AMD Radeon 550X vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile Comparison

AMD Radeon 550X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions, but they occupy entirely different performance tiers. The data shows a single head-to-head benchmark result, with the RTX 3050 A Mobile delivering a decisive victory. The Radeon 550X, built on aging GCN 4.0 architecture, posts an average benchmark score of 8918, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile averages 8746 — yet this aggregate similarity is misleading, as the single direct comparison reveals a massive gap in raw compute performance. The Radeon 550X sits at the 45th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile sits at the 44th, placing both in the mid-low range of the overall GPU landscape.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3050 A Mobile wins the only direct benchmark available, and it wins by an overwhelming margin. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA part scores 52998 against the AMD part’s 8866, a delta of -83.3% from the perspective of the Radeon. That single result defines the entire competitive picture: for any compute-heavy or general-purpose GPU workload measured by OpenCL, the RTX 3050 A Mobile is in a different league. The Radeon 550X’s 8866 OpenCL score is roughly one-sixth of the NVIDIA’s 52998, meaning the RTX 3050 A Mobile is about 6x faster in this specific test. There is no benchmark category in the data where the Radeon 550X wins; its wins count is 0, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile’s wins count is 1.

Beyond the head-to-head, the RTX 3050 A Mobile also shows broader capability through its additional benchmark suite. It records a Passmark G3D score of 11664, a Passmark GPU Compute score of 4419, and DirectX 9/10/11/12 scores of 152, 61, 94, and 55 respectively. The Radeon 550X has no corresponding Passmark entries in the fact pack, so those numbers simply do not exist for comparison. What is clear is that the RTX 3050 A Mobile is built for modern workloads: it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon 550X tops out at DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. For ray tracing or mesh shaders, the RTX 3050 A Mobile’s 14 RT cores and 56 tensor cores are present, while the Radeon 550X has none.

The Verdict

From the data, the choice is unambiguous: the RTX 3050 A Mobile is the superior part for anyone needing raw compute performance. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 52998 versus 8866 is not a close contest; it is a rout. The Radeon 550X’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (average score 9022) and the NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition (average score 9037), both of which beat it by 1.2% and 1.3% respectively. The RTX 3050 A Mobile’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 (average score 8743) and the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (average score 8686), with deltas of 0% and 0.7%. This means the RTX 3050 A Mobile is statistically tied with a GTX 460 v2 in average score, despite being vastly newer — a quirk of the aggregate metric that the direct OpenCL test completely overturns.

Who should pick the Radeon 550X? Only someone constrained by legacy software or a system that predates modern NVIDIA drivers. The Radeon 550X offers 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, a 128-bit bus, and 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is half the memory size and 42% less bandwidth than the RTX 3050 A Mobile’s 4 GB GDDR6 at 192.0 GB/s. Its shading unit count is 512 versus 1792, its texture units are 32 versus 56, and its ROPs are 16 versus 32. Every architectural metric favors the NVIDIA part. The Radeon 550X’s only advantages are its lower TDP (50 W vs 45 W — actually the NVIDIA is lower) and its longer physical card design (145 mm vs IGP form factor). But for performance, the RTX 3050 A Mobile is the only rational choice.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole direct comparison in the fact pack is the Geekbench OpenCL test. The RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 52998, the Radeon 550X scores 8866, and the delta is -83.3% relative to the AMD part. That means the Radeon 550X retains only 16.7% of the NVIDIA’s performance in this workload. To put it in perspective, the Radeon 550X’s OpenCL score of 8866 is nearly identical to its own average benchmark score of 8918, suggesting OpenCL is a representative workload for it. The RTX 3050 A Mobile’s OpenCL score of 52998 dwarfs its average benchmark score of 8746, indicating that OpenCL is a particularly strong workload for the Ampere architecture — likely due to its 56 tensor cores and 1792 shading units operating at a 4.813 TFLOPS FP32 rate.

The Radeon 550X’s FP32 performance is 1,247.2 GFLOPS, which is roughly 26% of the RTX 3050 A Mobile’s 4.813 TFLOPS. The pixel rate difference is similar: 19.49 GPixel/s versus 42.98 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 38.98 GTexel/s versus 75.21 GTexel/s. These numbers explain the OpenCL gap: the RTX 3050 A Mobile has over 3.5x the shading units, nearly double the ROPs, and 1.75x the texture units. The memory bandwidth difference (192.0 GB/s vs 112.0 GB/s) further widens the gap in memory-bound compute tasks. The data shows no benchmark where the Radeon 550X comes within even 10% of the RTX 3050 A Mobile.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 3050 A Mobile always faster than the Radeon 550X?

