GPU Comparison

The benchmark data presents a clear, though not absolute, hierarchy between the NVIDIA Quadro P1000 and the AMD Radeon 550. The Quadro P1000 dominates in nearly every measurable category, securing 8 out of 9 head-to-head victories, with the Radeon 550 managing only a single, albeit significant, win. This makes the P1000 the definitive choice for compute-heavy and legacy DirectX workloads, while the Radeon 550's sole victory in Vulkan points to a narrow but real advantage in that specific API.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive wins for the NVIDIA Quadro P1000 come in the legacy DirectX and compute tests. In the Passmark DirectX 10 benchmark, the P1000 scores 21 against the Radeon 550's 7, a staggering 200% advantage. This pattern repeats in DirectX 9, where the P1000's score of 79 is 125.7% higher than the Radeon 550's 35. The margin is also substantial in DirectX 11, with the P1000 leading 31 to 15, a 106.7% difference. In the modern DirectX 12 API, the P1000 still leads by 35.7%, scoring 19 versus 14.

Compute performance follows the same trend. The Passmark GPU Compute test shows the P1000 at 1891, which is 102% higher than the Radeon 550's 936. The overall Passmark G3D score amplifies this, with the P1000 achieving 4512 compared to the Radeon 550's 2124, a 112.4% advantage. Even in the 2D-focused Passmark G2D test, the P1000 leads with a score of 589 versus 479, a 23% difference. The Geekbench OpenCL test also favors the P1000, which scores 13584 against 10339, a 31.4% lead.

The single bright spot for the AMD Radeon 550 is the Geekbench Vulkan test. Here, the Radeon 550 scores 11257, while the Quadro P1000 manages only 7739. This represents a 31.3% advantage for the AMD card, a stark reversal of the trend seen in every other test. This is a significant data point, as it indicates that in applications leveraging the Vulkan API, the Radeon 550 can outperform the Quadro P1000 despite being behind in raw compute and other DirectX metrics.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures. The NVIDIA Quadro P1000 utilizes the GP107 chip based on the Pascal architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at Samsung. In contrast, the AMD Radeon 550 uses the Lexa chip based on the GCN 4.0 architecture, also on a 14 nm process but fabricated by GlobalFoundries. The NVIDIA chip is physically larger, with a die size of 132 mm² compared to the AMD's 103 mm². This larger die houses more transistors: 3,300 million for the P1000 versus 2,200 million for the Radeon 550, giving the P1000 a higher transistor density of 25.0M / mm² compared to 21.4M / mm².

The memory subsystems are notably different. The Quadro P1000 comes with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 80.19 GB/s. The Radeon 550 is more limited, featuring only 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 64-bit bus, resulting in a bandwidth of 56.00 GB/s. This difference in memory capacity and bandwidth is a primary factor in the P1000's superior performance in memory-intensive tasks.

Compute capabilities also differ significantly. The P1000 has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the Radeon 550 has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and only 16 ROPs. This hardware advantage translates directly to higher pixel and texture rates, with the P1000 achieving 47.36 GPixel/s and 59.20 GTexel/s compared to the Radeon 550's 18.93 GPixel/s and 37.86 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is also higher on the P1000 at 1.894 TFLOPS versus 1,211.4 GFLOPS. A key architectural difference lies in FP16: the P1000 has a severely reduced FP16 rate of 29.60 GFLOPS (1:64), whereas the Radeon 550 offers full-rate FP16 at 1,211.4 GFLOPS (1:1).

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in overall benchmark scores?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro P1000 is faster, with an average benchmark score of 3163 compared to the AMD Radeon 550's 2801.

Q: In which specific test does the AMD Radeon 550 beat the NVIDIA Quadro P1000?

A: The Radeon 550 wins the Geekbench Vulkan test, scoring 11257 against the P1000's 7739, a 31.3% advantage.

Q: How much more memory does the NVIDIA Quadro P1000 have?

A: The Quadro P1000 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, which is double the 2 GB found on the Radeon 550.

Q: What are the power consumption figures for these cards?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro P1000 has a TDP of 47 W, and the AMD Radeon 550 has a TDP of 50 W.

Q: What is the launch MSRP for the AMD Radeon 550?

A: The AMD Radeon 550 has a launch MSRP of 79 USD.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro P1000 ranks in the 20th percentile, while the AMD Radeon 550 ranks in the 18th percentile.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly all core specifications.

