NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) vs NVIDIA Quadro M2000M

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop)

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 is a graphics card for desktops and high end laptops (upcoming, see our article for the mobile GTX 1060 for benchmarks and specs). It is based on the Pascal architecture and manufactured in 16 nm FinFET at TSMC. The GPU is be based on the smaller GP106 chip. In laptops it has the codename N17E-G1 and will be the successor to the old GTX 970M (predecessor). The laptop version should be launched in August 2016. The desktop version is already out.

The performance of the 6 GB version is on par with an older GeForce GTX 980 (desktop and laptop). Therefore, 1080p gaming at highest detail is currently the best use case for the card. A comprehensive review of the desktop GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition with 6 GB GDDR5 can be found here. Beware, the upcoming 3 GB desktop variant should feature 128 shader less but clocked slightly higher. Still the performance should be definately slower than the 6 GB version.

NVIDIA Quadro M2000M

The 28 nm Nvidia Quadro M2000M is a mid-range DirectX 12 (FL 11_0) and OpenGL 4.5-compatible graphics card for mobile workstations. It is a (first generation) Maxwell-based GPU built on the GM07 chip with 640 shader cores. Therefore, the GPU is similar to the consumer Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M or 950M. The Quadro M2000M is built for the Intel Skylake generation and is the successor to the Kepler-based Quadro K2100M. The M2000M typically comes with 4 GB GDDR5 VRAM clocked at 1250 MHz (5000 MHz effective at 80 GB/s compared to 48 GB/s on the K2100M). 

The Quadro series offers certified drivers that are optimized for stability and performance in professional applications like CAD or DCC. OpenGL performance, for example, should be significantly better compared to GeForce graphics cards of similar specifications.

Performance

As the exact clock speed of the M2000M is still not known, we can only speculate on the performance of the card. However, we do know that it is a mid-range model from the mobile 2015 Quadro line based on the same chip as the GeForce GTX 960M or 950M. Therefore, it should be faster than the old Quadro K2100M.

Using CUDA (Compute Capability 5.0) or OpenCL 1.2, the cores of the Quadro M2000M can be used for general calculations.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the Quadro M2000M is rated for the same TGP of 55 Watt as the K2100M, including the board and memory components. Therefore, the card is suited for 15-inch notebooks and larger.