NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla K80 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive performance gap between these two NVIDIA professional accelerators. Across the two shared benchmark tests, the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile wins both, and the margins are substantial.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A4000 Mobile scores 97,178, while the Tesla K80 manages 18,620. That translates to a 421.9% advantage for the mobile Ampere part. The scale of this difference is not incremental; it is a generational leap. The Tesla K80 was designed for compute density in its era, but the raw execution efficiency of the newer architecture simply overpowers it in this API test.

The Vulkan test tells a similar story, though with a slightly narrower gap. The RTX A4000 Mobile records 73,002, versus 19,111 for the Tesla K80. That is a 282% delta. Vulkan is a lower-level API that can expose hardware capabilities more directly, and even here the older Kepler part cannot keep pace. The RTX A4000 Mobile's advantage stems from both architectural improvements and clock speed advantages, which we will examine in the Architecture Differences section.

The overall average benchmark score for the RTX A4000 Mobile is 21,379, placing it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The Tesla K80's average is 18,866, sitting in the 63rd percentile. While the percentile gap looks small, the actual score difference is approximately 13.3%. The nearest rivals for each card provide context: the RTX A4000 Mobile sits just 0.7% above the AMD Radeon HD 8970M and 1.1% above the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, while trailing the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 by 1.2%. The Tesla K80, meanwhile, is 0.4% ahead of the GeForce RTX 2070 and 0.5% behind the RTX 2000 Ada Generation.

It is importantly the Tesla K80 only has two benchmark entries in the database, whereas the RTX A4000 Mobile has nine. This makes direct comparison more difficult for the older card, but the two shared tests are consistent: the A4000 Mobile is significantly faster.

Architecture Differences

The underlying designs could hardly be more different. The RTX A4000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip built on Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. The Tesla K80 uses the GK210 chip on Kepler 2.0 architecture, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The process node difference alone, 8 nm versus 28 nm, is a major factor in efficiency and transistor density. The RTX A4000 Mobile packs 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die, giving a density of 44.4 million transistors per square millimeter. The Tesla K80 has 7,100 million transistors on a larger 561 mm² die, yielding just 12.7 million transistors per square millimeter. The newer part is both denser and more efficient per area.

Clock speeds reinforce the architectural gap. The RTX A4000 Mobile runs at a base clock of 1140 MHz and boosts to 1680 MHz. The Tesla K80 operates at 562 MHz base and 824 MHz boost. That is roughly a two-fold advantage in raw clock frequency for the A4000 Mobile, and when combined with the newer architecture's higher instruction-level efficiency, the performance delta becomes clear.

Memory configurations also differ substantially. The RTX A4000 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla K80 offers 12 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 384-bit bus, but only achieves 240.6 GB/s. The newer memory type and higher effective clock, 12 Gbps versus 5 Gbps, more than compensates for the narrower bus. The Tesla K80 does have more total memory, which matters for certain large datasets, but the A4000 Mobile has 60% more bandwidth per GB/s, which is crucial for many compute workloads.

Compute resources show a similarly lopsided picture. The RTX A4000 Mobile features 5,120 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. It also includes 40 ray tracing cores and 160 tensor cores, reflecting its modern feature set. The Tesla K80 has 2,496 shading units, 208 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with no ray tracing or tensor cores. The A4000 Mobile's FP32 throughput is 17.20 TFLOPS, while the K80 manages 4.113 TFLOPS. The A4000 Mobile also supports FP16 at the same 17.20 TFLOPS rate, whereas the K80 has no FP16 capability listed. Pixel rate is 134.4 GPixel/s versus 42.85 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 268.8 GTexel/s versus 171.4 GTexel/s.

The power envelope is stark. The RTX A4000 Mobile has a TDP of 115 W and requires no power connectors, reflecting its mobile design. The Tesla K80 draws 300 W and needs a single 8-pin connector, with a suggested PSU of 700 W. The efficiency gain is immense: the A4000 Mobile delivers over four times the FP32 throughput at less than half the power draw.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the benchmark data, the RTX A4000 Mobile wins in every measurable compute scenario. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 97,178 is more than five times the K80's 18,620. For general-purpose GPU compute, OpenCL workloads, and modern API-based rendering, the A4000 Mobile is the clear choice.

