NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M vs NVIDIA Quadro K1200 Comparison

NVIDIA Quadro K1200 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M represent two distinct approaches to GPU design from the same manufacturer, and the benchmark data reveals a surprisingly decisive outcome: the Quadro K1200 wins the only shared benchmark test, the Geekbench OpenCL score, by a substantial margin.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head comparison contains a single shared test: Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the NVIDIA Quadro K1200 scores 8,831 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M scores 5,622 points. This results in a deltaPct of 57.1% in favor of the Quadro K1200, meaning the Quadro outperforms the GTX 880M by more than half its own score in this compute workload. The data shows a clean sweep: the Quadro K1200 records 1 win, while the GTX 880M records 0 wins in this comparison.

This result is particularly notable because the GTX 880M has significantly more raw hardware resources on paper — 1,536 shading units versus 512, and 128 texture mapping units versus 32. Yet the Quadro K1200’s OpenCL result is dramatically higher, suggesting that the workload measured by Geekbench OpenCL favors the architecture and driver optimization of the Quadro lineup, or that clock behavior under load differs substantially between the two.

Contextualizing the scores within their respective nearest rival groups adds further depth. The Quadro K1200’s average benchmark score is 8,265, placing it at the 43rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all within a tight band: AMD Radeon R9 M375X at 8,325 (deltaPct -0.7%), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 at 8,167 (deltaPct 1.2%), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M at 8,135 (deltaPct 1.6%), and AMD Radeon R9 M360 at 8,129 (deltaPct 1.7%). This indicates the Quadro K1200 sits in a highly competitive cluster where performance differences are minimal, yet its OpenCL score of 8,831 is well above its own average, showing that particular workload is a strong suit.

The GTX 880M, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 8,040, placing it at the 42nd percentile. Its nearest rivals include NVIDIA Quadro P5000 at 8,039 (deltaPct 0%), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti at 8,053 (deltaPct -0.2%), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost at 8,067 (deltaPct -0.3%), and NVIDIA GRID K2 at 8,080 (deltaPct -0.5%). The GTX 880M’s average is slightly below the Quadro K1200’s average, though both cards occupy nearly the same percentile ranking. The gap in the OpenCL test is far larger than the gap in average scores, which suggests the GTX 880M’s overall average is buoyed by other workloads not captured in the head-to-head test.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations. The Quadro K1200 is built on the Maxwell architecture with the GM107 chip, while the GTX 880M uses the Kepler architecture with the GK104 chip. Both are manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but the similarities end there.

The transistor counts differ substantially. The GTX 880M packs 3,540 million transistors on a die size of 294 mm², resulting in a transistor density of 12.0 million per mm². The Quadro K1200 is far more modest, with 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, achieving a slightly higher transistor density of 12.6 million per mm². This means the Quadro K1200 crams more transistors per square millimeter despite having fewer total resources, a hallmark of the architectural efficiency improvements in Maxwell.

Memory configurations diverge sharply. The Quadro K1200 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 80.19 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 880M doubles the capacity to 8 GB, doubles the bus width to 256-bit, and doubles the bandwidth to 160.0 GB/s. The memory clocks are nearly identical: the Quadro runs at 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective), while the GTX 880M runs at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The bandwidth advantage is purely a function of the wider bus on the GTX 880M.

Compute resources show a clear hierarchy. The GTX 880M has 1,536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, compared to the Quadro K1200’s 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. This translates to a pixel rate of 31.78 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 127.1 GTexel/s for the GTX 880M, versus 16.53 GPixel/s and 33.06 GTexel/s for the Quadro K1200. The FP32 compute is similarly lopsided: the GTX 880M delivers 3.050 TFLOPS, nearly triple the Quadro K1200’s 1,057.8 GFLOPS. Neither card has RT cores or tensor cores, and both lack FP16 capabilities.

Clock speeds are close but not identical. Both have a base clock of 954 MHz. The Quadro K1200 boosts to 1033 MHz, while the GTX 880M boosts to 993 MHz, giving the Quadro a 40 MHz boost advantage. This modest clock advantage does not offset the GTX 880M’s massive resource advantage in raw throughput metrics.

The Verdict

The data presents a paradoxical situation. In raw specification terms, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M is overwhelmingly more powerful — triple the shading units, double the memory, double the bandwidth, and nearly triple the FP32 throughput. Yet in the only shared benchmark, the NVIDIA Quadro K1200 wins decisively with a 57.1% higher OpenCL score.

