AMD Radeon RX 6700S vs NVIDIA Tesla K80 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data leaves no ambiguity in this matchup. Across the two shared benchmark tests, the AMD Radeon RX 6700S wins decisively in both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6700S scores 70,965 points, while the NVIDIA Tesla K80 manages only 18,620 points. That is a delta of 281.1% in favor of the AMD part. The margin is even larger in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RX 6700S posts 76,150 points against the Tesla K80’s 19,111 points, a 298.5% advantage.

These are not small margins; they represent generational leaps in compute efficiency and throughput. The RX 6700S’s average benchmark score sits at 22,154, placing it in the 67th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The Tesla K80’s average is 18,866, at the 63rd percentile. While both are mid-pack performers in the broader database, the head-to-head deltas show the RX 6700S is in a different performance class for these specific workloads.

Looking at the RX 6700S’s nearest rivals gives context for its overall standing. It trails the AMD Radeon RX 5700 by only 0.1% in average score, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile by 1.3%. It actually beats the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB by 1.4%. For the Tesla K80, its nearest rival list shows a 0.4% advantage over the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, a 0.5% deficit to the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation, and a 0.9% deficit to both the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 and AMD Radeon RX 6600. So while the K80 is not a slouch in the broader database, it is firmly outclassed by the RX 6700S in the two tests where they overlap.

The wins tally is 2 for the RX 6700S and 0 for the Tesla K80. No recorded benchmark shows the K80 ahead. This is a clean sweep, and the deltas are large enough that no amount of driver tweaking or workload tuning would close the gap.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different eras and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon RX 6700S uses the Navi 23 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 7 nm process. That process node is a major advantage: the RX 6700S packs 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 46.7 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA Tesla K80 uses the GK210 chip with Kepler 2.0 architecture, built on a much older 28 nm process. It contains 7,100 million transistors across a 561 mm² die, resulting in a density of only 12.7 million per square millimeter. The RX 6700S crams over 3.6 times as many transistors per area, which translates directly into lower power draw and higher clock speeds.

Clock speeds reflect this process advantage. The RX 6700S runs a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 1890 MHz, and a boost clock of 2000 MHz. The Tesla K80, by contrast, is limited to a 562 MHz base and 824 MHz boost. That is a massive clock speed differential, and it shows up in every measurable metric. The RX 6700S also has a higher memory clock at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) versus the K80’s 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective).

Memory configuration differs substantially. The RX 6700S has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla K80 has 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, yielding 240.6 GB/s. So the K80 has more memory and slightly higher bandwidth, but it cannot leverage that advantage effectively due to its far lower compute throughput. The RX 6700S’s smaller, faster memory is more suited to modern workloads.

Compute resources also diverge. The RX 6700S has 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It also includes 28 ray tracing cores. The Tesla K80 has 2496 shading units, 208 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, but no ray tracing cores. Despite having more shading units and TMUs, the K80’s lower clocks cripple its output: its pixel rate is 42.85 GPixel/s and texture rate is 171.4 GTexel/s, versus the RX 6700S’s 128.0 GPixel/s and 224.0 GTexel/s. FP32 compute shows the same story: the RX 6700S delivers 7.168 TFLOPS, while the K80 manages only 4.113 TFLOPS. The RX 6700S also supports FP16 at 14.34 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), which the K80 does not offer at all.

The RX 6700S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Tesla K80 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RX 6700S has newer API support, which matters for modern game engines and compute frameworks. The K80 has no display outputs, while the RX 6700S uses portable device dependent outputs. Power draw is drastically different: the RX 6700S is rated at 80 W TDP with no power connectors, while the K80 draws 300 W and requires a single 8-pin connector with a suggested 700 W PSU.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700S wins by 281.1%, scoring 70,965 versus the Tesla K80’s 18,620.

Q: Does the Tesla K80 have more memory than the RX 6700S?

A: Yes, the Tesla K80 has 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, while the RX 6700S has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: What is the process node difference?

A: The RX 6700S uses TSMC’s 7 nm process, while the Tesla K80 uses TSMC’s 28 nm process. This gives the RX 6700S a density of 46.7M transistors per mm² versus 12.7M for the K80.

Q: Which GPU has ray tracing cores?

A: Only the AMD Radeon RX 6700S has ray tracing cores, with 28 of them. The Tesla K80 has none.

Q: How does the average benchmark score compare?

A: The RX 6700S averages 22,154, which is 17.4% higher than the Tesla K80’s 18,866. This places the RX 6700S at the 67th percentile and the K80 at the 63rd percentile.

Q: What is the TDP for each card?

A: The RX 6700S has an 80 W TDP with no power connectors, while the Tesla K80 has a 300 W TDP and requires a single 8-pin connector.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6700S | NVIDIA Tesla K80 |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | Kepler 2.0 |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 11,060 million | 7,100 million |

| Die Size | 237 mm² | 561 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 46.7M / mm² | 12.7M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1700 MHz | 562 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2000 MHz | 824 MHz |

| Game Clock | 1890 MHz | N/A |

| Memory Clock | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) | 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 8 GB GDDR6 | 12 GB GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 240.6 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1792 | 2496 |

| TMUs | 112 | 208 |

| ROPs | 64 | 48 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 28 | N/A |

| Pixel Rate | 128.0 GPixel/s | 42.85 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 224.0 GTexel/s | 171.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Compute | 7.168 TFLOPS | 4.113 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Compute | 14.34 TFLOPS (2:1) | N/A |

| TDP | 80 W | 300 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

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

| Suggested PSU | N/A | 700 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | 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 | 2022-01-03 | 2014-11-16 |

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon RX 6700S outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla K80 in every recorded benchmark, with deltas of 281.1% and 298.5% in the two shared tests. The RX 6700S also has a higher average benchmark score, better process technology, higher clocks, and support for modern APIs including ray tracing. The Tesla K80’s only advantages are larger memory capacity (12 GB versus 8 GB) and slightly higher memory bandwidth (240.6 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s), but those do not compensate for its 4.113 TFLOPS FP32 compute versus the RX 6700S’s 7.168 TFLOPS.

For any workload measured in the database, the RX 6700S is the clear pick. The K80’s age shows in its 28 nm process, 562 MHz base clock, and lack of FP16 support. The RX 6700S is also far more power-efficient, drawing 80 W versus 300 W, which matters for any system with thermal or power constraints. The K80’s dual-slot design and 700 W suggested PSU make it a much harder fit in modern builds. The verdict is straightforward: choose the RX 6700S unless you specifically need the K80’s larger memory pool or its PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6700S wins in all compute and graphics workloads recorded in the database. Its 281.1% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and 298.5% lead in Geekbench Vulkan show it is vastly superior for general-purpose compute and modern graphics APIs. The RX 6700S also wins on efficiency, with an 80 W TDP versus 300 W, making it suitable for compact or portable systems. Its 7 nm process and 28 ray tracing cores give it access to workloads the K80 cannot handle, such as DirectX 12 Ultimate titles and hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

The NVIDIA Tesla K80 has no recorded benchmark wins. Its only quantitative advantages are memory capacity and bandwidth: 12 GB versus 8 GB and 240.6 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s. That could matter for workloads that need to hold large datasets in VRAM, but the K80’s compute throughput is so far behind that any such advantage is moot in practice. The K80’s 384-bit bus width and higher memory size are its sole redeeming features. For inference tasks that are memory-bound rather than compute-bound, the K80 might hold an edge, but the database does not record such workloads. Based on the measured data, the RX 6700S is the winner in every scenario where a comparison is possible.