Tesla K80 vs Radeon HD 7970

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7970 with Tesla K80, including specs and performance data.

HD 7970
2011
6 GB GDDR5, 300 Watt
13.62

Tesla K80 outperforms HD 7970 by a moderate 12% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking380351
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.45no data
Power efficiency3.733.47
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Kepler 2.0 (2013−2015)
GPU code nameTahitiGK210
Market segmentDesktopWorkstation
Designreferenceno data
Release date22 December 2011 (13 years ago)17 November 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$549 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 speedno data562 MHz
Boost clock speed925 MHz824 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 million7,100 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)300 Watt300 Watt
Texture fill rate118.4171.4
Floating-point processing power3.789 TFLOPS4.113 TFLOPS
ROPs3248
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 supportPCIe 2.1 x16no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length274 mm267 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin1x 8-pin

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 amount6 GB12 GB
Memory bus width384 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speed1375 MHz1253 MHz
Memory bandwidth264 GB/s240.6 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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortNo outputs
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire+-
FreeSync+-

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1112 (11_1)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan-1.1.126
CUDA-3.7

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. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

HD 7970 13.62
Tesla K80 15.19
+11.5%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

HD 7970 5248
Tesla K80 5852
+11.5%

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:

900p105
−4.8%
110−120
+4.8%
Full HD91
−9.9%
100−110
+9.9%

Cost per frame, $

1080p6.03no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−9.1%
24−27
+9.1%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−2.3%
45−50
+2.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
−11.1%
30−33
+11.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−9.4%
35−40
+9.4%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−8.1%
40−45
+8.1%
Forza Horizon 4 85−90
−6.7%
95−100
+6.7%
Hitman 3 24−27
−3.8%
27−30
+3.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
−7.1%
75−80
+7.1%
Metro Exodus 45−50
−8.7%
50−55
+8.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−5.3%
40−45
+5.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
−2.3%
45−50
+2.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
−8.1%
80−85
+8.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−9.1%
24−27
+9.1%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−2.3%
45−50
+2.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
−11.1%
30−33
+11.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−9.4%
35−40
+9.4%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−8.1%
40−45
+8.1%
Forza Horizon 4 85−90
−6.7%
95−100
+6.7%
Hitman 3 24−27
−3.8%
27−30
+3.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
−7.1%
75−80
+7.1%
Metro Exodus 45−50
−8.7%
50−55
+8.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−5.3%
40−45
+5.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
−2.3%
45−50
+2.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
−6.1%
35−40
+6.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
−8.1%
80−85
+8.1%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−9.1%
24−27
+9.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
−11.1%
30−33
+11.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−9.4%
35−40
+9.4%
Forza Horizon 4 85−90
−6.7%
95−100
+6.7%
Hitman 3 24−27
−3.8%
27−30
+3.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
−7.1%
75−80
+7.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
−2.3%
45−50
+2.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
−6.1%
35−40
+6.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
−8.1%
80−85
+8.1%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−5.3%
40−45
+5.3%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
−3.8%
27−30
+3.8%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
−8.7%
75−80
+8.7%
Hitman 3 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
−7.1%
30−33
+7.1%
Metro Exodus 21−24
−4.3%
24−27
+4.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 21−24
−4.3%
24−27
+4.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 80−85
−7.1%
90−95
+7.1%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
−9.1%
24−27
+9.1%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 12−14
−7.7%
14−16
+7.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Hitman 3 9−10
−11.1%
10−11
+11.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 65−70
−6.1%
70−75
+6.1%
Metro Exodus 12−14
−7.7%
14−16
+7.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

This is how HD 7970 and Tesla K80 compete in popular games:

  • Tesla K80 is 5% faster in 900p
  • Tesla K80 is 10% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 13.62 15.19
Recency 22 December 2011 17 November 2014
Maximum RAM amount 6 GB 12 GB

Tesla K80 has a 11.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

The Tesla K80 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7970 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 7970 is a desktop card while Tesla K80 is a workstation one.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon HD 7970
Radeon HD 7970
NVIDIA Tesla K80
Tesla K80

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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.


4.1 303 votes

Rate Radeon HD 7970 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.8 183 votes

Rate Tesla K80 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.