Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE and the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 occupy the same performance percentile, both sitting at the 39th percentile of all GPUs. Their average benchmark scores are nearly identical, with the GTX 560 SE posting 7171 and the Iris Pro P580 posting 7170, a difference of just 0.01 percent. This places them in a statistical dead heat, yet the data reveals that their paths to this parity could not be more different.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the result is decisive. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 scores 9082, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE scores 7171. This translates to a 21 percent advantage for the Intel part, indicating that the integrated graphics solution delivers substantially higher raw compute throughput in this specific workload. Despite this sizable win in the head-to-head, the average scores of the two GPUs remain nearly equal because the Intel part’s Vulkan score of 5258 pulls its overall average down.

Looking at the broader competitive landscape, the data shows that both GPUs are clustered tightly with other mid-range parts. The GTX 970, a much more powerful discrete card in most respects, scores 7157, which is just 0.2 percent lower than the GTX 560 SE and 0.2 percent higher than the Iris Pro P580. The AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile scores 7203, giving it a 0.4 percent edge over the GTX 560 SE and a 0.5 percent edge over the Intel part. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 leads the group with a score of 7222, sitting 0.7 percent above both the 560 SE and the Iris Pro P580. These deltas are minuscule, suggesting that within this peer group, the differences in OpenCL performance are within noise levels, except for the notable 21 percent gap in the direct comparison.

The benchmark results indicate that the Iris Pro P580’s victory is not a matter of narrow margins. A 21 percent lead in OpenCL is a substantial gap, particularly considering the fundamental differences in how these two GPUs are implemented — one as a 150 W discrete card and the other as a 15 W integrated processor. The data suggests that Intel’s integrated solution is highly optimized for compute tasks, while the older NVIDIA architecture, despite its dedicated memory and higher power budget, falls behind in this metric.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE has a marginally higher average score of 7171, compared to the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580’s average of 7170. The difference is only one point, or 0.01 percent, making them effectively tied.

Q: How much faster is the Intel Iris Pro P580 in the OpenCL benchmark?

A: The Intel part scores 9082 versus the GTX 560 SE’s 7171 in Geekbench OpenCL. This represents a 21 percent performance advantage for the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580.

Q: Does the GTX 560 SE win any benchmark comparisons?

A: No. In the head-to-head benchmark data, the Intel Iris Pro P580 records one win (in OpenCL), while the GTX 560 SE records zero wins.

Q: How does the GTX 560 SE compare to the GTX 970 in OpenCL?

A: The GTX 560 SE scores 7171, while the GTX 970 scores 7157. This gives the GTX 560 SE a 0.2 percent advantage over the GTX 970, despite the 970 being a higher-tier product in most other respects.

Q: What is the performance delta between the Iris Pro P580 and the Radeon Vega 8 Mobile?

A: The Vega 8 Mobile scores 7203, which is 0.5 percent higher than the Iris Pro P580’s average score of 7170. In the OpenCL test specifically, the Iris Pro P580’s score of 9082 would be higher, but the average includes its lower Vulkan score.

Q: Are these two GPUs in the same performance percentile?

A: Yes, both the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE and the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 are listed at the 39th percentile of all GPUs, confirming their overall performance parity in the database.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear but nuanced picture. For users prioritizing raw compute throughput in OpenCL workloads, the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 is the superior choice, delivering 21 percent higher scores than the GTX 560 SE. This is a significant margin that cannot be ignored, especially given the Intel part’s vastly lower power consumption and integrated form factor.

However, the overall average scores tell a different story. With the GTX 560 SE at 7171 and the Iris Pro P580 at 7170, the two GPUs are functionally equivalent in aggregate performance. The GTX 560 SE’s lack of a Vulkan score means its average is based solely on its OpenCL result, while the Intel part’s average is dragged down by its Vulkan score of 5258. This suggests that in mixed workloads, the GTX 560 SE may offer more consistent performance, while the Iris Pro P580 excels specifically in OpenCL but struggles in Vulkan.

