AMD Radeon RX 6800S vs NVIDIA Tesla K40m Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only head-to-head benchmark available in the database?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800S wins the Geekbench OpenCL test outright. It scored 73,202 points against the NVIDIA Tesla K40m's 19,885 points, a delta of 268.1% in favor of the AMD part.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800S has an average benchmark score of 24,063, while the NVIDIA Tesla K40m averages 19,885. The RX 6800S sits at the 69th percentile of all GPUs, while the Tesla K40m sits at the 65th percentile.

Q: What are the closest rivals to each GPU according to the database?

A: The RX 6800S's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER with a delta of -0.4%, followed by the GTX 780 Ti at -0.7% and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 at +0.8%. The Tesla K40m's nearest rival is the AMD FirePro W7000 at -0.1%, followed by the RX 6650 XT at +0.6% and the FirePro D300 at +1.3%.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800S has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA Tesla K40m has 12 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has higher clock speeds?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800S runs at a base clock of 1800 MHz and a boost clock of 2100 MHz. The NVIDIA Tesla K40m runs at a base of 745 MHz and a boost of 876 MHz.

Q: What is the production status of both GPUs?

A: Both are marked as end-of-life. The AMD Radeon RX 6800S was released on 2022-01-03, and the NVIDIA Tesla K40m was released on 2013-11-21.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX 6800S and NVIDIA Tesla K40m come from fundamentally different design generations. The RX 6800S uses the Navi 23 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The Tesla K40m uses the GK110B chip built on the Kepler architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. The process node gap is substantial: 7 nm versus 28 nm, which explains the transistor density difference of 46.7M per mm² versus 12.6M per mm².

The RX 6800S packs 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. The Tesla K40m has 7,080 million transistors spread across a much larger 561 mm² die. This means the AMD part achieves higher transistor density in a smaller physical package, while the NVIDIA part uses a much larger die with lower density.

The RX 6800S includes 32 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the Tesla K40m, which lists no RT cores. The AMD GPU also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Tesla K40m supports only DirectX 12 (11_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the Vulkan support differs: the RX 6800S lists Vulkan 1.4, while the Tesla K40m lists Vulkan 1.2.175.

The RX 6800S is an integrated-class mobile part with slot width listed as IGP and no power connectors. The Tesla K40m is a dual-slot card with a 267 mm length (10.5 inches) and a suggested PSU of 550 W. The RX 6800S uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, while the Tesla K40m uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs also differ sharply: the RX 6800S has portable device dependent outputs, while the Tesla K40m has no outputs at all.

The memory subsystems reflect different priorities. The RX 6800S uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, while the Tesla K40m uses 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. The Tesla K40m actually has higher memory bandwidth at 288.4 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s for the AMD part, despite the older memory type.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data shows a clear split across the measured workloads, but the head-to-head comparison is limited to a single test. In that test, Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon RX 6800S wins decisively with a 268.1% delta.

Looking at the broader benchmark suite for the RX 6800S, it delivers strong scores across multiple APIs. It scores 85,256 in Geekbench Metal, 81,272 in Geekbench Vulkan, and 73,202 in Geekbench OpenCL. In Passmark tests, it scores 15,908 in G3D, 6,144 in GPU Compute, and 732 in G2D. The DirectX tests show 200 in DirectX 9, 139 in DirectX 11, 91 in DirectX 10, and 65 in DirectX 12.

The Tesla K40m has only one recorded benchmark in the database: Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 19,885. This makes it difficult to assess its performance profile across different workloads, but its average score of 19,885 places it at the 65th percentile.

The RX 6800S wins in every scenario where data exists for both. Its average benchmark score of 24,063 is 21% higher than the Tesla K40m's 19,885. The RX 6800S also sits higher in the percentile ranking, at 69 versus 65 for the Tesla.

Where the Tesla K40m might have an edge is in memory capacity and bandwidth. It offers 12 GB versus 8 GB, and 288.4 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s. For workloads that are memory-bound and require large datasets, the Tesla K40m's larger frame buffer could be relevant, but no benchmark data in the database confirms this advantage in practice.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ on nearly every specification field where data exists.

Process and die: The RX 6800S uses a 7 nm process, the Tesla K40m uses 28 nm. The RX 6800S has 11,060 million transistors on 237 mm²; the Tesla K40m has 7,080 million on 561 mm². Transistor density is 46.7M per mm² versus 12.6M per mm².

Clocks: The RX 6800S runs at 1800 MHz base and 2100 MHz boost. The Tesla K40m runs at 745 MHz base and 876 MHz boost. The RX 6800S also lists a game clock of 1975 MHz, which the Tesla does not have. Memory clocks are 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective for the AMD part, versus 1502 MHz with 6 Gbps effective for the NVIDIA part.

