NVIDIA CMP 70HX vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB Comparison

The Verdict

The data splits this pairing cleanly by workload. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB wins the OpenCL benchmark decisively, scoring 33,397 against the CMP 70HX's 25,135, a 32.9% advantage. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX takes the Vulkan benchmark with 35,817 versus 33,991, a 5.1% lead. The GTX 1060 5 GB also holds the higher average benchmark score at 33,694 versus 30,476, and it sits at the 78th percentile of all GPUs compared to the CMP 70HX's 75th.

Choose the GTX 1060 5 GB if your priority is raw compute throughput in OpenCL-style workloads and you need display outputs. This card has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, making it usable as a standard graphics card. Its 120 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU also make it far easier to slot into a typical desktop.

Choose the CMP 70HX if you are working in Vulkan-based applications and can live without video outputs entirely. It has no display outputs by design, as it is a mining GPU. It also requires a PCIe 1.0 x4 interface, which is an unusual constraint. The CMP 70HX does offer more memory (8 GB versus 5 GB) and much higher bandwidth (608.3 GB/s versus 160.2 GB/s), which matters in memory-bound tasks despite its lower average score.

Neither card is a universal winner. The recorded data shows a 1-1 split in head-to-head wins. The GTX 1060 5 GB is the more balanced product for general use, while the CMP 70HX is a specialized tool with a narrower but real advantage in one API.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different generations and foundries. The GTX 1060 5 GB uses the GP106 chip on NVIDIA's Pascal architecture, built on a 16 nm process at TSMC. The die is 200 mm² with 4,400 million transistors, giving a transistor density of 22.0M per mm². The CMP 70HX uses the GA104 chip on Ampere, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm node. Its die is 392 mm² with 17,400 million transistors, a density of 44.4M per mm².

The compute resources differ substantially. The GTX 1060 5 GB has 1,280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 40 ROPs. The CMP 70HX has 3,840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, plus 30 ray tracing cores and 120 tensor cores. The CMP 70HX also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTX 1060 5 GB is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Clock speeds and memory architecture tell a different story. The GTX 1060 5 GB runs at a 1506 MHz base and 1709 MHz boost, with memory at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The CMP 70HX has lower clocks: 1365 MHz base and 1395 MHz boost, but its memory runs at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The CMP 70HX uses GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus for 608.3 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 1060 5 GB uses GDDR5 on a 160-bit bus for 160.2 GB/s.

The CMP 70HX also differs in its interface and power delivery. It uses PCIe 1.0 x4, a legacy interface, and a single 12-pin power connector. The GTX 1060 5 GB uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and a 6-pin connector. The CMP 70HX has no TDP listed in the database, but its suggested PSU is 200 W versus 300 W for the GTX 1060 5 GB. The CMP 70HX is physically larger at 267 mm long and 112 mm tall, while the GTX 1060 5 GB is 250 mm long.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 1060 5 GB wins in OpenCL compute. Its score of 33,397 beats the CMP 70HX by 32.9%. This is a large margin, and it places the GTX 1060 5 GB near the NVIDIA RTX A5000 (33,622, a 0.2% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 480 (33,997, a -0.9% delta). The OpenCL result suggests the Pascal architecture handles this workload particularly well despite having fewer shading units.

The CMP 70HX wins in Vulkan. Its score of 35,817 beats the GTX 1060 5 GB's 33,991 by 5.1%. This is a smaller margin, but it is a clear win. In this test, the CMP 70HX outperforms its own average benchmark score by a wide margin, indicating Vulkan is a strength for the Ampere architecture. Its nearest rivals in average score include the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (30,490, a 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (30,433, a 0.1% delta), but in Vulkan it pulls well ahead of those averages.

The average benchmark score favors the GTX 1060 5 GB at 33,694 versus 30,476. That is a 10.6% gap in the aggregate. The GTX 1060 5 GB also ranks higher in the percentile distribution: 78th versus 75th. For mixed workloads, the GTX 1060 5 GB is the safer pick.

Memory-heavy tasks favor the CMP 70HX. It has 8 GB of GDDR6X versus 5 GB of GDDR5, and its bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s is nearly four times the GTX 1060 5 GB's 160.2 GB/s. If an application scales with memory capacity or bandwidth rather than compute, the CMP 70HX has the structural advantage.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB scores 33,694 on average, while the NVIDIA CMP 70HX scores 30,476. That is a 10.6% advantage for the GTX 1060 5 GB.

Q: Why does the CMP 70HX win in Vulkan but lose in OpenCL?

A: The recorded data shows the CMP 70HX scores 35,817 in Vulkan versus 33,991 for the GTX 1060 5 GB, a 5.1% lead. In OpenCL, the GTX 1060 5 GB scores 33,397 versus 25,135, a 32.9% lead. The two architectures clearly respond differently to the two APIs.

