GPU Comparison

NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 560 and Intel’s Arc A380 represent two very different eras of GPU design, separated by more than a decade of architectural evolution. The GTX 560 is a Fermi 2.0-era card from 2011, built on a 40 nm process, while the Arc A380 is Intel’s Alchemist-generation entry point from 2022, fabricated on a 6 nm node. In the single head-to-head benchmark available, the Arc A380 decisively outperforms the GTX 560, but the older card holds its own in specific legacy scenarios. The data shows a clear generational gap, yet each GPU has distinct strengths that matter depending on the workload.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A380 is the outright winner in raw compute and modern API support. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 38,224 is 322% higher than the GTX 560’s 9,058, a delta of -76.3% from the NVIDIA card’s perspective. This massive margin reflects the A380’s architectural advantages: 1,024 shading units versus 336, a 6 GB GDDR6 memory pool versus 1 GB GDDR5, and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) with hardware ray tracing. For any modern workload—compute, content creation, or contemporary gaming—the A380 is the only viable choice between the two.

The GTX 560’s wins are more subtle and contextual. It matches the A380 in ROP count (32 each) and supports OpenGL 4.6, the same version as the Intel card. Its PCIe 2.0 x16 interface, while older, provides full 16-lane bandwidth, whereas the A380 uses PCIe 4.0 x8. In older DirectX 11 or OpenGL titles from the GTX 560’s era, the Fermi architecture’s mature driver stack and lower memory latency could theoretically offer smoother performance, though the benchmark data does not directly measure this. The GTX 560 also has a higher percentile ranking (45th vs 44th) among all GPUs, suggesting its legacy performance profile is slightly more balanced relative to its contemporaries.

For users running legacy software that relies on DirectX 11_0 or earlier, the GTX 560’s API support (DirectX 12 (11_0)) is sufficient, but the A380’s PassMark DirectX 9 score of 73 and DirectX 10 score of 37 indicate it handles older APIs adequately. The A380 wins in every measurable category: compute, memory bandwidth, texture fill, and pixel throughput. The GTX 560’s only theoretical advantage is its 256-bit memory bus, which provides lower latency per byte compared to the A380’s 96-bit bus, though the A380’s 186.0 GB/s bandwidth far exceeds the GTX 560’s 128.0 GB/s.

Architecture Differences

The fundamental architectural split is stark. The GTX 560 uses NVIDIA’s Fermi 2.0 architecture, built on a 40 nm TSMC process with 1,950 million transistors on a 332 mm² die. The Arc A380 uses Intel’s Xe-HPG architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 6 nm node with 7,200 million transistors packed into a 157 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 45.9M per mm² for the A380 versus just 5.9M per mm² for the GTX 560—a 7.8x density advantage for Intel’s card.

The A380’s memory subsystem is fundamentally newer: 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus versus 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. While the GTX 560 has a wider bus, the A380’s faster memory clock (1,937 MHz vs 1,000 MHz) and newer memory type deliver 45% more bandwidth (186.0 GB/s vs 128.0 GB/s). The A380 also features 8 dedicated ray tracing cores, a capability entirely absent from the GTX 560, which lacks any RT hardware. The A380’s shading unit count (1,024) is over three times higher, and its texture units (64 vs 56) and texture fill rate (131.2 GTexel/s vs 45.36 GTexel/s) are substantially higher.

Feature-wise, the A380 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and has a base clock of 2,000 MHz with a boost of 2,050 MHz. The GTX 560 has no base or boost clock listed, only a memory clock of 1,000 MHz (4 Gbps effective). The A380 also supports FP16 compute at 8.397 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the GTX 560 has no FP16 capability listed. The power envelope is dramatically different: the A380 draws 75 W TDP versus the GTX 560’s 150 W, requiring only a 250 W PSU versus 450 W.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single direct comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, where the Intel Arc A380 scores 38,224 against the GTX 560’s 9,058. This represents a 76.3% deficit for the NVIDIA card, meaning the A380 is roughly 4.2x faster in this compute test. This is the largest measurable gap between the two cards and reflects the A380’s superior FP32 throughput (4.198 TFLOPS vs 1,088.6 GFLOPS) and memory bandwidth.

