GPU Comparison

The NVIDIA TITAN RTX and the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q represent two very different generations of GPU design, yet the benchmark data places them within 1.5% of each other in average score. The TITAN RTX, a Turing-based workstation-class card, and the GRID M60-1Q, a Maxwell-based virtualization GPU, are both end-of-life products, but their architectural philosophies and performance profiles could not be more distinct. While the aggregate scores suggest near-parity, a single head-to-head benchmark reveals a massive gulf in raw capability, while the underlying specifications tell a story of radically different design goals.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark results are starkly one-sided. The TITAN RTX wins the only direct head-to-head comparison available, the Geekbench Vulkan test, by a margin of 335.9%. In that test, the TITAN RTX scores 136,073, while the GRID M60-1Q manages only 31,220. This is not a marginal victory; it represents a generational leap in compute throughput. The TITAN RTX’s Vulkan performance places it in a different league entirely, indicating that for any modern, graphics-intensive workload, the TITAN RTX is the clear choice.

However, the GRID M60-1Q’s role is not defined by raw speed. Its inclusion in the same average benchmark score band (31,220 vs. 31,676) suggests that its design purpose is different. The GRID M60-1Q is a virtualization-focused card, as indicated by its "No outputs" display configuration. Its win, if it can be called that, is in its architecture for data center deployment, not in any benchmark score. It offers a specific feature set for virtualized environments, whereas the TITAN RTX is designed for direct, high-performance compute and rendering tasks. The data shows the TITAN RTX wins on every measurable performance metric, while the GRID M60-1Q wins on its unique form factor and intended use case, which is not reflected in the single benchmark available.

Architecture Differences

The architectural chasm between these two GPUs is the primary driver of their performance disparity. The TITAN RTX is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process at TSMC, packing 18,600 million transistors into a 754 mm² die. In contrast, the GRID M60-1Q uses the older Maxwell 2.0 architecture on a 28 nm process, with 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die. This process node difference alone explains a significant portion of the performance gap; the TITAN RTX has a transistor density of 24.7M / mm² versus the GRID M60-1Q’s 13.1M / mm².

The compute resources differ drastically. The TITAN RTX features 4,608 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, while the GRID M60-1Q is equipped with 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. More importantly, the TITAN RTX includes 72 RT cores and 576 Tensor cores, which are entirely absent from the GRID M60-1Q. This means the TITAN RTX is capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-driven tensor operations, neither of which is possible on the Maxwell-based card. The FP32 compute rating reinforces this: the TITAN RTX delivers 16.31 TFLOPS compared to the GRID M60-1Q’s 4.825 TFLOPS.

Memory is another point of divergence. The TITAN RTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GRID M60-1Q has just 1 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, with 160.4 GB/s of bandwidth. Clock speeds also favor the TITAN RTX, with a base of 1350 MHz and boost of 1770 MHz, versus the GRID M60-1Q’s 557 MHz base and 1178 MHz boost. The TITAN RTX also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GRID M60-1Q only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the TITAN RTX’s feature set is clearly superior.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the data, the NVIDIA TITAN RTX is the superior performer in every measurable way. It is 335.9% faster in Vulkan, has 3.4 times the FP32 compute power, 24 times the memory, and includes dedicated RT and Tensor cores. For any workload involving modern graphics APIs, ray tracing, or compute-intensive tasks, the TITAN RTX is the only viable choice. The benchmark data shows a 1.4% average score advantage for the TITAN RTX over the GRID M60-1Q, but this is misleading given the single head-to-head test. The TITAN RTX’s 76th percentile ranking among all GPUs matches the GRID M60-1Q’s, but the underlying scores suggest the TITAN RTX’s average is dragged down by other tests, while the GRID M60-1Q’s single score is its Vulkan result.

The GRID M60-1Q should only be considered for its specific niche: virtualized GPU environments. Its lack of display outputs and Maxwell architecture suggest it is meant for server-side rendering and virtual desktop infrastructure. If your need is for a physical workstation GPU with high-end compute, the TITAN RTX is the clear pick. If you are deploying a virtualized solution where a single 1 GB slice of GDDR5 memory per virtual machine is sufficient, the GRID M60-1Q might serve a purpose, but its performance is severely limited by modern standards. The data does not support choosing the GRID M60-1Q for any performance-sensitive task.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA TITAN RTX delivers 16.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the GRID M60-1Q provides 4.825 TFLOPS. The TITAN RTX is roughly 3.4 times more powerful in this metric.

Q: Can either card handle ray tracing?

A: Only the TITAN RTX has dedicated RT cores (72 of them). The GRID M60-1Q has no RT cores, so it cannot perform hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The TITAN RTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the GRID M60-1Q has only 1 GB of GDDR5. The TITAN RTX’s memory bandwidth is 672.0 GB/s versus 160.4 GB/s for the GRID M60-1Q.

Q: Are these GPUs still in production?

A: No, both are marked as "End-of-life" in the data. The TITAN RTX was released on 2018-12-17, while the GRID M60-1Q came out on 2015-08-29.

Q: How do they compare in the Vulkan benchmark?

A: The TITAN RTX scores 136,073, which is 335.9% higher than the GRID M60-1Q’s score of 31,220. This is the only direct benchmark comparison available.

Q: What is the difference in shading units?

A: The TITAN RTX has 4,608 shading units, while the GRID M60-1Q has 2,048. This is a 2.25 times difference in favor of the TITAN RTX.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only head-to-head benchmark data available is the Geekbench Vulkan test, and it is a decisive victory for the TITAN RTX. The TITAN RTX scores 136,073, while the GRID M60-1Q scores 31,220. This results in a delta of 335.9%, meaning the TITAN RTX is more than four times faster in this specific workload. This is not a close race; it is a demonstration of the generational leap between Maxwell and Turing.

Looking at the broader benchmark suite, the TITAN RTX shows its strength across multiple tests. In Passmark G3D, it scores 20,491, and in Geekbench OpenCL, it reaches 144,858. The GRID M60-1Q has no comparable scores in these tests, as its only listed benchmark is the Vulkan result. The TITAN RTX also achieves 16.31 TFLOPS FP32 and a texture rate of 509.8 GTexel/s, versus the GRID M60-1Q’s 150.8 GTexel/s. The pixel rate is similarly lopsided: 169.9 GPixel/s for the TITAN RTX versus 75.39 GPixel/s for the GRID M60-1Q. These specifications translate into real-world performance that is overwhelmingly in favor of the TITAN RTX.

The average benchmark scores, which put the TITAN RTX at 31,676 and the GRID M60-1Q at 31,220, are within 1.5% of each other. This might suggest parity, but it is an artifact of the limited data. The TITAN RTX’s average is computed from ten benchmarks, including some low DirectX scores (e.g., Passmark DirectX 12 at 88), which pull its average down. The GRID M60-1Q’s average is based solely on its Vulkan score of 31,220, which happens to fall in a similar range. The nearest rivals list confirms this: the TITAN RTX is 1.5% ahead of the GRID M60-1Q in average score, but the Vulkan test shows a 335.9% gap. The data is clear: on any head-to-head comparison, the TITAN RTX wins decisively.