AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE Comparison

AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE are both end-of-life graphics cards, but they represent opposite ends of the hardware timeline. The WX 3100 is a 14 nm professional workstation part from 2017, while the GTX 560 SE is a 40 nm consumer gaming card from 2012. The benchmark data shows a narrow but consistent edge for the AMD card, though the real story lies in how each card's architecture and feature set shape its practical usefulness today.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it is a close contest. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 scores 7333 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE scores 7171 points. That gives AMD a 2.3% lead. In practical terms, this is a marginal victory; you would not feel the difference in most workloads. However, the context matters. The WX 3100 achieves this win while drawing 65 W, less than half the 150 W TDP of the GTX 560 SE. It also does so with a smaller memory bus (128 bit vs 192 bit) and half the VRAM capacity (4 GB vs 1 GB). Efficiency is where the modern card pulls ahead decisively.

Looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the WX 3100's average benchmark score is 7580, placing it at the 41st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 540 (7673, 1.2% faster), the AMD Radeon R7 250 (7557, 0.3% slower), and the Intel Arc A310 (7550, 0.4% slower). The WX 3100 also edges out the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (7472, 1.4% slower). The GTX 560 SE, by contrast, has an average score of 7171, sitting at the 39th percentile. Its rivals include the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 (7170, essentially tied), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (7157, 0.2% slower), and the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile (7203, 0.4% faster). The data shows both cards are firmly in the entry-level tier, but the WX 3100 sits slightly higher within that tier.

The only other benchmark in the pack is the Vulkan test, which the GTX 560 SE does not support. The WX 3100 scores 7827 on Geekbench Vulkan, which is notably higher than its OpenCL score of 7333. This suggests the card benefits from modern API overhead reduction. The GTX 560 SE has no Vulkan score listed, meaning it cannot be compared on that front.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are separated by five years of GPU design evolution. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 uses the Lexa chip built on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process, packing 2,200 million transistors into a 103 mm² die. The transistor density is 21.4 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE uses the GF114 chip on TSMC's 40 nm process, with 1,950 million transistors on a much larger 332 mm² die. Its density is just 5.9 million per square millimeter. The WX 3100 is built on GCN 4.0 architecture, while the GTX 560 SE uses Fermi 2.0. This generational gap explains most of the efficiency difference.

The compute configurations diverge significantly. The WX 3100 has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The GTX 560 SE has 288 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. Despite having fewer shaders, the NVIDIA card has more TMUs and ROPs, which historically helped with texture-heavy and pixel-heavy work. However, the clock speeds tell a different story. The WX 3100 runs at a base of 925 MHz and boosts to 1219 MHz. The GTX 560 SE has no base or boost clock listed, but its pixel rate of 8.832 GPixel/s and texture rate of 35.33 GTexel/s are both lower than the WX 3100's 19.50 GPixel/s and 39.01 GTexel/s. The AMD card's FP32 throughput of 1,248.3 GFLOPS is substantially higher than the NVIDIA card's 847.9 GFLOPS.

Memory architecture is another clear split. The WX 3100 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 560 SE uses only 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, providing 91.87 GB/s. The capacity difference is enormous and matters more than the slight bandwidth advantage of the wider bus. The WX 3100 also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, while the GTX 560 SE has no FP16 support listed. API support is also asymmetric: the WX 3100 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The GTX 560 SE supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in compute benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 wins the only head-to-head test, scoring 7333 vs 7171 on Geekbench OpenCL, a 2.3% advantage. Its average benchmark score of 7580 also exceeds the GTX 560 SE's 7171.

Q: Can the GTX 560 SE run modern APIs?

A: No. It supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support. The WX 3100 supports Vulkan 1.3 and scores 7827 on the Geekbench Vulkan test.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient?

A: The data shows the WX 3100 has a 65 W TDP versus 150 W for the GTX 560 SE. The WX 3100 achieves a higher average benchmark score while drawing less than half the power.

Q: How much VRAM does each card have?

A: The WX 3100 has 4 GB of GDDR5, while the GTX 560 SE has 1024 MB of GDDR5. The WX 3100 delivers 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, slightly above the GTX 560 SE's 91.87 GB/s.