Memory: The RX 6800S has 8 GB GDDR6 with a 128-bit bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Tesla K40m has 12 GB GDDR5 with a 384-bit bus and 288.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute units: The RX 6800S has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 32 RT cores. The Tesla K40m has 2,880 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with no RT cores.

Rates: The RX 6800S achieves 134.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 268.8 GTexel/s texture rate. The Tesla K40m achieves 52.56 GPixel/s and 210.2 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 8.602 TFLOPS for the AMD part versus 5.046 TFLOPS for the NVIDIA part. The RX 6800S also lists FP16 at 17.20 TFLOPS (2:1), while the Tesla K40m lists no FP16 data.

Power and form factor: The RX 6800S has a TDP of 100 W, while the Tesla K40m has a TDP of 245 W. The RX 6800S is listed as IGP slot width with no power connectors; the Tesla K40m is dual-slot with a suggested PSU of 550 W.

Interfaces: The RX 6800S uses PCIe 4.0 x8; the Tesla K40m uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs are portable device dependent for the AMD part, and none for the NVIDIA part.

APIs: DirectX support is 12 Ultimate (12_2) for the RX 6800S versus 12 (11_1) for the Tesla K40m. Vulkan is 1.4 versus 1.2.175. OpenGL is 4.6 for both.

Release and status: The RX 6800S launched 2022-01-03; the Tesla K40m launched 2013-11-21. Both are end-of-life. The Tesla K40m has a listed launch MSRP of 7,699 USD, which is stated once here for reference.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains exactly one head-to-head benchmark between these two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL.

In that test, the AMD Radeon RX 6800S scored 73,202 points. The NVIDIA Tesla K40m scored 19,885 points. The delta is 268.1% in favor of the AMD part. This is a massive margin, indicating that the RX 6800S delivers well over three and a half times the OpenCL performance of the Tesla K40m.

To contextualize the RX 6800S's overall standing, its average benchmark score of 24,063 places it just 0.4% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, which averages 24,170. It is 0.7% below the GTX 780 Ti at 24,236, and 0.9% below the GTX 1630 at 24,277. It sits 0.8% above the AMD Radeon RX 9070 at 23,877. This places the RX 6800S in a tight cluster of GPUs with average scores around the 24,000 mark.

The Tesla K40m's average score of 19,885 places it 0.1% below the AMD FirePro W7000 at 19,905, 0.6% above the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT at 19,765, 1.3% below the AMD FirePro D300 at 19,637, and 1.4% below the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 at 19,602. Its closest rival is the FirePro W7000, with a negligible 0.1% gap.

The RX 6800S also has a richer benchmark profile with 11 recorded tests, covering Metal, Vulkan, OpenCL, and multiple DirectX versions. The Tesla K40m has only the single OpenCL result. This means the RX 6800S's average score is derived from a broader workload set, while the Tesla K40m's average is based on one test.

Within its own benchmark suite, the RX 6800S shows notable variance. Its highest score is 85,256 in Geekbench Metal, followed by 81,272 in Geekbench Vulkan and 73,202 in Geekbench OpenCL. Its Passmark DirectX scores are lower, ranging from 65 in DirectX 12 to 200 in DirectX 9. The G3D score of 15,908 and GPU Compute score of 6,144 round out the profile.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion: the AMD Radeon RX 6800S is the superior performer in every benchmark where both GPUs have recorded results. The single head-to-head test, Geekbench OpenCL, shows a 268.1% advantage for the RX 6800S. Its average benchmark score of 24,063 exceeds the Tesla K40m's 19,885 by 21%, and it holds a higher percentile ranking at 69 versus 65.

For users prioritizing compute performance, especially in OpenCL workloads, the RX 6800S is the obvious choice based on the recorded data. Its 8.602 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, 134.4 GPixel/s pixel rate, and 268.8 GTexel/s texture rate all exceed the Tesla K40m's corresponding figures of 5.046 TFLOPS, 52.56 GPixel/s, and 210.2 GTexel/s.

The Tesla K40m retains advantages in memory capacity and bandwidth, offering 12 GB versus 8 GB and 288.4 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s. For applications that require large memory footprints or are sensitive to memory bandwidth, the Tesla K40m could theoretically be preferable, but the database contains no benchmark evidence to confirm this edge in practice.

The Tesla K40m also has a higher TDP at 245 W versus 100 W, meaning the RX 6800S delivers far more performance per watt. The AMD part is also newer by roughly eight years, with a 7 nm process versus 28 nm, and includes modern features like ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support.

Given the data, the RX 6800S is the recommended pick for nearly any workload measured in the database. The Tesla K40m's only potential justification is its larger memory pool, but with no benchmark results supporting that advantage, the RX 6800S stands as the stronger choice across the board.