NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q vs NVIDIA Tesla C2070 Comparison

FAQ

Q: What is the benchmark score for the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q?

A: The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q records a single benchmark result in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 with a score of 11,088. This places it at the 50th percentile among all GPUs in the database.

Q: What is the benchmark score for the NVIDIA Tesla C2070?

A: The Tesla C2070 records a Geekbench OpenCL score of 9,716. This places it at the 47th percentile among all GPUs in the database.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q is within 0.4% of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q (11,088, 0% delta), AMD Radeon RX 550 (11,075, 0.1% delta), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (11,047, 0.4% delta). The Tesla C2070 is within 0.7% of the NVIDIA Tesla M10 (9,724, -0.1% delta), NVIDIA Quadro P4000 (9,665, 0.5% delta), and AMD Radeon Pro WX 2100 (9,653, 0.7% delta).

Q: What are the memory capacities of each card?

A: The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q has 96 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The Tesla C2070 has 6 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 143.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q has a TDP of 300 W and requires a 700 W suggested PSU with a single 16-pin connector. The Tesla C2070 has a TDP of 238 W and requires a 550 W suggested PSU with one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector.

Q: What is the production status of each GPU?

A: The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q is listed as Active, with a release date of 2025-03-17. The Tesla C2070 is End-of-life, with a release date of 2011-07-24.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different architectural eras. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q uses the GB202 chip built on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 92,200 million transistors into a 750 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 122.9 million per square millimeter. The Tesla C2070 uses the GF100 chip on Fermi architecture, built on a 40 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 3,100 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, giving a density of 5.9 million per square millimeter. The density difference is stark: the Blackwell chip fits over 29 times more transistors per area.

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q features 24,064 shading units, 752 texture mapping units, and 192 raster operation units. It also includes 188 ray tracing cores and 752 tensor cores, reflecting its modern compute-focused design. The Tesla C2070 has 448 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with no ray tracing or tensor cores present. Clock behavior also differs: the Blackwell part runs at a 1035 MHz base and 2280 MHz boost, while the Tesla C2070 has no listed base or boost clocks, only a memory clock of 747 MHz (3 Gbps effective).

Memory architecture is a major differentiator. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q uses 96 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, while the Tesla C2070 uses 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. The bus interface also advances from PCIe 2.0 x16 on the Fermi card to PCIe 5.0 x16 on the Blackwell card. Display outputs move from a single DVI port to four DisplayPort 2.1b connectors. API support widens as well: the Blackwell card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the Fermi card supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6 but no Vulkan.

The Verdict

The data points to a decisive generational gap. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q delivers a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 11,088, while the Tesla C2070 delivers 9,716 in Geekbench OpenCL. These are different workloads, but the scale of architectural and specification differences reinforces the conclusion. The Blackwell card has 96 GB of GDDR7 memory versus 6 GB of GDDR5, a 512-bit bus versus 384-bit, and over 53 times the shading units. The Fermi card is End-of-life, while the Blackwell card is Active. For any modern workload involving ray tracing, tensor operations, or large memory footprints, the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q is the clear choice from the recorded data. The Tesla C2070, with its older Fermi architecture and no tensor or RT cores, serves only legacy compute scenarios where its specific OpenCL profile is required.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every measurable specification. The process node moves from 40 nm to 5 nm. Transistor count jumps from 3,100 million to 92,200 million. Die size grows from 529 mm² to 750 mm². Transistor density increases from 5.9M per mm² to 122.9M per mm².

Memory capacity goes from 6 GB GDDR5 to 96 GB GDDR7. Bus width expands from 384 bit to 512 bit. Bandwidth rises from 143.4 GB/s to 1.79 TB/s. Shading units increase from 448 to 24,064. TMUs go from 56 to 752. ROPs go from 48 to 192. The Blackwell card adds 188 RT cores and 752 tensor cores, neither of which exist on the Fermi card.

Pixel rate moves from 16.07 GPixel/s to 437.8 GPixel/s. Texture rate goes from 32.14 GTexel/s to 1,714.6 GTexel/s. FP32 compute climbs from 1,027.7 GFLOPS to 109.7 TFLOPS. The Blackwell card also lists FP16 at 109.7 TFLOPS (1:1), while the Tesla C2070 has no FP16 figure.

TDP rises from 238 W to 300 W. Power connectors change from 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin to 1x 16-pin. Suggested PSU goes from 550 W to 700 W. Bus interface moves from PCIe 2.0 x16 to PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs change from 1x DVI to 4x DisplayPort 2.1b. The Blackwell card is 267 mm long and 111 mm tall, while the Tesla C2070 is 248 mm long with no recorded height or width. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q has a launch MSRP of 8,565 USD; the Tesla C2070 has no recorded launch MSRP.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

There are no direct head-to-head benchmark entries in the database for these two GPUs, so the comparison relies on their respective single benchmark results. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q scores 11,088 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The Tesla C2070 scores 9,716 in Geekbench OpenCL. The numerical gap in raw scores is 1,372 points, favoring the Blackwell card. However, these benchmarks measure different APIs and workloads, so the comparison is indicative rather than direct.

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q sits at the 50th percentile among all GPUs, slightly above the Tesla C2070's 47th percentile. The Blackwell card's nearest rival, the RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q, scores identically at 11,088 with a 0% delta. The AMD Radeon RX 550 is 0.1% behind, and the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER is 0.4% behind. The AMD FirePro W4300 is 1.2% ahead with a score of 11,225.

The Tesla C2070's nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla M10, scores 9,724, which is 0.1% ahead. The Quadro P4000 is 0.5% behind at 9,665, and the Radeon Pro WX 2100 is 0.7% behind at 9,653. The GeForce GTX 1070 is 0.7% ahead at 9,780. These rival clusters show that both cards are tightly grouped with their immediate peers, with no dramatic outliers in either direction.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q wins on every recorded specification category that matters for modern graphics and compute workloads. Its 96 GB memory capacity and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth dominate the Tesla C2070's 6 GB and 143.4 GB/s. The FP32 throughput of 109.7 TFLOPS versus 1,027.7 GFLOPS is a two-order-of-magnitude advantage. The presence of 188 RT cores and 752 tensor cores opens workloads that the Fermi architecture cannot handle at all. The Blackwell card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, expanding API coverage. Its Active production status and recent release date mean ongoing availability and driver support.

The Tesla C2070 wins only in areas of legacy compatibility and lower power draw. Its TDP of 238 W is 62 W lower than the Blackwell card's 300 W. Its suggested PSU of 550 W is 150 W lower. Its physical length of 248 mm is shorter than the Blackwell card's 267 mm. The Fermi card also uses a more common 6-pin plus 8-pin power configuration, which may be easier to accommodate in older systems. For environments that specifically require the Fermi OpenCL profile, the Tesla C2070 remains a functional option, but the data shows it is outperformed across every compute and memory metric by the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q. The verdict is unambiguous: the Blackwell card is the superior choice for any current or forward-looking workload.