AMD Radeon RX 560X vs AMD Radeon RX 9060 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data presents a clear separation between these two AMD parts. The AMD Radeon RX 560X wins zero head-to-head comparisons, while the AMD Radeon RX 9060 wins both recorded matchups. This is not a close contest; the RX 9060 dominates in every shared workload.

The RX 560X belongs to the Polaris generation, a design from the GCN 4.0 era. Its recorded scores place it in the 62nd percentile among all GPUs in the database. The RX 9060, by contrast, sits in the 59th percentile, which is slightly lower despite its vastly superior raw performance in the head-to-head tests. This percentile gap reflects the broader distribution of modern GPUs, where the RX 9060 faces stiffer competition from contemporary parts.

The RX 560X is an end-of-life product. Its best recorded result is in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where it posts a score of 20231. Its OpenCL score is lower at 17020. These numbers place it near a cluster of older workstation and gaming cards, including the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT (18685 average, 0.3% ahead), the AMD FirePro D500 (18533 average, 0.5% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (18789 average, 0.9% ahead), and the NVIDIA Tesla K80 (18866 average, 1.3% ahead). The RX 560X is effectively within a narrow band of performance around these rivals, trailing the RTX 2070 by less than 1% and the Tesla K80 by just over 1%.

The RX 9060, on the other hand, is an active product from the Radeon RX 9000 series. Its average benchmark score of 16014 puts it in a different competitive tier. The nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129 average, 0.7% ahead), the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862 average, 1% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852 average, 1% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679 average, 2.1% behind). The RX 9060 sits between the RTX 3060 Ti and the R9 370X, within roughly a 2% band of these four cards.

In terms of use-case split, the RX 560X is a legacy part suited to older DirectX 12 (12_0) workloads and basic Vulkan 1.3 applications. Its pixel rate of 20.40 GPixel/s and texture rate of 81.60 GTexel/s are modest by modern standards. The RX 9060, with its DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support and Vulkan 1.4 compliance, targets contemporary gaming and compute tasks. Its pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s represent a substantial leap. The data indicates that the RX 9060 is the clear choice for any new workload, while the RX 560X remains relevant only for legacy compatibility.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational. The RX 560X uses the Polaris 21 chip built on GCN 4.0, a 14 nm design fabricated at GlobalFoundries. The RX 9060 uses the Navi 44 chip built on RDNA 4.0, a 4 nm design fabricated at TSMC. The process node difference alone, 14 nm versus 4 nm, drives massive changes in transistor density and efficiency.

Transistor counts tell a stark story. The RX 560X packs 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, yielding a density of 24.4 million transistors per square millimeter. The RX 9060 contains 29,700 million transistors on a 199 mm² die, for a density of 149.2 million per square millimeter. That is roughly six times the density of the older chip, achieved on a smaller relative footprint per transistor.

The memory subsystems differ in capacity and bandwidth. The RX 560X has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128 bit bus, delivering 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 9060 doubles capacity to 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on the same 128 bit bus width, raising bandwidth to 288.0 GB/s. Clock speeds follow suit, with memory rated at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) on the older card and 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective on the newer one.

Compute resources are significantly expanded. The RX 560X has 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 16 render output units. The RX 9060 increases these figures to 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, 64 render output units, and adds 28 ray tracing cores. The FP32 throughput on the RX 9060 is 21.43 TFLOPS, compared with 2.611 TFLOPS on the RX 560X. Both cards run FP16 at the same rate as FP32, a 1:1 ratio.

