NVIDIA GeForce 930M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records a single head-to-head benchmark between these two mobile graphics processors, and the result is a narrow victory for the newer part. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA GeForce 930M scores 5046, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M trails at 4855. That works out to a 3.8% advantage for the 930M, a meaningful but hardly overwhelming margin.

Context from the nearest rivals helps clarify what those numbers mean. The GTX 560M's 4855 score places it within a very tight cluster: it is 0.2% ahead of the GeForce 940MX (4844), 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon R6 M255DX (4867), 0.8% behind the GeForce GTS 450 (4893), and 0.9% behind the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB (4901). This is a remarkably dense pack, with less than one percentage point separating the GTX 560M from four other parts spanning very different generations and market tiers. The data suggests that for OpenCL workloads, the GTX 560M sits squarely in a performance plateau where architectural age matters less than raw throughput.

The 930M's 5046 score tells a slightly different story. Its nearest rivals include the GeForce GT 645M at 4411 (the 930M is 0.5% faster), the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 at 4360 (the 930M leads by 0.7%), the GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 at 4335 (a 1.2% advantage), and the AMD FirePro W2100 at 4295 (a 2.2% lead). The 930M is the clear top performer in this group, though its 26th percentile ranking among all GPUs is actually slightly lower than the GTX 560M's 28th percentile. That apparent contradiction is explained by the different rival pools: the 930M's competitors in this range are generally slower, while the GTX 560M finds itself alongside faster modern parts.

It is notably the 930M also has a separate Vulkan benchmark score of 3729 in the database, while the GTX 560M has no Vulkan result recorded. That absence is itself informative: the older Fermi architecture lacks Vulkan support in the database records, whereas the Maxwell-based 930M lists Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility. For any workload that relies on Vulkan, the 930M is effectively the only option of the two.

Architecture Differences

The two chips represent distinct eras of NVIDIA mobile GPU design, and the architectural gap is substantial.

The GTX 560M uses the GF116 chip, built on Fermi 2.0 architecture, produced on TSMC's 40 nm process. It packs 1,170 million transistors into a die size of 238 mm², yielding a transistor density of 4.9 million per square millimeter. The 930M, by contrast, uses the GM108S chip with Maxwell architecture on a 28 nm process. It contains 1,020 million transistors but on a much smaller 77 mm² die, achieving 13.2 million transistors per square millimeter. That is nearly three times the density, a direct consequence of the process node shrink.

Memory configurations diverge sharply. The GTX 560M carries 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 60.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The 930M has 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, which produces just 12.80 GB/s. The bandwidth gap is nearly 5:1 in favor of the older card, a reminder that memory subsystem design can outweigh generational improvements in some scenarios.

The compute resources tell a more nuanced story. The GTX 560M has 192 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 24 ROPs. The 930M has 384 shading units, double the count, but only 24 TMUs and 8 ROPs. Raw shader throughput does not translate directly to performance, as the head-to-head result shows. The GTX 560M's pixel rate is 6.200 GPixel/s versus the 930M's 4.392 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 24.80 GTexel/s against 13.18 GTexel/s. In FP32 compute, the GTX 560M reaches 595.2 GFLOPS, while the 930M is lower at 421.6 GFLOPS.

Clock behavior also differs. The 930M lists a base clock of 549 MHz and a boost clock of 549 MHz, meaning it runs at a fixed frequency with no dynamic range. The GTX 560M has no base or boost clocks recorded, only a memory clock of 625 MHz, which translates to 2.5 Gbps effective. The 930M's memory clock is 800 MHz (1600 Mbps effective).

Power consumption is another major divider. The GTX 560M is rated at 75 W TDP and comes as an MXM Module with no power connectors. The 930M is rated at just 33 W TDP and is integrated as an IGP on the motherboard. The 930M also uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 bus interface, while the GTX 560M uses the older MXM-B (3.0) standard.

Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The 930M adds Vulkan 1.4 support, while the GTX 560M has no Vulkan entry in the database. The 930M belongs to the GeForce 900M generation, released in March 2015, with the GeForce 800M as predecessor and GeForce 10 Mobile as successor. The GTX 560M is from the GeForce 500M generation, released in May 2011, with the GeForce 400M before it and GeForce 600M after. Both are marked end-of-life.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data shows one clear winner in the only recorded test, but the architectural profile suggests each card has distinct strengths that would favor different use cases.

