NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 vs NVIDIA Quadro K1200 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 compare to the NVIDIA Quadro K1200 in overall benchmark scores?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 9780, while the Quadro K1200 averages 8265. The GTX 1070 sits at the 47th percentile among all GPUs, whereas the Quadro K1200 is at the 43rd percentile.

Q: Which card wins in the available head-to-head benchmark tests?

A: The GTX 1070 wins both recorded head-to-head tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 44700 against 8831, a 406.2% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 22121 against 7698, a 187.4% advantage.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The GTX 1070 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 256.3 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro K1200 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with 80.19 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do the power requirements differ between these two cards?

A: The GTX 1070 has a TDP of 150 W and requires a 450 W suggested PSU with a single 8-pin power connector. The Quadro K1200 has a 45 W TDP, requires a 200 W suggested PSU, and needs no power connectors.

Q: What are the physical size differences?

A: The GTX 1070 measures 267 mm in length, 112 mm in height, and 40 mm in width, occupying a dual-slot form factor. The Quadro K1200 is 160 mm long and 69 mm high, fitting in a single-slot design.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count and smaller manufacturing process?

A: The GTX 1070 uses a 16 nm process with 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die. The Quadro K1200 uses a 28 nm process with 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die.

The Verdict

The data clearly separates these two cards into different performance tiers. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the decisive winner in every measurable category, with an average benchmark score of 9780 versus 8265 for the Quadro K1200. That is an 18.3% advantage in aggregate performance, and the head-to-head results show an even larger gap.

Buyers should choose the GTX 1070 if they prioritize raw compute and graphics throughput. Its shading unit count of 1920 versus 512, combined with 120 texture mapping units against 32, produces a texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s compared to 33.06 GTexel/s. The pixel rate tells the same story: 107.7 GPixel/s versus 16.53 GPixel/s. For any workload that depends on fill rate or shader execution, the GTX 1070 is the only rational pick.

The Quadro K1200 has one practical advantage: its power envelope. At 45 W TDP with no external power connectors, it can slot into systems with minimal power delivery. The GTX 1070 requires a 150 W TDP, a 450 W suggested PSU, and an 8-pin connector. The Quadro K1200 is also single-slot at 160 mm length, making it viable for compact or densely populated chassis where the 267 mm dual-slot GTX 1070 cannot fit.

For professional workstation users who need quad-output display configurations, the Quadro K1200 offers 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs natively. The GTX 1070 provides 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, which requires adapters or daisy-chaining for four simultaneous displays.

However, the verdict is unambiguous for performance-driven buyers: the GTX 1070 wins both head-to-head benchmarks by margins of 406.2% and 187.4%. The Quadro K1200 is a low-power, space-constrained option, but it cannot compete in any compute or graphics benchmark recorded in the database.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains two direct comparison tests between these cards, and the GTX 1070 dominates both.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 1070 scores 44700. The Quadro K1200 manages 8831. The delta is 406.2%, meaning the GTX 1070 delivers more than five times the OpenCL performance. This is the largest margin recorded between the two cards and reflects the massive gap in shading units, memory bandwidth, and clock speeds.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the GTX 1070 scores 22121 against 7698 for the Quadro K1200. The 187.4% delta shows the GTX 1070 nearly triples the Vulkan throughput. While smaller than the OpenCL gap, it still represents a categorical performance separation.

Beyond these direct tests, the broader benchmark records reinforce the pattern. The GTX 1070 has 11 recorded benchmark entries, including a Passmark G3D score of 13498 and a Passmark GPU Compute score of 6102. The Quadro K1200 has only two recorded benchmarks, both in Geekbench, which limits direct comparisons but does not change the outcome where tests overlap.

The GTX 1070 also shows superior memory performance in every metric: 256.3 GB/s bandwidth versus 80.19 GB/s, and 8 GB capacity versus 4 GB. These figures explain why the GTX 1070 sustains higher throughput in memory-bound workloads, a critical factor in OpenCL and Vulkan compute tasks.

Neither card wins a head-to-head test against the other. The record shows 2 wins for the GTX 1070 and 0 wins for the Quadro K1200.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification field.

Memory capacity: the GTX 1070 has 8 GB, the Quadro K1200 has 4 GB. Memory bus width: 256 bit versus 128 bit. Memory bandwidth: 256.3 GB/s versus 80.19 GB/s. Effective memory speed: 8 Gbps versus 5 Gbps.

Clock speeds: the GTX 1070 runs at 1506 MHz base and 1683 MHz boost. The Quadro K1200 runs at 954 MHz base and 1033 MHz boost. Memory clock: 2002 MHz versus 1253 MHz.

