NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Comparison

The data presents a clear generational divide. The GTX 780, a Kepler-era flagship from 2013, holds its own in raw compute aggregates, but the RTX 2070, a Turing-based card from 2018, delivers decisive victories in modern API benchmarks, particularly in Vulkan and OpenCL. The specification sheet confirms a massive architectural leap, but the benchmark scores tell the story of where each card is most viable today.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 780’s strongest showing is in the synthetic aggregate. Its average benchmark score of 19,164 places it in the 64th percentile of all GPUs, edging out the RTX 2070’s 18,789 average score, which sits in the 63rd percentile. This is a narrow win of roughly 2% in average score, suggesting the older card is not entirely obsolete in compute-heavy workloads that favor its wider memory bus and higher raw pixel throughput.

The RTX 2070 wins outright where modern rendering APIs are involved. In the head-to-head Geekbench Vulkan test, the RTX 2070 scores 82,521 against the GTX 780’s 24,514, a delta of -70.3% for the older card. Similarly, in Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 2070’s 79,966 score crushes the GTX 780’s 22,863, a -71.4% difference. The RTX 2070 also has exclusive access to DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) features and hardware ray tracing cores, which the GTX 780 lacks entirely. For any modern game or application that leverages these APIs, the RTX 2070 is the only functional choice.

Architecture Differences

The core architectural gap is enormous. The GTX 780 uses the GK110 chip on the 28 nm Kepler architecture, built by TSMC with 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die. The RTX 2070 uses the TU106 chip on the 12 nm Turing architecture, also from TSMC, but packs 10,800 million transistors into a smaller 445 mm² die. This results in a transistor density of 24.3M per mm² for the RTX 2070 versus 12.6M per mm² for the GTX 780, a near doubling in density.

Both cards have 2,304 shading units, but the similarity ends there. The GTX 780 has 192 texture mapping units (TMUs) and 48 ROPs, while the RTX 2070 has 144 TMUs and 64 ROPs. The RTX 2070 introduces specialized hardware that the GTX 780 cannot emulate: 36 RT cores for ray tracing and 288 tensor cores for AI acceleration. The GTX 780’s FP32 compute is rated at 4.156 TFLOPS, while the RTX 2070 reaches 7.465 TFLOPS. The RTX 2070 also supports FP16 at 14.93 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, a feature entirely absent from the GTX 780’s spec sheet.

Memory architecture also diverges sharply. The GTX 780 uses 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus for 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 2070 uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, achieving 448.0 GB/s. The RTX 2070’s smaller bus is compensated by faster 14 Gbps effective memory speed versus the GTX 780’s 6 Gbps. API support reflects the generational shift: the GTX 780 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0), while the RTX 2070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The RTX 2070 also lists Vulkan 1.4 support compared to the GTX 780’s Vulkan 1.2.175.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two head-to-head results are lopsided. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 2070 scores 79,966 against the GTX 780’s 22,863. That is a 3.5x advantage for the newer card, a delta of -71.4% from the GTX 780’s perspective. This is not a marginal improvement; it is a full generational leap in compute throughput.

The Geekbench Vulkan result is even more telling. The RTX 2070 posts 82,521 while the GTX 780 manages only 24,514, a delta of -70.3%. Vulkan is the modern low-overhead API used in current game engines and compute workloads. The GTX 780’s Kepler architecture simply lacks the driver and hardware optimizations to compete in this environment. The RTX 2070’s score is more than 3.3x higher, and the gap is consistent with the architectural differences in shading, texture rate, and memory bandwidth.

The GTX 780’s only comparative strengths are in its aggregate score. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA TITAN Xp, scores 19,177 with a delta of -0.1%, meaning the GTX 780 is essentially tied with that much newer card in average benchmark terms. The GTX 780 also outperforms the RTX 2070’s nearest rivals in raw average score, such as the AMD Radeon RX 560X (18,626) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT (18,685). However, these aggregate numbers do not translate to wins in the specific modern API tests where the RTX 2070 dominates.

FAQ

Q: Is the GTX 780 faster than the RTX 2070 in any benchmark?

A: No. The direct head-to-head results show the RTX 2070 winning both Geekbench OpenCL (79,966 vs 22,863) and Geekbench Vulkan (82,521 vs 24,514). The GTX 780 only holds a slight edge in average benchmark score across all tests (19,164 vs 18,789).

Q: What is the most significant performance gap between the two?

A: The Vulkan benchmark shows the largest relative difference. The RTX 2070 scores 82,521, which is 70.3% higher than the GTX 780’s 24,514. This indicates a complete inability for the Kepler card to compete in modern low-overhead APIs.

