AMD Radeon RX 560X vs NVIDIA Tesla M4 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark record splits cleanly between these two cards, but the split is narrow. The AMD Radeon RX 560X holds a single recorded win in the Geekbench OpenCL test, edging out the NVIDIA Tesla M4 by a margin of 0.5%. That is the only head-to-head benchmark where both cards were measured under identical conditions, and the AMD card took it. The Tesla M4 has no wins in the head-to-head comparison, but it does have a separate Geekbench OpenCL score of its own (16932) that is nearly identical to its head-to-head result, so the gap is consistent rather than a one-off anomaly.

Looking at the broader database averages, the RX 560X posts an average benchmark score of 18626, while the Tesla M4 sits at 16932. That difference is meaningful: the AMD card is roughly 10% higher on average, but the head-to-head OpenCL result shows only a 0.5% gap. The reason for this discrepancy is that the RX 560X also has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 20231, which pulls its average up substantially. The Tesla M4 has no Vulkan result recorded, so its average is based solely on OpenCL. In practical terms, if a workload uses OpenCL, the two cards are nearly interchangeable; if a workload can use Vulkan, the RX 560X has a clear advantage.

The percentile rankings reinforce this picture. The RX 560X sits at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the Tesla M4 sits at the 60th. That two-percentile spread is small, but it tracks with the average score gap. The nearest rivals for each card also tell a similar story: the RX 560X is within 1.3% of the NVIDIA Tesla K80, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT, and the AMD FirePro D500. The Tesla M4 is within 0.9% of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, the AMD Radeon HD 7970M, and the NVIDIA T400 4 GB. Neither card dominates its peer group; both are mid-pack performers.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split is stark. The AMD Radeon RX 560X uses the Polaris 21 chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The NVIDIA Tesla M4 uses the GM206 chip built on Maxwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. That process node difference is significant: 14 nm versus 28 nm means the AMD chip packs far more transistors per square millimeter. The RX 560X has 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, yielding a density of 24.4M per mm². The Tesla M4 has 2,940 million transistors on a 228 mm² die, yielding only 12.9M per mm². Despite having nearly the same transistor count, the AMD die is roughly half the physical size.

Clock behavior also diverges. The RX 560X runs at a base clock of 1175 MHz and a boost of 1275 MHz. The Tesla M4 runs at 872 MHz base and 1072 MHz boost. The AMD card is therefore clocked about 34% higher at base and about 19% higher at boost. That clock advantage helps explain the RX 560X's higher FP32 throughput despite identical shading unit and TMU counts. The RX 560X has 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The Tesla M4 also has 1024 shading units and 64 TMUs, but it has 32 ROPs, double the AMD card. That ROP difference shows up in pixel rate: the Tesla M4 pushes 34.30 GPixel/s versus 20.40 GPixel/s for the RX 560X.

Memory architecture is similar on paper but different in practice. Both cards use 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. The RX 560X runs its memory at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective), yielding 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Tesla M4 runs its memory at 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective), yielding 88.00 GB/s. The AMD card has 27% more memory bandwidth. The Tesla M4 compensates with its higher ROP count for fill-rate-bound tasks, but for bandwidth-bound compute workloads, the AMD card holds the edge.

The feature sets differ in one notable way: the Tesla M4 has no display outputs, while the RX 560X has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a. The Tesla M4 is clearly a compute-only accelerator, whereas the RX 560X can drive a display. The Tesla M4 also lacks FP16 support entirely, while the RX 560X offers FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32. That means the AMD card can double its throughput on FP16 workloads, whereas the Tesla M4 cannot even process FP16 natively.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon RX 560X scored 17020, and the NVIDIA Tesla M4 scored 16932. The RX 560X won by 0.5%. That is a razor-thin margin, well within the noise of typical benchmark runs. The raw scores suggest that for OpenCL compute, these two cards are effectively tied.

However, the database also contains separate benchmark entries for each card that reveal more. The RX 560X has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 20231, which is 19% higher than its own OpenCL score. The Tesla M4 has no Vulkan result, so its compute capability in that API is unmeasured. The RX 560X's average benchmark score of 18626 is 10% higher than the Tesla M4's 16932, but that difference is entirely driven by the Vulkan result. In OpenCL-only terms, the two cards are separated by less than one percent.

The nearest rivals for each card put these scores in context. The RX 560X's average of 18626 sits just 0.3% below the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT (18685) and 0.5% above the AMD FirePro D500 (18533). It is also 0.9% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (18789) and 1.3% below the NVIDIA Tesla K80 (18866). The Tesla M4's average of 16932 is 0.5% below the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17019), 0.6% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17037), 0.8% above the NVIDIA T400 4 GB (16792), and 0.9% below the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17083). Both cards are clustered tightly with their peers; neither is an outlier.

