AMD Radeon RX 6800 vs NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q Comparison

The Verdict

The data presents a stark, one-sided comparison. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 is the decisive winner in the single benchmark where both GPUs appear, and its overall specification sheet is so far ahead that the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q can only be recommended for a very narrow, legacy-specific use case. The RX 6800 is the clear choice for anyone building a system that requires modern graphics performance, even as an end-of-life product. The GRID M60-1Q, conversely, is a relic from 2015 designed for server-side virtualization, not desktop gaming or modern compute. Its lack of display outputs and its age make it unsuitable for virtually all consumer scenarios.

Benchmark results indicate the RX 6800 outperforms the GRID M60-1Q by a substantial margin in the Geekbench Vulkan test, scoring 115107 against 31220, a delta of -72.9% for the NVIDIA card. This is not a close contest. The GRID M60-1Q's average benchmark score of 31220 places it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (31206) and the NVIDIA TITAN RTX (31676), which is a much older and higher-tier card. The RX 6800, with an average score of 30095, sits in the 75th percentile, but its nearest rivals—the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (29945) and RTX 2080 Ti (29783)—are all modern gaming cards. The percentile ranking is misleading here; the RX 6800 competes in a much faster, modern league, whereas the GRID M60-1Q is benchmarked against other professional and high-end cards from its own era.

If you are looking for a usable GPU for a modern PC, even one that is end-of-life, the RX 6800 is the only sensible option from this data. If you are maintaining a legacy virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment that specifically requires the GRID M60-1Q's Maxwell architecture and its 1 GB frame buffer configuration, then it has a purpose, but it is not a product for individual builders.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two cards is enormous. The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q is built on the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, using the GM204 chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 5,200 million transistors onto a 398 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 13.1M / mm². In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 uses the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 21 chip, built on a much more advanced 7 nm process, also at TSMC. This newer node allows AMD to fit 26,800 million transistors onto a 520 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 51.5M / mm²—nearly four times higher than the NVIDIA card.

This density advantage translates directly into feature and performance differences. The RX 6800 is a modern GPU with 60 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the Maxwell-based GRID M60-1Q. The RX 6800 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GRID M60-1Q is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the underlying hardware capabilities are generations apart.

The GRID M60-1Q was designed for a specific purpose: virtualized graphics workloads. Its "No outputs" display configuration is a clear indicator that it was never intended to be plugged into a monitor. The RX 6800, by contrast, is a standard consumer graphics card with a full complement of display outputs, including 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is the Geekbench Vulkan test, and it is a landslide. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 scores 115107, while the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q scores just 31220. This represents a delta of -72.9% for the NVIDIA card, meaning the RX 6800 is more than 3.5 times faster in this specific API workload. This is not a marginal win; it is a generational obliteration.

To put the GRID M60-1Q's score into perspective, it is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (31206) and only 0.4% ahead of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER (31087). However, it is 1.4% behind the NVIDIA TITAN RTX (31676). The RX 6800's score of 115107 puts it in a completely different performance class, as evidenced by its nearest rivals: the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (29945, 0.5% behind), the GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile (29928, 0.6% behind), and the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (29783, 1% behind). The RX 6800 is even 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (30433).

The wins tally confirms this: the GRID M60-1Q has 0 benchmark wins, while the RX 6800 has 1. There is no scenario in the data where the NVIDIA card comes out ahead in a head-to-head test.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet further highlights the RX 6800's dominance. The most critical difference is memory. The GRID M60-1Q has a paltry 1024 MB (1 GB) of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6800 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth—a massive 3.2x increase in capacity and 3.2x increase in bandwidth. This alone makes the RX 6800 suitable for modern games and applications that require large frame buffers.

Clock speeds also tell the story. The GRID M60-1Q has a base clock of 557 MHz and a boost clock of 1178 MHz. The RX 6800 runs at a base of 1700 MHz and boosts to 2105 MHz, with a game clock of 1815 MHz. This clock advantage, combined with the architectural improvements, results in vastly different compute figures. The GRID M60-1Q offers 4.825 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the RX 6800 offers 16.17 TFLOPS—a 3.35x advantage. The RX 6800 also has FP16 capability at 32.33 TFLOPS (2:1), a feature the GRID M60-1Q does not list.

The RX 6800 also has more execution resources: 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, compared to the GRID M60-1Q's 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. This leads to higher pixel and texture fill rates: the RX 6800 achieves 202.1 GPixel/s and 505.2 GTexel/s, versus 75.39 GPixel/s and 150.8 GTexel/s for the NVIDIA card.

Power and connectivity also differ. The GRID M60-1Q has a TDP of 225 W and uses a single 8-pin power connector, with a suggested 550 W PSU. The RX 6800 has a TDP of 250 W, requires two 8-pin connectors, and suggests a 600 W PSU. The RX 6800 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the GRID M60-1Q is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. The RX 6800 has explicit dimensions (267 mm length, 120 mm height, 40 mm width), while the GRID M60-1Q only lists a length of 267 mm. The RX 6800 was released on 2020-10-27, five years after the GRID M60-1Q's 2015-08-29 release date.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 6800 faster than the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q?

A: Yes, decisively. In the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark, the RX 6800 scores 115107 compared to the GRID M60-1Q's 31220, a performance delta of -72.9% for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Can I use the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q for gaming?

A: The data suggests no. It has no display outputs, meaning it cannot connect to a monitor. It was designed for virtualized environments, not consumer desktop use.

Q: How does the memory capacity compare?

A: The RX 6800 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the GRID M60-1Q has only 1024 MB (1 GB) of GDDR5. The RX 6800 also has a much higher memory bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s versus 160.4 GB/s.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor density?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800, with 51.5M transistors per mm² on a 7 nm process. The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q has 13.1M transistors per mm² on a 28 nm process.

Q: Does the GRID M60-1Q support ray tracing?

A: No. The GRID M60-1Q has no ray tracing cores. The RX 6800 has 60 RT cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing features.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each?

A: The GRID M60-1Q has an average benchmark score of 31220, placing it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs. The RX 6800 has an average score of 30095, placing it in the 75th percentile. However, the RX 6800's score is dragged down by multiple older DirectX benchmarks, while its Vulkan score is far higher.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 wins in every measurable category in the FACT PACK. It has more memory, higher bandwidth, faster clocks, more compute throughput, more shading units, more TMUs, more ROPs, a smaller process node, and a newer architecture. In the head-to-head benchmark, it wins the only test available. For any workload that involves modern graphics APIs like Vulkan, or any task that requires more than 1 GB of video memory, the RX 6800 is the only viable option. Its 16 GB frame buffer ensures it can handle modern game textures and large compute datasets without running out of memory.

The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q has no benchmark wins. Its only potential "win" is in a legacy server environment where its specific Maxwell 2.0 architecture and virtualized design are required for compatibility with older VDI software stacks. Its 1 GB memory limit and lack of display outputs make it useless for desktop use. It is an end-of-life product from 2015, and its performance is roughly on par with a Quadro M5000, which is also a professional card from a similar era. If you are not maintaining a specific legacy infrastructure, there is no reason to choose the GRID M60-1Q based on the data available. The RX 6800 is the clear winner for any modern application.