NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950A Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits cleanly along workload type. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 dominates every recorded metric where both products have results. It wins the only shared test, Geekbench OpenCL, by a massive margin. There are no tests in the database where the GTX 950A comes out ahead, which makes sense given the gulf in their specifications.

For the GTX 1080, the wins are comprehensive. It holds a 100% win rate across all recorded benchmarks. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 51,204 versus 10,273 for the GTX 950A represents a 398.4% advantage, which is the single largest delta in any head-to-head comparison. The GTX 1080 also posts strong results in other APIs: 30,398 in Geekbench Vulkan, 23,824 in Geekbench Metal, and 15,586 in Passmark G3D. These are not directly comparable to the GTX 950A because the latter lacks scores in those tests, but they establish the GTX 1080 as a multi-API performer.

The GTX 950A, by contrast, has only one recorded benchmark result in the database: Geekbench OpenCL at 10,273. Its average benchmark score is 10,273, placing it at the 48th percentile of all GPUs. That is remarkably close to the GTX 1080's 51st percentile, which is a striking data point: the GTX 1080 averages 11,960 across all its tests, while the GTX 950A averages 10,273, yet their percentile rankings differ by only 3 points. This suggests the GTX 950A sits in a dense performance cluster where many GPUs are packed tightly together, while the GTX 1080's percentile is dragged down by the much faster cards above it.

The use-case split is therefore not about which card wins which workload, but rather about which workloads each card can even attempt. The GTX 1080 is a desktop-class card with broad API support, while the GTX 950A is an MXM module with a single recorded OpenCL score. For any task involving Vulkan, Metal, DirectX 9/10/11/12, or general GPU compute, the GTX 1080 is the only one with data. For pure OpenCL compute, the GTX 1080 wins by nearly 5x.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations and are built on different process nodes. The GTX 1080 uses the GP104 chip with NVIDIA's Pascal architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 16 nm process. It packs 7,200 million transistors into a 314 mm² die, for a transistor density of 22.9 million per square millimeter. The GTX 950A uses the GM107 chip with Maxwell architecture, also TSMC, but on a 28 nm process. It has 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, with a density of 12.6 million per square millimeter. The GTX 1080's process advantage is clear: it crams nearly 4x the transistors into just over 2x the die area.

Memory configuration separates the two even further. The GTX 1080 has 8 GB of GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 320.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its memory clock is listed at 1251 MHz with 10 Gbps effective data rate. The GTX 950A has 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus, with 32.03 GB/s of bandwidth. That is exactly one-tenth the bandwidth of the GTX 1080. The memory clock is 1001 MHz with 2 Gbps effective. The difference in memory technology alone (GDDR5X versus DDR3) explains a substantial portion of the performance gap in memory-bound workloads.

Compute resources differ by a factor of four across the board. The GTX 1080 has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The GTX 950A has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The pixel rate tells the story: 110.9 GPixel/s for the GTX 1080 versus 17.98 GPixel/s for the GTX 950A. Texture rate is 277.3 GTexel/s versus 44.96 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 8.873 TFLOPS versus 1,438.7 GFLOPS (about 1.44 TFLOPS). The GTX 1080 also has FP16 capability at 138.6 GFLOPS with a 1:64 ratio, while the GTX 950A has no recorded FP16 data.

Clock speeds favor the GTX 1080 as well. Its base clock is 1607 MHz with a boost of 1733 MHz. The GTX 950A runs at 993 MHz base and 1124 MHz boost. Even without the architectural advantages, the GTX 1080 would win on clock speed alone. Power draw is 180 W for the GTX 1080 versus 75 W for the GTX 950A, which reflects the GTX 950A's mobile-oriented MXM design. The GTX 1080 requires a dual-slot cooler and a single 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 450 W. The GTX 950A is an MXM module with no power connectors and no suggested PSU listed.

API support is where the generational gap shows. The GTX 1080 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 950A supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The DirectX feature level difference (12_1 versus 11_0) means the GTX 950A cannot take advantage of certain DirectX 12 features, even though it nominally supports the API. Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the underlying hardware capabilities differ enormously.

The GTX 1080 was released on 2016-05-26, while the GTX 950A came earlier on 2015-03-12. The GTX 1080's predecessor is the GeForce 900 series, and its successor is the GeForce 20 series. The GTX 950A's predecessor is the GeForce 800A, and it has no successor listed. Both are end-of-life products.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. The GTX 1080 scores 51,204, and the GTX 950A scores 10,273. The delta is 398.4% in favor of the GTX 1080. That means the GTX 1080 delivers roughly 5x the OpenCL performance of the GTX 950A. This is the single largest margin recorded between these two products, and it aligns with the hardware differences: 4x the shading units, 4x the TMUs, 4x the ROPs, 10x the memory bandwidth, and a 16 nm versus 28 nm process advantage.

