GPU Comparison

The data presents a clear, if one-sided, benchmark picture between the NVIDIA Tesla K10 and the AMD Radeon Pro 555. The sole head-to-head benchmark available, Geekbench OpenCL, shows the Tesla K10 scoring 14,029 against the Radeon Pro 555's 11,682. This represents a 20.1% advantage for the NVIDIA part. However, the Radeon Pro 555 has results in other API tests that the Tesla K10 cannot match, because the latter has no corresponding scores in the FACT PACK. The Tesla K10’s score places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon Pro 555 sits just below at the 54th percentile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test. In this test, the NVIDIA Tesla K10 delivers a score of 14,029, while the AMD Radeon Pro 555 produces 11,682. The resulting 20.1% delta in favor of the Tesla K10 is a significant margin in a synthetic workload. It suggests that for compute tasks that leverage OpenCL, the older Kepler-based card holds a distinct performance advantage.

The Tesla K10's score of 14,029 puts it in close competition with its nearest rivals. It trails the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680, which averages 14,150, by a marginal 0.9%. Conversely, it leads the AMD Radeon RX 570X, which averages 13,871, by a 1.1% margin. The K10 also edges out the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, which scores 13,821, by 1.5%, and the AMD Radeon 660M, which scores 13,812, by 1.6%. This clustering indicates that the K10's OpenCL performance is well within the range of these contemporary and near-contemporary parts.

On the other side, the Radeon Pro 555’s OpenCL score of 11,682 is lower than its own average benchmark score of 13,407. This average is pulled up by its performance in other APIs. Its Geekbench Metal score is 16,236, and its Geekbench Vulkan score is 12,303. While these cannot be directly compared to the Tesla K10 due to a lack of data, they show the Radeon Pro 555 is a more versatile part in terms of API support. Its OpenCL result places it near its rivals, such as the AMD Radeon HD 8950M (13,376, a 0.2% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 5500M (13,356, a 0.4% delta), and the AMD FirePro M6100 (13,354, a 0.4% delta). It is slightly behind the NVIDIA P106-090, which scores 13,470, by a 0.5% margin.

Where Each One Wins

Based strictly on the benchmark data, the NVIDIA Tesla K10 wins the head-to-head comparison in OpenCL workloads. Its 20.1% lead in that specific test is the only direct win recorded. The K10’s high score in this compute-oriented API suggests it is the stronger choice for tasks that are heavily reliant on general-purpose GPU computing through OpenCL.

The AMD Radeon Pro 555 does not win the head-to-head comparison, but it does show strengths in other areas. It has benchmark scores for Metal and Vulkan, which the Tesla K10 lacks entirely. This indicates the Radeon Pro 555 is capable of running workloads that use these APIs, while the K10 has no measured capability in them. The Radeon Pro 555’s Metal score of 16,236 is its highest, suggesting a particular strength in Apple's Metal framework, which is consistent with its "Radeon Pro Mac" generation designation. For users working within a macOS environment, this makes the Pro 555 a more viable option despite its lower raw OpenCL score.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The NVIDIA Tesla K10 uses the GK104 chip, based on the Kepler architecture, and is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. In contrast, the AMD Radeon Pro 555 uses the Polaris 21 chip, based on the GCN 4.0 architecture, and is built on a more advanced 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries.

This process difference is reflected in the physical characteristics of the chips. The K10’s die is significantly larger at 294 mm², containing 3,540 million transistors. This results in a transistor density of 12.0 million per mm². The Radeon Pro 555’s die is much smaller at 123 mm², holding 3,000 million transistors. The smaller process allows for a higher transistor density of 24.4 million per mm². The newer process node on the AMD part allows it to pack nearly as many transistors into less than half the die space.

The memory subsystems also differ architecturally. The Tesla K10 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s. The Radeon Pro 555 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 81.60 GB/s. The K10’s wider bus and larger frame buffer give it a significant advantage in memory throughput and capacity. The K10 also has a much higher pixel rate at 23.84 GPixel/s and texture rate at 95.36 GTexel/s, compared to the Radeon Pro 555’s 13.60 GPixel/s and 40.80 GTexel/s.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets for these two cards highlight their different design goals. The NVIDIA Tesla K10 is a dual-slot, high-power compute card with a 225 W TDP, requiring both a 6-pin and an 8-pin power connector, and it has no display outputs. The AMD Radeon Pro 555 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a 75 W TDP, no power connectors, and its display outputs are dependent on the portable device it is installed in.

The compute capabilities are starkly different. The Tesla K10 features 1,536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Its FP32 performance is rated at 2.289 TFLOPS. The Radeon Pro 555 has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, with an FP32 rating of 1,305.6 GFLOPS. Notably, the Radeon Pro 555 supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, also at 1,305.6 GFLOPS, while the Tesla K10 has no listed FP16 performance. The K10 also requires a 550 W suggested power supply, whereas the Pro 555 has none listed.

The two cards also differ in their bus interfaces. The Tesla K10 uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 connection, while the Radeon Pro 555 uses a narrower PCIe 3.0 x8 connection. Their release dates are separated by over five years, with the K10 launching on 2012-04-30 and the Pro 555 on 2017-06-04. In terms of API support, the Tesla K10 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175, while the Radeon Pro 555 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and the newer Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The K10 has a launch MSRP of 5,099 USD, while the Pro 555 has none listed.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K10 is faster, scoring 14,029 compared to the AMD Radeon Pro 555's 11,682, a 20.1% difference.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Pro 555 have any benchmark wins?

A: No. The head-to-head data shows the AMD Radeon Pro 555 with zero wins (winsB: 0), while the NVIDIA Tesla K10 has one win (winsA: 1).

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth?

A: The Tesla K10 has a memory bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s, which is nearly double the 81.60 GB/s of the Radeon Pro 555.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the Radeon Pro 555 has a score but the Tesla K10 does not?

A: Yes. The Radeon Pro 555 has a Geekbench Metal score of 16,236 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 12,303. The Tesla K10 has no scores for these tests in the data.

Q: How does the NVIDIA Tesla K10 compare to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680?

A: The Tesla K10's OpenCL score of 14,029 is 0.9% lower than the GeForce GTX 680's average score of 14,150.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor density?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 has a higher transistor density of 24.4M / mm², compared to the NVIDIA Tesla K10's 12.0M / mm².

The Verdict

The data in the FACT PACK tells a straightforward story for compute performance. The NVIDIA Tesla K10 is the clear winner in the only directly comparable metric, OpenCL performance. Its 20.1% lead makes it the superior choice for applications that rely on this API. Its higher memory bandwidth and greater number of shading units reinforce this position as a raw compute workhorse.

However, this performance comes with significant caveats. The Tesla K10 is an end-of-life, dual-slot card with a 225 W TDP, no display outputs, and a launch MSRP of 5,099 USD. It is a specialized compute card, not a general-purpose graphics solution. The AMD Radeon Pro 555, by contrast, is an IGP with a 75 W TDP, designed for integration into a portable device. Its lack of a head-to-head win does not make it a poor product; it simply occupies a different niche.

The Radeon Pro 555 shows its value in its support for newer APIs. With scores in Metal and Vulkan, it offers a level of software compatibility that the Tesla K10 cannot match. Its higher transistor density on a newer 14 nm process and support for FP16 computation make it a more modern, albeit less powerful, part. A user in the market for a dedicated compute accelerator for OpenCL should choose the NVIDIA Tesla K10 based on its superior score. A user needing a low-power, integrated GPU with modern API support should select the AMD Radeon Pro 555. The choice is not about which is universally better, but which is better suited for the intended task.