NVIDIA GeForce 930A vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce 930A vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M

The NVIDIA GeForce 930A and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M represent two distinct eras of mobile graphics, separated by four years of architectural evolution. The 930A, a Maxwell-based part from 2015, outscores the older Fermi-based GTX 560M from 2011 in the database's Geekbench OpenCL test, 5317 to 4855, a 9.5% advantage. While both are end-of-life products aimed at portable devices, the data shows they achieve their results through very different design philosophies, and each retains a specific niche where its characteristics matter more than raw score.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark split is clear: the 930A wins the single recorded head-to-head test, Geekbench OpenCL, with a score of 5317 against 4855 for the GTX 560M. That 9.5% delta is the entire competitive picture in terms of measured performance, and it places the 930A in the 31st percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the GTX 560M sits in the 28th percentile. The 930A's win is not a narrow one; it is a consistent margin across the compute workload that OpenCL represents.

However, the GTX 560M does not lose everywhere when considering the broader context of its specifications. Its memory subsystem is substantially wider and faster on paper: 192-bit bus with 60.00 GB/s bandwidth and GDDR5 memory, versus the 930A's 64-bit bus with 16.02 GB/s of DDR3 bandwidth. In bandwidth-bound scenarios, the GTX 560M's advantage is qualitative even if the OpenCL score does not reflect it. The GTX 560M also has more ROPS (24 vs 8) and more TMUs (32 vs 24), which historically favors fill-rate-heavy workloads like high-resolution texture mapping.

The 930A wins in efficiency and modern feature support. Its 33 W TDP is less than half the GTX 560M's 75 W, making it far better suited to thin-and-light systems. It also boasts Vulkan 1.4 support, a newer API that the GTX 560M lacks entirely (no Vulkan listed). For users prioritizing compute performance per watt or access to modern graphics APIs, the 930A is the clear choice. For users prioritizing raw memory bandwidth and fill rate in legacy DirectX workloads, the GTX 560M retains theoretical advantages, though the benchmark data does not directly confirm a win for it in any recorded test.

Architecture Differences

The 930A is built on the GM108 chip using NVIDIA's Maxwell architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 1,020 million transistors into a compact 77 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.2M per mm². The GTX 560M uses the GF116 chip with the older Fermi 2.0 architecture, also from TSMC but on a 40 nm process. It contains more transistors (1,170 million) but on a much larger 238 mm² die, giving a density of just 4.9M per mm². This density gap is the core of the generational difference: Maxwell is far more efficient at packing compute resources.

The compute configuration differs sharply. The 930A has 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPS, with a base clock of 928 MHz and boost of 941 MHz. Its pixel rate is 7.528 GPixel/s and texture rate is 22.58 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 722.7 GFLOPS. The GTX 560M has only 192 shading units but 32 TMUs and 24 ROPS, with no base or boost clock listed in the database. Its pixel rate is 6.200 GPixel/s and texture rate is 24.80 GTexel/s, with FP32 of 595.2 GFLOPS. The 930A wins on shading throughput and pixel fill, while the GTX 560M wins on texture rate, a split that reflects different design priorities.

Memory is a major differentiator. The 930A uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, delivering 16.02 GB/s of bandwidth at 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective). The GTX 560M uses 1536 MB (1.5 GB) of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 60.00 GB/s at 625 MHz (2.5 Gbps effective). The GTX 560M's bandwidth is nearly four times higher, which is a massive advantage for memory-intensive operations. The 930A compensates with a smaller, more efficient architecture that requires less bandwidth to achieve its compute results.

Feature support also diverges. Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The 930A adds Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 560M has no Vulkan support listed. The 930A uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 bus interface, while the GTX 560M uses MXM-B (3.0), reflecting its MXM module form factor. The 930A is listed as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors, while the GTX 560M is an MXM module, also with no power connectors. Both are end-of-life, but the 930A's release date of March 12, 2015, versus May 29, 2011, shows a four-year gap in design philosophy.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the 930A scores 5317, while the GTX 560M scores 4855. The 930A wins by 462 points, a delta of 9.5%. This is a decisive margin in compute performance, and it is consistent with the 930A's higher FP32 rating (722.7 GFLOPS vs 595.2 GFLOPS) and higher shading unit count (384 vs 192). The 930A is processing more floating-point operations per second, and OpenCL is a compute-oriented benchmark that directly exercises this capability.

