AMD Radeon RX 560 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile and the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT occupy vastly different tiers of the graphics landscape. The recorded data shows a profound generational and architectural gap, with the mobile NVIDIA part delivering scores that dwarf the older desktop AMD card in every shared benchmark. This analysis explores the extent of that gap, the architectural reasons behind it, and what the numbers indicate for potential users of either product.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains two direct benchmark comparisons between these GPUs, and in both instances, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile achieves a decisive victory. The first test, Geekbench OpenCL, sees the RTX 5090 Mobile score 201,834 points against a mere 31,387 points for the RX 560 XT. This translates to a delta of 543%, meaning the NVIDIA part outperforms the AMD card by a factor of more than six in this compute-oriented workload. The sheer magnitude of this lead suggests that the RTX 5090 Mobile's massive shading unit count and memory bandwidth are not just incremental improvements, but represent a completely different performance class.

The second shared test, Geekbench Vulkan, tells a similar story. The RTX 5090 Mobile records 198,405 points, while the RX 560 XT manages 36,879 points. The delta here is 438%, still a commanding lead for the NVIDIA solution. While the Vulkan gap is slightly narrower than the OpenCL gap, it remains overwhelming. This indicates that even in a lower-level, more direct graphics API, the architectural and hardware advantages of the RTX 5090 Mobile are insurmountable for the older Polaris-based card. The head-to-head results show a clean sweep for the NVIDIA part, with 2 wins and 0 losses.

When placed in the context of their respective peer groups, both parts appear near the middle of their own performance bands. The RTX 5090 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 45,152, placing it within 1.8% of its nearest rivals, which include the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation, the Intel Arc A730M, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT. The RX 560 XT, with an average score of 34,133, sits within 0.5% of its own nearest competitors, such as the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB and the AMD Radeon RX 480. The data suggests that while the RTX 5090 Mobile is a high-end part, it is not the absolute fastest in its class, and while the RX 560 XT is a capable older card, it is far from the bottom of the barrel in its own era.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile than the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile scores 201,834 points compared to the RX 560 XT's 31,387 points, resulting in a 543% performance advantage for the NVIDIA GPU.

Q: What is the difference in Geekbench Vulkan performance between these two cards?

A: In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RTX 5090 Mobile achieves 198,405 points, while the RX 560 XT scores 36,879 points. This gives the NVIDIA part a 438% lead.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT win any benchmark against the RTX 5090 Mobile?

A: No. In the two head-to-head benchmarks recorded in the database, the RTX 5090 Mobile wins both. The RX 560 XT has zero wins in these direct comparisons.

Q: How does the average benchmark score of each card compare to its own closest rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile's average score of 45,152 is roughly on par with its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, which scores 45,384, a difference of only 0.5%. The RX 560 XT's average of 34,133 is similarly close to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB, which scores 34,154, a 0.1% difference.

Q: Are these two GPUs in the same performance percentile?

A: No. The RTX 5090 Mobile sits in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 560 XT sits in the 79th percentile. This shows both are above average, but the NVIDIA part is in a higher overall tier.

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

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile has a memory bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s, while the RX 560 XT offers 224.0 GB/s. This is a four-fold difference in favor of the NVIDIA card.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast, explaining the benchmark results. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, featuring the GB203 chip. In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT is based on the much older GCN 4.0 architecture, uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, and is built on the Ellesmere chip. This process node difference alone, from 5 nm to 14 nm, allows the NVIDIA part to pack a staggering 45,600 million transistors into a 378 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 120.6 million per mm². The RX 560 XT, by comparison, contains only 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, with a density of 24.6 million per mm².

The core configurations are also wildly different. The RTX 5090 Mobile features 10,496 shading units, 328 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. It also includes dedicated hardware for modern features: 82 RT cores for ray tracing and 328 tensor cores for AI workloads. The RX 560 XT has a far more modest 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, and it lacks both RT cores and tensor cores entirely. This means the NVIDIA part is not only faster in raw rasterization but is also equipped for tasks the AMD card cannot handle in hardware, such as hardware-accelerated ray tracing and tensor-based processing.

