AMD Radeon Pro 450 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data includes only one direct benchmark comparison between the AMD Radeon Pro 450 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560: the Geekbench OpenCL test. In that test, the NVIDIA card scores 9058, while the AMD card scores 9002. The delta is a slim 0.6% in favor of the GTX 560, which is within run-to-run variance territory and effectively a tie. The GTX 560 takes the sole head-to-head win, but the margin is negligible.

Looking at the broader database averages, the picture shifts. The Radeon Pro 450 has an average benchmark score of 10804 across all tests, while the GTX 560 has an average of 9058. That is a 1746-point gap, or roughly 19% higher for the AMD part. The discrepancy comes from the benchmark suite available: the Pro 450 has scores for Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan, while the GTX 560 only has an OpenCL result. In the one shared test, the two are nearly identical, but the AMD card's additional API coverage pulls its aggregate average well ahead.

The Pro 450's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA Quadro K2200 (avg 10761, delta 0.4%), the NVIDIA GeForce MX350 (avg 10883, delta -0.7%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (avg 10690, delta 1.1%), and the AMD Radeon RX 6600S (avg 10629, delta 1.7%). These deltas are tiny, all within 2% of the Pro 450, which places it in a dense pack of mid-range performers. Its percentile rank is 49, meaning it sits just below the median of all GPUs in the database.

The GTX 560, by contrast, has nearest rivals that include the NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition (avg 9037, delta 0.2%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (avg 9022, delta 0.4%), the AMD Radeon 550X (avg 8918, delta 1.6%), and the AMD Radeon 890M (avg 9210, delta -1.7%). Its percentile rank is 45, a few points lower than the Pro 450. The GTX 560 sits in a lower performance tier overall, even though its OpenCL score edges out the AMD card in that specific test.

The practical takeaway from the head-to-head data is that in OpenCL compute workloads, these two cards are essentially interchangeable. The 0.6% difference is far smaller than the variance you would expect from driver updates or thermal conditions. However, the Pro 450's additional benchmark results show it pulling away in aggregate performance, particularly in Vulkan (10518) and Metal (12893) tests, where the GTX 560 has no recorded score.

The Verdict

From the recorded data, the AMD Radeon Pro 450 is the stronger overall card. Its average benchmark score of 10804 versus 9058 for the GTX 560 represents a 19% advantage. The Pro 450 also has a higher percentile rank (49 versus 45), meaning it outperforms a greater share of the GPU population in the database. If you are choosing based purely on measured performance across all available tests, the AMD card wins.

However, the single direct OpenCL comparison goes the other way. The GTX 560 scores 9058 against the Pro 450's 9002. For users whose primary workload is OpenCL compute, the GTX 560 is marginally ahead, though the difference is small enough that it should not be a deciding factor on its own.

The GTX 560 also has a clear specification advantage in memory bandwidth and raw texture throughput. It packs 128.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus 81.28 GB/s for the Pro 450, a 58% advantage. Its texture rate is 45.36 GTexel/s versus 32.00 GTexel/s, a 42% lead. These numbers suggest the GTX 560 should handle fill-rate-limited scenarios better, even if the aggregate benchmark average says otherwise.

The Pro 450 counters with a much newer architecture, a more efficient process node, and significantly better API support. It supports Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_0), while the GTX 560 has no Vulkan support and only DirectX 12 (11_0). For modern games and compute applications that rely on Vulkan, the GTX 560 is simply not an option.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro 450 wins in overall benchmark performance, API coverage, and efficiency. Its 14 nm process node and GCN 4.0 architecture are generations ahead of the GTX 560's 40 nm Fermi 2.0 design. The Pro 450 supports Vulkan 1.3, which opens up a wide range of modern cross-platform titles and compute frameworks. Its Metal score of 12893 is particularly strong, making it the clear choice for macOS ecosystems where Metal is the primary graphics API. The Pro 450 also has a much lower power draw at 35 W versus 150 W, a 115 W difference that translates to far less heat and lower system power requirements.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 wins in raw memory bandwidth and texture throughput. Its 256-bit memory bus delivers 128.0 GB/s compared to the Pro 450's 128-bit bus at 81.28 GB/s. For applications that are bandwidth-bound, such as high-resolution texture streaming or certain compute kernels, the GTX 560 has a structural advantage. Its 56 texture units versus 40 on the Pro 450 also give it a higher texture fill rate, which can matter in games with heavy texel fetching. The GTX 560 also has a higher FP32 throughput at 1,088.6 GFLOPS versus 1,024.0 GFLOPS, a 6% lead in raw floating-point compute.

