NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost vs NVIDIA Quadro 5000 Comparison

NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost and Quadro 5000 represent two very different philosophies from the same company: one is a consumer gaming card built for high clock speeds and raw throughput, while the other is a professional workstation part with a larger memory footprint and a much higher launch MSRP. The benchmark data, however, tells a clear story about generational efficiency and architectural progress. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost is the newer part, built on the Kepler architecture, while the Quadro 5000 is a Fermi-generation card from two years prior. In the only shared benchmark test, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost delivers a decisive victory, but the Quadro 5000 still holds its own in specialized professional roles.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single head-to-head benchmark available is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results are lopsided. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost scores 9,302, which is 27.6% higher than the Quadro 5000’s 7,289. This is a substantial margin, indicating that the Kepler architecture’s higher clock speeds and improved compute efficiency translate directly into a significant performance advantage in this general-purpose compute workload. The delta is not a marginal win; it is a dominant one. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost’s average benchmark score across all tests is 8,067, whereas the Quadro 5000’s average is 7,289. This means the GeForce card is not just better in one isolated test; it is consistently faster across its entire benchmark suite.

Looking at the broader context, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost sits at the 42nd percentile of all GPUs, while the Quadro 5000 sits at the 40th percentile. While the percentile difference is small, the average score gap of 778 points is notable. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GRID K2 (average score 8,080, a -0.2% delta), the GeForce GTX 650 Ti (8,053, +0.2%), the GeForce GTX 880M (8,040, +0.3%), and the Quadro P5000 (8,039, +0.3%). This places the GTX 650 Ti Boost in a tightly contested cluster of mid-range performers. In contrast, the Quadro 5000’s nearest rivals are the GeForce GTX 750 (7,222, a +0.9% delta), AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile (7,203, +1.2%), GeForce GTX 560 SE (7,171, +1.6%), and Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 (7,170, +1.7%). The Quadro 5000 is leading its pack, but it is a pack of significantly older or lower-tier parts.

The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost’s wins are not limited to the direct comparison. In its own benchmark suite, it achieves a Geekbench Vulkan score of 10,041 and a Geekbench Metal score of 4,858. These additional scores highlight its versatility in modern API environments, something the Quadro 5000 cannot match, as it has no Vulkan or Metal benchmark results listed. The data shows a clear hierarchy: the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost is the faster card in raw compute, and it also offers broader API support.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two cards is stark. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost is built on the GK106 chip using the 28 nm process node at TSMC, while the Quadro 5000 uses the GF100 chip on a 40 nm process, also at TSMC. This process shrink is critical. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost packs 2,540 million transistors into a 221 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 11.5 million per square millimeter. The Quadro 5000, by contrast, has 3,100 million transistors on a massive 529 mm² die, resulting in a density of only 5.9 million per square millimeter. The newer process allows the GeForce card to be significantly more efficient in terms of space and power.

The clock speeds are a major differentiator. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost has a base clock of 980 MHz and a boost clock of 1,032 MHz, while the Quadro 5000 has no base or boost clock listed. The memory clocks also differ: the GeForce card runs its GDDR5 memory at 1,502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), while the Quadro 5000 runs its GDDR5 at 750 MHz (3 Gbps effective). This doubling of effective memory speed is one of the reasons the GeForce card achieves higher bandwidth.

The compute resources are organized differently. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost has 768 shading units, 64 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 24 raster operation units (ROPs). The Quadro 5000 has 352 shading units, 44 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. While the Quadro has more ROPs, the GeForce card has more than double the shading units and significantly more TMUs. This leads to a massive throughput advantage for the GeForce card: it delivers 1.585 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, 66.05 GTexel/s texture rate, and 16.51 GPixel/s pixel rate. The Quadro 5000 manages only 722.3 GFLOPS FP32, 22.57 GTexel/s, and 11.29 GPixel/s. The GeForce card is 2.2x faster in raw FP32 throughput.

Memory configurations also diverge. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost comes with 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 144.2 GB/s. The Quadro 5000 has 2.5 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 320-bit bus, but due to the lower clock speed, its bandwidth is actually lower at 120.0 GB/s. The Quadro compensates with more total memory capacity, which is typical for professional workloads that require larger datasets. The bus interfaces differ as well: the GeForce card uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Quadro 5000 uses the older PCIe 2.0 x16 standard.

