Radeon R9 270 vs Tesla K20m

AMD

Radeon R9 270

2013Boost: 925 MHz
Similar parts
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VS
NVIDIA

Tesla K20m

2013Core: 706 MHz
Similar parts
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Radeon R9 270 vs Tesla K20m Performance Spectrum

About G3D Mark

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Radeon R9 270 vs Tesla K20m: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

Radeon R9 270

2013

Why buy it

  • Costs $3,020 less on MSRP ($179 MSRP vs $3,199 MSRP).
  • Delivers 1636.3% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 24.1 vs 1.4 G3D/$ ($179 MSRP vs $3,199 MSRP).
  • Draws 150W instead of 225W, a 75W reduction.

Trade-offs

  • 2013 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Tesla K20m

2013

Why buy it

  • Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

  • 2013 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 1687.2% HIGHER MSRP
    $3,199 MSRPvs$179 MSRP
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 1.4 vs 24.1 G3D/$ ($3,199 MSRP vs $179 MSRP).
  • 50% higher power demand at 225W vs 150W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Tesla K20m is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 2.9% in PassMark G3D (4,432 vs 4,306), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
Radeon R9 270 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: the newer upscaling stack, FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 (2025) instead of no meaningful modern upscaling stack. That still leaves it as the safer long-term option on hardware alone.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
Radeon R9 270 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $3,020 cheaper on MSRP at $179 vs $3,199, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 1636.3% (24.1 vs 1.4), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. Tesla K20m still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

Radeon R9 270 vs Tesla K20m Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

AMD

Radeon R9 270

The Radeon R9 270 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in November 13 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The boost clock speed is 925 MHz. It has 1280 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 150W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 4,306 points. Launch price was $179.

NVIDIA

Tesla K20m

The Tesla K20m is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in January 5 2013. It features the Kepler architecture. The core clock speed is 706 MHz. It has 2496 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 225W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 4,432 points. Launch price was $3,199.

Graphics Performance

The Radeon R9 270 scores 4,306 and the Tesla K20m reaches 4,432 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 2.9% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon R9 270 is built on GCN 1.0 while the Tesla K20m uses Kepler, both on a 28 nm process. Shader units: 1,280 (Radeon R9 270) vs 2,496 (Tesla K20m). Raw compute: 2.368 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 270) vs 3.524 TFLOPS (Tesla K20m).

FeatureRadeon R9 270Tesla K20m
G3D Mark Score
4,306
4,432+3%
Architecture
GCN 1.0
Kepler
Process Node
28 nm
28 nm
Shading Units
1280
2496+95%
Compute (TFLOPS)
2.368 TFLOPS
3.524 TFLOPS+49%
ROPs
32
40+25%
TMUs
80
208+160%
L1 Cache
320 KB+54%
208 KB
L2 Cache
0.5 MB
1.25 MB+150%

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

FeatureRadeon R9 270Tesla K20m
Upscaling Tech
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Upscaling support
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
AMD Anti-Lag
Standard
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 2 GB of GDDR5. Memory bus width is 256-bit on the Radeon R9 270 and 64-bit on the Tesla K20m. L2 Cache: 0.5 MB (Radeon R9 270) vs 1.25 MB (Tesla K20m) — the Tesla K20m has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureRadeon R9 270Tesla K20m
VRAM Capacity
2 GB
2 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Bus Width
256-bit+300%
64-bit
L2 Cache
0.5 MB
1.25 MB+150%
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon R9 270 draws 150W versus the Tesla K20m's 225W — a 40% difference. The Radeon R9 270 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (Radeon R9 270) vs 350W (Tesla K20m). Power connectors: 1x 6-pin vs PCIe-powered.

FeatureRadeon R9 270Tesla K20m
TDP
150W-33%
225W
Recommended PSU
500W
350W-30%
Power Connector
1x 6-pin
PCIe-powered
Perf/Watt
28.7+46%
19.7
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the Radeon R9 270 came in at $179, while the Tesla K20m launched at $3199. On MSRP, Radeon R9 270 was 94.4% cheaper ($3020 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 24.1 (Radeon R9 270) vs 1.4 (Tesla K20m) — the Radeon R9 270 offers 1621.4% better value.

FeatureRadeon R9 270Tesla K20m
MSRP
$179-94%
$3199
Performance per Dollar
24.1+1621%
1.4
Codename
Curacao
GK110
Release
November 13 2013
January 5 2013
Ranking
#476
#470

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