NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 vs NVIDIA GeForce MX330 Comparison

The Verdict

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the decisive winner in this comparison, taking both recorded head-to-head benchmarks. The GTX 1070 leads by 466.1% in Geekbench OpenCL and by 145.3% in Geekbench Vulkan, which reflects a fundamental performance gulf between a desktop-class GPU and a low-power mobile part. The GTX 1070 is the clear choice for anyone seeking serious gaming or compute performance from a dedicated graphics card. The MX330, by contrast, is positioned as a modest entry-level mobile solution, and its data shows it belongs in a different performance tier entirely. Users who need a discrete GPU for light tasks and portability would consider the MX330, but the benchmark results show it is outperformed by a wide margin in every recorded test. The GTX 1070 also holds a higher percentile rank among all GPUs at 47, compared to the MX330 at 43, and its average benchmark score of 9780 far exceeds the MX330's 8458. The verdict is straightforward: the GTX 1070 is for users who prioritize performance, while the MX330 is for those who prioritize low power draw and minimal physical footprint.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the Pascal architecture, but they are built on different process nodes and foundries. The GTX 1070 uses the GP104 chip fabricated by TSMC on a 16 nm process, while the MX330 uses the GP108B chip fabricated by Samsung on a 14 nm process. The GTX 1070 packs 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 22.9M per mm². The MX330 contains 1,800 million transistors on a 74 mm² die, with a higher density of 24.3M per mm². Despite the smaller and denser chip, the MX330 is far less capable. The GTX 1070 belongs to the GeForce 10-series and the GeForce 10 generation, while the MX330 belongs to the GeForce MX (3xx) generation. Neither card includes ray tracing cores or tensor cores, and both support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 1070's larger chip also brings a much wider memory interface and more execution resources, which are detailed in the specification section. The production status for both is end-of-life, but the GTX 1070 was released on 2016-06-09, while the MX330 arrived later on 2020-02-09. The GTX 1070 has a predecessor in GeForce 900 and a successor in GeForce 20, whereas the MX330 has no recorded predecessor or successor.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data contains two tests, and the GTX 1070 wins both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 1070 scores 44700 against the MX330's 7896, a lead of 466.1%. This is the largest margin in the comparison and indicates that the GTX 1070 delivers more than five times the OpenCL compute performance of the MX330. In Geekbench Vulkan, the GTX 1070 scores 22121 against the MX330's 9019, a lead of 145.3%. While smaller than the OpenCL gap, this still represents a substantial advantage in Vulkan workloads. The overall wins tally is 2 for the GTX 1070 and 0 for the MX330. Beyond the head-to-head tests, the GTX 1070 also shows a broader benchmark portfolio. Its Passmark G3D score is 13498, its Passmark GPU Compute score is 6102, and its Geekbench Metal score is 18801. The MX330 has no recorded scores for these tests, so a direct comparison is not possible, but the available data consistently favors the GTX 1070. The GTX 1070's average benchmark score of 9780 places it near rivals such as the AMD FirePro W5000, which scores 9803 with a delta of -0.2%, and the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M, which scores 9832 with a delta of -0.5%. The MX330's average score of 8458 places it near the AMD Radeon HD 8870M, which scores 8462 with a delta of 0%, and the AMD Radeon 880M, which scores 8436 with a delta of 0.3%. These rival comparisons show that the GTX 1070 sits in a higher performance neighborhood than the MX330.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification. The GTX 1070 has 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output pipelines. The MX330 has 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The GTX 1070's pixel rate is 107.7 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 202.0 GTexel/s, while the MX330 manages 25.50 GPixel/s and 38.26 GTexel/s. Floating point performance also diverges sharply: the GTX 1070 delivers 6.463 TFLOPS in FP32, while the MX330 delivers 1,224.2 GFLOPS. FP16 performance is 101.0 GFLOPS for the GTX 1070 and 19.13 GFLOPS for the MX330, with both operating at a 1:64 ratio. Memory configurations are completely different. The GTX 1070 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The MX330 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 56.06 GB/s of bandwidth. Clock speeds also differ: the GTX 1070 runs at 1506 MHz base and 1683 MHz boost, while the MX330 runs at 1531 MHz base and 1594 MHz boost. Interestingly, the MX330 has a higher base clock, but the GTX 1070 has a higher boost clock. Memory clocks are 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) for the GTX 1070 and 1752 MHz (7 Gbps effective) for the MX330. Power consumption is a major differentiator. The GTX 1070 has a TDP of 150 W, requires a dual-slot cooler, and uses a single 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 450 W. The MX330 has a TDP of just 10 W, is classified as an IGP, and requires no power connectors, with no suggested PSU listed. The bus interface also differs: the GTX 1070 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the MX330 uses PCIe 3.0 x4. Display outputs are another contrast. The GTX 1070 offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The MX330's outputs are listed as portable device dependent. Physical dimensions are recorded for the GTX 1070 at 267 mm length, 112 mm height, and 40 mm width. No dimensions are recorded for the MX330. The GTX 1070 has a launch MSRP of 379 USD, while the MX330 has no recorded launch MSRP.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 9780, while the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 has an average benchmark score of 8458.

Q: How much faster is the GTX 1070 in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The GTX 1070 scores 44700 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the MX330 scores 7896. This gives the GTX 1070 a 466.1% lead.

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

A: The GTX 1070 has a memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s, while the MX330 has a memory bandwidth of 56.06 GB/s. The memory bus widths are 256-bit and 64-bit, respectively.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Neither includes ray tracing cores or tensor cores.

Q: What are the TDP ratings for each GPU?

A: The GTX 1070 has a TDP of 150 W and requires a dual-slot cooler with a 1x 8-pin power connector. The MX330 has a TDP of 10 W, is classified as an IGP, and requires no power connectors.

Q: What is the transistor count for each chip?

A: The GTX 1070's GP104 chip contains 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die. The MX330's GP108B chip contains 1,800 million transistors on a 74 mm² die.