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Throughout the world, Nvidia Tesla K40 GPUs are commonly used in workstation servers. Furthermore, the Tesla K40 performs 20% faster than the Tesla K20. In addition, this graphics card offers a higher VRAM, memory clock, and Cuda cores for more efficient computing. Can the Nvidia Tesla K40 play games with all these powerful features? Do you think it’s worth buying? Let’s take a closer look at this.
The K40 graphics card has enough Cuda cores to match the RTX 2000 Series GPUs. A Tesla K40 with more Cuda cores is an excellent choice for servers and scientific applications. Nvidia Tesla GPUs are designed specifically for the business market, where more productivity is needed and High-Performance Computing (HPC).
So, Tesla series cards are well-suited to manage productivity tasks such as rendering videos, analyzing data, creating animations, and more. Most models do not offer an HDMI output, so you need to rely on onboard graphics or select a different graphics card as your display for gaming. You must also set up the graphics card to operate properly with the software for model-specific configurations.
Let’s investigate more closely if we can really play games with this beast.
Do you utilize Nvidia Tesla K40 for Gaming?
But before we start, let’s have a look at what this graphics card has to offer.
| Video Memory | 12GB GDDR5 |
| Cuda Cores | 2880 |
| Base/Boost Clock Speed | 745 MHz / 875 MHz |
| Memory Clock Speed | 3 GHz |
| Memory Interface Width | 384-bits |
| Memory Bandwidth | 288GB/s |
| Maximum Power Consumption | 235W |
Tesla K40 is distinguished by its key specifications.
Looking at the specifications, we can say that Nvidia Tesla K40 isn’t as great for gaming as a GTX 1070. Of course, it has more VRAM, bandwidth, and clock speed, but it lacks a higher processor clock rate.
Despite the fact that it compares favourably with affordable yet high-end GPUs like the Nvidia GTX 1660, the Tesla K40 GPU is weak in many AAA games. Since it’s unable to display video outputs, however, you can configure it for an off-screen rendering mode.
Since you may need to set up a third-party device to function as a special graphics card to provide images for gaming, you may need to separate the final frame buffer from your chosen system using another GPU (which comes with a video output port).
Tesla K-Series GPUs are utilized for calculations that are not associated with game-playing. Also, the card drivers used for these Tesla chips differ from those commonly used for video games by Nvidia. Nvidia Tesla cards are still in use because of the Nvidia terms of service agreement that prohibits utilizing entry-level chips in business environments.
Even though the Nvidia Tesla K40 is intended to play video, you cannot expect it to have very high-performing games. The reason is that the video output is routed via another chip on your computer and because it is usually based on a lower foundation switch clock speed. He believes that the Nvidia Tesla K40 gaming performance is equivalent to that of an Nvidia GT 1030.
Few points to keep in mind before gaming on the Nvidia Tesla K40.
Don’t confuse your Tesla Series gaming GPUs with regular ones. Learn some things about playing on a Tesla K40 or K80 GPU before you do.
Check the PSU
Most graphics processors in the Tesla Series can draw over 250 Watts of power on peak load. Therefore, it’s worth having a reliable power supply with at least 1 × 6-pin and 1 × 8-pin power input. To be on the safe side, we recommend going with either a Gold or Bronze-rated power supply.
Active Cooling
The Tesla cards were created for business and industrial use, so you will want to make sure there is a cooling solution if you would like to keep the room cool. You’ll want a case that is spacious enough to accommodate a large number of cooling fans.
Getting Nvidia Tesla K40 Ready for Gaming
Windows 10 often sees cards like the Nvidia Tesla K40 or K80 as the default video graphics adapter. To adjust your video card, you must first follow these tips.
Enable 4G auto decoding in your BIOS. Some motherboards possess a different name for this functionality, so be sure to consult your own motherboard manual if you do not find this option in your BIOS.- Install the latest drivers for your Tesla K40 graphics card from here.
- Once the drivers are downloaded, install them and then reboot your PC.
Now we’ll modify the Windows Registry, which will facilitate Windows in detecting the Nvidia Tesla K40 as a graphics processor.
- Type Regedit in the Start Menu, omitting commas.
- Now head over to computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0001
- Once you are there, delete the “AdapterType” option
- Here, create a 32bit dword: EnableMsHybrid and assign a value of 1 to it. And then Reboot your PC once again.
Now when you want to return to Windows, proceed to turn WDDM graphics mode on by following the guidelines below.
- Return to the Start menu and type in CMD to enter the command prompt.
- Access the command prompt as an Administrator.
- In command-line mode, type Nvidia-smi -L without inverted commas to get a list of the Nvidia chips along with their ID numbers. Take note of the ID number of your Nvidia Tesla K40 graphics card.
- Again, type Nvidia-smi -g {ID} -dm 0 and press enter. Replace the “ID” in this command with the ID number of the Nvidia Tesla K40 GPU that you found in the previous command.
Reboot your PC
- Right-click anywhere on your desktop and go to “Display Settings“
- Move down and find the “Graphics Settings“
- Here find the .exe file of the game that you want to run on the Nvidia K40 GPU.
- Click on it and select “High-Performance” to play the game on Nvidia Tesla K40 GPU.
The final argument’s pivotal moment
The Nvidia Tesla K40 is a reliable graphics card for production workloads. The Tesla K40 also features lower levels of performance when gaming and can be configured with custom BIOS and Windows settings to improve its performance. Nevertheless, you cannot expect a Tesla K40 to emulate an RTX 2080 Ti or AMD RX 6800 XT GPU. This unit lacks a standard video output and comes with a lower base clock rate.
Enterprises offering a selection of related enterprise graphics cards may be obtained on eBay or Amazon at an affordable cost. Until you acquire a trustworthy gaming GPU, you can play your favourite games on an Nvidia prior to you on a Tesla Series card.
According to a mid-range budget, it’s sensible to buy an RTX 2070 or 2080 Ti rather than Tesla K40 if you intend to purchase a gaming GPU.
