AMD Radeon RX 560 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 560 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M occupy different corners of the GPU landscape, separated by six years of architecture evolution. In the only direct head-to-head benchmark available, Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 560 delivers a score of 16,472 against the GTX 560M’s 4,855. That is a 70.5% deficit for the older NVIDIA part, a decisive margin that frames the entire comparison. The RX 560’s average benchmark score across all its tests is 4,569, while the GTX 560M’s average is 4,855, meaning the NVIDIA card actually holds a slight edge in average score despite losing the single shared test. The data paints a picture of two very different performance profiles, and the rest of this analysis breaks down where each card stands.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole direct comparison is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a blowout. The AMD Radeon RX 560 scores 16,472, which is 11,617 points higher than the GTX 560M’s 4,855. In percentage terms, the RX 560 leads by 70.5%, a gap so large that it suggests the GTX 560M is not merely slower but operating in a different performance class. This result aligns with the architectural leap between the two: the RX 560’s GCN 4.0 design at 14 nm versus the GTX 560M’s Fermi 2.0 at 40 nm. The RX 560’s FP32 throughput of 2.611 TFLOPS dwarfs the GTX 560M’s 595.2 GFLOPS, and its texture rate of 81.60 GTexel/s is more than triple the older card’s 24.80 GTexel/s. Pixel rate tells a similar story — 20.40 GPixel/s against 6.200 GPixel/s.

Beyond that single test, the two cards’ average benchmark scores tell a more nuanced tale. The GTX 560M’s average is 4,855, which places it at the 28th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 560’s average of 4,569 sits at the 26th percentile. The GTX 560M’s nearest rivals in the database include the GeForce 940MX (4,844, +0.2%), the Radeon R6 M255DX (4,867, -0.2%), and the GeForce GTS 450 (4,893, -0.8%). The RX 560’s rivals include the Radeon R5 M230 (4,577, -0.2%), Intel HD Graphics P530 (4,560, +0.2%), and the Quadro M3000M (4,621, -1.1%). Notably, the GTX 560M’s average score is higher than the RX 560’s average, yet the RX 560’s OpenCL result is overwhelmingly superior. This contradiction suggests the GTX 560M’s average is buoyed by tests where its older architecture performs relatively better, while the RX 560’s average is dragged down by its weaker DirectX legacy scores.

The RX 560’s benchmark suite includes PassMark tests for DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, plus G2D, G3D, and GPU compute. Its DirectX 9 score of 57 is the highest of its API-specific results, while DirectX 10 drops to 16, DirectX 11 to 25, and DirectX 12 to 21. Its G3D score is 3,671, and GPU compute hits 1,437. The GTX 560M has no such breakdown, only the OpenCL result, so comparisons across API levels are impossible. What the data does show is that the RX 560’s OpenCL score is roughly 3.4 times its G3D score, indicating compute-heavy workloads favor it far more than rasterization. The GTX 560M’s single benchmark leaves its compute-versus-graphics balance unknown, but its low overall percentile suggests neither area is a strength.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 560 wins decisively in raw compute performance, as demonstrated by its OpenCL result. It also wins on memory bandwidth, with 112.0 GB/s against the GTX 560M’s 60.00 GB/s, and memory capacity, offering 4 GB versus 1,536 MB. The RX 560’s base clock of 1175 MHz and boost of 1275 MHz are substantially higher than the GTX 560M’s memory clock of 625 MHz (2.5 Gbps effective), though clock speeds across different architectures are not directly comparable. For modern workloads that leverage GCN’s compute capabilities — OpenCL acceleration, physics simulation, or GPGPU tasks — the RX 560 is the clear choice. Its Vulkan 1.3 API support also gives it access to modern graphics APIs that the GTX 560M lacks entirely, as the Fermi card offers no Vulkan support.

The GTX 560M wins on average benchmark score, 4,855 versus 4,569, a 6.3% advantage. It also holds a higher percentile rank at 28 versus 26. This suggests that in the aggregate of all benchmark results in the database, the GTX 560M performs slightly better than the RX 560. The GTX 560M’s nearest rivals include the GeForce 940MX, which it edges by 0.2%, and the GTS 450, which it trails by 0.8%. The RX 560’s rivals include the R5 M230, which it beats by 0.2%, and the Quadro M3000M, which it trails by 1.1%. In practical terms, the GTX 560M appears to hold its own in legacy DirectX 11-era workloads, where its Fermi architecture was designed to excel. Its pixel rate of 6.200 GPixel/s and texture rate of 24.80 GTexel/s, while far below the RX 560, may still be sufficient for older games that do not stress modern compute paths.

