NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 vs NVIDIA Quadro P2200 Comparison

The data presents a stark generational clash: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560, a Fermi-era consumer card from 2011, against the NVIDIA Quadro P2200, a Pascal-based professional card from 2019. The benchmark results are not close; the Quadro P2200 dominates the single available comparison. However, the specification sheet reveals more than just a performance gap, showing two fundamentally different design philosophies separated by eight years of architectural evolution.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head benchmark suite contains only one test: Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 is the definitive winner, scoring 32,344 against the GTX 560’s 9,058. That is a delta of -72% for the older card, meaning the P2200 delivers roughly 3.5 times the compute performance in this workload. The GTX 560 wins zero benchmarks in this comparison; the P2200 wins one.

This single result aligns with the broader specification divide. The GTX 560’s only advantage lies in its legacy status and the historical context of its release. It belongs to the GeForce 500 generation, with a predecessor in the GeForce 400 and a successor in the GeForce 600. The P2200, by contrast, sits in the Quadro Pascal generation, following Quadro Maxwell and preceding Quadro Volta. For modern compute tasks, the data shows no scenario where the GTX 560 comes out ahead. The P2200’s wins are not marginal; they are overwhelming, suggesting that any use case relying on raw OpenCL performance is firmly in the Quadro’s territory.

Architecture Differences

The architectural chasm is enormous. The GTX 560 uses the GF114 chip built on the Fermi 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC. It packs 1,950 million transistors into a 332 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 5.9 million per square millimeter. The P2200 uses the GP106 chip on the Pascal architecture, also from TSMC but on a 16 nm process. It contains 4,400 million transistors on a smaller 200 mm² die, achieving a density of 22.0 million transistors per square millimeter — nearly four times denser.

The core configurations reflect this gap. The GTX 560 has 336 shading units, 56 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 32 raster operation units (ROPs). The P2200 has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. That is 3.8 times more shading units and 1.4 times more TMUs in the Pascal card. The memory subsystems differ radically as well: the GTX 560 uses 1,024 MB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, while the P2200 uses 5 GB of GDDR5X on a 160-bit bus. Interestingly, the narrower bus on the P2200 still delivers higher bandwidth at 200.2 GB/s versus 128.0 GB/s for the GTX 560, thanks to faster memory clocks.

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The GTX 560 has no base or boost clock listed, only a memory clock of 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective). The P2200 has a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost clock of 1493 MHz, with memory at 1251 MHz (10 Gbps effective). The P2200 also supports newer APIs, including Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (12_1), whereas the GTX 560 only reaches DirectX 12 (11_0) and has no Vulkan support listed.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is not close. The GTX 560 scores 9,058, which places it at the 45th percentile of all GPUs. The P2200 scores 32,344 in the same test, yet its average benchmark score across all tests is 8,686, and its percentile is 44th. This apparent contradiction is worth exploring.

The P2200’s average score (8,686) is dragged down by its other benchmark results, which include Passmark tests for DirectX 9 (167), DirectX 10 (45), DirectX 11 (70), DirectX 12 (33), G2D (881), G3D (9,364), and GPU compute (3,921). The OpenCL score is an outlier on the high side for the Quadro. The GTX 560 has only one benchmark listed — the OpenCL score of 9,058 — so its average matches that figure.

In the direct head-to-head, the P2200 wins with a delta of -72% from the GTX 560’s perspective. This means the GTX 560 scores only 28% of the P2200’s OpenCL result. To put that in perspective, consider the GTX 560’s nearest rivals: the NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition scores 9,037 (0.2% higher), the GTX 660 scores 9,022 (0.4% higher), and the AMD Radeon 550X scores 8,918 (1.6% higher). The P2200’s nearest rivals include the GTX 460 v2 at 8,743 (-0.7% from the Quadro) and the RTX 3050 A Mobile at 8,746 (-0.7%). The P2200’s OpenCL score of 32,344 is so far above its own average that it sits in a different performance class entirely for that specific workload.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 is the superior card for any modern compute task. Its OpenCL score of 32,344 versus the GTX 560’s 9,058 represents a 257% advantage. The P2200 also offers 5 GB of GDDR5X memory versus 1 GB of GDDR5, a boost clock of 1493 MHz versus no boost clock at all, and support for Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (12_1). The GTX 560’s only listed advantage is its launch MSRP of 199 USD, which reflects its 2011 positioning, not its current utility.

For a user choosing between these two for a workstation or compute workload, the P2200 is the only rational pick. It has more shading units (1,280 vs. 336), more TMUs (80 vs. 56), more ROPs (40 vs. 32), higher texture rate (119.4 GTexel/s vs. 45.36 GTexel/s), higher pixel rate (59.72 GPixel/s vs. 11.34 GPixel/s), and dramatically higher FP32 performance (3.822 TFLOPS vs. 1,088.6 GFLOPS). The GTX 560’s era of relevance is over; the data shows it cannot compete on any level except historical curiosity.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 wins decisively with a score of 32,344 versus the GTX 560’s 9,058, a delta of -72% for the GTX 560.

Q: How much faster is the P2200’s memory bandwidth?

A: The P2200 offers 200.2 GB/s from its 5 GB GDDR5X memory, while the GTX 560 provides 128.0 GB/s from its 1 GB GDDR5 memory.

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

A: The P2200 has a density of 22.0 million transistors per square millimeter on a 16 nm process, while the GTX 560 has 5.9 million per square millimeter on a 40 nm process.

Q: Does the GTX 560 support Vulkan?

A: No Vulkan support is listed for the GTX 560. The P2200 supports Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the P2200’s average benchmark score across all tests?

A: The P2200’s average benchmark score is 8,686, which is lower than its single OpenCL score of 32,344 due to lower scores in Passmark DirectX and compute tests.

Q: How do the two cards compare in shading units?

A: The P2200 has 1,280 shading units, while the GTX 560 has 336 — a 3.8-fold difference in favor of the Quadro.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 | NVIDIA Quadro P2200 |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Fermi 2.0 | Pascal |

| Process Node | 40 nm | 16 nm |

| Transistors | 1,950 million | 4,400 million |

| Die Size | 332 mm² | 200 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 5.9M / mm² | 22.0M / mm² |

| Memory Size | 1024 MB | 5 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5X |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 160 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 128.0 GB/s | 200.2 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 336 | 1280 |

| TMUs | 56 | 80 |

| ROPs | 32 | 40 |

| Base Clock | None | 1000 MHz |

| Boost Clock | None | 1493 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) | 1251 MHz (10 Gbps effective) |

| Pixel Rate | 11.34 GPixel/s | 59.72 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 45.36 GTexel/s | 119.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1,088.6 GFLOPS | 3.822 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | None | 59.72 GFLOPS (1:64) |

| TDP | 150 W | 75 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | Single-slot |

| Power Connectors | 2x 6-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | 250 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 2x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a | 4x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 (11_0) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan Support | None | 1.4 |

| Release Date | 2011-05-16 | 2019-06-09 |

| Generation | GeForce 500 | Quadro Pascal (Px200) |

| Predecessor | GeForce 400 | Quadro Maxwell |

| Successor | GeForce 600 | Quadro Volta |