The GTX 560M's closest rivals in the database give context to its score. It sits at 4855, which is within 0.2% of the GeForce 940MX (4844), within 0.2% of the AMD Radeon R6 M255DX (4867), within 0.8% of the GeForce GTS 450 (4893), and within 0.9% of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB (4901). The last comparison is striking: a modern RTX 50-series part scores only marginally higher in this OpenCL workload, though the database does not list the RTX 5060 Ti's full specifications for context. The GTX 560M is effectively in a dead heat with these very different GPUs, showing that its age does not make it uncompetitive in compute tasks.

The 930A's nearest rivals are similarly clustered. It scores 5317, which is 0.1% below the GeForce 840M (5322), 0.2% above the GeForce GTX 980M (5308), 0.6% above the GeForce 940M (5284), and 0.8% below the AMD Radeon R7 M445 (5358). The presence of the GTX 980M, a high-end part from the same generation, in this cluster is notable: the entry-level 930A matches it in OpenCL score, proof of Maxwell's efficiency. The 930A's 9.5% lead over the GTX 560M is therefore not an anomaly; it is the result of a generational leap in compute density.

Breaking down the win further: the 930A's higher shading unit count (384 vs 192) gives it a 2x advantage in raw ALU throughput, and its higher boost clock (941 MHz vs no listed clock for the GTX 560M) helps close any per-clock efficiency gap. The GTX 560M's higher texture rate (24.80 GTexel/s vs 22.58 GTexel/s) does not translate to an OpenCL win, because texture units are less relevant to compute workloads than shading units. The 930A's higher pixel rate (7.528 GPixel/s vs 6.200 GPixel/s) is a smaller margin, but it still contributes to the overall score.

The Verdict

The data points to the NVIDIA GeForce 930A as the overall winner. It beats the GTX 560M by 9.5% in the only recorded benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, and it does so while consuming less than half the power (33 W vs 75 W). It also supports Vulkan 1.4, a modern API that the GTX 560M cannot use. For any user running compute workloads, modern APIs, or efficiency-sensitive tasks, the 930A is the better choice.

The GTX 560M is not without merit, but its advantages are theoretical rather than measured. Its 60.00 GB/s memory bandwidth and 192-bit bus are vastly superior to the 930A's 16.02 GB/s and 64-bit bus, and its 24 ROPS versus 8 ROPS suggests better fill-rate performance in certain legacy workloads. However, the database records no benchmark where the GTX 560M wins, and its lower FP32 (595.2 GFLOPS vs 722.7 GFLOPS) means it will lag in compute-heavy tasks.

For a user prioritizing raw memory bandwidth and texture throughput in older games, the GTX 560M may still have a role, but the 930A's combination of higher compute score, better efficiency, and modern API support makes it the recommended pick for nearly all scenarios. The 9.5% gap is decisive, and the architectural advantages of Maxwell over Fermi are clear. If the choice is between these two, the 930A is the data-backed winner.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 930A scores 5317, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M scores 4855. The 930A leads by 9.5%.

Q: How much memory bandwidth does each GPU have?

A: The GTX 560M has 60.00 GB/s of bandwidth from its 192-bit GDDR5 interface. The 930A has 16.02 GB/s from its 64-bit DDR3 interface.

Q: Does the GTX 560M support Vulkan?

A: No, the GTX 560M has no Vulkan support listed in the database. The 930A supports Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The 930A has a TDP of 33 W, while the GTX 560M has a TDP of 75 W. The 930A uses less than half the power.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The 930A has 384 shading units, while the GTX 560M has 192 shading units. The 930A has exactly double the count.

Q: How does the 930A compare to the GTX 980M in OpenCL?

A: The 930A scores 5317, which is 0.2% higher than the GTX 980M's score of 5308, despite the GTX 980M being a higher-tier part.