AMD Radeon R5 Graphics vs AMD Radeon RX 560 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Radeon RX 560 compare to the AMD Radeon R5 Graphics in raw compute performance?

A: The RX 560 delivers 2.611 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the R5 Graphics manages 388.1 GFLOPS. That is a substantial gap, roughly 6.7 times higher, reflecting the discrete card’s dedicated silicon versus the integrated design.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference between the two?

A: The RX 560 has an average benchmark score of 4569, while the R5 Graphics sits at 3883. This places the RX 560 about 17.7% higher overall, a meaningful margin for a discrete versus integrated comparison.

Q: Which GPU sits higher in the global performance percentile?

A: The RX 560 is in the 26th percentile of all GPUs, while the R5 Graphics is in the 23rd percentile. Both are near the lower end of the stack, but the discrete card holds a slight edge.

Q: Are there any benchmark tests where the R5 Graphics outperforms the RX 560?

A: No, the recorded head-to-head data shows the RX 560 winning the only shared test, Geekbench OpenCL, with a 217.8% higher score. The R5 Graphics has no wins in the comparison.

Q: What are the architectural generations of these two GPUs?

A: The RX 560 is based on GCN 4.0 (Polaris 21) on a 14 nm process, while the R5 Graphics uses GCN 2.0 (Spectre SL) on a 28 nm process. This represents a two-generation gap in architecture and a significant node shrink.

Q: How do their memory configurations differ?

A: The RX 560 has 4 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with 112.0 GB/s bandwidth. The R5 Graphics uses system shared memory, with bandwidth described as system dependent. This is a fundamental difference in how each accesses memory.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 560 is the far more capable GPU. It wins the only direct benchmark comparison, has a higher average score, and offers superior raw compute and memory resources. For users who need a discrete graphics solution with dedicated VRAM and higher throughput, the RX 560 is the clear choice.

The AMD Radeon R5 Graphics is an integrated processor graphics unit, designed for basic display output and light workloads. Its performance is limited by its 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, and 4 ROPs, plus reliance on system memory. It is not a gaming or compute workhorse.

The RX 560 outperforms the R5 Graphics by 217.8% in Geekbench OpenCL, the sole head-to-head test. Its average benchmark score of 4569 versus 3883 for the R5 Graphics reinforces this dominance. The RX 560 also carries a higher global percentile ranking, 26th versus 23rd, though both sit near the lower end of the database.

Users building a system with a dedicated GPU should pick the RX 560. Users looking at an integrated solution for basic tasks, such as office work or media playback, might accept the R5 Graphics, but the benchmark data shows it is substantially weaker. There is no scenario in the recorded data where the R5 Graphics wins.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database includes one directly comparable benchmark between the two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon RX 560 scores 16472, while the AMD Radeon R5 Graphics scores 5183. That is a 217.8% delta in favor of the RX 560, meaning the discrete card delivers more than three times the OpenCL performance of the integrated part.

This result is not surprising given the specification gap. The RX 560 has 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, versus 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, and 4 ROPs for the R5 Graphics. The compute throughput difference is also stark: 2.611 TFLOPS versus 388.1 GFLOPS.

The RX 560 also wins the overall average benchmark score comparison. Its average of 4569 beats the R5 Graphics at 3883, a margin of roughly 17.7%. This average includes a broader set of tests for the RX 560, such as Passmark DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, plus G2D and G3D tests. The R5 Graphics only has Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan results recorded.

Notably, the RX 560’s nearest rivals in the database are all close in average score: the AMD Radeon R5 M230 at 4577 (delta -0.2%), the Intel HD Graphics P530 at 4560 (delta 0.2%), the NVIDIA Quadro M3000M at 4621 (delta -1.1%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M at 4628 (delta -1.3%). This puts the RX 560 in a tight cluster, slightly below the GTX 970M but above the Intel HD Graphics P530.

The R5 Graphics, by contrast, sits near the NVIDIA Quadro 2000 at 3898 (delta -0.4%), the Quadro K2000D at 3919 (delta -0.9%), and the Quadro 2000D at 3930 (delta -1.2%), with the GeForce MX110 at 3834 (delta 1.3%). This is a lower performance tier altogether.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RX 560 uses a 14 nm process node, while the R5 Graphics uses 28 nm. The RX 560 has 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 24.4M per mm². The R5 Graphics has 2,410 million transistors on a 245 mm² die, with a density of 9.8M per mm².

Clock speeds are only listed for the RX 560: a base of 1175 MHz and a boost of 1275 MHz. The R5 Graphics has no recorded base or boost clocks. Memory clocks also differ: the RX 560 runs at 1750 MHz, 7 Gbps effective, while the R5 Graphics uses system shared memory with no dedicated clock.

Memory capacity and type are distinct. The RX 560 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 112.0 GB/s bandwidth. The R5 Graphics has system shared memory, with system dependent bandwidth. This is a critical difference for any workload that relies on memory bandwidth.

The RX 560 has a TDP of 75 W and is a dual-slot card with no power connectors, requiring a 250 W suggested PSU. The R5 Graphics has a TDP of 15 W and is an IGP, drawing power through the motherboard. The RX 560 uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface, while the R5 Graphics is IGP-based.

Display outputs also differ: the RX 560 offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a. The R5 Graphics outputs are motherboard dependent. The RX 560 measures 170 mm or 6.7 inches in length; the R5 Graphics has no recorded dimensions.

The RX 560 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The R5 Graphics supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 560 has a launch MSRP of 99 USD; the R5 Graphics has no recorded MSRP.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX 560 is built on the GCN 4.0 architecture, specifically the Polaris 21 chip. This is part of the Polaris (RX 500) generation, succeeding the Arctic Islands architecture and preceding Vega. The R5 Graphics uses GCN 2.0, specifically the Spectre SL chip, part of the GCN 2.0 IGP (Kaveri) generation. It succeeds TeraScale 3 IGP and precedes GCN 3.0 IGP.

The process node difference is significant: 14 nm for the RX 560 versus 28 nm for the R5 Graphics. This allows the RX 560 to pack 3,000 million transistors into 123 mm², while the R5 Graphics uses 2,410 million transistors across 245 mm². The RX 560 achieves a transistor density of 24.4M per mm², more than double the R5 Graphics at 9.8M per mm².

Shader resources are vastly different. The RX 560 has 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 16 render output units. The R5 Graphics has 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, and 4 ROPs. This means the RX 560 has four times the shading units, four times the TMUs, and four times the ROPs.

Pixel and texture rates reflect this disparity. The RX 560 delivers 20.40 GPixel/s and 81.60 GTexel/s. The R5 Graphics delivers 3.032 GPixel/s and 12.13 GTexel/s. The RX 560 is roughly 6.7 times faster in pixel throughput and 6.7 times faster in texture throughput.

FP32 performance is 2.611 TFLOPS for the RX 560 versus 388.1 GFLOPS for the R5 Graphics. The RX 560 also supports FP16 at 2.611 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio; the R5 Graphics has no recorded FP16 performance.

The R5 Graphics is an integrated design with no slot width, no power connectors, and an IGP bus interface. The RX 560 is a discrete dual-slot card with PCIe 3.0 x8 connectivity. These architectural differences explain the performance gap: the RX 560 has dedicated memory, higher clocks, and far more compute resources, while the R5 Graphics relies on shared system resources.