Q: Can the GTX 780 use ray tracing or DLSS?

A: No. The GTX 780 has no RT cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 2070 includes 36 RT cores and 288 tensor cores, which are required for those features. The GTX 780’s architecture predates these technologies entirely.

Q: How do their memory configurations differ in practical terms?

A: The RTX 2070 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 780 has 3 GB of GDDR5 with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 2070’s higher capacity and bandwidth are critical for modern texture-heavy workloads.

Q: Which card has better DirectX feature support?

A: The RTX 2070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTX 780 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0). This means the RTX 2070 can run features like hardware ray tracing and mesh shaders that the GTX 780 cannot.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The GTX 780 has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W power supply. The RTX 2070 has a TDP of 175 W and requires a 450 W power supply. The RTX 2070 delivers significantly more performance while consuming 75 W less.

Specification Differences

• Process Node: GTX 780 is 28 nm; RTX 2070 is 12 nm.
• Transistors: GTX 780 has 7,080 million; RTX 2070 has 10,800 million.
• Die Size: GTX 780 is 561 mm²; RTX 2070 is 445 mm².
• Transistor Density: GTX 780 is 12.6M / mm²; RTX 2070 is 24.3M / mm².
• Base Clock: GTX 780 is 863 MHz; RTX 2070 is 1410 MHz.
• Boost Clock: GTX 780 is 902 MHz; RTX 2070 is 1620 MHz.
• Memory Clock: GTX 780 is 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective); RTX 2070 is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).
• Memory Size: GTX 780 is 3 GB; RTX 2070 is 8 GB.
• Memory Type: GTX 780 is GDDR5; RTX 2070 is GDDR6.
• Memory Bus: GTX 780 is 384 bit; RTX 2070 is 256 bit.
• Memory Bandwidth: GTX 780 is 288.4 GB/s; RTX 2070 is 448.0 GB/s.
• TMUs: GTX 780 has 192; RTX 2070 has 144.
• ROPs: GTX 780 has 48; RTX 2070 has 64.
• RT Cores: GTX 780 has none; RTX 2070 has 36.
• Tensor Cores: GTX 780 has none; RTX 2070 has 288.
• Pixel Rate: GTX 780 is 43.30 GPixel/s; RTX 2070 is 103.7 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: GTX 780 is 173.2 GTexel/s; RTX 2070 is 233.3 GTexel/s.
• FP32 Performance: GTX 780 is 4.156 TFLOPS; RTX 2070 is 7.465 TFLOPS.
• FP16 Performance: GTX 780 has none listed; RTX 2070 is 14.93 TFLOPS (2:1).
• TDP: GTX 780 is 250 W; RTX 2070 is 175 W.
• Power Connectors: GTX 780 is 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin; RTX 2070 is 1x 8-pin.
• Suggested PSU: GTX 780 is 600 W; RTX 2070 is 450 W.
• Display Outputs: GTX 780 has 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x DisplayPort 1.2; RTX 2070 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C.
• DirectX Support: GTX 780 is 12 (11_0); RTX 2070 is 12 Ultimate (12_2).
• Vulkan Support: GTX 780 is 1.2.175; RTX 2070 is 1.4.
• Length: GTX 780 is 267 mm (10.5 inches); RTX 2070 is 229 mm (9 inches).
• Width: GTX 780 is 38 mm (1.5 inches); RTX 2070 is 35 mm (1.4 inches).

The Verdict

The RTX 2070 is the definitive choice for any modern workload. Its 70%+ lead in Vulkan and OpenCL benchmarks makes the GTX 780 non-competitive in current games and compute applications. The RTX 2070’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, and 7.465 TFLOPS FP32 performance are essential for today’s software. Its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, hardware ray tracing, and tensor cores opens features the GTX 780 physically cannot execute. The RTX 2070 also does all this with a 175 W TDP, which is 75 W lower than the GTX 780’s 250 W requirement.

The GTX 780 is only relevant for legacy use cases or synthetic aggregate scores. Its 19,164 average benchmark score narrowly beats the RTX 2070’s 18,789, but this is a hollow victory given that every modern API test shows the RTX 2070 winning by massive margins. The GTX 780’s 3 GB memory capacity is a hard limit for modern textures, and its Kepler architecture lacks the driver optimizations for Vulkan 1.4 or DirectX 12 Ultimate. If you are building a system today, the RTX 2070 is the only rational pick from the data. If you are preserving a retro system, the GTX 780 holds its own in aggregate compute, but it is a museum piece, not a daily driver.