GPU Comparison

The NVIDIA T1000 and AMD Radeon RX 560 XT are two end-of-life workstation and consumer GPUs that, despite their different design goals, land within a single percentage point of each other in average benchmark score. The T1000 posts an average score of 36289, placing it in the 80th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 560 XT averages 34133, sitting at the 79th percentile. The head-to-head data shows a split decision: the NVIDIA card dominates OpenCL workloads, while the AMD card takes the Vulkan crown. This makes the choice between them less about raw capability and more about which API and specific workloads matter most to the user.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most dramatic separation occurs in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the NVIDIA T1000 delivers a decisive victory. The T1000 scores 37704, while the RX 560 XT manages only 31387, giving NVIDIA a 20.1% advantage. This is a substantial margin that highlights a clear strength in compute-oriented, general-purpose GPU workloads. For any task that relies heavily on OpenCL, such as certain rendering engines, physics simulations, or data-processing pipelines, the T1000 is the superior choice by a wide margin.

The tables turn completely in the Geekbench Vulkan test, though the margin is far narrower. Here, the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT scores 36879, edging out the NVIDIA T1000's 34874. That translates to a 5.4% lead for AMD, a meaningful but not overwhelming difference. Vulkan performance is increasingly relevant for modern game engines and cross-platform graphics APIs, so this win gives the RX 560 XT a real advantage in that specific domain. However, the delta is small enough that it won't transform the overall user experience in most scenarios.

Comparing these results to their nearest rivals provides additional context. The T1000's average score of 36289 puts it just 0.7% behind both the AMD Radeon RX 5300M and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X, while it sits 1.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Duo and 2.2% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro GV100. This places the T1000 in a tightly contested performance band where small architectural differences make all the difference. The RX 560 XT, with its 34133 average, is nearly tied with the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB (0.1% behind) and the NVIDIA RTX A1000 (0.2% behind), while leading the AMD Radeon RX 480 by 0.4% and the AMD Radeon HD 7950 by 0.5%. The RX 560 XT is essentially at parity with its closest competitors, whereas the T1000 has a slight edge over some of its direct rivals.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear trade-off. If OpenCL performance is the priority, the NVIDIA T1000 is the unequivocal pick, offering a 20.1% performance advantage over the RX 560 XT in that specific test. The T1000 also holds a higher average benchmark score overall (36289 vs 34133) and a better percentile ranking (80th vs 79th). It achieves this with a dramatically lower power footprint, 50 W TDP versus 150 W, and a single-slot design that requires no external power connectors, making it far easier to integrate into compact or densely populated systems.

Conversely, if Vulkan workloads dominate, the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT is the better option. Its 5.4% lead in Vulkan is not trivial, and it also offers significantly higher raw shading power, with 1792 shading units and 4.394 TFLOPS FP32 performance compared to the T1000's 896 units and 2.500 TFLOPS. The RX 560 XT also has double the texture units (112 vs 56), which could benefit certain texture-heavy tasks. However, these theoretical advantages do not translate into a win in the average benchmark, and the RX 560 XT's higher power draw and dual-slot form factor are notable drawbacks.

For most users, the T1000 is the safer recommendation due to its higher average score, better percentile, and superior efficiency. The RX 560 XT only makes sense for someone who specifically needs Vulkan performance above all else and can accommodate its larger physical footprint and power requirements. The data does not support a general-purpose victory for AMD; it only supports a narrow, API-specific one.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA T1000 has a higher average benchmark score of 36289, compared to the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT's 34133. This places the T1000 at the 80th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 560 XT sits at the 79th percentile.

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

A: The NVIDIA T1000 is significantly faster in OpenCL, scoring 37704 versus the RX 560 XT's 31387. This gives the T1000 a 20.1% lead in that specific benchmark.

Q: Which card wins in the Vulkan benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT wins the Vulkan test, scoring 36879 against the NVIDIA T1000's 34874. The margin is 5.4% in AMD's favor.

Q: What is the difference in power consumption between the two?

A: The NVIDIA T1000 has a TDP of 50 W, while the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT has a TDP of 150 W. The T1000 requires no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 250 W, whereas the RX 560 XT needs a single 6-pin connector and a 450 W PSU.

Q: How does the memory configuration differ?