The RX 9060 also introduces a game clock of 2400 MHz, a specification absent on the RX 560X. Base and boost clocks are higher as well: 1700 MHz base and 2990 MHz boost versus 1175 MHz base and 1275 MHz boost on the older part. The RX 560X draws 75 W with no power connectors and a suggested 250 W PSU, while the RX 9060 draws 132 W with a single 8-pin connector and a suggested 300 W PSU. Both are dual-slot cards, but the bus interface differs: PCIe 3.0 x8 on the RX 560X versus PCIe 5.0 x16 on the RX 9060. Display outputs also differ, with the RX 560X offering 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 9060 provides 1x HDMI 2.1b and 2x DisplayPort 2.1a.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data covers two tests: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. The RX 9060 wins both, and the margins are decisive.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 560X scores 17020 against the RX 9060's 88183. The RX 9060 leads by 80.7%. This is the largest delta in the dataset. The OpenCL result reflects the RX 9060's 8.2 times higher FP32 throughput (21.43 TFLOPS versus 2.611 TFLOPS) and its substantially larger memory bandwidth (288.0 GB/s versus 112.0 GB/s). The RX 560X's 4 GB of memory also limits workload sizes compared with the 8 GB on the RX 9060.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 560X scores 20231 against the RX 9060's 39476. The RX 9060 leads by 48.8%. While the margin is smaller than in OpenCL, it is still a commanding advantage. The RX 9060's Vulkan 1.4 support, alongside its higher pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s, contributes to the higher score. The RX 560X manages a lower pixel rate of 20.40 GPixel/s and texture rate of 81.60 GTexel/s, which caps its Vulkan performance.

The average benchmark score for each card, 18626 for the RX 560X and 16014 for the RX 9060, might seem to contradict the head-to-head results. This is because the averages include different test suites. The RX 9060's average includes several PassMark tests where its scores are relatively low: PassMark DirectX 10 at 104, DirectX 11 at 182, DirectX 12 at 44, DirectX 9 at 280, G2D at 1002, G3D at 17631, and GPU Compute at 9919, plus a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322. These lower scores pull the average down, whereas the RX 560X only has two recorded benchmarks, both of which are relatively strong for its generation.

When interpreting the head-to-head results, the database shows that the RX 9060 is the superior part in raw compute and graphics performance. The deltas of 80.7% and 48.8% are not incremental improvements; they represent generational leaps that completely outclass the older Polaris chip.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL, and by how much?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 wins with a score of 88183, leading the RX 560X's 17020 by 80.7%. The RX 560X trails by 80.7% in this test.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare with its nearest rival in the database?

A: The RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with an average score of 16129, which is 0.7% higher. The AMD Radeon R9 370X and AMD Radeon RX 7700 are both 1% lower, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is 2.1% lower.

Q: What is the RX 560X's closest competitor?

A: The RX 560X's average score is 18626. The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT is 0.3% higher at 18685, the AMD FirePro D500 is 0.5% lower at 18533, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 is 0.9% higher at 18789, and the NVIDIA Tesla K80 is 1.3% higher at 18866.

Q: Does the RX 9060 have ray tracing hardware?

A: Yes, the RX 9060 includes 28 ray tracing cores. The RX 560X has no ray tracing cores.

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

A: The RX 9060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the RX 560X has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory. Both use a 128 bit bus.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel rate?

A: The RX 9060 has a pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s, compared with the RX 560X's 20.40 GPixel/s, a difference of approximately 9.4 times.

Specification Differences

The table below lists only the fields where the two cards differ, based on the recorded data.

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 560X | AMD Radeon RX 9060 |

|----------------|--------------------|--------------------|

| Process node | 14 nm | 4 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 3,000 million | 29,700 million |

| Die size | 123 mm² | 199 mm² |

| Transistor density | 24.4M / mm² | 149.2M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1175 MHz | 1700 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1275 MHz | 2990 MHz |

| Game clock | None | 2400 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1750 MHz, 7 Gbps effective | 2250 MHz, 18 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 4 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory bandwidth | 112.0 GB/s | 288.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 1024 | 1792 |

| TMUs | 64 | 112 |

| ROPs | 16 | 64 |

| Ray tracing cores | None | 28 |

| Pixel rate | 20.40 GPixel/s | 191.4 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 81.60 GTexel/s | 334.9 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.611 TFLOPS | 21.43 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 2.611 TFLOPS (1:1) | 21.43 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 75 W | 132 W |

| Power connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | 300 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |

| Display outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.1b, 2x DisplayPort 2.1a |

| DirectX support | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Production status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release date | 2018-04-10 | 2025-08-04 |

| Generation | Polaris (RX 500X) | Navi IV (RX 9000) |

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | RDNA 4.0 |

| Chip | Polaris 21 | Navi 44 |