The Vulkan result, 73,002 versus 19,111, reinforces this. Vulkan is increasingly used in professional visualization and game engine workloads, and the A4000 Mobile's support for Vulkan 1.4, compared to the K80's 1.2.175, gives it broader compatibility with modern software stacks.

The Tesla K80's only advantage lies in memory capacity. With 12 GB versus 8 GB, it can hold larger datasets in VRAM, which can be beneficial for certain machine learning inference tasks or large matrix operations that exceed 8 GB. However, the bandwidth deficit, 240.6 GB/s versus 384.0 GB/s, means that even when data fits, the K80 will move it more slowly.

The RTX A4000 Mobile also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla K80 maxes out at DirectX 12 (11_1). For any graphics-oriented workload, including ray tracing, the A4000 Mobile is the only viable option. The K80 has no display outputs at all, making it purely a compute accelerator, whereas the A4000 Mobile's outputs are portable device dependent, meaning it can drive displays in mobile workstations.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 21,379, while the NVIDIA Tesla K80 averages 18,866. This places the A4000 Mobile in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, versus the 63rd percentile for the K80.

Q: How large is the performance gap in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile scores 97,178, which is 421.9% higher than the Tesla K80's 18,620. This is the largest delta recorded in the head-to-head tests.

Q: Does the Tesla K80 have any architectural advantage?

A: The Tesla K80 has a larger memory capacity at 12 GB versus 8 GB, and a wider 384-bit memory bus. However, its GDDR5 memory runs at a lower effective speed, resulting in only 240.6 GB/s of bandwidth compared to 384.0 GB/s for the RTX A4000 Mobile.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile includes 40 ray tracing cores and 160 tensor cores. The Tesla K80 has no ray tracing or tensor cores listed in the database, reflecting its older Kepler architecture.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile has a TDP of 115 W and requires no power connectors. The Tesla K80 has a TDP of 300 W and requires a single 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 700 W.

Q: What is the process node difference?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile is built on an 8 nm process at Samsung, while the Tesla K80 uses a 28 nm process at TSMC. The A4000 Mobile's transistor density is 44.4 million per square millimeter, versus 12.7 million for the K80.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla K80 in every recorded benchmark, with margins ranging from 282% to 421.9%. The architectural advancements, including a newer process node, higher clock speeds, more shading units, and dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores, make the A4000 Mobile the superior choice for virtually any modern workload.

The Tesla K80's only redeeming feature is its larger 12 GB memory pool. For users who need to fit very large datasets that exceed 8 GB, the K80 has a capacity advantage. However, this comes with severe trade-offs: lower bandwidth, higher power draw, no display output, and no support for modern APIs like Vulkan 1.4 or DirectX 12 Ultimate.

The RTX A4000 Mobile is the pick for compute tasks, graphics workloads, and any application that benefits from ray tracing or tensor core acceleration. It delivers roughly four times the FP32 throughput at under half the power draw. The Tesla K80 is a legacy part that has been superseded by multiple generations of NVIDIA architecture. Its position in the database, with only two benchmark entries and a lower average score, reflects its age.

For anyone choosing between these two for a new deployment, the RTX A4000 Mobile is the logical choice. The only scenario where the Tesla K80 might be considered is one where the 12 GB memory capacity is absolutely essential and the slower bandwidth is acceptable. Otherwise, the benchmark results speak clearly: the A4000 Mobile wins in a landslide.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile | NVIDIA Tesla K80 |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | GA104 | GK210 |

| Architecture | Ampere | Kepler 2.0 |

| Process Node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 28 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 17,400 million | 7,100 million |

| Die Size | 392 mm² | 561 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 44.4M / mm² | 12.7M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1140 MHz | 562 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1680 MHz | 824 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) | 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 12 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 384.0 GB/s | 240.6 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 5120 | 2496 |

| TMUs | 160 | 208 |

| ROPs | 80 | 48 |

| RT Cores | 40 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 160 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 134.4 GPixel/s | 42.85 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 268.8 GTexel/s | 171.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 17.20 TFLOPS | 4.113 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 17.20 TFLOPS (1:1) | None |

| TDP | 115 W | 300 W |

| Slot Width | Not specified | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | Not specified | 700 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | No outputs |

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (11_1) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.4 | 1.2.175 |

| Release Date | 2021-04-11 | 2014-11-16 |