Where Each One Wins

The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost wins in nearly every measurable performance category. Its higher clock speeds, greater shading unit count, and superior memory bandwidth make it the obvious choice for compute-heavy tasks, gaming, and general-purpose GPU acceleration. The 27.6% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is a clear indicator that any workload utilizing OpenCL will run noticeably faster on the GeForce card. Its support for Vulkan 1.2.175 and DirectX 12 (11_0) makes it future-proof for modern applications, whereas the Quadro 5000 has no Vulkan support listed, limiting its compatibility with newer graphics APIs. The GeForce card’s lower TDP of 134 W versus the Quadro’s 152 W also makes it more power-efficient, despite being faster.

The Quadro 5000’s wins are more subtle and professional-focused. It has a larger memory pool of 2.5 GB, which can be an advantage in specific workstation tasks like rendering large scenes or holding large textures in VRAM. The wider 320-bit memory bus, while slower in terms of bandwidth, can offer better memory access patterns for certain data layouts. Its 40 ROPs versus the GeForce’s 24 suggests it might have a slight edge in fill-rate-bound scenarios, though the GeForce’s higher pixel rate of 16.51 GPixel/s versus 11.29 GPixel/s contradicts this in practice. The Quadro 5000’s display outputs include 2x DisplayPort and 1x DVI, which is a more professional configuration than the GeForce’s 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2, though both support multi-display setups.

The Quadro 5000 also has a different production lineage. It was released on 2011-02-22, while the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost came out on 2013-03-25. The Quadro’s predecessor is the Quadro FX Tesla, and its successor is the Quadro Kepler. The GeForce’s predecessor is the GeForce 500 series, and its successor is the GeForce 700 series. For professional users who rely on certified drivers and specific ISV applications, the Quadro branding historically carries weight, but the raw performance data here does not support it.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost is significantly faster, scoring 9,302 compared to the Quadro 5000’s 7,289. This represents a 27.6% performance advantage for the GeForce card.

Q: What are the memory capacities of the two cards?

A: The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the Quadro 5000 has a slightly larger 2.5 GB of GDDR5 memory.

Q: Does the Quadro 5000 support the Vulkan API?

A: No, the Quadro 5000 does not have a Vulkan version listed in its specifications. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost supports Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: How does the transistor density compare between the two cards?

A: The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost has a transistor density of 11.5 million per square millimeter, which is nearly double the Quadro 5000’s 5.9 million per square millimeter.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost has an average benchmark score of 8,067, placing it at the 42nd percentile of all GPUs. The Quadro 5000 has an average score of 7,289, placing it at the 40th percentile.

Q: Which card has a higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost, with 1.585 TFLOPS FP32 performance, is more than double the Quadro 5000’s 722.3 GFLOPS FP32.

Specification Differences

The following is a direct comparison of the specification fields where the two cards differ:

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | NVIDIA Quadro 5000 |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | GK106 | GF100 |

| Architecture | Kepler | Fermi |

| Generation | GeForce 600 | Quadro Fermi (x000) |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 40 nm |

| Transistors | 2,540 million | 3,100 million |

| Die Size | 221 mm² | 529 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 11.5M / mm² | 5.9M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 980 MHz | N/A |

| Boost Clock | 1032 MHz | N/A |

| Memory Clock | 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) | 750 MHz (3 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 2.5 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 192 bit | 320 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 144.2 GB/s | 120.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 768 | 352 |

| TMUs | 64 | 44 |

| ROPs | 24 | 40 |

| Pixel Rate | 16.51 GPixel/s | 11.29 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 66.05 GTexel/s | 22.57 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1.585 TFLOPS | 722.3 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 134 W | 152 W |

| Suggested PSU | 300 W | 450 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x DisplayPort 1.2 | 1x DVI, 2x DisplayPort |

| Vulkan | 1.2.175 | N/A |

| Release Date | 2013-03-25 | 2011-02-22 |

| Launch MSRP | 169 USD | 2,499 USD |

| Predecessor | GeForce 500 | Quadro FX Tesla |

| Successor | GeForce 700 | Quadro Kepler |

| Avg Benchmark Score | 8,067 | 7,289 |

| Percentile vs All GPUs | 42 | 40 |