The takeaway from the head-to-head data is that the RX 560X wins the only direct comparison, but the margin is so small that it carries little practical weight. The real differentiator is the Vulkan score, which only the AMD card has. If a workload can use Vulkan, the RX 560X is clearly the faster card. If the workload is OpenCL-only, the choice comes down to other factors like power, size, or display output.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in several key specification fields. The process node is 14 nm for the AMD card versus 28 nm for the NVIDIA card. Transistor density is 24.4M per mm² versus 12.9M per mm². Die size is 123 mm² versus 228 mm². Clock speeds: base 1175 MHz versus 872 MHz, boost 1275 MHz versus 1072 MHz. Memory clock is 1750 MHz versus 1375 MHz, with effective rates of 7 Gbps versus 5.5 Gbps. Memory bandwidth is 112.0 GB/s versus 88.00 GB/s.

Pixel rate is 20.40 GPixel/s for the AMD card versus 34.30 GPixel/s for the NVIDIA card. Texture rate is 81.60 GTexel/s versus 68.61 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 2.611 TFLOPS versus 2.195 TFLOPS. FP16 support: the AMD card offers 2.611 TFLOPS at 1:1 ratio, while the NVIDIA card has no FP16 capability. TDP is 75 W versus 50 W. Slot width: dual-slot versus single-slot. Power connectors: none for the AMD card, not specified for the NVIDIA card. Bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x8 versus PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs: 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a versus no outputs. ROP count: 16 versus 32.

Release dates differ by about two and a half years: the RX 560X launched on 2018-04-10, while the Tesla M4 launched on 2015-11-09. The AMD card's predecessor is Polaris and successor is Vega; the NVIDIA card's predecessor is Tesla Kepler and successor is Tesla Pascal. Both cards are end-of-life. Neither has a recorded launch MSRP.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 560X, with an average of 18626 versus 16932 for the NVIDIA Tesla M4. That is a 10% difference, driven largely by the RX 560X's Vulkan score of 20231.

Q: How close are the two cards in OpenCL performance?

A: In the head-to-head Geekbench OpenCL test, the RX 560X scored 17020 and the Tesla M4 scored 16932, a 0.5% margin. The Tesla M4's separate OpenCL score of 16932 matches its head-to-head result, so the gap is consistent.

Q: Does the Tesla M4 support FP16 compute?

A: No. The Tesla M4 has no FP16 support listed. The RX 560X offers FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, meaning it can process FP16 workloads at the same rate as FP32.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 560X, with 112.0 GB/s versus 88.00 GB/s for the Tesla M4. Both use 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, but the AMD card runs its memory at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) versus 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective).

Q: Can the Tesla M4 drive a display?

A: No. The Tesla M4 has no display outputs. The RX 560X has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient?

A: The Tesla M4 has a lower TDP at 50 W versus 75 W for the RX 560X. However, the RX 560X has higher FP32 throughput (2.611 TFLOPS versus 2.195 TFLOPS) and higher memory bandwidth, so the efficiency comparison depends on the workload.

The Verdict

The data points to a simple conclusion: the AMD Radeon RX 560X is the more versatile and generally faster card, but the NVIDIA Tesla M4 has specific advantages that matter in certain contexts. The RX 560X wins the only head-to-head benchmark, holds a higher average score, offers Vulkan support, provides FP16 compute, and has three display outputs. It also delivers more memory bandwidth and higher FP32 throughput. For any workload that can use Vulkan or FP16, the RX 560X is the clear choice.

The Tesla M4 counters with a lower TDP (50 W versus 75 W), a single-slot form factor, double the ROP count (32 versus 16), and a higher pixel rate (34.30 GPixel/s versus 20.40 GPixel/s). It also uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface versus the RX 560X's x8, which can matter for data transfer in compute clusters. For fill-rate-bound tasks or environments where power and slot space are at a premium, the Tesla M4 holds an edge.

The nearest rival comparisons reinforce the overall positioning. The RX 560X sits within 1.3% of cards like the RTX 2070 and Tesla K80, which are much more powerful on paper. The Tesla M4 sits within 0.9% of cards like the GTX 690 and RX 7600 XT, but it does not pull ahead of any of them. The RX 560X's percentile rank of 62 versus the Tesla M4's 60 is a small but consistent gap.

In the end, the pick depends on the use case. For a general-purpose GPU that can handle compute and display output, the RX 560X is the better choice. For a low-power, single-slot compute accelerator in a server or dense deployment, the Tesla M4 has merits. But the benchmark data favors the AMD card in raw compute, and the Vulkan advantage alone makes it the stronger option for most users.