A: In the only direct benchmark recorded, yes. The RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 52998 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the Radeon 550X’s 8866, a delta of -83.3% for the AMD part. The Radeon 550X has zero wins in the head-to-head data.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The Radeon 550X averages 8918 across its two benchmarks (OpenCL and Vulkan), while the RTX 3050 A Mobile averages 8746 across its eight benchmarks. These averages are within 2% of each other, but the single direct OpenCL test shows a 498% difference in favor of the RTX 3050 A Mobile, so the averages are misleading.

Q: Which GPU has better memory specifications?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon 550X has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 112.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA part has double the capacity and 71% more bandwidth.

Q: Do both GPUs support modern DirectX features?

A: No. The RTX 3050 A Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon 550X supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. The RTX 3050 A Mobile also has 14 RT cores and 56 tensor cores, which the Radeon 550X lacks entirely.

Q: Which GPU has a lower power draw?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile has a TDP of 45 W, which is 5 W lower than the Radeon 550X’s 50 W. Both require no power connectors and are end-of-life products.

Q: How do their nearest rivals compare in average score?

A: The Radeon 550X’s closest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 at 8863 (0.6% slower) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 at 9022 (1.2% faster). The RTX 3050 A Mobile’s closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 at 8743 (0% difference) and the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 at 8686 (0.7% slower).

Architecture Differences

The Radeon 550X uses AMD’s GCN 4.0 architecture on the Lexa chip, fabricated on a 14 nm process by GlobalFoundries. It belongs to the Polaris (RX 500X) generation and packs 2,200 million transistors into a 103 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 21.4 million per mm². Its compute layout consists of 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. There are no RT cores or tensor cores. The architecture is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, with FP32 and FP16 both rated at 1,247.2 GFLOPS in a 1:1 ratio.

The RTX 3050 A Mobile uses NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture on the GA106 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process by Samsung. It belongs to the GeForce 30 Mobile generation and packs 12,000 million transistors into a 276 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 43.5 million per mm² — roughly double the density of the Radeon. Its compute layout includes 1792 shading units, 56 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 14 RT cores, and 56 tensor cores. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, with FP32 and FP16 both rated at 4.813 TFLOPS in a 1:1 ratio. The RT core count enables hardware ray tracing, a feature entirely absent from the GCN 4.0 part.

The process node difference (14 nm vs 8 nm) explains the transistor density gap, while the architecture generation gap (GCN 4.0 vs Ampere) explains the feature set difference. The Radeon 550X is a 2019 part from the Polaris refresh; the RTX 3050 A Mobile is a 2023 part from the GeForce 30 mobile line. The predecessor of the Radeon 550X is Polaris, and its successor is Vega. The predecessor of the RTX 3050 A Mobile is GeForce 20 Mobile, and it has no listed successor.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets differ in nearly every measurable field. Clock speeds: the Radeon 550X runs at a 1082 MHz base and 1218 MHz boost, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile runs at a 1065 MHz base and 1343 MHz boost — the NVIDIA part has a 125 MHz higher boost clock. Memory clocks: the Radeon 550X’s memory runs at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective), while the RTX 3050 A Mobile’s runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective); the higher effective rate gives the NVIDIA part 192.0 GB/s versus 112.0 GB/s.

Memory capacity is 2 GB GDDR5 versus 4 GB GDDR6. Bus width is identical at 128 bits. Shading units: 512 versus 1792. TMUs: 32 versus 56. ROPs: 16 versus 32. Pixel rate: 19.49 GPixel/s versus 42.98 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 38.98 GTexel/s versus 75.21 GTexel/s. FP32: 1,247.2 GFLOPS versus 4.813 TFLOPS. TDP: 50 W versus 45 W. The Radeon 550X is a dual-slot card at 145 mm length with display outputs of 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a; the RTX 3050 A Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics package) with display outputs listed as "Portable Device Dependent." The Radeon 550X uses PCIe 3.0 x8, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x8. The suggested PSU for the Radeon is 250 W; no PSU is suggested for the RTX 3050 A Mobile. Both have no power connectors. Release dates differ by over four years: March 2019 for the Radeon, December 2023 for the RTX. Neither has a launch MSRP listed.