This suggests the Quadro K1200 is the better choice for compute workloads similar to Geekbench OpenCL, where its Maxwell architecture and driver optimizations evidently yield superior real-world results despite lower theoretical specs. The benchmark results indicate that architectural efficiency can outweigh raw resource counts, at least in this specific test.

For users prioritizing raw graphics throughput, texture fill, or pixel fill rates, the GTX 880M holds a clear theoretical advantage. Its 127.1 GTexel/s texture rate and 31.78 GPixel/s pixel rate dwarf the Quadro K1200’s 33.06 GTexel/s and 16.53 GPixel/s. If workloads are dominated by these rasterization-bound operations, the GTX 880M would be expected to perform better, though the head-to-head data does not include such tests.

The GTX 880M also offers double the memory capacity (8 GB vs 4 GB) and double the bandwidth (160.0 GB/s vs 80.19 GB/s), which could matter for large datasets or high-resolution textures. However, its lower OpenCL score and slightly lower average benchmark score (8,040 vs 8,265) suggest that in general compute, the Quadro K1200 is the stronger performer.

The production status for both is end-of-life, and neither has a launch MSRP listed. The Quadro K1200 was released on 2015-01-27, while the GTX 880M came earlier on 2014-03-11. The Quadro K1200 is a single-slot card with PCIe 2.0 x16 interface and four mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, drawing 45 W with no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 200 W. The GTX 880M is an MXM Module with MXM-B (3.0) interface, drawing 122 W, with display outputs that are portable device dependent.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two GPUs:

| Specification | NVIDIA Quadro K1200 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M |

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

| Chip | GM107 | GK104 |

| Architecture | Maxwell | Kepler |

| Generation | Quadro Kepler (Kx200) | GeForce 800M |

| Transistors | 1,870 million | 3,540 million |

| Die Size | 148 mm² | 294 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.6M / mm² | 12.0M / mm² |

| Boost Clock | 1033 MHz | 993 MHz |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 80.19 GB/s | 160.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 512 | 1536 |

| TMUs | 32 | 128 |

| ROPs | 16 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 16.53 GPixel/s | 31.78 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 33.06 GTexel/s | 127.1 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1,057.8 GFLOPS | 3.050 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 45 W | 122 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | MXM Module |

| Suggested PSU | 200 W | None |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | MXM-B (3.0) |

| Display Outputs | 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 | Portable Device Dependent |

| Vulkan API | 1.4 | 1.2.175 |

| Dimensions | 160 mm (6.3 in) length, 69 mm (2.7 in) height | None listed |

| Release Date | 2015-01-27 | 2014-03-11 |

| Predecessor | Quadro Fermi | GeForce 700M |

| Successor | Quadro Maxwell | GeForce 900M |

| Geekbench OpenCL | 8831 | 5622 |

| Avg Benchmark Score | 8265 | 8040 |

| Percentile Vs All GPUs | 43 | 42 |

Fields that are identical include manufacturer (NVIDIA), process node (28 nm), foundry (TSMC), memory type (GDDR5), base clock (954 MHz), memory clock (1253 MHz vs 1250 MHz, effectively both 5 Gbps), DirectX support (12 (11_0)), OpenGL support (4.6), power connectors (None), and production status (End-of-life).

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only shared benchmark test?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K1200 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 8,831 versus the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M’s 5,622, a deltaPct of 57.1%.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The Quadro K1200 has an average benchmark score of 8,265, while the GTX 880M averages 8,040. Both are near the 43rd and 42nd percentiles of all GPUs, respectively.

Q: What are the memory capacity and bandwidth differences?

A: The GTX 880M has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro K1200 has 4 GB on a 128-bit bus with 80.19 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units and higher FP32 throughput?

A: The GTX 880M has 1,536 shading units and 3.050 TFLOPS FP32, compared to the Quadro K1200’s 512 shading units and 1,057.8 GFLOPS.

Q: Are both GPUs from the same architectural generation?

A: No. The Quadro K1200 uses the Maxwell architecture with the GM107 chip, while the GTX 880M uses the older Kepler architecture with the GK104 chip.

Q: What are the power consumption figures?

A: The Quadro K1200 has a TDP of 45 W with a suggested PSU of 200 W, while the GTX 880M has a TDP of 122 W and no suggested PSU listed.

Q: Which GPU is newer and what interfaces do they use?

A: The Quadro K1200 was released on 2015-01-27 and uses PCIe 2.0 x16 with a single-slot form factor. The GTX 880M was released on 2014-03-11 and uses an MXM-B (3.0) interface as an MXM Module.