The 930M wins the Geekbench OpenCL test by 3.8%, and it is the only one of the two with a Vulkan score. For general compute tasks that leverage OpenCL or Vulkan, the 930M is the stronger choice based on the recorded measurements. Its higher shading unit count (384 versus 192) may contribute to this result, even though its memory bandwidth is far lower. The 930M also draws less than half the power (33 W versus 75 W), which matters in thin-and-light laptops where thermal headroom is limited.

The GTX 560M, despite losing the head-to-head, has clear advantages in memory bandwidth (60.00 GB/s versus 12.80 GB/s), pixel fill rate (6.200 GPixel/s versus 4.392 GPixel/s), texture fill rate (24.80 GTexel/s versus 13.18 GTexel/s), and FP32 compute (595.2 GFLOPS versus 421.6 GFLOPS). These metrics would typically favor workloads that are bandwidth-bound or fill-rate-bound, such as high-resolution texture-heavy rendering or certain types of pixel processing. The GTX 560M's larger memory bus (192-bit versus 64-bit) could also help in scenarios where memory capacity per access matters more than raw capacity.

The GTX 560M also has a higher percentile ranking at 28 versus the 930M's 26, meaning it sits above a slightly larger fraction of all GPUs in the database, even though its absolute benchmark score is lower. This reflects the different competitive landscapes each card occupies.

For gaming at the time of release, the GTX 560M's superior bandwidth and fill rates would likely have made it the more capable part for demanding 3D titles, though the database only records compute benchmarks. The 930M's Maxwell architecture brings efficiency and modern API support, including Vulkan, which extends its relevance to newer software.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 930M scores 5046 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M scores 4855. The 930M leads by 3.8%.

Q: How much memory bandwidth does each card provide?

A: The GTX 560M has 60.00 GB/s of bandwidth from GDDR5 memory on a 192-bit bus. The 930M has 12.80 GB/s from DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus.

Q: Do both GPUs support Vulkan?

A: No. The 930M lists Vulkan 1.4 API support and has a recorded Vulkan benchmark score of 3729. The GTX 560M has no Vulkan support or benchmark score in the database.

Q: What are the power consumption ratings?

A: The GTX 560M is rated at 75 W TDP, while the 930M is rated at 33 W TDP.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

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

Q: What are the transistor counts and die sizes?

A: The GTX 560M has 1,170 million transistors on a 238 mm² die. The 930M has 1,020 million transistors on a 77 mm² die.

The Verdict

The data points to a split decision, with each card winning on different criteria.

For raw compute performance in the recorded benchmark, the NVIDIA GeForce 930M is the winner. Its 5046 OpenCL score beats the GTX 560M's 4855 by 3.8%, and it is the only one of the two with Vulkan support, adding a 3729 Vulkan score to its profile. The 930M also consumes 33 W versus the GTX 560M's 75 W, making it the more efficient choice for modern thin laptops. Its 384 shading units suggest a design optimized for parallel compute workloads, and its 28 nm process with 13.2M transistors per mm² represents a far more advanced manufacturing node.

However, the GTX 560M is not without its own claims. It offers 60.00 GB/s of memory bandwidth, nearly five times the 930M's 12.80 GB/s, along with higher pixel rate (6.200 GPixel/s versus 4.392 GPixel/s), higher texture rate (24.80 GTexel/s versus 13.18 GTexel/s), and higher FP32 throughput (595.2 GFLOPS versus 421.6 GFLOPS). It also holds a 28th percentile ranking versus the 930M's 26th, indicating it outperforms a slightly larger share of the GPU population. For workloads that depend on memory throughput or fill rate, the GTX 560M would likely be the better part, even though the database's single compute benchmark does not reflect that.

The practical recommendation depends on the intended use. For modern compute applications, particularly those using Vulkan, the 930M is the clear pick. For legacy applications or scenarios where memory bandwidth is the bottleneck, the GTX 560M retains a structural advantage. Both are end-of-life products, so the decision is academic for new purchases, but the data shows that the newer Maxwell part wins the recorded test while the older Fermi part wins on several key hardware specifications.