AMD Radeon Pro 570X vs NVIDIA T550 Mobile Comparison

The data presents a clear performance split between the NVIDIA T550 Mobile and the AMD Radeon Pro 570X. While the AMD part offers a larger memory bus and more raw shading hardware, benchmark results show the NVIDIA GPU winning both shared test workloads by a significant margin. The following analysis details where each GPU excels, based strictly on the provided specification and benchmark data.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two GPUs were tested in two shared benchmarks: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. In both cases, the NVIDIA T550 Mobile emerges as the winner, but the magnitude of the victory differs drastically between the two tests.

The most decisive result is in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The NVIDIA T550 Mobile scores 35,521 points, while the AMD Radeon Pro 570X scores 27,604 points. This translates to a 28.7% delta in favor of the NVIDIA GPU. This is a substantial lead, indicating that the T550 Mobile’s compute architecture is significantly more efficient in this workload, despite having fewer shading units (1,024 vs. 1,792) and a much lower thermal design power (23 W vs. 150 W).

The second shared test, Geekbench Vulkan, shows a closer contest. The NVIDIA T550 Mobile scores 30,801, while the AMD Radeon Pro 570X scores 28,859. The delta here is 6.7% in favor of the NVIDIA part. While still a win for NVIDIA, this narrower margin suggests that the AMD GPU’s higher memory bandwidth (217.0 GB/s vs. 96.00 GB/s) and larger number of texture mapping units (112 vs. 64) help it remain more competitive in graphics-oriented API workloads.

It is also important to note that the AMD Radeon Pro 570X has a third benchmark result, Geekbench Metal, where it scores 40,066. No comparable Metal score is available for the NVIDIA T550 Mobile, so this cannot be used as a head-to-head comparison, but it is a notable data point for the AMD card’s performance in Apple-specific environments.

Overall, the head-to-head data shows a 2-0 win count for the NVIDIA T550 Mobile, with an average lead of roughly 17.7% across both shared tests. The NVIDIA GPU’s average benchmark score of 33,161 also edges out the AMD card’s 32,176, reinforcing its position as the higher-performing part in the data provided.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA T550 Mobile has a higher average benchmark score of 33,161, compared to the AMD Radeon Pro 570X’s 32,176.

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA T550 Mobile in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The NVIDIA T550 Mobile scores 35,521 compared to the AMD Radeon Pro 570X’s 27,604, resulting in a 28.7% advantage for the NVIDIA GPU.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Pro 570X win any shared benchmark?

A: No. In the two shared benchmarks (Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan), the AMD Radeon Pro 570X loses both. It does have a higher score (40,066) in Geekbench Metal, but no comparable NVIDIA result is listed.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 570X offers 217.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is significantly higher than the NVIDIA T550 Mobile’s 96.00 GB/s.

Q: Which GPU is built on a more advanced manufacturing process?

A: The NVIDIA T550 Mobile uses a 12 nm process at TSMC, while the AMD Radeon Pro 570X uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries.

Q: What are the DirectX support levels for each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA T550 Mobile supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the AMD Radeon Pro 570X supports DirectX 12 (12_0).

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectural designs. The NVIDIA T550 Mobile is based on the TU117 chip using the Turing architecture, manufactured by TSMC on a 12 nm process node. The AMD Radeon Pro 570X, in contrast, uses the Ellesmere chip with the GCN 4.0 architecture, produced by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm node.

The transistor counts and die sizes reflect these different design philosophies. The AMD chip contains 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 24.6M / mm². The NVIDIA chip has 4,700 million transistors on a smaller 200 mm² die, yielding a slightly lower transistor density of 23.5M / mm². Despite having fewer transistors, the NVIDIA GPU achieves higher benchmark scores, suggesting better architectural efficiency per transistor.

The memory subsystems are also architecturally distinct. The NVIDIA T550 Mobile uses 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus, which limits its bandwidth to 96.00 GB/s. The AMD Radeon Pro 570X uses 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a much wider 256-bit bus, enabling a significantly higher bandwidth of 217.0 GB/s. This explains why the AMD card can remain competitive in Vulkan despite losing in raw compute.

In terms of compute resources, the AMD GPU has a clear hardware advantage on paper. It features 1,792 shading units and 112 texture mapping units, compared to the NVIDIA GPU’s 1,024 shading units and 64 TMUs. However, the NVIDIA GPU has a higher peak pixel rate (53.28 GPixel/s vs. 35.36 GPixel/s) and a much higher boost clock (1665 MHz vs. 1105 MHz). The FP32 throughput figures are close, with AMD at 3.960 TFLOPS and NVIDIA at 3.410 TFLOPS, but the NVIDIA GPU’s FP16 performance of 6.820 TFLOPS (2:1) doubles its FP32 rate, while the AMD GPU’s FP16 rate is identical to its FP32 rate (3.960 TFLOPS, 1:1).

