NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010

The GeForce GTX 560 SE and the GeForce GT 1010 represent two very different eras of NVIDIA's entry-level and mid-range lineup, separated by nearly a decade of GPU architecture evolution. The GTX 560 SE, built on the 40 nm Fermi 2.0 architecture, was designed for a time when power draw was a secondary concern to raw compute throughput, while the GT 1010, on the 14 nm Pascal architecture, focuses on efficiency and modern feature support. In the single benchmark available, the Geekbench OpenCL test, the older GTX 560 SE scores 7171, edging out the GT 1010's 6698 by a margin of 7.1%. However, the full picture involves more than just raw compute scores; the two cards have vastly different specifications, power profiles, and feature sets that make them suited to different tasks.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU performs better in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE wins the head-to-head benchmark with a score of 7171, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 scores 6698. The GTX 560 SE holds a 7.1% advantage in this test.

Q: How do the two cards compare in terms of memory bandwidth?

A: The GTX 560 SE has a significant advantage here, featuring a 192-bit memory bus and 91.87 GB/s of bandwidth. The GT 1010, by contrast, uses a 64-bit bus and delivers 48.06 GB/s — roughly half the bandwidth of the older card.

Q: What are the power consumption differences between the two?

A: The GTX 560 SE has a TDP of 150 W and requires two 6-pin power connectors with a suggested 450 W power supply. The GT 1010 is far more efficient, with a TDP of just 30 W, no power connectors, and a suggested 200 W power supply.

Q: Which GPU offers better modern API support?

A: The GT 1010 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 560 SE only reaches DirectX 12 (11_0) and has no Vulkan support listed. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: How do their physical dimensions and slot requirements differ?

A: The GTX 560 SE is a dual-slot card measuring 210 mm (8.3 inches) in length, while the GT 1010 is a single-slot card at 147 mm (5.8 inches) long. This makes the GT 1010 substantially easier to fit in compact or low-profile systems.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two architectures?

A: The GT 1010's Pascal chip (GP108) packs 24.3 million transistors per square millimeter on a 74 mm² die, while the GTX 560 SE's Fermi 2.0 chip (GF114) has a density of just 5.9M / mm² across a much larger 332 mm² die.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 560 SE wins in raw computational throughput. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 7171 places it in the 39th percentile of all GPUs, and it sits marginally ahead of the GTX 970 (7157) and Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 (7170) in the nearest rival list. The card's compute advantage comes from its 288 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 ROPs, which together deliver 847.9 GFLOPS of FP32 performance and a texture rate of 35.33 GTexel/s. For applications that rely heavily on parallel compute — such as OpenCL-accelerated workloads — the GTX 560 SE is the stronger choice.

The GT 1010 wins in efficiency and modern feature support. Its 30 W TDP is one-fifth that of the GTX 560 SE, and its single-slot, 147 mm length makes it a far more flexible option for small form factor builds or office systems. The Pascal architecture brings DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4 support, which the Fermi-based GTX 560 SE lacks entirely (it only manages DirectX 12 (11_0)). The GT 1010 also has double the memory capacity at 2 GB compared to the GTX 560 SE's 1 GB, though the older card's wider bus and higher bandwidth compensate in bandwidth-sensitive tasks. The GT 1010's 11.74 GPixel/s pixel rate also exceeds the GTX 560 SE's 8.832 GPixel/s, giving it a fill-rate advantage that could matter in certain rendering scenarios.

Architecture Differences

The GTX 560 SE is built on the Fermi 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 40 nm process at TSMC. Its GF114 chip is large — 332 mm² — and contains 1,950 million transistors, resulting in a modest transistor density of 5.9M / mm². Fermi 2.0 was designed for high compute throughput in an era before power efficiency became the primary design constraint. The GTX 560 SE supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support.

The GT 1010, in contrast, uses the Pascal architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at Samsung. Its GP108 chip is dramatically smaller at 74 mm², yet contains 1,800 million transistors — nearly as many as the Fermi chip — achieving a density of 24.3M / mm², over four times higher. Pascal brought major efficiency gains and modern API support, including DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4. The GT 1010 also uses a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, while the GTX 560 SE uses the older PCIe 2.0 x16 standard.