Memory architecture further separates the two. The RTX 5090 Mobile uses 24 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 560 XT uses 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has six times the memory capacity and four times the bandwidth. The feature set also reflects the generational divide: the RTX 5090 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 560 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. The NVIDIA part also uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, whereas the AMD card is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16.

The Verdict

The recorded data makes the choice between these two GPUs unequivocal for almost any scenario. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile is categorically superior in every measured aspect. Its 543% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and 438% lead in Geekbench Vulkan demonstrate that it is not merely faster, but operates in a different performance universe. For any application that can leverage its compute power, modern graphics features, or massive memory bandwidth, the RTX 5090 Mobile is the only logical choice.

The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT, however, should not be dismissed entirely. Its average benchmark score of 34,133 places it in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, which is still a respectable position. It is a dual-slot, 150 W card with a 6-pin power connector, designed for traditional desktop systems with a PCIe 3.0 slot. The RTX 5090 Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with a 95 W TDP, no power connectors, and portable-device-dependent outputs, meaning it is strictly for laptops. The RX 560 XT is an end-of-life product, while the RTX 5090 Mobile is an active, current-generation part. The choice, therefore, is not about performance, but about platform and use case. If a user requires a desktop GPU with legacy support, the RX 560 XT fits a specific niche. If the requirement is maximum performance in a mobile form factor, the RTX 5090 Mobile is the definitive answer.

Specification Differences

The specifications of these two GPUs diverge at nearly every point. The process node is a 5 nm TSMC process for the NVIDIA chip versus a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process for the AMD chip. The RTX 5090 Mobile has 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, while the RX 560 XT has 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die. The base clock of the NVIDIA part is 990 MHz, boosting to 1515 MHz, whereas the AMD card has a base clock of 1074 MHz and a boost clock of 1226 MHz. Memory is another key divide: the RTX 5090 Mobile offers 24 GB of GDDR7 with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 560 XT offers 4 GB of GDDR5 with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Core counts show a massive difference, with the RTX 5090 Mobile featuring 10,496 shading units, 328 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, alongside 82 RT cores and 328 tensor cores. The RX 560 XT has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no RT or tensor cores. The pixel rate of the NVIDIA GPU is 169.7 GPixel/s versus 39.23 GPixel/s for the AMD GPU, and the texture rate is 496.9 GTexel/s versus 137.3 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 31.80 TFLOPS for the RTX 5090 Mobile and 4.394 TFLOPS for the RX 560 XT. The power profile differs as well: the RTX 5090 Mobile has a 95 W TDP and is an IGP slot width with no power connectors, while the RX 560 XT has a 150 W TDP, is dual-slot, and uses a single 6-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 450 W. The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 for the NVIDIA part and PCIe 3.0 x16 for the AMD part. Display outputs are portable-device-dependent for the mobile GPU and include 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a for the desktop card. The RTX 5090 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 560 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. The production status is Active for the NVIDIA part and End-of-life for the AMD part, with release dates in 2025 and 2019, respectively.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile wins in every single benchmark category where both have data. Its 543% lead in OpenCL compute and 438% lead in Vulkan rendering make it the clear winner for any high-performance task, from gaming to content creation to scientific computing. The presence of RT cores and tensor cores means it is uniquely suited for ray-traced workloads and AI-accelerated applications, areas where the RX 560 XT has no hardware support at all. Its 24 GB of GDDR7 memory and 896.0 GB/s bandwidth also make it the choice for large datasets, high-resolution textures, and multi-tasking.

The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT, conversely, wins in scenarios that are not about performance. As a dual-slot, 150 W desktop card with a 6-pin connector and a 450 W suggested PSU, it is designed for installation in a standard desktop PC. It uses the widely available PCIe 3.0 interface and outputs to HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4a, making it a straightforward drop-in for older systems. It is also a legacy product, which could be relevant for users maintaining a system with specific driver or software requirements. The data does not show the RX 560 XT winning any performance contest, but its physical form factor and interface compatibility are its only advantages. For a user building a new, high-performance mobile workstation or gaming laptop, the RTX 5090 Mobile is the only option with data to support it. For a user needing a basic, older desktop GPU for a legacy system, the RX 560 XT remains a functional, if not competitive, choice.