 5090 D V2 is 304 mm (12 inches) long, 137 mm (5.4 inches) high, and 48 mm (1.9 inches) wide. Both are dual-slot. Release dates: the K20m launched on 2013-01-04, while the 5090 D V2 launched on 2025-08-14. The K20m's predecessor is Tesla Fermi and successor is Tesla Maxwell. The 5090 D V2's predecessor is GeForce 40 and successor is GeForce 60.