AMD Radeon 550 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti and the AMD Radeon 550 are two end-of-life entries that often surface in budget system builds, but the benchmark data shows they are not in the same performance class. The GTX 750 Ti takes 8 of the 9 head-to-head benchmark wins, with a substantial lead in overall graphics performance, while the Radeon 550 manages only a single victory in Vulkan compute. This is a matchup where the older NVIDIA card's architectural efficiency outweighs the newer AMD card's process node advantage.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive result is in the Passmark G3D test, where the GTX 750 Ti scores 3903 against the Radeon 550's 2124. That is a delta of 83.8% in NVIDIA's favor, meaning the GTX 750 Ti delivers nearly double the raw graphics throughput in this DirectX-oriented workload. The gap is even wider in Passmark GPU Compute, with the GTX 750 Ti posting 1744 versus 936 for the Radeon 550, an 86.3% advantage. These two tests alone establish that the GTX 750 Ti is the stronger card for any task that relies on traditional rasterization or general-purpose compute.

Legacy DirectX performance tells a similar story, though with smaller absolute numbers. In Passmark DirectX 10, the GTX 750 Ti scores 17 against 7 for the Radeon 550, a 142.9% lead. The DirectX 11 test shows 26 versus 15, a 73.3% margin, and DirectX 9 shows 60 versus 35, a 71.4% advantage. Even in DirectX 12, where AMD's GCN architecture is often expected to do better, the GTX 750 Ti still wins 18 to 14, a 28.6% edge. The pattern is consistent: NVIDIA's Maxwell architecture handles these API workloads with significantly more efficiency.

The only test where the Radeon 550 comes out ahead is Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 11257 against the GTX 750 Ti's 10065. That is a 10.6% margin for AMD, and it suggests that the Radeon 550's newer driver stack or architecture has an advantage in Vulkan-specific compute tasks. This is a notable result, but it does not offset the losses elsewhere. In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 750 Ti takes the win with 10827 versus 10339, a 4.7% margin that shows NVIDIA also holds a slight edge in cross-platform compute.

The 2D performance gap is smaller but still favors NVIDIA. In Passmark G2D, the GTX 750 Ti scores 528 against the Radeon 550's 479, a 10.2% difference. This suggests the GTX 750 Ti may offer snappier desktop rendering, though the practical impact is minor for most users. The average benchmark scores reflect the overall picture: the GTX 750 Ti averages 2953 across all tests, while the Radeon 550 averages 2801. The GTX 750 Ti sits at the 19th percentile of all GPUs, and the Radeon 550 at the 18th, so both are firmly in entry-level territory, but the NVIDIA card is consistently ahead.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 750 Ti is the clear winner for DirectX-based gaming and general graphics workloads. Its Passmark G3D score of 3903 is 83.8% higher than the Radeon 550's 2124, which means it will handle older titles and lighter modern games at playable settings far more comfortably. The 142.9% lead in DirectX 10 and 73.3% lead in DirectX 11 also indicate that any game using those APIs will run noticeably better on the GTX 750 Ti. For users who prioritize compute performance in OpenCL, the GTX 750 Ti's 4.7% edge in Geekbench OpenCL makes it the safer choice.

The Radeon 550's sole area of superiority is Vulkan. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 11257 beats the GTX 750 Ti's 10065 by 10.6%. This means that in Vulkan-based games or compute applications that leverage this API, the Radeon 550 can pull ahead. This is not a trivial distinction, as Vulkan is increasingly common in modern game engines, but it is a narrow win compared to the breadth of NVIDIA's advantages. The Radeon 550 also has a higher pixel rate at 18.93 GPixel/s versus 17.36 GPixel/s, though this does not translate into a benchmark win in any of the tests provided.

For 2D desktop work, the GTX 750 Ti's 10.2% lead in Passmark G2D gives it a slight edge in basic display tasks. The Radeon 550 does not win any compute test other than Vulkan, and its Passmark GPU Compute score of 936 is less than half of the GTX 750 Ti's 1744. The data is unambiguous: if you need a card for anything beyond Vulkan-specific tasks, the GTX 750 Ti is the stronger performer.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti has an average benchmark score of 2953, while the AMD Radeon 550 averages 2801. The GTX 750 Ti also sits at the 19th percentile of all GPUs, one point higher than the Radeon 550's 18th percentile.

Q: Is the Radeon 550 better in any modern API?

A: Yes, the Radeon 550 wins in Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 11257 against the GTX 750 Ti's 10065, a 10.6% advantage. This is the only head-to-head test where the Radeon 550 comes out ahead.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest gap is in Passmark DirectX 10, where the GTX 750 Ti scores 17 against the Radeon 550's 7, a 142.9% difference. The Passmark G3D test also shows a large gap, with the GTX 750 Ti leading by 83.8%.

Q: How do the two cards compare in compute performance?

A: The GTX 750 Ti is significantly stronger in compute. It scores 1744 in Passmark GPU Compute, which is 86.3% higher than the Radeon 550's 936. In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 750 Ti also leads with 10827 versus 10339, a 4.7% margin.

