AMD Radeon 550X vs NVIDIA Quadro P2200 Comparison

The AMD Radeon 550X and NVIDIA Quadro P2200 occupy different corners of the GPU market, with the data showing a decisive performance gap between the two. The Radeon 550X is a low-power, entry-level part built on GCN 4.0, while the Quadro P2200 is a professional workstation card based on Pascal. In the two head-to-head benchmarks available, the Quadro P2200 wins both outright, but the Radeon 550X still holds relevance in specific low-intensity workloads. This analysis breaks down where each card wins, what separates their architectures, and what the numbers actually mean for a buyer.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data gives the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 a clean sweep in direct comparisons. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Quadro P2200 scores 32,344 against the Radeon 550X’s 8,866, a delta of -72.6% from the AMD card’s perspective. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap narrows slightly but remains massive: the Quadro P2200 posts 31,351 versus 8,970, a -71.4% difference. There is no benchmark in the data where the Radeon 550X comes out ahead; the wins tally is 0 for AMD and 2 for NVIDIA.

However, the Radeon 550X is not without a niche. Its average benchmark score of 8,918 places it at the 45th percentile of all GPUs, while the Quadro P2200’s average of 8,686 sits at the 44th percentile. These percentile figures are nearly identical, meaning that despite the Quadro’s dominance in compute-bound OpenCL and Vulkan tests, the Radeon 550X holds its own in the broader spectrum of GPU workloads that feed into the average score. The Radeon 550X’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100, scores 8,863 with a +0.6% delta, while the Quadro P2200’s closest competitor, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2, scores 8,743 with a -0.7% delta. This suggests the Radeon 550X is competitive within its own performance tier, even if that tier is far below the Quadro’s peak.

For the Quadro P2200, the wins are in raw throughput and professional compute. Its Passmark G3D score of 9,364 and GPU compute score of 3,921 indicate strong geometry and shading performance, while the Radeon 550X has no Passmark data listed. The Quadro also wins on memory bandwidth, pixel rate, and texture rate—all critical for CAD, rendering, and scientific workloads.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different nodes and designs. The AMD Radeon 550X uses the Lexa chip on GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process by GlobalFoundries. It packs 2,200 million transistors into a 103 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 21.4M per mm². The NVIDIA Quadro P2200, in contrast, uses the GP106 chip on Pascal architecture, built on a 16 nm process by TSMC. It contains 4,400 million transistors spread across a 200 mm² die, with a density of 22.0M per mm². The Quadro’s die is nearly twice the size and holds twice the transistors, which explains its higher compute capacity.

The shader configurations diverge sharply. The Radeon 550X has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 16 raster output units (ROPs). The Quadro P2200 more than doubles that with 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. This translates directly into throughput: the Radeon 550X delivers 1,247.2 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the Quadro P2200 hits 3.822 TFLOPS—roughly three times as much. The FP16 numbers tell a different story: the Radeon 550X offers 1,247.2 GFLOPS (1:1 ratio), but the Quadro P2200 drops to 59.72 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio), meaning the AMD card is far more capable at half-precision math, a trait that could favor it in certain machine-learning or media workloads.

Memory subsystems also differ. The Radeon 550X has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Quadro P2200 has 5 GB of GDDR5X on a 160-bit bus, delivering 200.2 GB/s. The Quadro’s memory runs at 1251 MHz (10 Gbps effective) versus the Radeon’s 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective). The Quadro also supports PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Radeon is limited to PCIe 3.0 x8. Display outputs differ: the Radeon 550X offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the Quadro P2200 provides 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. API support is close, with both supporting DirectX 12 (12_0 for AMD, 12_1 for NVIDIA), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan (1.3 for AMD, 1.4 for NVIDIA).

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion: the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 is the superior card for any compute-intensive or professional task. Its OpenCL score is 3.6 times higher than the Radeon 550X’s, and its Vulkan score is 3.5 times higher. The Quadro also has more than double the memory, over triple the FP32 throughput, and nearly double the memory bandwidth. For users running CAD, video editing, or GPU-accelerated simulations, the Quadro P2200 is the only rational choice from this pair.

The AMD Radeon 550X, however, is not obsolete. Its 45th percentile ranking versus the Quadro’s 44th suggests that in everyday desktop workloads—2D rendering, basic video playback, light gaming—the two cards perform comparably. The Radeon 550X also consumes less power (50 W TDP versus 75 W) and occupies a smaller footprint (145 mm length versus 201 mm), making it suitable for compact or power-constrained systems. Its FP16 performance at a 1:1 ratio is a unique advantage absent from the Quadro, which operates at a 1:64 ratio. If a workload relies on half-precision math, the Radeon 550X could actually outperform the Quadro in that specific domain.

Ultimately, the choice hinges on the workload. For professional compute, the Quadro P2200 wins decisively. For low-power, basic graphics, or FP16-centric tasks, the Radeon 550X has a place. The benchmark data does not support any scenario where the Radeon 550X beats the Quadro in OpenCL or Vulkan, so any purchase decision should start with that reality.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon 550X has a slightly higher average score of 8,918 compared to the NVIDIA Quadro P2200’s 8,686, despite the Quadro winning both head-to-head compute tests.

