NVIDIA Tesla K20m vs NVIDIA TITAN Xp Comparison

The NVIDIA TITAN Xp is the clear winner in this comparison, dominating the older NVIDIA Tesla K20m in every benchmark category where both were tested. The data shows a massive generational gap, with the TITAN Xp delivering scores that are roughly three to four times higher than the Tesla K20m's results. While the average benchmark scores place these two cards within 0.5% of each other, that figure is misleading; it relies on a sparse dataset for the Tesla K20m, whereas the head-to-head results reveal an overwhelming performance advantage for the newer Pascal-based card.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking evidence comes from the two benchmarks where both cards were directly compared. In Geekbench OpenCL, the TITAN Xp scores 72,585 points against the Tesla K20m's 16,241 points. That is a 346.9% advantage for the TITAN Xp, meaning it delivers over four times the compute performance in this OpenCL workload. The margin is so large that it represents not just a step up, but a complete reclassification of performance tiers between these two products.

The second head-to-head test, Geekbench Vulkan, tells a similar story. The TITAN Xp achieves 87,180 points, while the Tesla K20m manages only 21,936 points. This translates to a 297.4% lead for the TITAN Xp. The Vulkan API is a modern graphics and compute interface, and the TITAN Xp's ability to nearly quadruple the score demonstrates that the older Kepler architecture in the Tesla K20m is fundamentally outclassed in contemporary workloads.

It is importantly the Tesla K20m was not tested in any other head-to-head benchmarks, including DirectX 12, Passmark, or 3DMark tests. This absence of data means the comparison is limited to these two API-specific tests. However, the sheer magnitude of the deltas in both available tests makes the overall outcome unambiguous. The TITAN Xp wins both head-to-head matchups, securing a 2-0 record in winsA and winsB fields.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA TITAN Xp in Geekbench OpenCL compared to the Tesla K20m?

A: The TITAN Xp scores 72,585 points, which is 346.9% higher than the Tesla K20m's 16,241 points. This represents more than a fourfold improvement in performance for this specific test.

Q: Does the Tesla K20m win any benchmark against the TITAN Xp?

A: No. In the head-to-head benchmarks available, the TITAN Xp wins both tests (Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan). The Tesla K20m has zero wins in the data.

Q: What is the difference in average benchmark scores between the two cards?

A: The TITAN Xp has an average benchmark score of 19,177, while the Tesla K20m has an average score of 19,089. This puts the TITAN Xp ahead by 0.5%, a margin that is statistically negligible given the limited test coverage for the Tesla K20m.

Q: How does the TITAN Xp compare to its nearest rivals in terms of average score?

A: The TITAN Xp's average score of 19,177 places it just 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 and 0.5% ahead of the Tesla K20m. It is also 0.7% ahead of both the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile and the AMD Radeon RX 6600.

Q: What is the percentile ranking for each card among all GPUs?

A: Both the NVIDIA TITAN Xp and the NVIDIA Tesla K20m are in the 64th percentile of all GPUs, indicating they are positioned similarly in the overall performance distribution, despite the vast differences in their individual benchmark results.

Q: What are the launch MSRPs for these two cards?

A: The NVIDIA TITAN Xp had a launch MSRP of 1,199 USD, while the NVIDIA Tesla K20m had a launch MSRP of 3,199 USD.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is profound, explaining the benchmark results. The TITAN Xp is built on the Pascal architecture, using the GP102 chip, fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. In contrast, the Tesla K20m uses the older Kepler architecture with the GK110 chip, also from TSMC but on a larger 28 nm process. This process shrink is a primary driver of the performance gap, allowing the TITAN Xp to pack more transistors into a smaller area.

The transistor counts highlight the density advantage. The TITAN Xp contains 11,800 million transistors on a die size of 471 mm², resulting in a transistor density of 25.1 million per mm². The Tesla K20m has 7,080 million transistors spread across a larger 561 mm² die, yielding a density of only 12.6 million per mm². This means the TITAN Xp fits nearly double the transistors per square millimeter, a signal of the efficiency of the 16 nm node over the older 28 nm process.