A: Both cards have 4 GB of memory, but the NVIDIA T1000 uses GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT uses GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card is physically larger?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT is longer at 241 mm (9.5 inches) and uses a dual-slot design, while the NVIDIA T1000 is shorter at 156 mm (6.1 inches) and uses a single-slot design.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every core specification, reflecting their divergent architectures. The NVIDIA T1000 is built on a 12 nm process at TSMC, while the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The AMD chip is larger, with a die size of 232 mm² and 5,700 million transistors, compared to the T1000's 200 mm² and 4,700 million transistors.

Clock speeds also diverge: the T1000 has a base clock of 1065 MHz and a boost clock of 1395 MHz, while the RX 560 XT runs at 1074 MHz base and 1226 MHz boost. Memory speeds differ as well, with the T1000 using 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective) GDDR6 and the RX 560 XT using 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) GDDR5. The RX 560 XT has a wider 256-bit memory bus, giving it 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus the T1000's 128-bit bus and 160.0 GB/s.

The shading hardware is drastically different: the RX 560 XT has 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the T1000 has 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. This results in the RX 560 XT's higher texture rate of 137.3 GTexel/s versus the T1000's 78.12 GTexel/s, but the T1000 has a slightly higher pixel rate of 44.64 GPixel/s versus 39.23 GPixel/s. FP32 compute is also higher on AMD at 4.394 TFLOPS versus 2.500 TFLOPS, though the T1000's FP16 performance doubles to 5.000 TFLOPS while the RX 560 XT's stays flat at 4.394 TFLOPS.

Physical and interface differences are notable as well. The T1000 is a single-slot card with no power connectors and a 250 W suggested PSU, while the RX 560 XT is dual-slot with one 6-pin connector and a 450 W PSU. Display outputs also differ: the T1000 offers 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 560 XT provides 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RX 560 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the T1000 supports DirectX 12 (12_1); both support OpenGL 4.6, but the T1000 has Vulkan 1.4 support compared to the RX 560 XT's Vulkan 1.3.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is fundamental. The NVIDIA T1000 uses the Turing architecture with the TU117 chip, belonging to the Quadro Turing (Tx000) generation. The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT uses the GCN 4.0 architecture with the Ellesmere chip, part of the Polaris (RX 500) generation. These are different design philosophies: Turing is a newer, more efficiency-focused architecture, while GCN 4.0 is an older, more compute-heavy design.

Transistor density is similar, with the T1000 at 23.5M transistors per mm² and the RX 560 XT at 24.6M per mm², but the underlying implementation differs significantly. The Turing architecture in the T1000 supports FP16 at a 2:1 ratio, effectively doubling its FP16 throughput to 5.000 TFLOPS, whereas the GCN 4.0 architecture in the RX 560 XT handles FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, keeping it at 4.394 TFLOPS. Neither card features dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, as those fields are null in the data.

The API support also reflects the architectural gap. The T1000 supports DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 560 XT is limited to DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3. This gives NVIDIA a slight edge in feature level support for modern graphics APIs, which may matter for certain professional applications or newer game titles.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA T1000 wins decisively in OpenCL workloads, with a 20.1% performance advantage. This makes it the clear choice for compute tasks that leverage OpenCL, such as scientific computing, video encoding, or CAD rendering. Its higher average benchmark score (36289 vs 34133) and better percentile ranking (80th vs 79th) further solidify its position as the more capable overall GPU. The T1000 also wins on efficiency, with a 50 W TDP that is one-third of the RX 560 XT's 150 W, making it ideal for low-power or space-constrained builds. Its single-slot design and lack of power connectors simplify installation in small form factor systems.

The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT wins specifically in Vulkan performance, with a 5.4% lead over the T1000. This makes it a better choice for Vulkan-based game engines or cross-platform graphics applications that prioritize that API. The RX 560 XT also has a substantial theoretical compute advantage, with 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 4.394 TFLOPS FP32 performance, all roughly double the T1000's figures. Its wider 256-bit memory bus and higher bandwidth (224.0 GB/s) could benefit memory-intensive workloads, even if this does not translate to a benchmark win.

In summary, the T1000 is the winner for general-purpose use, OpenCL-heavy tasks, and efficiency-conscious builds. The RX 560 XT is the winner only for Vulkan-specific workloads where its API advantage and raw shading power can be exploited. The data does not show any other scenario where the RX 560 XT outperforms the T1000.