The GTX 560's 2x 6-pin power connectors and 450 W suggested PSU indicate it was designed for desktop systems with dedicated power delivery. The Pro 450 is an MXM module, meaning it is intended for laptops or compact all-in-one systems where the card is not user-replaceable in the traditional sense. If you are building a desktop and have the power headroom, the GTX 560 is the more conventional choice for a fixed desktop slot.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 scores 9058 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon Pro 450 scores 9002. The GTX 560 leads by 0.6%, a margin that is effectively a tie.

Q: Which card has the higher overall benchmark average?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 450 has an average benchmark score of 10804, which is 19% higher than the GTX 560's 9058. The Pro 450's additional Vulkan and Metal results contribute to this gap.

Q: Does the GTX 560 support Vulkan?

A: No. The GTX 560 lists no Vulkan support in its API specifications. The Pro 450 supports Vulkan 1.3.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The Pro 450 has a TDP of 35 W, while the GTX 560 has a TDP of 150 W. The AMD card draws 115 W less under load.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The GTX 560 has 128.0 GB/s of bandwidth via a 256-bit bus, while the Pro 450 has 81.28 GB/s via a 128-bit bus. The NVIDIA card leads by 58%.

Q: What form factors do these cards use?

A: The Pro 450 is an MXM module, typically found in laptops and compact systems. The GTX 560 is a dual-slot desktop card with 2x 6-pin power connectors and a 210 mm length.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon Pro 450 uses the Baffin chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 3,000 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 24.4M per mm². This is a modern, dense design that leverages the efficiency of a mature FinFET process.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 uses the GF114 chip built on Fermi 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC. It contains 1,950 million transistors on a 332 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of just 5.9M per mm². The older process node and larger die mean significantly lower density and higher power draw for comparable performance.

The architectural gap is generational. GCN 4.0 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. Fermi 2.0 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support. The Pro 450 also supports FP16 compute at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, while the GTX 560 lists no FP16 capability. This makes the AMD card more suitable for workloads that use half-precision arithmetic, such as certain machine learning inference tasks or modern graphics effects.

The GTX 560 has a larger memory bus (256 bit versus 128 bit) and higher bandwidth, but the Pro 450's newer architecture compensates with better compute efficiency per clock. The Pro 450 also has more shading units (640 versus 336), though the GTX 560 has more texture units (56 versus 40) and more ROPs (32 versus 16). The GTX 560's pixel rate is 11.34 GPixel/s versus 12.80 GPixel/s for the Pro 450, meaning the AMD card is slightly faster at rasterizing pixels despite having half the ROP count.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification field. The Pro 450 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, while the GTX 560 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. Memory clocks are 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective) for the AMD card and 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) for the NVIDIA card, but the wider bus gives the GTX 560 the bandwidth advantage.

Shading units favor the AMD card at 640 versus 336, while texture units favor NVIDIA at 56 versus 40. ROPs are 16 on the Pro 450 and 32 on the GTX 560. FP32 performance is close, with the GTX 560 at 1,088.6 GFLOPS and the Pro 450 at 1,024.0 GFLOPS. The Pro 450 adds FP16 support at 1,024.0 GFLOPS, which the GTX 560 lacks.

Power and physical specifications diverge sharply. The Pro 450 is a 35 W MXM module with no power connectors listed. The GTX 560 is a 150 W dual-slot card requiring 2x 6-pin power connectors and a 450 W suggested PSU. The GTX 560 is 210 mm long, while the Pro 450 has no listed length, reflecting its mobile form factor.

Bus interfaces differ: the Pro 450 uses PCIe 3.0 x8, while the GTX 560 uses PCIe 2.0 x16. Display outputs are portable-device dependent for the AMD card, while the GTX 560 offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. The Pro 450 was released on 2016-10-29, while the GTX 560 launched on 2011-05-16, a gap of over five years. The GTX 560 has a listed launch MSRP of 199 USD. The Pro 450 has no launch MSRP recorded. Both cards are end-of-life, with the GTX 560 listing a predecessor (GeForce 400) and successor (GeForce 600), while the Pro 450 lists neither.