AMD Radeon RX 560 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile Comparison

The data presents a stark generational contrast. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile and AMD Radeon RX 560 XT occupy different eras of GPU design, and the benchmark results reflect this divide clearly. The RTX 4080 Mobile is an active, high-end mobile part from the Ada Lovelace generation, while the RX 560 XT is an end-of-life desktop card from the Polaris era. The following analysis quantifies the performance gap and architectural differences between these two very different products.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head comparison is limited to two cross-platform compute tests, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile dominates both. The most significant margin appears in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the RTX 4080 Mobile scores 159,575 points against the RX 560 XT’s 31,387 points. This represents a delta of 408.4%, meaning the NVIDIA part delivers over five times the compute performance in this workload. This is not a marginal victory; it is a complete overhaul of compute capability.

The Geekbench Vulkan test tells a similar, albeit slightly less extreme, story. Here, the RTX 4080 Mobile scores 145,807 points, while the RX 560 XT manages 36,879 points. The delta is 295.4%, indicating the NVIDIA GPU is roughly four times faster in this graphics API workload. While the percentage gap is smaller than in OpenCL, it remains a massive chasm. In both head-to-head tests, the RTX 4080 Mobile is the unequivocal winner, securing 2 wins out of 2 possible.

These results are consistent with the overall average benchmark scores. The RTX 4080 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 38,135, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. The RX 560 XT, with an average score of 34,133, sits in the 79th percentile. While the percentile ranks appear close, the raw average score difference of approximately 4,000 points is substantial. The RTX 4080 Mobile’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (avg score 38,349, delta -0.6%) and the GeForce RTX 4070 (avg score 37,648, delta 1.3%), showing it is tightly grouped with modern high-end parts. Conversely, the RX 560 XT’s closest competitor is the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB (avg score 34,154, delta -0.1%), placing it in a much lower performance tier.

Architecture Differences

The fundamental architectural gap explains the benchmark results. The RTX 4080 Mobile is built on NVIDIA’s Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. This allows for a transistor count of 35,800 million on a 294 mm² die, yielding a density of 121.8M transistors per mm². In contrast, the RX 560 XT uses the older GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on GlobalFoundries’ 14 nm process. It packs 5,700 million transistors into a 232 mm² die, with a density of only 24.6M transistors per mm². The RTX 4080 Mobile is not just newer; it is a fundamentally more complex and denser piece of silicon.

The feature sets diverge sharply. The RTX 4080 Mobile is equipped with 58 dedicated ray tracing cores and 232 tensor cores, hardware that is entirely absent from the RX 560 XT, which lists null for both. This means the NVIDIA GPU is prepared for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-driven technologies like DLSS, while the AMD card relies on traditional rasterization only. The API support reflects this: the RTX 4080 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the RX 560 XT is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. The newer API versions on the NVIDIA side enable more advanced rendering features.

The compute resources are also on different scales. The RTX 4080 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 80 render output units (ROPs). The RX 560 XT has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. This roughly 4x difference in shading units and TMUs directly translates to the massive FP32 performance gap: the RTX 4080 Mobile delivers 24.72 TFLOPS, while the RX 560 XT manages just 4.394 TFLOPS. Both cards have a 1:1 ratio for FP16, but the absolute numbers are vastly different. The RTX 4080 Mobile’s pixel rate is 133.2 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 386.3 GTexel/s, dwarfing the RX 560 XT’s 39.23 GPixel/s and 137.3 GTexel/s.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the benchmark data, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile wins every single comparison, leaving the RX 560 XT without a single victory in the head-to-head tests. The RTX 4080 Mobile is the clear choice for any workload that leverages compute performance, particularly those using OpenCL or Vulkan APIs. Its massive advantage in shading units, TMUs, and raw FP32 throughput makes it suitable for demanding tasks such as modern gaming at high resolutions, 3D rendering, and GPU-accelerated compute.

The RTX 4080 Mobile’s 12 GB of GDDR6 memory, with a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s, provides ample headroom for large textures and datasets. The RX 560 XT, with its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, is a more limited resource. For users working with large models or high-resolution assets, the NVIDIA card’s memory capacity alone is a decisive advantage. The RX 560 XT, with its 79th percentile ranking, remains a functional part for older, less demanding games or basic display output, but it cannot compete in any scenario where the RTX 4080 Mobile is present.

