AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE Comparison

# AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE

The AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE occupy the same performance tier despite being separated by seven years of GPU architecture evolution. The AMD integrated part, built on GCN 5.0 with a Raven-M chip, edges out the older NVIDIA discrete card in the single benchmark where both are measured, posting an average benchmark score of 7203 against the GTX 560 SE's 7171. Both GPUs sit at the 39th percentile among all GPUs, meaning they deliver essentially identical overall performance in the database's aggregate scoring.

Where Each One Wins

The data shows a narrow but clear overall victory for the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile, which wins the sole head-to-head benchmark available. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Vega 8 Mobile scores 7435, while the GTX 560 SE scores 7171, a 3.7% advantage for the AMD part. This is the only benchmark where both GPUs have recorded scores, so the win tally stands at 1-0 in favor of the integrated AMD solution.

Breaking down where each GPU excels requires looking beyond the head-to-head comparison. The Vega 8 Mobile also has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 6970, a test the GTX 560 SE cannot run because its feature set lacks Vulkan support. This gives the AMD part a meaningful edge in modern API workloads, particularly in scenarios where developers target Vulkan for cross-platform compatibility.

The GTX 560 SE's strengths are less apparent in the benchmark data, as it only has one recorded score. However, the NVIDIA card's discrete design with dedicated GDDR5 memory gives it architectural advantages in memory-intensive tasks that rely on consistent bandwidth rather than shared system memory. The 91.87 GB/s of dedicated bandwidth on the GTX 560 SE contrasts sharply with the Vega 8 Mobile's system-dependent memory performance, which shifts the balance in favor of the NVIDIA card when memory traffic is the bottleneck.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile uses GCN 5.0 architecture built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, packing 4,940 million transistors into a 210 mm² die with a transistor density of 23.5M per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE uses the older Fermi 2.0 architecture on a 40 nm process at TSMC, with 1,950 million transistors on a larger 332 mm² die, yielding just 5.9M transistors per mm².

The AMD chip is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) designed for mobile platforms, with the GPU sharing system memory rather than having dedicated VRAM. This is reflected in the memory specifications: the Vega 8 Mobile uses system shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth, while the GTX 560 SE has 1024 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 192-bit bus with 91.87 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 560 SE's memory clock is 957 MHz, translating to 3.8 Gbps effective.

Shader resources differ significantly between the two. The Vega 8 Mobile has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 8 render output units. The GTX 560 SE has fewer shading units at 288, but more texture mapping units at 48 and more render output units at 24. This distribution suggests the NVIDIA card is better suited for pixel-heavy work, while the AMD part excels at compute-style workloads that leverage its higher shader count.

The Vega 8 Mobile also supports FP16 compute with a 2:1 ratio, delivering 2.255 TFLOPS of half-precision performance, whereas the GTX 560 SE has no FP16 capability. In FP32, the AMD part outputs 1,127.4 GFLOPS compared to the GTX 560 SE's 847.9 GFLOPS, a 33% raw compute advantage.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, where the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile scores 7435 against the GTX 560 SE's 7171. The 3.7% delta translates to a 264-point gap, which is modest but consistent with the average score difference between the two GPUs.

The Vega 8 Mobile's average benchmark score of 7203 is 0.4% higher than the GTX 560 SE's 7171. This narrow margin places the two GPUs in a statistical tie for practical purposes, but the AMD part holds a slight edge in the aggregate data. The nearest rivals list reinforces this picture: the GTX 560 SE's closest competitor is the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 with an average score of 7170 (0% delta), while the Vega 8 Mobile's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 at 7222 (-0.3% delta). Both GPUs are also within 0.6% of the GeForce GTX 970's average score of 7157, which is unusual given that the GTX 970 is a far more powerful card in most workloads.

The Vulkan benchmark on the Vega 8 Mobile is notable even without a direct comparison. A score of 6970 in Vulkan shows the AMD architecture handles modern low-level APIs well, and this capability is entirely absent from the GTX 560 SE, which lists no Vulkan support in its API specifications. This makes the AMD part a better choice for modern game engines that default to Vulkan or DirectX 12, where the Vega 8 Mobile supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every measurable specification. The process node is a major differentiator: the Vega 8 Mobile uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, while the GTX 560 SE uses a 40 nm process at TSMC. This drives the transistor count difference, with AMD packing 4,940 million transistors versus NVIDIA's 1,950 million, and the die size difference, with AMD at 210 mm² versus NVIDIA's larger 332 mm².

The memory subsystems are fundamentally incompatible in design. The Vega 8 Mobile uses system shared memory with no dedicated VRAM, no fixed bus width, and bandwidth that is system dependent. The GTX 560 SE has 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 192-bit bus with fixed 91.87 GB/s bandwidth and a 957 MHz memory clock (3.8 Gbps effective). This means the GTX 560 SE delivers predictable memory performance, while the Vega 8 Mobile's memory throughput varies with the host system's RAM configuration.

Shader counts and derived rates differ substantially. The Vega 8 Mobile has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 8 ROPs, producing a pixel rate of 8.808 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 35.23 GTexel/s. The GTX 560 SE has 288 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, yielding a pixel rate of 8.832 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 35.33 GTexel/s. Notably, the NVIDIA card's pixel and texture rates are slightly higher than the AMD part's, despite the AMD card's higher shader count and FP32 throughput.

Power and physical specifications contrast sharply. The Vega 8 Mobile has a 25 W TDP, is an IGP with no power connectors, and uses a bus interface of IGP. The GTX 560 SE has a 150 W TDP, is a dual-slot card requiring 2x 6-pin power connectors, uses PCIe 2.0 x16, and has a length of 210 mm (8.3 inches). The NVIDIA card also requires a 450 W suggested power supply, while the AMD IGP has no such requirement since it draws power from the host processor's socket.

API support differs in key areas. Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6, but the Vega 8 Mobile supports DirectX 12 (12_1) whereas the GTX 560 SE supports DirectX 12 (11_0). The AMD part supports Vulkan 1.3, while the GTX 560 SE has no Vulkan support listed. The Vega 8 Mobile also supports FP16 compute, which the GTX 560 SE lacks entirely.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 7203, which is 0.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE's average score of 7171.

Q: Does the GTX 560 SE support Vulkan?

A: No. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE lists no Vulkan support in its API specifications, while the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile supports Vulkan 1.3.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two GPUs?

A: The Vega 8 Mobile uses system shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth and no fixed bus width. The GTX 560 SE has 1024 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 192-bit bus with 91.87 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has higher raw FP32 compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile delivers 1,127.4 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is 33% higher than the GTX 560 SE's 847.9 GFLOPS.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The Vega 8 Mobile has a 25 W TDP and requires no power connectors, while the GTX 560 SE has a 150 W TDP, requires 2x 6-pin power connectors, and needs a 450 W suggested power supply.

Q: Which GPU wins in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile scores 7435 in Geekbench OpenCL, beating the GTX 560 SE's score of 7171 by 3.7% (264 points).