Compute capabilities differ starkly. The TITAN Xp delivers 12.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the Tesla K20m offers just 3.524 TFLOPS. The TITAN Xp also has a stated FP16 performance of 189.8 GFLOPS (1:64), whereas the Tesla K20m has no listed FP16 capability. In terms of memory, the TITAN Xp uses 12 GB of GDDR5X, while the Tesla K20m is limited to 5 GB of GDDR5. The memory bandwidth tells a similar story: 547.6 GB/s for the TITAN Xp versus 208.0 GB/s for the Tesla K20m.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal a clear hierarchy in almost every measurable field. The TITAN Xp features 3,840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 96 render output units (ROPs). The Tesla K20m is considerably less equipped with 2,496 shading units, 208 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. This configuration alone suggests the TITAN Xp is designed for much higher fill rates and more complex geometry processing.

Clock speeds also differ, though the Tesla K20m has no base or boost clock listed. The TITAN Xp has a base clock of 1405 MHz and a boost clock of 1582 MHz. Its memory runs at 1426 MHz, translating to 11.4 Gbps effective. The Tesla K20m's memory is clocked at 1300 MHz, or 5.2 Gbps effective. The pixel rate for the TITAN Xp is 151.9 GPixel/s, compared to 36.71 GPixel/s for the Tesla K20m. Texture rate follows suit at 379.7 GTexel/s versus 146.8 GTexel/s.

Other differences include power and interface. The TITAN Xp has a TDP of 250 W and a suggested PSU of 600 W, while the Tesla K20m has a TDP of 225 W and a suggested PSU of 550 W. Both use a dual-slot design and require a single 6-pin and a single 8-pin power connector. The bus interface differs, with the TITAN Xp using PCIe 3.0 x16 and the Tesla K20m using the older PCIe 2.0 x16. Display outputs also separate them: the TITAN Xp has 1x HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the Tesla K20m has no display outputs, indicating its compute-only intended use case.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA TITAN Xp is the superior product for any workload captured by these benchmarks. Its wins in both Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan are decisive, with deltas of 346.9% and 297.4% respectively. The Tesla K20m, despite being in the same 64th percentile of all GPUs, simply cannot compete with the raw compute power of the Pascal architecture. The TITAN Xp's higher transistor density, greater memory bandwidth, and more modern process node all contribute to its dominance.

For a user choosing between these two, the TITAN Xp is the only logical pick based on performance data. It is faster, has more memory, and supports modern APIs like Vulkan 1.4 compared to the Tesla K20m's Vulkan 1.2.175. The Tesla K20m's only advantages are a lower TDP (225 W vs 250 W) and a lower suggested PSU (550 W vs 600 W), but these minor power savings do not offset the catastrophic performance deficit. The TITAN Xp is the clear winner for anyone prioritizing compute or graphics performance.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA TITAN Xp wins in every tested scenario. It is the definitive choice for OpenCL compute workloads, as evidenced by its 346.9% lead. It also dominates Vulkan-based applications, showing a 297.4% advantage. The TITAN Xp's 12 GB of memory and 547.6 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for large datasets and high-resolution textures, while its 3,840 shading units and 96 ROPs ensure strong graphics rendering performance.

The NVIDIA Tesla K20m has no benchmark wins in this dataset. Its strengths are limited to its lower power draw and lack of display outputs, which might be advantageous in a headless server environment where power efficiency is paramount. However, even then, the data does not show a performance scenario where the Tesla K20m excels. The TITAN Xp is the superior choice for any workload that can leverage OpenCL or Vulkan, and the Tesla K20m should only be considered if its specific power profile (225 W TDP) is a hard requirement. In all other cases, the TITAN Xp's overwhelming performance wins the day.