The GTX 1080 also has an average benchmark score of 11,960 across all its tests, while the GTX 950A's average is 10,273. That is a 16.4% difference in average scores, but the comparison is misleading because the GTX 1080 has 11 recorded benchmarks and the GTX 950A has only one. The averages are computed over different test sets, so they are not directly comparable. The head-to-head OpenCL result is the only valid apples-to-apples comparison.

Looking at the GTX 1080's other scores provides context for its overall capability. In Passmark G3D, it scores 15,586. In Passmark GPU Compute, it scores 7,614. In Passmark DirectX 11, it scores 124, while DirectX 9 yields 211, DirectX 10 yields 93, and DirectX 12 yields 55. The Passmark G2D score is 888. In the newer 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, it scores 1,560. These numbers show a card that is strong across legacy and modern APIs, but the GTX 950A has no corresponding data to compare against.

The nearest rivals for each card also paint different competitive pictures. The GTX 1080's closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A, which averages 11,998, just 0.3% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT is 1% behind, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 is 2.4% behind, and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is 2.9% behind. This suggests the GTX 1080's average score sits in a tight competitive cluster where the top four rivals are all within 3% of each other. The GTX 950A's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6500M at 0.9% ahead, the NVIDIA Tesla C2075 at 1.2% ahead, the AMD Radeon R9 M375 at 2% behind, and the AMD Radeon RX 550X at 2% ahead. The GTX 950A is therefore competitive with a different, lower tier of mobile and older workstation GPUs.

Percentile rankings reinforce the stratification. The GTX 1080 sits at the 51st percentile of all GPUs, while the GTX 950A sits at the 48th. Despite the 398.4% OpenCL gap, their percentile positions are only 3 points apart. This is because the GTX 1080's average includes several low-scoring legacy DirectX tests (like Passmark DirectX 12 at 55 and DirectX 10 at 93), which pull its average down. The GTX 950A's single OpenCL score of 10,273 is not dragged by any low outliers.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher OpenCL performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 scores 51,204 in Geekbench OpenCL, versus 10,273 for the GTX 950A. That is a 398.4% advantage for the GTX 1080.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The GTX 1080 has 320.3 GB/s of bandwidth from 8 GB of GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus. The GTX 950A has 32.03 GB/s from 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus. The GTX 1080 has exactly 10x the bandwidth.

Q: How do their transistor counts compare?

A: The GTX 1080 has 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die at 16 nm. The GTX 950A has 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die at 28 nm. The GTX 1080 has roughly 3.85x the transistor count.

Q: Do both cards support DirectX 12?

A: Yes, but at different feature levels. The GTX 1080 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the GTX 950A supports DirectX 12 (11_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the power draw of each card?

A: The GTX 1080 has a TDP of 180 W and requires a dual-slot cooler with a single 8-pin power connector and a 450 W suggested PSU. The GTX 950A has a TDP of 75 W, is an MXM module, and has no power connectors.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The GTX 1080 has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The GTX 950A has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The GTX 1080 has exactly 4x each.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The GTX 1080 averages 11,960 across 11 benchmarks, while the GTX 950A averages 10,273 across 1 benchmark. Note the GTX 950A's average is based on a single OpenCL test, so the comparison is not like-for-like.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950A in every recorded metric. The only shared benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, shows a 398.4% advantage for the GTX 1080. The hardware comparison supports this: 4x shading units, 4x TMUs, 4x ROPs, 10x memory bandwidth, a newer architecture, a smaller process node, and roughly 3.85x the transistors.

Who should pick the GTX 1080? Anyone needing desktop-class performance across a wide range of APIs. It has recorded scores in OpenCL, Vulkan, Metal, DirectX 9/10/11/12, Passmark G2D, Passmark G3D, Passmark GPU Compute, and 3DMark Steel Nomad. It is a dual-slot card with a 180 W TDP, meaning it requires a proper desktop PSU and case. Its nearest rivals are all within 3% of its average score, so it sits in a competitive desktop segment, but it leads them all.

Who should pick the GTX 950A? The case is narrow. It has only one recorded benchmark, its memory is DDR3, its bandwidth is 32.03 GB/s, and its FP32 throughput is 1,438.7 GFLOPS. It is an MXM module with no power connectors and a 75 W TDP, which means it is designed for portable or embedded systems, not desktop builds. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6500M and the NVIDIA Tesla C2075, both of which edge it by about 1%. For any workload in the database, the GTX 1080 is the correct choice. The GTX 950A only makes sense if the physical form factor (MXM), the 75 W power envelope, or the absence of external power connectors is a hard requirement, and even then, its performance is limited to a single recorded OpenCL score at the 48th percentile of all GPUs.

The verdict is not close. The GTX 1080 is a generation ahead, a process node ahead, and a memory class ahead. The GTX 950A is a mobile-oriented part from an older architecture with a fraction of the resources. For any benchmark in the database, the GTX 1080 wins by a wide margin.