NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 vs NVIDIA Quadro P5000 Comparison

The Verdict

The data splits this comparison cleanly by workload. The NVIDIA Quadro P5000 dominates in raw compute and modern DirectX 12 rendering, winning 2 of the 3 head-to-head benchmarks. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 takes the Vulkan test by a wide margin, but its overall average benchmark score of 9273 is only slightly above the Quadro P5000's 8039 average, which is misleading given the P5000's massive wins in the other two tests.

For users running OpenCL compute tasks or DirectX 12 workloads, the Quadro P5000 is the clear choice. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1330 is 8.2 times the GTX 960's 162, and its Geekbench OpenCL score of 52509 is nearly triple the GTX 960's 18925. The GTX 960's Geekbench Vulkan score of 9231 beats the P5000's 6342 by 45.6%, so Vulkan-focused applications favor the older card.

However, the Quadro P5000 sits at the 41st percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the GTX 960 sits at the 45th percentile. The P5000's nearest rivals include the GeForce GTX 880M, GTX 650 Ti, and GTX 650 Ti Boost, all within 0.5% of its average score. The GTX 960's nearest rivals include the GeForce GTX 465, GTX 850M, and Radeon R7 M380, all within 0.4%. Neither card is a top-tier performer in the database's full rankings, but the P5000's benchmark profile shows it is a compute-oriented workstation part, while the GTX 960 is a more balanced consumer card.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different NVIDIA architectures and manufacturing nodes. The GTX 960 uses the GM206 chip built on Maxwell 2.0 architecture at TSMC's 28 nm node. The Quadro P5000 uses the GP104 chip built on Pascal architecture at TSMC's 16 nm node. The process shrink allows the P5000 to pack 7,200 million transistors into a 314 mm² die, compared to 2,940 million transistors in the GTX 960's 228 mm² die. Transistor density is nearly double: 22.9M per mm² for the P5000 versus 12.9M per mm² for the GTX 960.

Core configurations differ substantially. The Quadro P5000 has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The GTX 960 has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Clock speeds also favor the P5000: its base clock is 1607 MHz with a boost of 1733 MHz, while the GTX 960 runs at 1127 MHz base and 1178 MHz boost. The P5000's pixel rate of 110.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 277.3 GTexel/s dwarf the GTX 960's 37.70 GPixel/s and 75.39 GTexel/s.

Memory is another major divider. The GTX 960 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 112.2 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro P5000 has 16 GB of GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus with 288.5 GB/s bandwidth. Memory clocks are 7 Gbps effective for the GTX 960 and 9 Gbps effective for the P5000. Both cards support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The P5000 has a 1:64 FP16 ratio with 138.6 GFLOPS, while the GTX 960 has no listed FP16 capability.

Power and physical specs differ as well. The GTX 960 draws 120 W TDP with a 1x 6-pin power connector and a suggested 300 W PSU. The P5000 draws 180 W TDP with a 1x 8-pin connector and a suggested 450 W PSU. Both are dual-slot cards, but the P5000 is longer at 267 mm versus the GTX 960's 241 mm. The GTX 960 outputs 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.2. The P5000 outputs 1x DVI and 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GTX 960 launched in January 2015 with a launch MSRP of 199 USD, while the P5000 launched in September 2016 with a launch MSRP of 2,499 USD.

Where Each One Wins

The Quadro P5000 wins decisively in compute-heavy and modern API workloads. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 52509 versus 18925 for the GTX 960 represents a 64% advantage, making it the stronger choice for OpenCL-based rendering, scientific simulation, or any GPU compute task. In DirectX 12, the P5000's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1330 versus 162 is a 87.8% gap, indicating far better performance in DX12 game engines and applications. The P5000's 16 GB memory capacity and 288.5 GB/s bandwidth also make it suitable for large datasets and high-resolution textures, though the database does not include specific tests for those workloads.

The GTX 960 wins in Vulkan, posting 9231 versus 6342, a 45.6% advantage. This suggests Vulkan-based games or applications run better on the older Maxwell architecture, at least in the recorded benchmark. The GTX 960 also has a higher percentile rank at 45 versus the P5000's 41, though this is based on average scores across all tests, not the head-to-head results. The GTX 960's lower TDP of 120 W versus 180 W means it draws less power, and its shorter length of 241 mm versus 267 mm makes it easier to fit in smaller cases, though the database does not quantify the installation impact.

For professional workstation users, the P5000's massive compute advantage and 16 GB memory make it the obvious pick. For consumer gamers or Vulkan-focused users, the GTX 960 offers competitive performance at a fraction of the P5000's launch MSRP, though the price difference is not analyzed here beyond the stated MSRP values.

FAQ

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro P5000 has 2,560 shading units, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 has 1,024.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The GTX 960 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, while the P5000 has 16 GB of GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus.

Q: Which card wins in Vulkan performance?

A: The GTX 960 wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 9231, beating the P5000's 6342 by 45.6%.

Q: What is the FP32 performance difference?

A: The P5000 delivers 8.873 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, versus 2.413 TFLOPS for the GTX 960.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No, both are marked as end-of-life in the database.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel rate?

A: The P5000 has a pixel rate of 110.9 GPixel/s, significantly higher than the GTX 960's 37.70 GPixel/s.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three head-to-head benchmark results tell a clear story of workload-dependent performance. The largest margin comes in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the Quadro P5000 scores 1330 against the GTX 960's 162. This is a delta of 87.8% in favor of the P5000. The P5000's advantage here is consistent with its higher shading unit count, faster clocks, and newer Pascal architecture. The GTX 960's score of 162 is extremely low in absolute terms, indicating that Maxwell 2.0 struggles with this particular DX12 workload.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the P5000 again dominates with 52509 versus 18925 for the GTX 960, a 64% delta. The P5000's FP32 throughput of 8.873 TFLOPS versus 2.413 TFLOPS explains much of this gap, as OpenCL compute tasks scale heavily with raw floating-point performance. The P5000's 16 GB memory and 288.5 GB/s bandwidth also help with memory-bound compute kernels.

The GTX 960's only win comes in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 9231 versus 6342 for the P5000, a 45.6% delta in favor of the older card. This is a surprising result given the P5000's architectural advantages, but the database records it as the clear winner in this test. The GTX 960's Vulkan score is also higher than its own OpenCL score (9231 versus 18925), while the P5000's Vulkan score is drastically lower than its OpenCL score (6342 versus 52509). This suggests the P5000's Vulkan drivers or hardware implementation underperform relative to its compute capabilities.

Beyond the head-to-head tests, the average benchmark scores in the database show the GTX 960 at 9273 and the P5000 at 8039. The P5000's average is dragged down by its weak Vulkan result and its Passmark scores, which include DirectX 9 at 170, DirectX 10 at 77, DirectX 11 at 102, and DirectX 12 at 44. The GTX 960's average is bolstered by its Geekbench Metal score of 8773, which is not tested for the P5000. The P5000's Passmark G3D score of 12634 and GPU compute score of 6508 are not matched by any equivalent GTX 960 tests in the database, so direct comparisons across those metrics are not possible.

The win count favors the P5000 at 2 wins against 1 for the GTX 960. However, the GTX 960's average benchmark score of 9273 is 15.3% higher than the P5000's 8039, despite losing two of three head-to-head tests. This discrepancy arises because the GTX 960 has fewer recorded benchmarks, and its Vulkan and Metal scores are relatively strong, while the P5000's many Passmark results include several low scores that pull its average down. The percentile ranks reflect this: the GTX 960 at the 45th percentile versus the P5000 at the 41st percentile, despite the P5000's superior head-to-head performance in compute and DX12.