Beyond this direct test, the A380’s other benchmark results paint a consistent picture. Its PassMark G3D score is 6,252, with a DirectX 11 score of 38, DirectX 12 score of 35, and DirectX 9 score of 73. The GTX 560 has no corresponding PassMark scores in the data, so direct comparison is impossible, but the A380’s Geekbench Vulkan score of 36,736 further confirms its compute superiority. The A380’s nearest rivals in overall score include the AMD FirePro W5170M (8,595, delta -0.4%) and NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458, delta 1.2%), all within a tight 1.4% band, indicating the A380’s average score of 8,558 is competitive with mid-range mobile GPUs.

The GTX 560’s nearest rivals are the NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition (9,037, delta 0.2%) and GeForce GTX 660 (9,022, delta 0.4%), showing its 9,058 score is virtually identical to those cards. This places the GTX 560 in a performance tier that is roughly 4x below the A380 in compute, but its score is remarkably consistent with its contemporaries, suggesting Fermi 2.0 was well-optimized for OpenCL workloads of its era.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification:

• Process Node: 40 nm (GTX 560) vs 6 nm (A380)
• Transistors: 1,950 million vs 7,200 million
• Die Size: 332 mm² vs 157 mm²
• Transistor Density: 5.9M / mm² vs 45.9M / mm²
• Base Clock: Not listed vs 2,000 MHz
• Boost Clock: Not listed vs 2,050 MHz
• Memory Size: 1,024 MB vs 6 GB
• Memory Type: GDDR5 vs GDDR6
• Memory Bus: 256 bit vs 96 bit
• Memory Clock: 1,000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) vs 1,937 MHz (15.5 Gbps effective)
• Memory Bandwidth: 128.0 GB/s vs 186.0 GB/s
• Shading Units: 336 vs 1,024
• TMUs: 56 vs 64
• ROPs: 32 vs 32 (same)
• Ray Tracing Cores: None vs 8
• Pixel Rate: 11.34 GPixel/s vs 65.60 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: 45.36 GTexel/s vs 131.2 GTexel/s
• FP32: 1,088.6 GFLOPS vs 4.198 TFLOPS
• FP16: Not listed vs 8.397 TFLOPS (2:1)
• TDP: 150 W vs 75 W
• Power Connectors: 2x 6-pin vs 1x 8-pin
• Suggested PSU: 450 W vs 250 W
• Bus Interface: PCIe 2.0 x16 vs PCIe 4.0 x8
• Display Outputs: 2x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a vs 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 2.0
• DirectX: 12 (11_0) vs 12 Ultimate (12_2)
• Vulkan: Not listed vs 1.4
• Release Date: 2011-05-16 vs 2022-06-13
• Launch MSRP: 199 USD (GTX 560) vs 149 USD (A380)

The GTX 560 has a longer length (210 mm vs 222 mm is actually shorter) and lacks height/width dimensions, while the A380 is specified at 114 mm height and 42 mm width. The A380 is dual-slot like the GTX 560 but uses a single 8-pin connector instead of two 6-pin connectors.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in compute workloads?

A: The Intel Arc A380 is dramatically faster, scoring 38,224 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the GTX 560’s 9,058, a 76.3% advantage for Intel. The A380’s FP32 throughput of 4.198 TFLOPS is nearly 4x the GTX 560’s 1,088.6 GFLOPS.

Q: Does the GTX 560 support ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 560 has no ray tracing cores listed, while the Arc A380 includes 8 dedicated RT cores. The A380 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing features, while the GTX 560 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0).

Q: Which card has better memory bandwidth?

A: The Arc A380, with 186.0 GB/s from 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus. The GTX 560 has 128.0 GB/s from 1 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 256-bit bus, but the older memory type and lower clock speed result in 31% less bandwidth.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Arc A380 has a 75 W TDP and requires a 250 W PSU with a single 8-pin connector. The GTX 560 has a 150 W TDP, needs a 450 W PSU, and uses two 6-pin connectors.

Q: Which card is better for modern gaming APIs?

A: The Arc A380 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, making it fully compatible with current titles. The GTX 560 only supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and lacks Vulkan support entirely, limiting it to older games.

Q: How do these cards compare to their closest rivals?

A: The GTX 560’s 9,058 score is within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (9,022) and 0.2% of the TITAN V CEO Edition (9,037). The Arc A380’s average score of 8,558 is within 1.4% of the AMD Radeon 880M (8,436) and 1.2% of the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458).