The memory subsystems reflect the architectural divide. The GTX 560 SE uses 1024 MB of GDDR5 across a 192-bit bus, yielding 91.87 GB/s of bandwidth. The GT 1010 also uses GDDR5 but with 2 GB capacity on a 64-bit bus, delivering 48.06 GB/s. Clock speeds tell a similar story: the GT 1010 has a base clock of 1228 MHz and boost of 1468 MHz, while the GTX 560 SE's memory runs at 957 MHz (3.8 Gbps effective) — the GT 1010's memory runs at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), indicating a shift toward higher clock rates with narrower buses in the newer architecture.

Specification Differences

Several key specifications differ between these two GPUs. The most obvious is memory capacity: the GT 1010 offers 2 GB while the GTX 560 SE offers 1 GB. The memory bus widths are 64-bit versus 192-bit respectively, leading to a bandwidth gap where the GTX 560 SE's 91.87 GB/s more than doubles the GT 1010's 48.06 GB/s.

Compute resources also differ: the GTX 560 SE has 288 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, while the GT 1010 has 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The GTX 560 SE delivers higher texture rate (35.33 GTexel/s vs 23.49 GTexel/s) and FP32 performance (847.9 GFLOPS vs 751.6 GFLOPS), but the GT 1010 has a higher pixel rate (11.74 GPixel/s vs 8.832 GPixel/s).

Power and physical specifications differ significantly. The GTX 560 SE has a 150 W TDP, requires two 6-pin power connectors, a 450 W suggested PSU, and occupies a dual-slot form factor at 210 mm length. The GT 1010 has a 30 W TDP, needs no power connectors, works with a 200 W PSU, and is a single-slot card at 147 mm length. Display outputs also differ: the GTX 560 SE offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a, while the GT 1010 provides 1x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 2.0.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only head-to-head benchmark result is the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the GTX 560 SE scores 7171 against the GT 1010's 6698. This gives the GTX 560 SE a 7.1% lead — a meaningful margin in compute workloads, though not a dominant one. The GTX 560 SE's score places it at the 39th percentile of all GPUs, while the GT 1010 sits at the 38th percentile, so both are near the bottom of the performance distribution.

Looking at the nearest rivals provides context for each card's standing. The GTX 560 SE's score of 7171 is essentially tied with the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 (7170) and the GTX 970 (7157), while sitting slightly below the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile (7203) and GTX 750 (7222). The GT 1010's score of 6698 is within a couple of percentage points of several AMD mobile parts: it trails the Radeon R7 M370 (6764) by 1%, sits slightly above the Radeon R7 M460 (6612) by 1.3%, and leads the Radeon HD 7730M (6581) by 1.8%.

The 7.1% delta in the head-to-head benchmark is consistent with the specification differences. The GTX 560 SE's higher shading unit count (288 vs 256) and much wider memory bus (192-bit vs 64-bit) provide it with the resources needed to outperform the GT 1010 in OpenCL workloads, despite the latter's higher clock speeds and more efficient architecture.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear trade-off between these two GPUs. For compute-heavy applications where raw OpenCL performance matters most, the GTX 560 SE is the superior choice — its 7.1% benchmark lead and higher FP32 throughput (847.9 GFLOPS vs 751.6 GFLOPS) make it the stronger performer in that specific metric. Its 288 shading units and 48 TMUs provide a level of parallel processing capability that the GT 1010 cannot match.

However, the GT 1010 is the more sensible pick for a modern system build focused on efficiency and compatibility. Its 30 W TDP means it can run in systems with a 200 W power supply, requires no auxiliary power connectors, and fits in single-slot, 147 mm form factors. It also offers double the VRAM (2 GB vs 1 GB) and significantly better API support, including Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (12_1), which the GTX 560 SE lacks. The GT 1010's higher pixel rate (11.74 GPixel/s vs 8.832 GPixel/s) also suggests better performance in certain pixel-bound rendering tasks.

The GTX 560 SE is a product of its era — a power-hungry (150 W TDP) dual-slot card with a massive 332 mm² die and a 40 nm process. The GT 1010 represents the opposite philosophy: a 74 mm² chip on a 14 nm process that delivers 75% of the FP32 performance while consuming only 20% of the power. If the use case is legacy compute acceleration and performance is the only metric, the GTX 560 SE wins. If the use case is a low-power, modern-featured GPU for a compact system, the GT 1010 is the data-supported choice. The benchmark results show the GTX 560 SE holds the performance crown, but the GT 1010's feature set and efficiency make it the more versatile option for contemporary workloads.