Q: Can the CMP 70HX be used as a regular display card?

A: No. The database lists "No outputs" for the CMP 70HX. It has no display outputs at all. The GTX 1060 5 GB has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Q: What is the memory difference between the two cards?

A: The GTX 1060 5 GB has 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 160-bit bus with 160.2 GB/s bandwidth. The CMP 70HX has 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus with 608.3 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The CMP 70HX has 3,840 shading units, which is three times the GTX 1060 5 GB's 1,280. The CMP 70HX also has 120 TMUs and 64 ROPs versus 80 TMUs and 40 ROPs for the GTX 1060 5 GB.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The GTX 1060 5 GB has a 120 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The CMP 70HX has no listed TDP, but its suggested PSU is 200 W. The GTX 1060 5 GB uses a 6-pin power connector, while the CMP 70HX uses a 12-pin connector.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The OpenCL test is the largest margin in either direction. The GTX 1060 5 GB scores 33,397, and the CMP 70HX scores 25,135. That is a 32.9% gap, a dominant win for the Pascal card. To put that in context, the GTX 1060 5 GB's OpenCL score is nearly identical to its average benchmark score of 33,694, while the CMP 70HX's OpenCL score is far below its own average of 30,476. The CMP 70HX underperforms its baseline in this API.

The Vulkan test flips the result. The CMP 70HX scores 35,817, and the GTX 1060 5 GB scores 33,991. The margin is 5.1%, much closer than the OpenCL gap. Notably, the CMP 70HX's Vulkan score is well above its average benchmark score of 30,476, showing that Vulkan is its best-case scenario. The GTX 1060 5 GB's Vulkan score of 33,991 is also above its average of 33,694, but by a smaller margin.

The average benchmark score comparison reinforces the OpenCL result. The GTX 1060 5 GB averages 33,694, placing it between the AMD Radeon RX 7700S (33,849, a -0.5% delta) and the AMD Radeon HD 7950 (33,951, a -0.8% delta). The CMP 70HX averages 30,476, nearly tied with the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (30,490, a 0% delta) and slightly above the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (30,433, a 0.1% delta). The CMP 70HX also sits just 1.8% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti in average score.

In terms of percentile rank, the GTX 1060 5 GB sits at the 78th percentile of all GPUs, while the CMP 70HX sits at the 75th. This three-point gap is modest but consistent with the average score difference. The GTX 1060 5 GB is the more consistent performer across the two recorded benchmarks, with scores of 33,397 and 33,991 that are close together. The CMP 70HX is more variable, with scores of 25,135 and 35,817 that swing by over 10,000 points depending on the API.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every major specification. The GTX 1060 5 GB uses the GP106 chip on a 16 nm TSMC process, while the CMP 70HX uses the GA104 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process. The die sizes are 200 mm² versus 392 mm², and transistor counts are 4,400 million versus 17,400 million. Transistor density is 22.0M per mm² for the GTX 1060 5 GB and 44.4M per mm² for the CMP 70HX.

Clock speeds favor the GTX 1060 5 GB. Its base clock is 1506 MHz and boost is 1709 MHz. The CMP 70HX runs at 1365 MHz base and 1395 MHz boost. Memory clocks also differ: 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) for the GTX 1060 5 GB versus 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) for the CMP 70HX.

Memory capacity and type are major differentiators. The GTX 1060 5 GB has 5 GB of GDDR5 on a 160-bit bus with 160.2 GB/s bandwidth. The CMP 70HX has 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus with 608.3 GB/s bandwidth. The CMP 70HX's bandwidth is 3.8 times higher.

Compute units differ sharply. The GTX 1060 5 GB has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. The CMP 70HX has 3,840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, plus 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores. The CMP 70HX's FP32 throughput is 10.71 TFLOPS versus 4.375 TFLOPS for the GTX 1060 5 GB. FP16 performance is also different: the CMP 70HX delivers 10.71 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, while the GTX 1060 5 GB delivers 68.36 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio.

Pixel and texture rates follow the same pattern. The CMP 70HX has 89.28 GPixel/s and 167.4 GTexel/s, while the GTX 1060 5 GB has 68.36 GPixel/s and 136.7 GTexel/s.

Power and physical specs differ as well. The GTX 1060 5 GB has a 120 W TDP, a 300 W suggested PSU, a 6-pin connector, and PCIe 3.0 x16. The CMP 70HX has no listed TDP, a 200 W suggested PSU, a 12-pin connector, and PCIe 1.0 x4. The CMP 70HX is longer at 267 mm versus 250 mm, and taller at 112 mm. The GTX 1060 5 GB has display outputs; the CMP 70HX has none. Both are dual-slot cards. The GTX 1060 5 GB supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the CMP 70HX supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).