Shader units: 1920 versus 512. Texture mapping units: 120 versus 32. Raster output units: 64 versus 16.

Pixel rate: 107.7 GPixel/s versus 16.53 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 202.0 GTexel/s versus 33.06 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput: 6.463 TFLOPS versus 1,057.8 GFLOPS.

Power: 150 W TDP versus 45 W TDP. Slot width: dual-slot versus single-slot. Power connectors: 1x 8-pin versus none. Suggested PSU: 450 W versus 200 W.

Bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 2.0 x16.

Dimensions: 267 mm x 112 mm x 40 mm versus 160 mm x 69 mm with no recorded width.

Display outputs: 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a versus 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.2.

DirectX support: 12 (12_1) versus 12 (11_0). OpenGL support is identical at 4.6, and Vulkan support is identical at 1.4.

Launch MSRP for the GTX 1070 was 379 USD. The Quadro K1200 has no recorded launch MSRP.

Architecture Differences

The GTX 1070 uses the GP104 chip built on the Pascal architecture. The Quadro K1200 uses the GM107 chip built on the Maxwell architecture. Both are manufactured by TSMC, but on different process nodes: 16 nm for the GTX 1070, 28 nm for the Quadro K1200.

Transistor counts reflect the generational leap. The GTX 1070 packs 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 22.9M per mm². The Quadro K1200 contains 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, with a density of 12.6M per mm². The smaller process node allows the GTX 1070 to nearly quadruple the transistor count while keeping the die size within a similar physical range.

The GTX 1070 belongs to the GeForce 10-series, succeeding the GeForce 900 and preceding the GeForce 20. The Quadro K1200 is listed under the Quadro Kepler (Kx200) generation, with its predecessor being Quadro Fermi and its successor being Quadro Maxwell. This places the two cards in different product lineages and different architectural eras.

Memory architecture differs substantially. The GTX 1070 has a 256-bit memory bus with 8 GB capacity. The Quadro K1200 has a 128-bit bus with 4 GB capacity. The effective memory speed of 8 Gbps on the GTX 1070 versus 5 Gbps on the Quadro K1200 compounds the bus width difference, resulting in a 3.2x bandwidth advantage for the GTX 1070.

The GTX 1070 supports FP16 compute at 101.0 GFLOPS with a 1:64 ratio. The Quadro K1200 has no recorded FP16 capability. This makes the GTX 1070 more versatile for workloads that leverage half-precision arithmetic.

Both cards have no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores, as neither architecture includes dedicated hardware for those features.

The Quadro K1200's Maxwell architecture is older, as reflected in its lower DirectX feature level of 11_0 compared to 12_1 for the Pascal-based GTX 1070.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 1070 wins in every performance category recorded in the database. Its 406.2% OpenCL advantage and 187.4% Vulkan advantage make it the clear choice for compute-heavy applications. The 6.463 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus 1,057.8 GFLOPS means the GTX 1070 handles floating-point workloads at roughly six times the rate. The 256.3 GB/s memory bandwidth prevents bottlenecks in data-intensive tasks, while the Quadro K1200's 80.19 GB/s becomes a limiting factor.

For gaming and graphics rendering, the GTX 1070's 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate and 202.0 GTexel/s texture rate provide the fill rates needed for high-resolution rendering. The Quadro K1200's 16.53 GPixel/s and 33.06 GTexel/s are adequate for light 2D or basic 3D workloads but fall far short of demanding scenarios.

The Quadro K1200 wins in deployment flexibility. Its 45 W TDP means it can run in systems with a 200 W PSU, and its single-slot, 160 mm length fits into compact chassis. The absence of power connectors simplifies installation. The 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs allow direct connection of four monitors without adapters, a feature the GTX 1070 cannot match natively.

The GTX 1070 wins in future-proofing. Its 12_1 DirectX feature level, PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, and 8 GB memory capacity provide headroom for newer applications. The Quadro K1200's 11_0 DirectX level and PCIe 2.0 x16 interface reflect its older architecture.

For users with power constraints or space limitations, the Quadro K1200 is the practical choice. For users who need maximum performance, the GTX 1070 is the only option that delivers competitive results. The 47th percentile ranking for the GTX 1070 also places it above the Quadro K1200's 43rd percentile among all GPUs.

The GTX 1070's nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro W5000 at a 0.2% lower average score, the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M at 0.5% lower, and the NVIDIA Tesla M10 at 0.6% higher. The Quadro K1200's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 M375X at 0.7% lower, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 at 1.2% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M at 1.6% higher. These proximity rankings show both cards sit in competitive mid-range segments, but the GTX 1070 occupies a higher performance tier overall.