Q: Which card has better DirectX 12 performance?

A: The GTX 750 Ti wins in Passmark DirectX 12, scoring 18 against the Radeon 550's 14, a 28.6% advantage. Despite the Radeon 550 supporting DirectX 12 (12_0) versus the GTX 750 Ti's DirectX 12 (11_0), the NVIDIA card still performs better in this test.

Q: Do both cards require a power connector?

A: No. Both the GTX 750 Ti and the Radeon 550 have no power connectors and share a suggested PSU of 250 W. The GTX 750 Ti has a TDP of 60 W, while the Radeon 550 has a lower TDP of 50 W.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every core specification, starting with the process node. The GTX 750 Ti is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, while the Radeon 550 uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The Radeon 550 packs more transistors at 2,200 million versus 1,870 million, but on a smaller die of 103 mm² compared to 148 mm², giving it a higher transistor density of 21.4M / mm² versus 12.6M / mm².

Clock speeds favor the Radeon 550 on paper. It has a base clock of 1100 MHz and a boost clock of 1183 MHz, while the GTX 750 Ti runs at 1020 MHz base and 1085 MHz boost. The Radeon 550 also has faster memory clocks at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) versus 1350 MHz (5.4 Gbps effective). However, the GTX 750 Ti compensates with a wider 128-bit memory bus, delivering 86.40 GB/s of bandwidth, while the Radeon 550 is limited to a 64-bit bus and 56.00 GB/s.

The compute unit counts also differ. The GTX 750 Ti has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, while the Radeon 550 has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. This gives the GTX 750 Ti a texture rate of 43.40 GTexel/s versus 37.86 GTexel/s, and an FP32 throughput of 1,388.8 GFLOPS versus 1,211.4 GFLOPS. The Radeon 550 does have a higher pixel rate at 18.93 GPixel/s versus 17.36 GPixel/s, and it supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, which the GTX 750 Ti does not list.

Physical and interface differences are notable. The GTX 750 Ti is a single-slot card, while the Radeon 550 is dual-slot. The GTX 750 Ti uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, while the Radeon 550 uses PCIe 3.0 x8. Display outputs also vary: the GTX 750 Ti offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.4a, while the Radeon 550 provides 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both cards are 145 mm (5.7 inches) long.

Architecture Differences

The GTX 750 Ti is built on NVIDIA's Maxwell architecture, using the GM107 chip from the GeForce 700 generation. The Radeon 550 uses AMD's GCN 4.0 architecture, with the Lexa chip from the Polaris (RX 500) generation. This is a fundamental difference in design philosophy: Maxwell was optimized for high efficiency per watt, while GCN 4.0 was designed for compute-heavy workloads and modern API support.

The GTX 750 Ti supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Radeon 550 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The Radeon 550's full DirectX 12 (12_0) feature set is a technical advantage, but the benchmark data shows it does not translate into better performance in the Passmark DirectX 12 test. The GTX 750 Ti's Vulkan 1.4 support is newer than the Radeon 550's Vulkan 1.3, though the Radeon 550 still wins in the Geekbench Vulkan test.

The Radeon 550 has a more advanced process node at 14 nm versus 28 nm, which allows for higher transistor density and lower power draw. Its TDP is 50 W compared to the GTX 750 Ti's 60 W. However, the GTX 750 Ti has more shading units and a wider memory bus, which explains its superior texture rate and bandwidth. The Radeon 550's FP16 support at 1:1 ratio is a feature the GTX 750 Ti lacks, but neither card has RT cores or tensor cores, so ray tracing and AI acceleration are absent from both.

The Radeon 550 was released later, in April 2017, versus the GTX 750 Ti's February 2014 release. The GTX 750 Ti's predecessor is the GeForce 600 series and its successor is GeForce 900, while the Radeon 550's predecessor is Arctic Islands and its successor is Vega. The launch MSRP for the GTX 750 Ti was 149 USD, and for the Radeon 550 it was 79 USD.

The Verdict

The data points strongly toward the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti for almost every use case. It wins 8 of 9 head-to-head benchmarks, with a 83.8% lead in Passmark G3D and an 86.3% lead in Passmark GPU Compute. Its average benchmark score of 2953 is higher than the Radeon 550's 2801, and it holds the advantage in DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, as well as OpenCL and 2D performance. For anyone building a system around older DirectX titles or general-purpose computing, the GTX 750 Ti is the clear pick.

The AMD Radeon 550 is only the better choice if Vulkan performance is the primary requirement. Its 10.6% lead in Geekbench Vulkan is the single benchmark where it excels, and its lower TDP of 50 W makes it slightly more power-efficient. The Radeon 550 also offers more modern display outputs with HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4a, which could matter for connecting to newer monitors. However, these advantages are narrow compared to the GTX 750 Ti's broad performance dominance.

For a practical recommendation, the GTX 750 Ti is the safer and faster option for gaming and compute workloads, despite being older. The Radeon 550 is a niche pick for Vulkan-specific tasks or users who need the newer display connectivity. The benchmark results are decisive: the GTX 750 Ti is the superior card in this matchup.