Where the RX 560 wins is in efficiency of design. Its 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries packs 3,000 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, yielding a density of 24.4M transistors per mm². The GTX 560M’s 40 nm TSMC process fits 1,170 million transistors into 238 mm², a density of just 4.9M per mm². The RX 560’s transistor density is five times higher, and its die is nearly half the size. Both cards share a 75 W TDP, but the RX 560 delivers far more performance within that power envelope. The RX 560 also supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the GTX 560M is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0), meaning the newer card can handle feature levels the older one cannot.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split: the AMD Radeon RX 560 is the superior card for any workload that uses OpenCL or modern APIs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M has a slight edge in average benchmark score but offers nothing else. If the choice is between these two for a compute-focused task, the RX 560’s 70.5% lead in OpenCL is the deciding factor. Its 4 GB of memory, 112.0 GB/s bandwidth, and 2.611 TFLOPS of FP32 performance make it a far more capable compute device. The RX 560 also supports Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_0), giving it software longevity that the GTX 560M cannot match.

For legacy DirectX 11 workloads, the GTX 560M’s higher average score suggests it may still hold value, but the margin is thin — less than 300 points on a 4,800-point scale. Its 28th percentile rank versus the RX 560’s 26th is not a meaningful real-world gap. The GTX 560M’s end-of-life status since 2011, versus the RX 560’s 2017 release, means driver support and modern game compatibility heavily favor AMD. Neither card is recommended for current AAA gaming; both sit below the 30th percentile. But if forced to choose, the RX 560 is the only one with a future-proof feature set and a compute performance lead that is anything but marginal.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 560 scores 16,472, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M scores 4,855 — a 70.5% difference in favor of the RX 560.

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

A: The GTX 560M has an average score of 4,855, which is 286 points higher than the RX 560’s 4,569 average.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The RX 560 offers 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth, nearly double the GTX 560M’s 60.00 GB/s.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: No. The RX 560 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the GTX 560M is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0).

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The RX 560 has a density of 24.4M transistors per mm² on a 123 mm² die, versus the GTX 560M’s 4.9M per mm² on a 238 mm² die.

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The RX 560 has 4 GB of GDDR5, while the GTX 560M has 1,536 MB (1.5 GB) of GDDR5.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M uses the GF116 chip based on Fermi 2.0, manufactured on a 40 nm process at TSMC. It packs 1,170 million transistors into a 238 mm² die, with a transistor density of 4.9M per mm². The RX 560 uses the Polaris 21 chip based on GCN 4.0, built on GlobalFoundries’ 14 nm process. It contains 3,000 million transistors in a much smaller 123 mm² die, achieving a density of 24.4M per mm². This process advantage allows the RX 560 to offer more than double the transistor count in half the silicon area.

Core configurations differ significantly. The GTX 560M has 192 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 24 ROPs. The RX 560 has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Despite having fewer ROPs, the RX 560 achieves a pixel rate of 20.40 GPixel/s versus the GTX 560M’s 6.200 GPixel/s, thanks to its higher clock speeds. The RX 560’s texture rate of 81.60 GTexel/s is over three times the GTX 560M’s 24.80 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is similarly lopsided: 2.611 TFLOPS for the RX 560 against 595.2 GFLOPS for the GTX 560M.

Memory subsystems diverge as well. The GTX 560M uses a 192-bit bus with 1,536 MB of GDDR5, while the RX 560 uses a 128-bit bus with 4 GB. The RX 560’s narrower bus is compensated by a higher effective memory speed of 7 Gbps versus 2.5 Gbps, yielding 112.0 GB/s versus 60.00 GB/s. The RX 560 also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio to FP32, which the GTX 560M does not. API support differs, with the RX 560 offering Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_0), while the GTX 560M has no Vulkan and only DirectX 12 (11_0). The RX 560 is a dual-slot card with display outputs including DVI, HDMI 2.0b, and DisplayPort 1.4a, while the GTX 560M is an MXM module with portable-device-dependent outputs. Both carry a 75 W TDP, but the RX 560 suggests a 250 W power supply, while the GTX 560M lists no power connectors.