AMD Radeon 550X vs AMD Radeon RX 6600S Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data separates these two mobile GPUs decisively. The AMD Radeon RX 6600S is the clear performance leader, delivering a Geekbench OpenCL score of 66,435 against the AMD Radeon 550X’s 8,866, a 649.3% advantage. The RX 6600S sits at the 49th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the 550X rests at the 45th percentile, but that percentile gap understates the raw performance chasm between them. The RX 6600S belongs to a different performance tier entirely, one where its average benchmark score of 10,629 places it among rivals like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti and AMD Radeon R9 M275X. The 550X, with an average score of 8,918, competes in a lower bracket against cards such as the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660. For users choosing between these two, the recommendation is straightforward: if maximum compute throughput is the priority, the RX 6600S is the only rational choice. The 550X’s sole advantage lies in its lower power draw and physical footprint, but the recorded data shows no benchmark where it outperforms the RX 6600S. The verdict is not about trade-offs; it is about confirming that the RX 6600S outclasses the 550X in every measured workload.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head benchmark table contains a single entry: Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 6600S wins outright. The 550X has zero recorded wins in any direct comparison. Breaking down the broader benchmark suite, the RX 6600S posts scores across multiple tests that the 550X simply does not match. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6600S achieves 66,435 points, a figure that dwarfs the 550X’s 8,866. The RX 6600S also has data for Passmark tests covering DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, plus G2D, G3D, and GPU compute workloads, with scores of 176, 81, 105, 56, 647, 12,649, and 4,879 respectively. The 550X’s benchmark record includes only Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores, the latter at 8,970, which is still far below the RX 6600S’s OpenCL result. No workload category in the database favors the 550X. The RX 6600S wins on compute-heavy tasks, as shown by its 7.168 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus the 550X’s 1,247.2 GFLOPS, and it also wins on memory bandwidth, 224.0 GB/s versus 112.0 GB/s. The 550X’s only potential edge is system integration: it is a dual-slot card with a 50 W TDP and a 250 W suggested PSU, whereas the RX 6600S is an IGP with an 80 W TDP and no power connectors. For very low-power or space-constrained designs, the 550X might fit where the RX 6600S cannot, but that is a physical design consideration, not a performance win.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different eras and design philosophies. The RX 6600S is built on the Navi 23 chip using RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 46.7 million per square millimeter. The 550X, by contrast, uses the Lexa chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, produced on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. Its transistor count is 2,200 million on a 103 mm² die, with a density of 21.4 million per square millimeter. The RX 6600S belongs to the Radeon RX 6000 series and the Navi Mobile generation, while the 550X is from the Polaris generation, specifically the RX 500X line. The RX 6600S features 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, plus 28 ray tracing cores. The 550X has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, with no ray tracing support. The RX 6600S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6, while the 550X supports DirectX 12 (12_0), Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6. The RX 6600S also has a higher boost clock at 2000 MHz versus 1218 MHz, and a base clock of 1700 MHz versus 1082 MHz. The memory subsystem differs as well: the RX 6600S uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the 550X uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 112.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6600S’s FP16 performance is listed at 14.34 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the 550X’s FP16 is identical to its FP32 at 1,247.2 GFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600S has an average benchmark score of 10,629, compared to the AMD Radeon 550X’s 8,918.

Q: What is the performance difference in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RX 6600S scores 66,435, which is 649.3% higher than the 550X’s 8,866.

Q: Does the 550X win any benchmark?

A: No, the recorded head-to-head data shows zero wins for the 550X; the RX 6600S wins the only direct comparison.

Q: How do their memory configurations differ?

A: The RX 6600S has 4 GB of GDDR6 with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the 550X has 2 GB of GDDR5 with 112.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has ray tracing cores?

A: The RX 6600S has 28 ray tracing cores, while the 550X has none.

Q: What is the TDP difference?

A: The RX 6600S has a TDP of 80 W, while the 550X has a TDP of 50 W.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is lopsided. The RX 6600S produces a score of 66,435, while the 550X manages 8,866, yielding a delta of 649.3% in favor of the RX 6600S. To put that in perspective, the RX 6600S’s average benchmark score of 10,629 is 19.2% higher than the 550X’s 8,918, but the OpenCL test shows a much wider gap because it stresses compute throughput where the RX 6600S’s architecture excels. The RX 6600S’s FP32 compute rate of 7.168 TFLOPS is roughly 5.7 times the 550X’s 1,247.2 GFLOPS, which aligns with the OpenCL delta. The RX 6600S also has a texture rate of 224.0 GTexel/s versus 38.98 GTexel/s for the 550X, and a pixel rate of 128.0 GPixel/s versus 19.49 GPixel/s. In the broader benchmark suite, the RX 6600S’s Passmark G3D score of 12,649 indicates strong gaming-oriented performance, while its Passmark GPU compute score of 4,879 shows general-purpose capability. The 550X’s Geekbench Vulkan score of 8,970 is its second-highest recorded result, but it still trails the RX 6600S’s OpenCL score by a factor of over seven. The data consistently shows the RX 6600S outperforming the 550X by margins that grow with workload intensity, from memory bandwidth (2x), to pixel fill rate (6.6x), to compute throughput (5.7x in FP32).

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every measurable specification. The RX 6600S uses a 7 nm process, while the 550X uses 14 nm. The RX 6600S has 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die, versus 2,200 million on 103 mm² for the 550X. Transistor density is 46.7M per mm² for the RX 6600S and 21.4M per mm² for the 550X. Base clocks are 1700 MHz against 1082 MHz, boost clocks are 2000 MHz against 1218 MHz, and the RX 6600S adds a game clock of 1881 MHz that the 550X lacks. Memory speed is 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective for the RX 6600S, while the 550X runs at 1750 MHz with 7 Gbps effective. Memory size is 4 GB GDDR6 versus 2 GB GDDR5, with bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s versus 112.0 GB/s, both on a 128-bit bus. Shading units number 1,792 versus 512, TMUs 112 versus 32, and ROPs 64 versus 16. The RX 6600S has 28 ray tracing cores; the 550X has none. Pixel rate is 128.0 GPixel/s versus 19.49 GPixel/s, texture rate is 224.0 GTexel/s versus 38.98 GTexel/s, and FP32 is 7.168 TFLOPS versus 1,247.2 GFLOPS. FP16 is 14.34 TFLOPS (2:1) for the RX 6600S versus 1,247.2 GFLOPS (1:1) for the 550X. TDP is 80 W versus 50 W, and slot width is IGP for the RX 6600S versus dual-slot for the 550X. The RX 6600S has no power connectors, while the 550X also has none, but the 550X lists a suggested PSU of 250 W. The RX 6600S uses PCIe 4.0 x8, the 550X uses PCIe 3.0 x8. Display outputs are portable-device-dependent for the RX 6600S, while the 550X has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a. The 550X measures 145 mm (5.7 inches) in length; the RX 6600S has no listed dimensions. DirectX support is 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus 12 (12_0), Vulkan is 1.4 versus 1.3, and OpenGL is 4.6 for both. The RX 6600S released in January 2022, while the 550X released in March 2019, and both are end-of-life products.