AMD Radeon R7 M260X vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M Comparison

The AMD Radeon R7 M260X and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M represent two distinct generations of mobile graphics, separated by roughly four and a half years of architectural evolution. The data shows a clear overall winner in the AMD part, which secures a 17.2% victory in the sole head-to-head benchmark, yet the NVIDIA card retains specific advantages in raw throughput metrics that merit consideration depending on the workload.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark results indicate that the AMD Radeon R7 M260X is the definitive winner in compute-oriented tasks. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 5690 positions it 17.2% ahead of the GTX 560M’s 4855, and this margin is substantial enough to classify the AMD part as the superior choice for general-purpose GPU computing, OpenCL acceleration, and any workload that leverages the GPU’s parallel processing capabilities. The M260X also holds a commanding lead in the Vulkan API, scoring 4631, a test the GTX 560M does not even participate in due to its lack of Vulkan support.

However, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M wins in specific architectural throughput categories that the benchmark scores do not directly capture. The GTX 560M delivers a higher pixel rate of 6.200 GPixel/s compared to the M260X’s 5.720 GPixel/s, representing a 8.4% advantage in fill-rate-bound scenarios. Similarly, the NVIDIA part achieves a texture rate of 24.80 GTexel/s versus 17.16 GTexel/s for the AMD card, a 44.5% advantage that would favor the GTX 560M in texture-heavy rendering workloads. These metrics suggest that while the AMD card wins in synthetic compute benchmarks, the NVIDIA card could potentially win in certain legacy DirectX 11 gaming scenarios where pixel and texture throughput are the limiting factors.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M260X has an average benchmark score of 5161, which is 6.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M’s average score of 4855.

Q: How do the two cards compare in OpenCL performance?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M260X scores 5690 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M scores 4855, giving the AMD card a 17.2% advantage in this compute workload.

Q: Does the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M support the Vulkan API?

A: No, the GTX 560M has no Vulkan support listed in its specifications, whereas the AMD Radeon R7 M260X supports Vulkan version 1.2.170 and scores 4631 in Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: Which GPU has a higher memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M260X has a memory bandwidth of 64.00 GB/s, which is 6.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M’s 60.00 GB/s.

Q: What are the transistor density differences between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M260X has a transistor density of 12.3M transistors per mm², which is 151% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M’s density of 4.9M per mm², reflecting the AMD card’s much newer 28 nm process node.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M260X has 384 shading units, exactly double the 192 shading units found in the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single available head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results are decisively in favor of the AMD Radeon R7 M260X. The AMD card scores 5690 against the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M’s 4855, yielding a delta of 17.2%. This is a significant margin in the context of mobile GPUs, where architectural improvements across generations typically produce gains of 10-20% per tier. The M260X’s advantage stems from its newer GCN 1.0 architecture, which is more efficient at executing the parallel workloads that OpenCL tests emphasize.

The GTX 560M’s best counterargument comes from its texture and pixel throughput figures. With 32 texture mapping units and 24 render output units, the NVIDIA card achieves a texture rate of 24.80 GTexel/s, which is 44.5% higher than the M260X’s 17.16 GTexel/s. Its pixel rate of 6.200 GPixel/s also edges out the AMD card’s 5.720 GPixel/s. These numbers suggest that in a hypothetical rasterization benchmark—one not present in the data—the GTX 560M could potentially narrow or reverse the gap, particularly in games that are fill-rate limited rather than compute limited.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification category. The AMD Radeon R7 M260X features 384 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 8 render output units, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M has 192 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 24 render output units. This means the AMD card has double the shader count, but the NVIDIA card has 33% more TMUs and 200% more ROPs.

Memory configurations also diverge significantly. The AMD card comes with 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 64.00 GB/s. The NVIDIA card offers 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a wider 192-bit bus, but its bandwidth of 60.00 GB/s is slightly lower due to its slower 625 MHz memory clock (2.5 Gbps effective). The AMD card’s memory runs at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective).

Clock behavior differs as well. The AMD Radeon R7 M260X has a base clock of 620 MHz and a boost clock of 715 MHz, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M has no base or boost clock listed, only its memory clock. The AMD card’s FP32 performance is 549.1 GFLOPS, slightly below the NVIDIA card’s 595.2 GFLOPS, despite the AMD card having more shading units—a consequence of the NVIDIA card’s higher per-clock efficiency in this metric.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is substantial, reflecting their different release eras. The AMD Radeon R7 M260X is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture using a 28 nm process node at TSMC, packing 950 million transistors into a 77 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 12.3 million per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M uses the older Fermi 2.0 architecture on a 40 nm process, also at TSMC, with 1,170 million transistors spread across a much larger 238 mm² die, giving a density of just 4.9 million per mm².

The process node advantage is stark: 28 nm versus 40 nm means the AMD card achieves 151% higher transistor density, which translates to better power efficiency and smaller physical footprint. The NVIDIA card compensates with a higher TDP of 75 W, whereas the AMD card has no TDP listed. The GTX 560M also uses an MXM-B (3.0) bus interface and comes in an MXM Module slot width, while the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x8.

API support further separates the two. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6 but has no Vulkan support. Both cards are end-of-life, with the AMD card released in December 2015 as part of the Gem System (R7 M200) generation, succeeding the Solar System and preceding Polaris Mobile. The NVIDIA card launched in May 2011 in the GeForce 500M generation, succeeding GeForce 400M and preceding GeForce 600M.

The AMD card’s architecture is fundamentally newer, and the data reflects this in compute benchmarks. However, the NVIDIA card’s older Fermi architecture still holds advantages in pure rasterization throughput metrics, making it a more balanced competitor than the benchmark scores alone would suggest. The GTX 560M’s higher pixel rate (6.200 vs 5.720 GPixel/s) and texture rate (24.80 vs 17.16 GTexel/s) indicate that for legacy DirectX 11 games that are fill-rate bound, the NVIDIA card could outperform its newer rival despite losing the compute benchmark by 17.2%.