AMD Radeon RX 7700 vs NVIDIA Tesla K80 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is a decisive victory for the AMD Radeon RX 7700. The AMD card scored 106028, while the NVIDIA Tesla K80 scored 82.4% lower at 18620. This is not a narrow margin, it is a full order-of-magnitude gap in measured compute workload performance. The delta of 82.4% indicates the AMD card is dramatically ahead in raw OpenCL execution.

Looking at the broader database averages, the two cards land in very different competitive neighborhoods. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 holds an average benchmark score of 15852 across all recorded tests, placing it near the AMD Radeon R9 370X, which scored 15862 (0.1% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 9060, which scored 16014 (1% higher). The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is also close at 15679 (1.1% lower), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti sits slightly ahead of the RX 7700 with 16129 (1.7% higher). The NVIDIA Tesla K80, by contrast, averages 18866 across its own benchmark set, with nearest rivals like the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 at 19030 (0.9% higher on the AMD side) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 at 19036 (0.9% higher on the AMD side). Interestingly, the K80s average score is 18.8% higher than the RX 7700s average score, despite losing the OpenCL test so badly. The database percentile ranking also separates them: the K80 is at the 63rd percentile versus all GPUs, while the RX 7700 is at the 58th percentile.

The K80 has only two recorded public benchmarks, Geekbench OpenCL at 18620 and Geekbench Vulkan at 19111, and it won zero head-to-head matchups in the head-to-head set. The RX 7700 has nine recorded benchmarks, including 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 2865, Passmark DX10 at 92, Passmark DX11 at 186, Passmark DX12 at 96, Passmark DX9 at 261, Passmark G2D at 1206, Passmark G3D at 20974, Passmark GPU Compute at 10963, and Geekbench OpenCL at 106028. It won the single head-to-head matchup, the OpenCL test, and that is the only direct comparison available. The data shows that in the one test both cards took, the AMD RX 7700 dominates the K80 by a massive 82.4% margin.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the clear winner in every measurable comparison in the database. In the OpenCL compute test, it wins outright. In terms of raw database average score, it wins the comparison against the K80s nearest rivals too, and its score of 15852 is higher than the K80s average of 18866, but the K80s percentile rank is higher at 63rd percentile versus 58th percentile. The K80s Geekbench Vulkan score of 19111 is a data point, but the RX 7700 has no Vulkan benchmark to compare it against.

Breaking down the RX 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result, the RX 7700 scored 2865 in that specific test. Passmark G3D shows a score of 20974, while Passmark GPU Compute reports 10963. The Passmark DX9 result is 261, while DX11 shows 186 and DX10 at 92. Geekbench OpenCL remains the headline number at 106028, again showing dominance over the K80s 18620.

The K80s only notable strengths are its two Geekbench scores and its higher percentile ranking. Its average score of 18866 is 18.8% higher than the RX 7700s average of 15852, and its percentile of 63rd is above the RX 7700s 58th percentile. But there is no scenario in the data where the K80 beats the RX 7700 in a head-to-head test, because the only head-to-head available is the OpenCL test, which the RX 7700 wins by 82.4%.

The RX 7700s G3D score of 20974 is a strong number in the database context, and its G2D score of 1206, while lower relative to its own G3D, is still a recorded figure. The RX 7700 also has a Passmark GPU Compute score of 10963, which is a separate measure of compute capability. The K80 has no Passmark results in the database at all.

The Verdict

If you are choosing between these two based purely on the recorded benchmarks, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the only defensible pick. It wins the single head-to-head benchmark by 82.4%, and it has a far richer set of recorded performance data across 3DMark and Passmark workloads. The NVIDIA Tesla K80 is a legacy product, end-of-life, with a 2014 release date, and it carries no display outputs, meaning it cannot drive a monitor at all. The RX 7700 has full display outputs including HDMI 2.1a, DisplayPort 2.1, and USB Type-C.

The K80s higher percentile rank against all GPUs (63rd versus 58th) and its higher average score (18866 versus 15852) do not translate into a real-world advantage in gaming or modern workloads, as the K80 is a compute-focused card with no display outputs and a much older architecture. Its Geekbench scores, 18620 and 19111, are far lower than the RX 7700s 106028 in the same OpenCL test. The K80s nearest rival, the GeForce RTX 2070 with an average score of 18789 and a delta of 0.4%, is also a much older card, and the Radeon RX 6600 at 19036 with a delta of 0.9% is a low-end modern card that still beats the K80 in average score.

The RX 7700s nearest rivals, such as the RTX 3060 Ti at 16129 with a delta of 1.7% higher, show that the RX 7700 is competitive with a strong midrange modern GPU. The RX 7700 is the obvious choice for any application requiring modern rendering, compute, or display output. The K80 is only relevant in the very narrow context of a legacy compute card, and even then the data shows it is 82.4% slower in OpenCL.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 wins decisively with a score of 106028, while the NVIDIA Tesla K80 scores 18620, a delta of 82.4% in favor of AMD.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K80 has an average benchmark score of 18866, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852.

