AMD Radeon RX 560 XT vs NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available in the data is Geekbench Vulkan, and the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT takes a decisive win. The RX 560 XT scores 36,879 points, while the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q manages 31,220 points. That is an 18.1% advantage for the AMD card in this compute-oriented API test.

Looking at the broader benchmark context, the RX 560 XT's average benchmark score across all tests is 34,133, which places it in the 79th percentile of all GPUs. The GRID M60-1Q, by comparison, has an average score of 31,220 and sits in the 76th percentile. The gap is meaningful — roughly 2,900 points separates their averages, though the RX 560 XT has two benchmark entries (OpenCL and Vulkan) while the GRID card only has a Vulkan result.

The RX 560 XT's closest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB, which scores 34,154 — a mere 0.1% difference, effectively a statistical tie. The GRID M60-1Q's nearest competitor is the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 at 31,206, again within 0.1%. Interestingly, the GRID card is also within 0.4% of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER (31,087) and within 1.4% of the TITAN RTX (31,676), though those comparisons seem counterintuitive given the massive generational differences — the data is the data.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT wins in the Vulkan benchmark by 18.1%, and that is the only head-to-head test recorded. It also has a second benchmark result — Geekbench OpenCL at 31,387 — which is lower than its Vulkan score but still contributes to a higher overall average.

The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q does not win any head-to-head benchmark in this dataset. It is a virtualized GPU product with no display outputs, intended for cloud or datacenter workloads rather than direct rendering. Its Vulkan score of 31,220 is respectable, but it trails the AMD card in every measured category.

Where the GRID card could be said to "win" is in architectural characteristics that favor certain workloads. It has 2,048 shading units versus 1,792 on the RX 560 XT, 128 texture mapping units versus 112, and 64 ROPs versus 32. That doubles the pixel fill rate (75.39 GPixel/s vs 39.23 GPixel/s) and gives it a higher texture rate (150.8 GTexel/s vs 137.3 GTexel/s). Its raw FP32 throughput is also higher at 4.825 TFLOPS versus 4.394 TFLOPS. Yet in actual Vulkan compute performance, the AMD card comes out ahead by a wide margin — a reminder that theoretical specs do not always translate to real-world wins.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the data, the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT is the faster card in the one benchmark that pits them directly against each other. An 18.1% lead in Vulkan is substantial, and its higher average benchmark score (34,133 vs 31,220) reinforces the conclusion. The RX 560 XT also has the advantage of a second benchmark result (OpenCL) that shows it performs consistently across different compute APIs.

Who should pick the RX 560 XT? Anyone needing a physical GPU with display outputs (HDMI 2.0b and three DisplayPort 1.4a) for direct rendering tasks. It is smaller (241 mm vs 267 mm), draws less power (150 W vs 225 W), and requires a less demanding PSU (450 W vs 550 W). It is a 14 nm part from GlobalFoundries, whereas the GRID M60-1Q is a 28 nm part from TSMC — the newer process node gives the AMD card a significant efficiency advantage.

Who should pick the GRID M60-1Q? The answer is essentially no one in a direct consumer comparison, but the data does show it has merits in specific contexts. It supports DirectX 12_1, while the RX 560 XT only supports 12_0. It also lists Vulkan 1.4 support versus 1.3 on the AMD card. For virtualized environments where display outputs are not needed, the GRID card's higher shading unit count and doubled ROPs could theoretically benefit certain compute patterns — but the benchmark data does not support that conclusion for Vulkan workloads.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins in the Vulkan benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT wins Geekbench Vulkan with a score of 36,879 against the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q's 31,220, an 18.1% advantage.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX 560 XT has an average benchmark score of 34,133, while the GRID M60-1Q averages 31,220. The RX 560 XT also has two benchmark results (OpenCL at 31,387 and Vulkan at 36,879), whereas the GRID card only has the one Vulkan result.