There is no use case from the data where the AMD card wins. The RTX 4080 Mobile is ahead in all available metrics, from raw compute to memory bandwidth. The RX 560 XT’s only potential advantage lies in its physical form factor, being a dual-slot card with a 1x 6-pin power connector, but this is a matter of system compatibility, not performance. The data simply does not support any scenario where the RX 560 XT is the superior choice.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet highlights several key differences beyond performance.

• Process Node: The RTX 4080 Mobile uses a 5 nm process, while the RX 560 XT uses a 14 nm process.
• Transistors: The RTX 4080 Mobile has 35,800 million, compared to 5,700 million on the RX 560 XT.
• Die Size: The RTX 4080 Mobile’s die is 294 mm², larger than the RX 560 XT’s 232 mm².
• Base Clock: The RTX 4080 Mobile runs at 1290 MHz, higher than the RX 560 XT’s 1074 MHz.
• Boost Clock: The RTX 4080 Mobile boosts to 1665 MHz, versus 1226 MHz on the RX 560 XT.
• Memory Size: The RTX 4080 Mobile has 12 GB, while the RX 560 XT has 4 GB.
• Memory Type: The RTX 4080 Mobile uses GDDR6, while the RX 560 XT uses GDDR5.
• Memory Bus: The RTX 4080 Mobile has a 192-bit bus, narrower than the RX 560 XT’s 256-bit bus.
• Memory Bandwidth: The RTX 4080 Mobile offers 432.0 GB/s, nearly double the RX 560 XT’s 224.0 GB/s.
• Shader Units: The RTX 4080 Mobile has 7424, versus 1792 on the RX 560 XT.
• TMUs: The RTX 4080 Mobile has 232, versus 112 on the RX 560 XT.
• ROPs: The RTX 4080 Mobile has 80, versus 32 on the RX 560 XT.
• RT Cores: The RTX 4080 Mobile has 58, the RX 560 XT has none.
• Tensor Cores: The RTX 4080 Mobile has 232, the RX 560 XT has none.
• TDP: The RTX 4080 Mobile is rated at 110 W, lower than the RX 560 XT’s 150 W.
• Slot Width: The RTX 4080 Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics package), while the RX 560 XT is dual-slot.
• Power Connectors: The RTX 4080 Mobile has none, the RX 560 XT requires 1x 6-pin.
• Bus Interface: The RTX 4080 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16, the RX 560 XT uses PCIe 3.0 x16.
• DirectX Support: The RTX 4080 Mobile supports 12 Ultimate (12_2), the RX 560 XT supports 12 (12_0).
• Vulkan Support: The RTX 4080 Mobile supports 1.4, the RX 560 XT supports 1.3.
• Production Status: The RTX 4080 Mobile is Active, the RX 560 XT is End-of-life.
• Release Date: The RTX 4080 Mobile was released in 2023, the RX 560 XT in 2019.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile scores 159,575 points compared to the RX 560 XT’s 31,387 points, a delta of 408.4%.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 560 XT has no ray tracing cores, while the RTX 4080 Mobile has 58 dedicated RT cores.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile has a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s, while the RX 560 XT has a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor count?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile has 35,800 million transistors, significantly more than the RX 560 XT’s 5,700 million.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 38,135, while the RX 560 XT has an average score of 34,133.

Q: What is the TDP of the RTX 4080 Mobile?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile has a TDP of 110 W, which is lower than the RX 560 XT’s 150 W.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is the superior product in every measurable way. It is over 400% faster in OpenCL and nearly 300% faster in Vulkan, and it offers more memory, higher bandwidth, and modern features like ray tracing and tensor cores. Its 81st percentile ranking and average score of 38,135 place it firmly in the high-performance tier, alongside the RTX 4070 and RTX 5080 Mobile.

The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT, with its 79th percentile ranking and average score of 34,133, is a legacy part. It is an end-of-life product with no path to competitive performance against the RTX 4080 Mobile. While it may still serve in older systems, the benchmark results show that it is outclassed by an order of magnitude in compute and graphics workloads.

For any user choosing between these two, the RTX 4080 Mobile is the only logical choice from a performance standpoint. It consumes less power (110 W vs 150 W) while delivering vastly more performance. The RX 560 XT’s only advantages are its physical card format and the fact that it is a desktop part, but the performance deficit is too large to overcome. The RTX 4080 Mobile wins the verdict decisively.