• Chip: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 uses GP107, AMD Radeon 550 uses Lexa.
• Architecture: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 uses Pascal, AMD Radeon 550 uses GCN 4.0.
• Foundry: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 is built by Samsung, AMD Radeon 550 by GlobalFoundries.
• Transistors: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 has 3,300 million, AMD Radeon 550 has 2,200 million.
• Die Size: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 is 132 mm², AMD Radeon 550 is 103 mm².
• Transistor Density: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 has 25.0M / mm², AMD Radeon 550 has 21.4M / mm².
• Base Clock: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 runs at 1266 MHz, AMD Radeon 550 at 1100 MHz.
• Boost Clock: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 boosts to 1480 MHz, AMD Radeon 550 to 1183 MHz.
• Memory Size: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 has 4 GB, AMD Radeon 550 has 2 GB.
• Memory Bus Width: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 uses a 128-bit bus, AMD Radeon 550 uses a 64-bit bus.
• Memory Bandwidth: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 provides 80.19 GB/s, AMD Radeon 550 provides 56.00 GB/s.
• Shading Units: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 has 640, AMD Radeon 550 has 512.
• TMUs: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 has 40, AMD Radeon 550 has 32.
• ROPs: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 has 32, AMD Radeon 550 has 16.
• Pixel Rate: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 achieves 47.36 GPixel/s, AMD Radeon 550 achieves 18.93 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 achieves 59.20 GTexel/s, AMD Radeon 550 achieves 37.86 GTexel/s.
• FP32 Performance: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 is 1.894 TFLOPS, AMD Radeon 550 is 1,211.4 GFLOPS.
• FP16 Performance: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 is 29.60 GFLOPS (1:64), AMD Radeon 550 is 1,211.4 GFLOPS (1:1).
• TDP: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 is 47 W, AMD Radeon 550 is 50 W.
• Slot Width: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 is Single-slot, AMD Radeon 550 is Dual-slot.
• Suggested PSU: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 requires a 200 W PSU, AMD Radeon 550 requires a 250 W PSU.
• Bus Interface: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, AMD Radeon 550 uses PCIe 3.0 x8.
• Display Outputs: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 has 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a, AMD Radeon 550 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a.
• DirectX Support: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 supports 12 (12_1), AMD Radeon 550 supports 12 (12_0).
• Vulkan Support: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 supports 1.4, AMD Radeon 550 supports 1.3.
• Release Date: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 released on 2017-02-06, AMD Radeon 550 on 2017-04-19.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Quadro P1000 is the clear winner for the vast majority of workloads. Its dominance in DirectX 10, 11, and 12 benchmarks makes it the superior choice for any application relying on these APIs, which includes most older and current Windows games and professional OpenGL applications. The 200% lead in DirectX 10 and 125.7% lead in DirectX 9 are particularly decisive for legacy software compatibility. Furthermore, its commanding 112.4% lead in the Passmark G3D test and 102% lead in the GPU Compute test indicate it is far better suited for general 3D rendering and compute tasks like video encoding, scientific simulations, and machine learning inference. The doubled memory capacity of 4 GB also provides a significant advantage in texture-heavy scenes and larger datasets.

The AMD Radeon 550's area of victory is narrow but well-defined: the Vulkan API. Its 31.3% lead in the Geekbench Vulkan test suggests that in modern game engines and applications built on Vulkan, the Radeon 550 can deliver better performance than the Quadro P1000. This is a relevant consideration for users who primarily run software that has adopted Vulkan. However, this single win cannot offset the P1000's comprehensive dominance in every other tested area.

The Verdict

For nearly all use cases, the NVIDIA Quadro P1000 is the superior product. The data is unambiguous: it wins 8 of 9 head-to-head benchmarks, often by margins exceeding 100%. Its higher average benchmark score of 3163, combined with double the memory (4 GB vs 2 GB), higher bandwidth (80.19 GB/s vs 56.00 GB/s), and a significantly more powerful compute core (1.894 TFLOPS vs 1,211.4 GFLOPS FP32), makes it the definitive choice for professional graphics work, legacy application support, and general-purpose GPU compute. The P1000's higher 20th percentile ranking versus the Radeon 550's 18th percentile reinforces this conclusion.

The AMD Radeon 550 should only be considered if the user's specific software stack is heavily dependent on the Vulkan API, where it demonstrates a clear 31.3% performance advantage. It also offers full-rate FP16 performance, which could be a factor in specific compute tasks that leverage this precision. However, these are niche advantages that do not overcome the Quadro P1000's overwhelming performance lead in the vast majority of scenarios. The Radeon 550's 2 GB memory capacity is also a limiting factor for modern workloads. Ultimately, the Quadro P1000 is the safer and more capable card, while the Radeon 550 is a specialized alternative for Vulkan-centric environments.