The verdict depends on the workload. If the primary use case is OpenCL compute — such as certain productivity applications or compute-heavy tasks — the Intel Iris Pro P580 is the clear winner. If the use case involves Vulkan or a mix of APIs, the GTX 560 SE may be the safer bet due to its lack of a particularly weak benchmark score. The data does not support a universal recommendation; it supports a workload-specific one.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ fundamentally in their memory architecture. The GTX 560 SE features 1024 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 91.87 GB/s of bandwidth. The Iris Pro P580 uses System Shared memory, with a bus width and bandwidth that are System Dependent. This means the Intel part relies on the host system’s memory, which can be a bottleneck, while the NVIDIA card has its own fast, dedicated memory pool.

Clock speeds also differ. The GTX 560 SE’s memory runs at 957 MHz, translating to 3.8 Gbps effective. The Intel part has a base clock of 350 MHz and a boost clock of 1000 MHz, with no separate memory clock listed. The power envelope is starkly different: the GTX 560 SE has a TDP of 150 W and requires a 450 W power supply, using 2x 6-pin connectors, while the Iris Pro P580 has a TDP of just 15 W and no power connectors, as it is an integrated GPU (IGP).

The physical form factors diverge completely. The GTX 560 SE is a dual-slot card measuring 210 mm (8.3 inches) in length, with display outputs of 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. The Iris Pro P580 has no physical dimensions, no slot width beyond "IGP", and its display outputs are motherboard dependent. The bus interface also differs, with the NVIDIA card using PCIe 2.0 x16 and the Intel part using a Ring Bus.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is generational and fundamental. The GTX 560 SE is built on NVIDIA’s Fermi 2.0 architecture, using the GF114 chip, fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC. It contains 1,950 million transistors on a 332 mm² die, with a transistor density of 5.9 million per square millimeter. The Intel Iris Pro P580 uses the Skylake GT4e chip with Intel’s Generation 9.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm+ process at Intel. The Intel part has no listed transistor count, die size, or density.

Compute resources are heavily skewed toward the Intel part. The Iris Pro P580 has 576 shading units, 72 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 9 raster output units (ROPs). The GTX 560 SE has 288 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. This gives the Intel part twice the shading units and 1.5 times the TMUs, but only about a third of the ROPs. The pixel rate favors the Intel part slightly at 9.000 GPixel/s versus 8.832 GPixel/s, but the texture rate is a significant win for Intel at 72.00 GTexel/s versus 35.33 GTexel/s.

The raw compute numbers reflect these differences. The Iris Pro P580 delivers 1,152.0 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, compared to 847.9 GFLOPS for the GTX 560 SE. The Intel part also supports FP16 at 2.304 TFLOPS, while the NVIDIA card has no listed FP16 capability. API support differs as well: the GTX 560 SE supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but no Vulkan, while the Iris Pro P580 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Iris Pro P580 wins decisively in OpenCL compute, with a 21 percent lead over the GTX 560 SE in the direct head-to-head test. Its higher FP32 throughput (1,152.0 GFLOPS versus 847.9 GFLOPS) and doubled texture rate (72.00 GTexel/s versus 35.33 GTexel/s) support this outcome. The Intel part also wins on power efficiency, with a 15 W TDP versus 150 W, making it the clear choice for power-constrained systems. Additionally, its Vulkan 1.3 support gives it an API advantage, although its actual Vulkan score of 5258 is low.

The GTX 560 SE wins on memory bandwidth, with 91.87 GB/s of dedicated GDDR5 bandwidth versus the Iris Pro P580’s system-shared, system-dependent bandwidth. It also has more ROPs (24 versus 9), which could benefit certain rasterization-heavy workloads, though its pixel rate is slightly lower. The NVIDIA card’s lack of a Vulkan score in the database means it does not have a known weak point in that API, unlike the Intel part’s sub-6000 Vulkan result.

For users needing consistent performance across a single API (OpenCL), the Iris Pro P580 is the winner. For users who value dedicated memory bandwidth and might be concerned about the Intel part’s weak Vulkan showing, the GTX 560 SE holds appeal. The data shows a trade-off between raw compute throughput and memory architecture, with the Intel part winning on compute and the NVIDIA part offering more predictable memory behavior.