Q: How large is the performance gap in OpenCL?

A: The Quadro P2200 scores 32,344 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the Radeon 550X scores 8,866, a difference of 23,478 points and a -72.6% delta from the AMD card’s perspective.

Q: Do both cards support the same API versions?

A: Both support OpenGL 4.6, but they differ in DirectX and Vulkan. The Radeon 550X supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, while the Quadro P2200 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The Radeon 550X has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the Quadro P2200 has 5 GB of GDDR5X memory, giving the NVIDIA card a 3 GB advantage.

Q: Which card has better FP16 compute performance?

A: The Radeon 550X offers 1,247.2 GFLOPS of FP16 performance at a 1:1 ratio, while the Quadro P2200 offers only 59.72 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio, making the AMD card drastically better at half-precision math.

Q: Are both cards end-of-life products?

A: Yes, both the AMD Radeon 550X and the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 are listed as end-of-life in the data, with release dates in 2019 (March for AMD, June for NVIDIA).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two direct comparisons in the data are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 wins both by a wide margin.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the Quadro P2200 scores 32,344 against the Radeon 550X’s 8,866. That is a 23,478-point advantage, translating to a -72.6% delta for the AMD card. This result reflects the Quadro’s superior shader count (1,280 versus 512), higher FP32 throughput (3.822 TFLOPS versus 1,247.2 GFLOPS), and faster memory bandwidth (200.2 GB/s versus 112.0 GB/s). OpenCL workloads that stress raw compute—such as physics simulations, image processing, or financial modeling—will see roughly 3.6 times the performance on the Quadro.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap is slightly smaller but still dominant. The Quadro P2200 scores 31,351, while the Radeon 550X scores 8,970, a delta of -71.4%. The Quadro’s Vulkan 1.4 API support versus the Radeon’s Vulkan 1.3 may contribute to better driver-level optimization, but the core advantage remains hardware: the Quadro has more than double the TMUs (80 versus 32) and ROPs (40 versus 16). Vulkan-based games or compute applications will run consistently faster on the NVIDIA card.

Beyond these two tests, the Quadro P2200 has additional Passmark benchmarks that the Radeon 550X lacks entirely. The Quadro scores 9,364 in Passmark G3D, 3,921 in GPU compute, and 881 in G2D. It also shows strong legacy DirectX performance: 167 in DirectX 9, 45 in DirectX 10, 70 in DirectX 11, and 33 in DirectX 12. These numbers are not comparable to the Radeon 550X because no equivalent data exists for the AMD card, but they paint a picture of a well-rounded professional GPU. The Radeon 550X’s absence from these tests means its only measurable strengths are its average score and percentile ranking.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal a stark contrast in every major category except power consumption and form factor. The Radeon 550X uses a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the Quadro P2200 uses a 16 nm process from TSMC. The AMD chip has 2,200 million transistors on a 103 mm² die, while the NVIDIA chip has 4,400 million transistors on a 200 mm² die. Transistor density is nearly identical (21.4M per mm² versus 22.0M per mm²), but the Quadro’s larger die allows for far more compute units.

Clock speeds differ in interesting ways. The Radeon 550X has a base clock of 1082 MHz and a boost clock of 1218 MHz, while the Quadro P2200 has a lower base of 1000 MHz but a much higher boost of 1493 MHz. The Quadro’s memory clock is 1251 MHz (10 Gbps effective) versus the Radeon’s 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective)—the AMD card’s memory runs at a higher frequency but on a narrower bus, resulting in lower total bandwidth.

Memory configuration is one of the biggest differentiators. The Radeon 550X has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 112.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro P2200 has 5 GB of GDDR5X on a 160-bit bus with 200.2 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro also uses a wider PCIe interface (x16 versus x8), which matters for data transfer in professional workloads.

Compute rates are lopsided. The Radeon 550X delivers 19.49 GPixel/s pixel rate and 38.98 GTexel/s texture rate. The Quadro P2200 delivers 59.72 GPixel/s and 119.4 GTexel/s—roughly three times each. FP32 performance is 1,247.2 GFLOPS for the Radeon versus 3.822 TFLOPS for the Quadro. The FP16 comparison flips: the Radeon 550X offers 1,247.2 GFLOPS at 1:1, while the Quadro P2200 offers 59.72 GFLOPS at 1:64.

Physical attributes also differ. The Radeon 550X is a dual-slot card measuring 145 mm (5.7 inches) in length, with no power connectors and a 50 W TDP. The Quadro P2200 is a single-slot card measuring 201 mm (7.9 inches) by 111 mm (4.4 inches), also with no power connectors but a higher 75 W TDP. Both suggest a 250 W power supply. Display outputs are the final difference: the Radeon 550X has one DVI, one HDMI 2.0b, and one DisplayPort 1.4a, while the Quadro P2200 has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, making it better suited for multi-monitor professional setups.