Specification Differences

The key specification differences between the two GPUs are as follows:

• Process Node: NVIDIA T550 Mobile is on 12 nm; AMD Radeon Pro 570X is on 14 nm.
• Transistors: NVIDIA has 4,700 million; AMD has 5,700 million.
• Die Size: NVIDIA is 200 mm²; AMD is 232 mm².
• Base Clock: NVIDIA runs at 1065 MHz; AMD runs at 1000 MHz.
• Boost Clock: NVIDIA boosts to 1665 MHz; AMD boosts to 1105 MHz.
• Memory Type: NVIDIA uses GDDR6; AMD uses GDDR5.
• Memory Bus Width: NVIDIA uses a 64-bit bus; AMD uses a 256-bit bus.
• Memory Bandwidth: NVIDIA provides 96.00 GB/s; AMD provides 217.0 GB/s.
• Shading Units: NVIDIA has 1,024; AMD has 1,792.
• Texture Mapping Units: NVIDIA has 64; AMD has 112.
• Pixel Rate: NVIDIA achieves 53.28 GPixel/s; AMD achieves 35.36 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: NVIDIA achieves 106.6 GTexel/s; AMD achieves 123.8 GTexel/s.
• FP32 Performance: NVIDIA is 3.410 TFLOPS; AMD is 3.960 TFLOPS.
• FP16 Performance: NVIDIA is 6.820 TFLOPS (2:1); AMD is 3.960 TFLOPS (1:1).
• Thermal Design Power (TDP): NVIDIA is rated at 23 W; AMD is rated at 150 W.
• Vulkan Support: NVIDIA supports version 1.4; AMD supports version 1.3.
• DirectX Support: NVIDIA supports 12 (12_1); AMD supports 12 (12_0).
• Release Date: The AMD Radeon Pro 570X has a release date of 2019-03-17; no release date is listed for the NVIDIA T550 Mobile.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA T550 Mobile wins in the two shared benchmark tests, which are the primary comparison points. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 35,521 is 28.7% higher than the AMD part, and its Geekbench Vulkan score of 30,801 is 6.7% higher. This indicates a clear win for NVIDIA in both general-purpose compute (OpenCL) and modern graphics API (Vulkan) workloads. The NVIDIA GPU also has a higher average benchmark score (33,161 vs. 32,176) and a higher percentile ranking (77th vs. 76th). Furthermore, the NVIDIA GPU’s extremely low TDP of 23 W, compared to the AMD’s 150 W, suggests it can deliver this performance in a much more power-efficient package.

The AMD Radeon Pro 570X has wins in several raw specification categories, though these do not translate into benchmark victories. It has double the memory bus width (256-bit vs. 64-bit), which gives it a massive bandwidth advantage (217.0 GB/s vs. 96.00 GB/s). This could be beneficial in specific memory-intensive scenarios, though the benchmark data does not show a win in the shared tests. The AMD GPU also has higher peak FP32 throughput (3.960 TFLOPS vs. 3.410 TFLOPS) and more shading units (1,792 vs. 1,024). Additionally, the AMD card has a dedicated Geekbench Metal score of 40,066, which is its highest single benchmark result and indicates strong performance in Apple’s Metal API environment, a test the NVIDIA GPU did not run.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the benchmark data provided, the NVIDIA T550 Mobile is the superior performer. It wins both head-to-head tests, achieving a 28.7% lead in OpenCL and a 6.7% lead in Vulkan. Its average benchmark score is higher, and it does so while consuming only a fraction of the power (23 W vs. 150 W). For users prioritizing raw compute performance, Vulkan gaming or workloads, and power efficiency, the NVIDIA T550 Mobile is the clear choice from this dataset.

The AMD Radeon Pro 570X, however, should be the pick for users whose primary workload is Metal-based, as it posts a strong score of 40,066 in that specific test. Its superior memory bandwidth (217.0 GB/s) and larger number of shading units make it a theoretically more capable part for bandwidth-sensitive tasks, even if the provided benchmarks do not reflect a win. Ultimately, the data shows NVIDIA winning on performance metrics, while AMD offers specific advantages in memory throughput and a niche API workload.