NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M represent two distinct eras of mobile and desktop GPU design. The GTX 560 is a desktop card from the GeForce 500 generation, built on the Fermi 2.0 architecture, while the GTX 880M is a mobile MXM module from the GeForce 800M generation, built on the Kepler architecture. Despite the GTX 880M being a newer, mobile part with a more advanced feature set, benchmark data shows a surprising outcome when comparing their compute performance directly.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison recorded in the database is the Geekbench OpenCL test. In this test, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 scores 9058 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M scores 5622 points. This results in a decisive victory for the GTX 560, which leads by a delta of 61.1 percent. This is a substantial margin, indicating that the older desktop card significantly outperforms the newer mobile part in this specific compute workload.

The GTX 560's score of 9058 places it at the 45th percentile among all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition, which scores 9037 points (a delta of 0.2 percent), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, which scores 9022 points (a delta of 0.4 percent). This shows that the GTX 560 is essentially tied with these higher-tier cards in OpenCL performance. It also sits just ahead of the AMD Radeon 550X, which scores 8918 points (a 1.6 percent delta), but it is slightly behind the AMD Radeon 890M, which scores 9210 points (a negative 1.7 percent delta).

The GTX 880M, on the other hand, has an average benchmark score of 8040 across all recorded tests, which places it at the 42nd percentile. Its OpenCL score of 5622 is significantly lower than its own Geekbench Metal score of 10458. This discrepancy highlights that the GTX 880M's performance is highly dependent on the API used. In the OpenCL test, the GTX 880M's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro P5000 (8039 points, 0 percent delta), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti (8053 points, a negative 0.2 percent delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost (8067 points, a negative 0.3 percent delta). The GTX 880M's average score is sandwiched between these cards, showing it is competitive with mid-range desktop parts from its own era.

The data clearly shows a single, dominant win for the GTX 560 in the head-to-head OpenCL benchmark. The GTX 880M does not win any of the recorded head-to-head tests. This indicates that for raw OpenCL compute tasks, the GTX 560 is the superior choice, despite its older architecture and lower transistor count.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 has a significantly higher score of 9058, compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M's score of 5622 in the same test.

Q: What is the percentage difference in their OpenCL performance?

A: The GTX 560 leads the GTX 880M by 61.1 percent in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark.

Q: How does the GTX 880M's average benchmark score compare to its OpenCL score?

A: The GTX 880M has an average benchmark score of 8040, which is higher than its OpenCL score of 5622. This average is boosted by its much higher Geekbench Metal score of 10458.

Q: What is the percentile ranking for each GPU among all GPUs?

A: The GTX 560 is at the 45th percentile, while the GTX 880M is at the 42nd percentile.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor density?

A: The GTX 880M has a higher transistor density of 12.0M per mm², compared to the GTX 560's 5.9M per mm².

Q: What is the memory size difference between the two cards?

A: The GTX 880M has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the GTX 560 has 1024 MB (1 GB) of GDDR5 memory.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data presents a clear, though limited, picture. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark recorded, the Geekbench OpenCL test, by a substantial 61.1 percent. This makes it the clear choice for any workload that relies on OpenCL compute performance. Its score of 9058 places it in the company of much more powerful cards like the NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition, indicating that its compute capabilities are disproportionately strong for its generation.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M, while losing the OpenCL comparison, shows its strength in a different area. Its Geekbench Metal score of 10458 is its highest recorded benchmark, and it is significantly higher than its OpenCL score of 5622. This suggests that the GTX 880M is better optimized for Metal-based applications, which are common in macOS environments. Its average benchmark score of 8040, which is higher than its OpenCL score, is driven by this Metal performance. Therefore, the GTX 880M is the better choice for scenarios that utilize the Metal API, where it can leverage its architectural advantages.

The GTX 880M also wins on memory capacity. With 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, it has eight times the memory of the GTX 560's 1 GB. This makes the GTX 880M far more suitable for workloads that require large framebuffers or data sets, such as high-resolution texture loading or complex compute tasks that need to hold more data on the GPU. The GTX 560's 1 GB capacity is a notable limitation in this regard.

In summary, the GTX 560 wins on raw OpenCL compute speed, while the GTX 880M wins on Metal API performance, memory capacity, and power efficiency.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in almost every key specification, reflecting their different target platforms and generations. The GTX 560 is a desktop card, while the GTX 880M is a mobile MXM module. This fundamental difference drives the rest of the specification divergence.

The GTX 560 features 336 shading units, 56 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 32 render output units (ROPs). The GTX 880M, in contrast, features a much higher count of 1536 shading units and 128 TMUs, while also having 32 ROPs. The GTX 880M's clock speeds are listed as a base of 954 MHz and a boost of 993 MHz, while the GTX 560's base and boost clocks are not recorded in the database. The GTX 560's memory runs at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective), while the GTX 880M's memory runs at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective).

Memory configuration is a major differentiator. The GTX 560 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory, while the GTX 880M has 8 GB. Both use a 256-bit memory bus, but the GTX 880M achieves a higher memory bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s compared to the GTX 560's 128.0 GB/s. The GTX 560 has a higher TDP of 150 W, while the GTX 880M has a lower TDP of 122 W. The GTX 560 uses dual-slot cooling and requires 2x 6-pin power connectors, while the GTX 880M is an MXM Module with no power connectors listed. The GTX 560 uses a PCIe 2.0 x16 bus interface, while the GTX 880M uses an MXM-B (3.0) interface.

The GTX 560 has a launch MSRP of 199 USD. The GTX 880M has no recorded launch MSRP. The GTX 560's display outputs are 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a, while the GTX 880M's outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent."

Architecture Differences

The GTX 560 and GTX 880M are built on fundamentally different architectures from NVIDIA. The GTX 560 is based on the Fermi 2.0 architecture, using the GF114 chip, while the GTX 880M is based on the Kepler architecture, using the GK104 chip. This architectural shift is a major factor in their performance and feature disparities.

The manufacturing process is a key difference. The GTX 560 is fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC, while the GTX 880M is fabricated on a smaller 28 nm process, also at TSMC. The smaller process node allows the GTX 880M to pack more transistors. The GTX 880M has 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 12.0M per mm². The GTX 560 has 1,950 million transistors on a larger 332 mm² die, giving it a much lower transistor density of 5.9M per mm². This explains how the GTX 880M can have 1536 shading units and 128 TMUs while consuming less power.

The compute capabilities reflect the architectural differences. The GTX 560 has a pixel rate of 11.34 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 45.36 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 1,088.6 GFLOPS. The GTX 880M, with its higher core counts and faster clocks, achieves a pixel rate of 31.78 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 127.1 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 3.050 TFLOPS. Despite this theoretical compute advantage, the GTX 880M's OpenCL score is much lower than the GTX 560's, suggesting that the Kepler architecture's OpenCL implementation is less efficient than Fermi's.

In terms of feature support, both GPUs support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. However, the GTX 880M also supports Vulkan 1.2.175, while the GTX 560 has no recorded Vulkan support. The GTX 880M's support for both Metal (as evidenced by its benchmark) and Vulkan makes it more versatile for modern APIs. The GTX 560, on the other hand, is limited to DirectX and OpenGL. The GTX 880M's lower TDP of 122 W, compared to the GTX 560's 150 W, also makes it a more power-efficient part, a critical feature for a mobile component.