Q: Is the GTX 560 SE competitive with the WX 3100's rivals?

A: The GTX 560 SE sits at the 39th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 7171. It is essentially tied with the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 (7170) and slightly behind the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile (7203, 0.4% faster).

Q: Which card has better raw pixel throughput?

A: The WX 3100's pixel rate is 19.50 GPixel/s, more than double the GTX 560 SE's 8.832 GPixel/s. The WX 3100 also has a higher texture rate at 39.01 GTexel/s vs 35.33 GTexel/s.

The Verdict

The data points to the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 as the stronger card in nearly every measurable category. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark, has a higher average score, a higher percentile ranking, more VRAM, higher FP32 throughput, and significantly lower power consumption. The GTX 560 SE's only advantages are its wider memory bus (192 bit vs 128 bit), more TMUs (48 vs 32), more ROPs (24 vs 16), and a larger physical footprint. None of these translate into a benchmark win.

For a builder choosing between these two today, the WX 3100 is the clear pick. It offers better performance per watt, modern API support including Vulkan, and four times the VRAM. The GTX 560 SE, while historically interesting as a Fermi-era part, is outclassed in every practical sense. The data shows a 2.3% performance lead for the WX 3100 in the shared test, but the architectural advantages extend far beyond that single number. The WX 3100 also holds its own against its nearest rivals, sitting within 1.4% of the GTX 1650 and 1.2% of the Radeon 540.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every spec field. The WX 3100 uses a 14 nm process; the GTX 560 SE uses 40 nm. The WX 3100 has a transistor density of 21.4M / mm² versus 5.9M / mm². The WX 3100's die is 103 mm²; the GTX 560 SE's is 332 mm². Clock speeds: the WX 3100 has a 925 MHz base and 1219 MHz boost; the GTX 560 SE has no base or boost clock listed, but its memory runs at 957 MHz (3.8 Gbps effective) versus the WX 3100's 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective). Memory capacity is 4 GB vs 1024 MB. Bus width is 128 bit vs 192 bit. Bandwidth is 96.00 GB/s vs 91.87 GB/s. Shading units are 512 vs 288. TMUs are 32 vs 48. ROPs are 16 vs 24. Pixel rate is 19.50 GPixel/s vs 8.832 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 39.01 GTexel/s vs 35.33 GTexel/s. FP32 is 1,248.3 GFLOPS vs 847.9 GFLOPS. TDP is 65 W vs 150 W. Slot width is single-slot vs dual-slot. Power connectors are none vs 2x 6-pin. Suggested PSU is 250 W vs 450 W. Bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x8 vs PCIe 2.0 x16. Display outputs are 1x DisplayPort 1.4a and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a vs 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. DirectX support is 12 (12_0) vs 12 (11_0). Vulkan support is 1.3 vs none. The WX 3100 has a launch MSRP of 199 USD; the GTX 560 SE has no launch MSRP listed.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 wins in compute performance, as shown by its higher OpenCL score and average benchmark. It wins in memory capacity, offering 4 GB versus 1 GB, which is critical for modern workloads that exceed the GTX 560 SE's limit. It wins in efficiency, with a 65 W TDP versus 150 W. It wins in modern feature support, with Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_0). It wins in pixel fill rate, texture fill rate, and FP32 throughput. It also wins in transistor density by a wide margin, reflecting a much more advanced manufacturing process.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE has no benchmark wins in the provided data. Its advantages are purely architectural: a wider 192-bit memory bus, more TMUs, more ROPs, and a larger die. These features theoretically benefit certain texture-heavy or pixel-heavy workloads, but the raw throughput numbers do not confirm any practical advantage. The GTX 560 SE also supports PCIe 2.0 x16, which is an older interface than the WX 3100's PCIe 3.0 x8. The WX 3100's x8 link on PCIe 3.0 offers comparable bandwidth to the GTX 560 SE's x16 link on PCIe 2.0, so this is not a differentiator in practice.

In summary, the WX 3100 is the card to pick for any modern use case, even if the performance gap in the single shared benchmark is small. The GTX 560 SE is a legacy part that only makes sense if you specifically need its DVI outputs or its 192-bit memory bus, both of which are niche requirements. The data does not support choosing the GTX 560 SE for performance reasons.