Q: Does the NVIDIA Tesla K80 support display outputs?

A: No, the Tesla K80 has no display outputs, making it unsuitable for driving a monitor. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 includes 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C.

Q: What are the percentile rankings of these cards against all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K80 is at the 63rd percentile, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 is at the 58th percentile.

Q: What are the closest rivals to each card based on average score?

A: The Tesla K80s closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 with an average score of 18789 and a delta of 0.4%. The RX 7700s closest rival is the AMD Radeon R9 370X with an average score of 15862 and a delta of 0.1%.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla K80 is end-of-life, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 is active.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two cards is enormous, and it explains the benchmark results. The NVIDIA Tesla K80 is built on the Kepler 2.0 architecture, using the GK210 chip on a 28 nm process from TSMC. It packs 7,100 million transistors on a 561 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.7 million per mm². The AMD Radeon RX 7700 uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, built on a 5 nm process also from TSMC. It contains 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 81.2 million per mm². The density difference is stark, the RX 7700 crams roughly 6.4 times more transistors per square millimeter.

The K80 has 2496 shading units, 208 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. It has no dedicated ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The RX 7700 has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, and it includes 40 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate of the RX 7700 is 236.1 GPixel/s versus 42.85 GPixel/s for the K80, a 5.5x advantage. Texture rate is 393.4 GTexel/s for the RX 7700 versus 171.4 GTexel/s for the K80, a 2.3x advantage. FP32 compute is 25.18 TFLOPS on the RX 7700 versus 4.113 TFLOPS on the K80, a 6.1x advantage. The RX 7700 also has FP16 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, while the K80 lists no FP16 figure.

The memory subsystems differ completely. The K80 has 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384 bit bus with 240.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 7700 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256 bit bus with 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 7700 delivers 2.6x the bandwidth despite a narrower bus, due to much faster memory clocks: 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) versus 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The clock speeds also diverge wildly. The K80 runs at a base clock of 562 MHz and a boost of 824 MHz. The RX 7700 runs at a base of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost of 2459 MHz.

The K80 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RX 7700 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The API level difference matters for modern games, the RX 7700 supports the latest DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set. The K80 is a dual-slot card with a 1x 8-pin power connector and a 700 W suggested PSU. The RX 7700 is also dual-slot, but uses 2x 8-pin connectors with a 550 W suggested PSU. The RX 7700 is more power efficient per unit of performance, consuming 200 W TDP versus 300 W TDP for the K80.

Specification Differences

The key specification differences between the two cards are extensive. The process node: the NVIDIA Tesla K80 uses 28 nm, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 uses 5 nm. The chip designations differ: GK210 versus Navi 32. The architecture names differ: Kepler 2.0 versus RDNA 3.0. The transistor counts differ: 7,100 million versus 28,100 million. Die sizes differ: 561 mm² versus 346 mm². Transistor density differs: 12.7 million per mm² versus 81.2 million per mm².

Memory size differs: 12 GB versus 16 GB. Memory type differs: GDDR5 versus GDDR6. Bus width differs: 384 bit versus 256 bit. Memory bandwidth differs: 240.6 GB/s versus 624.1 GB/s. Base clock differs: 562 MHz versus 1900 MHz. Boost clock differs: 824 MHz versus 2459 MHz. The RX 7700 also lists a game clock of 2041 MHz, while the K80 lists none.

Shading units are close: 2496 versus 2560. TMUs differ: 208 versus 160. ROPs differ: 48 versus 96. The RX 7700 has 40 ray tracing cores; the K80 has none. Pixel rate differs: 42.85 GPixel/s versus 236.1 GPixel/s. Texture rate differs: 171.4 GTexel/s versus 393.4 GTexel/s. FP32 compute differs: 4.113 TFLOPS versus 25.18 TFLOPS. The RX 7700 has FP16 at 25.18 TFLOPS; the K80 has no listed FP16.

TDP differs: 300 W versus 200 W. Power connectors differ: 1x 8-pin versus 2x 8-pin. Suggested PSU differs: 700 W versus 550 W. Bus interface differs: PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs: none on the K80 versus 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C on the RX 7700. The DirectX support differs: 12 (11_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2). Vulkan support differs: 1.2.175 versus 1.4. The production status differs: end-of-life versus active. The release dates differ, the K80 launched in 2014, the RX 7700 released in 2025. The dimensions show both cards at 267 mm in length (10.5 inches for both), with the RX 7700 adding height of 135 mm and width of 50 mm.