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q has only 1024 MB (1 GB) of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RX 560 XT is rated at 150 W TDP with a single 6-pin power connector and a suggested 450 W PSU. The GRID M60-1Q is rated at 225 W TDP with a single 8-pin connector and a suggested 550 W PSU.

Q: Do both cards support display outputs?

A: No. The RX 560 XT has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The GRID M60-1Q has no display outputs at all.

Q: Which card has higher raw compute specifications?

A: The GRID M60-1Q has more shading units (2,048 vs 1,792), more TMUs (128 vs 112), more ROPs (64 vs 32), higher pixel rate (75.39 GPixel/s vs 39.23 GPixel/s), higher texture rate (150.8 GTexel/s vs 137.3 GTexel/s), and higher FP32 throughput (4.825 TFLOPS vs 4.394 TFLOPS). Despite this, it loses the Vulkan benchmark by 18.1%.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT is built on the GCN 4.0 architecture using the Ellesmere chip, part of the Polaris (RX 500) generation. It is fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die. That works out to a transistor density of 24.6 million per square millimeter.

The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q uses the Maxwell 2.0 architecture with the GM204 chip, from the GRID (Mx) generation. It is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 5,200 million transistors on a much larger 398 mm² die. The transistor density is just 13.1 million per square millimeter — roughly half that of the AMD part, reflecting the older process node.

Both cards lack ray tracing cores and tensor cores, as neither architecture supports those features. The RX 560 XT supports DirectX 12_0, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The GRID M60-1Q supports DirectX 12_1, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GRID card's Vulkan support is newer, and its DirectX feature level is higher.

Clock speeds tell an interesting story. The RX 560 XT has a base clock of 1074 MHz and a boost clock of 1226 MHz. The GRID M60-1Q has a much lower base clock of 557 MHz but a boost clock of 1178 MHz — the boost ratio is far more aggressive on the NVIDIA part, suggesting it spends most of its time near the boost ceiling.

Memory architecture differs significantly. The RX 560 XT runs GDDR5 at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) delivering 224.0 GB/s across a 256-bit bus. The GRID M60-1Q runs GDDR5 at 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective) delivering 160.4 GB/s across the same 256-bit bus. The AMD card has 4 GB of memory versus just 1 GB on the NVIDIA card — a critical difference for any workload with larger working sets.

Specification Differences

Process node: 14 nm (GlobalFoundries) vs 28 nm (TSMC)

Transistors: 5,700 million vs 5,200 million

Die size: 232 mm² vs 398 mm²

Transistor density: 24.6M / mm² vs 13.1M / mm²

Base clock: 1074 MHz vs 557 MHz

Boost clock: 1226 MHz vs 1178 MHz

Memory clock: 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) vs 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective)

Memory size: 4 GB vs 1024 MB

Memory bandwidth: 224.0 GB/s vs 160.4 GB/s

Shading units: 1792 vs 2048

TMUs: 112 vs 128

ROPs: 32 vs 64

Pixel rate: 39.23 GPixel/s vs 75.39 GPixel/s

Texture rate: 137.3 GTexel/s vs 150.8 GTexel/s

FP32: 4.394 TFLOPS vs 4.825 TFLOPS

TDP: 150 W vs 225 W

Power connectors: 1x 6-pin vs 1x 8-pin

Suggested PSU: 450 W vs 550 W

Display outputs: 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a vs No outputs

DirectX support: 12 (12_0) vs 12 (12_1)

Vulkan support: 1.3 vs 1.4

Length: 241 mm (9.5 inches) vs 267 mm (10.5 inches)

Release date: 2019-03-12 vs 2015-08-29

Architecture: GCN 4.0 vs Maxwell 2.0

Generation: Polaris (RX 500) vs GRID (Mx)

Chip: Ellesmere vs GM204

Percentile: 79th vs 76th

The GRID M60-1Q has higher theoretical compute throughput and double the ROPs, but the RX 560 XT wins the actual benchmark. The AMD card is also newer by roughly three and a half years, which explains its smaller die, higher density, and better power efficiency.