Tesla K20c vs GeForce GTX 980

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 980 with Tesla K20c, including specs and performance data.

GTX 980
2014
4 GB GDDR5, 165 Watt
28.24
+223%

GTX 980 outperforms Tesla K20c by a whopping 223% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking202498
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation10.810.39
Power efficiency12.022.73
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)Kepler (2012−2018)
GPU code nameGM204GK110
Market segmentDesktopWorkstation
Release date19 September 2014 (10 years ago)12 November 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$549 $3,199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

GTX 980 has 2672% better value for money than Tesla K20c.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores20482496
Core clock speed1064 MHz706 MHz
Boost clock speed1216 MHzno data
Number of transistors5,200 million7,080 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)165 Watt225 Watt
Texture fill rate155.6146.8
Floating-point processing power4.981 TFLOPS3.524 TFLOPS
ROPs6440
TMUs128208

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length267 mm267 mm
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slot2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)500 Wattno data
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
SLI options+-

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB5 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit320 Bit
Memory clock speed7.0 GB/s1300 MHz
Memory bandwidth224 GB/s208.0 GB/s
Shared memory--

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display ConnectorsDual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2No outputs
Multi monitor support4 displaysno data
VGA аnalog display support+no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+no data
HDMI+-
HDCP+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
G-SYNC support+-
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GameStream+-
GeForce ShadowPlay+-
GPU Boost2.0no data
GameWorks+-
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder+-
Optimus+-
BatteryBoost+-

API and SDK compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12 (12_1)12 (11_0)
Shader Model6.45.1
OpenGL4.54.6
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.1.1261.1.126
CUDA+3.5

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score.

GTX 980 28.24
+223%
Tesla K20c 8.75

Octane Render OctaneBench

This is a special benchmark measuring graphics card performance in OctaneRender, which is a realistic GPU rendering engine by OTOY Inc., available either as a standalone program, or as a plugin for 3DS Max, Cinema 4D and many other apps. It renders four different static scenes, then compares render times with a reference GPU which is currently GeForce GTX 980. This benchmark has nothing to do with gaming and is aimed at professional 3D graphics artists.

GTX 980 96
+60%
Tesla K20c 60

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD94
+248%
27−30
−248%
1440p51
+264%
14−16
−264%
4K39
+225%
12−14
−225%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.84
+1929%
118.48
−1929%
1440p10.76
+2023%
228.50
−2023%
4K14.08
+1794%
266.58
−1794%
  • GTX 980 has 1929% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • GTX 980 has 2023% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • GTX 980 has 1794% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 75−80
+262%
21−24
−262%
Counter-Strike 2 55−60
+244%
16−18
−244%
Cyberpunk 2077 55−60
+228%
18−20
−228%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 75−80
+262%
21−24
−262%
Battlefield 5 109
+263%
30−33
−263%
Counter-Strike 2 55−60
+244%
16−18
−244%
Cyberpunk 2077 55−60
+228%
18−20
−228%
Far Cry 5 80
+233%
24−27
−233%
Fortnite 242
+246%
70−75
−246%
Forza Horizon 4 90
+233%
27−30
−233%
Forza Horizon 5 75−80
+225%
24−27
−225%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 93
+244%
27−30
−244%
Valorant 170−180
+224%
55−60
−224%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 75−80
+262%
21−24
−262%
Battlefield 5 90
+233%
27−30
−233%
Counter-Strike 2 55−60
+244%
16−18
−244%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 260−270
+234%
80−85
−234%
Cyberpunk 2077 55−60
+228%
18−20
−228%
Dota 2 120−130
+269%
35−40
−269%
Far Cry 5 73
+248%
21−24
−248%
Fortnite 116
+231%
35−40
−231%
Forza Horizon 4 83
+246%
24−27
−246%
Forza Horizon 5 75−80
+225%
24−27
−225%
Grand Theft Auto V 72
+243%
21−24
−243%
Metro Exodus 60−65
+239%
18−20
−239%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 79
+229%
24−27
−229%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 85
+254%
24−27
−254%
Valorant 170−180
+224%
55−60
−224%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 82
+242%
24−27
−242%
Counter-Strike 2 55−60
+244%
16−18
−244%
Cyberpunk 2077 55−60
+228%
18−20
−228%
Dota 2 120−130
+269%
35−40
−269%
Far Cry 5 69
+229%
21−24
−229%
Forza Horizon 4 59
+228%
18−20
−228%
Forza Horizon 5 75−80
+225%
24−27
−225%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 56
+250%
16−18
−250%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 46
+229%
14−16
−229%
Valorant 170−180
+224%
55−60
−224%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 91
+237%
27−30
−237%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+257%
7−8
−257%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 180−190
+242%
55−60
−242%
Grand Theft Auto V 50−55
+257%
14−16
−257%
Metro Exodus 35−40
+270%
10−11
−270%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+250%
50−55
−250%
Valorant 210−220
+234%
65−70
−234%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 62
+244%
18−20
−244%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+250%
8−9
−250%
Far Cry 5 48
+243%
14−16
−243%
Forza Horizon 4 48
+243%
14−16
−243%
Forza Horizon 5 45−50
+243%
14−16
−243%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 45−50
+229%
14−16
−229%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 53
+231%
16−18
−231%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 21−24
+267%
6−7
−267%
Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+225%
4−5
−225%
Grand Theft Auto V 59
+228%
18−20
−228%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+229%
7−8
−229%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 29
+263%
8−9
−263%
Valorant 160−170
+256%
45−50
−256%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 32
+256%
9−10
−256%
Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+225%
4−5
−225%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+300%
3−4
−300%
Dota 2 85−90
+258%
24−27
−258%
Far Cry 5 24
+243%
7−8
−243%
Forza Horizon 4 34
+240%
10−11
−240%
Forza Horizon 5 24−27
+225%
8−9
−225%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 20
+233%
6−7
−233%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 25
+257%
7−8
−257%

This is how GTX 980 and Tesla K20c compete in popular games:

  • GTX 980 is 248% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 980 is 264% faster in 1440p
  • GTX 980 is 225% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 28.24 8.75
Recency 19 September 2014 12 November 2012
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 5 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 165 Watt 225 Watt

GTX 980 has a 222.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, and 36.4% lower power consumption.

Tesla K20c, on the other hand, has a 25% higher maximum VRAM amount.

The GeForce GTX 980 is our recommended choice as it beats the Tesla K20c in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 980 is a desktop card while Tesla K20c is a workstation one.

Vote for your favorite

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
GeForce GTX 980
NVIDIA Tesla K20c
Tesla K20c

Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.2 1538 votes

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4.7 12 votes

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