AMD Radeon R7 M380 vs AMD Radeon RX 550 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits cleanly between these two AMD mobile and desktop parts. The AMD Radeon RX 550 wins the only direct head-to-head comparison in the database, taking the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 11,063 against the Radeon R7 M380's 9,313. That is an 18.8% advantage, a decisive margin in a single compute workload.

The RX 550 also appears in three other recorded tests: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (127 points), Geekbench Metal (20,838), and Geekbench Vulkan (12,270). The R7 M380 has no entries for those workloads, so the database shows no scenario where the older part wins outright. The wins tally confirms this: the RX 550 has one win, the R7 M380 has zero.

The use-case split favors the RX 550 for any task that relies on OpenCL compute, which covers many productivity and rendering applications. The R7 M380, with its single recorded benchmark, offers no proven advantage in any tested category. If the workload is compute-heavy, the RX 550 is the clear choice. If the workload is something else entirely, the database simply lacks evidence for the R7 M380.

For gamers, the RX 550's additional benchmark entries (Steel Nomad, Metal, Vulkan) suggest broader driver and API support, but the scores themselves are what matter: the Vulkan score of 12,270 indicates modern API capability, while the R7 M380's lack of Vulkan data leaves a gap in coverage.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different generations of AMD's Graphics Core Next design. The RX 550 uses GCN 4.0 architecture on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the R7 M380 uses the original GCN 1.0 on a 28 nm process from TSMC. This is a two-generation jump in process technology, which explains many of the efficiency and clock differences.

The RX 550's chip, codenamed Lexa, packs 2,200 million transistors into a 103 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 21.4 million per square millimeter. The R7 M380's Tropo chip has 1,500 million transistors on a larger 123 mm² die, for a density of just 12.2 million per square millimeter. The newer process allows the RX 550 to fit more transistors in less space.

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The RX 550 runs at a base clock of 1100 MHz with a boost of 1183 MHz. The R7 M380 is slower, with a 900 MHz base and 915 MHz boost. Memory clocks differ even more: the RX 550 uses 1750 MHz GDDR5 (7 Gbps effective), while the R7 M380 uses 1000 MHz DDR3 (2 Gbps effective). That memory type difference is fundamental: GDDR5 versus DDR3.

The R7 M380 actually has more shading units (640 vs 512), more texture mapping units (40 vs 32), and more memory capacity (4 GB vs 2 GB). But its memory bandwidth is far lower: 32.00 GB/s versus 112.0 GB/s for the RX 550. The RX 550 also has a higher pixel rate (18.93 GPixel/s vs 14.64 GPixel/s) and a slightly higher texture rate (37.86 GTexel/s vs 36.60 GTexel/s). The R7 M380's FP32 compute is 1,171.2 GFLOPS, close to the RX 550's 1,211.4 GFLOPS, but the memory bottleneck holds it back.

The bus interface differs too: the RX 550 uses PCIe 3.0 x8, while the R7 M380 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The RX 550 has display outputs (DVI, HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a), while the R7 M380 lists none. API support favors the RX 550: DirectX 12 (12_0) versus 12 (11_1), and Vulkan 1.3 versus 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The RX 550 also has a 50 W TDP and requires a 250 W PSU, while the R7 M380's power figures are not recorded.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records exactly one head-to-head test between these two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. The RX 550 scores 11,063, and the R7 M380 scores 9,313. The delta is 18.8% in favor of the RX 550. That is a substantial margin, not a near tie.

Context from the nearest rivals helps interpret these numbers. The RX 550's average benchmark score across all its tests is 11,075. That puts it within 0.1% of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q and RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q, both at 11,088. It is 0.3% ahead of the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (11,047) and 1.3% behind the AMD FirePro W4300 (11,225). The RX 550 sits at the 50th percentile of all GPUs in the database.

The R7 M380's average score is exactly its OpenCL score: 9,313. That places it at the 46th percentile. Its nearest rivals are all within a narrow band: 0.1% behind the GeForce GTX 850M (9,302), 0.2% behind the GeForce GTX 465 (9,294), 0.4% behind the GeForce GTX 960 (9,273), and 1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9,221). The R7 M380 is essentially tied with those cards, but it is clearly below the RX 550's performance class.

In the single head-to-head, the RX 550 beats the R7 M380 by nearly a fifth. The RX 550's other scores reinforce its position: its Geekbench Metal score of 20,838 is nearly double its OpenCL score, and its Vulkan score of 12,270 exceeds the R7 M380's OpenCL result. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 127, while low in absolute terms, is a modern DirectX 12 workload the R7 M380 never attempted.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 550 scores 11,063 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 18.8% higher than the R7 M380's 9,313.

Q: Does the R7 M380 win any benchmark in the database?

A: No. The database records one head-to-head test, and the RX 550 wins it. The R7 M380 has zero wins.

Q: How does the RX 550 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 550's average score of 11,075 is within 0.1% of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q and RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q, 0.3% ahead of the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER, and 1.3% behind the AMD FirePro W4300.

Q: Where does the R7 M380 rank among all GPUs?

A: The R7 M380 sits at the 46th percentile, with an average score of 9,313. The RX 550 sits at the 50th percentile.

Q: What are the key memory differences?

A: The RX 550 has 2 GB GDDR5 with 112.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the R7 M380 has 4 GB DDR3 with 32.00 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 550's memory clock is 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) versus 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective) for the R7 M380.

Q: Which GPU supports newer APIs?

A: The RX 550 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, while the R7 M380 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

The Verdict

The data points one direction. The AMD Radeon RX 550 beats the R7 M380 by 18.8% in the only shared benchmark, and it does so across a broader set of tests. The RX 550's average score of 11,075 places it at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, while the R7 M380 sits at the 46th percentile with 9,313.

Architecturally, the RX 550 is the newer design: GCN 4.0 on 14 nm versus GCN 1.0 on 28 nm. It has fewer shading units (512 vs 640) but compensates with far higher clocks (1100/1183 MHz vs 900/915 MHz) and dramatically more memory bandwidth (112.0 GB/s vs 32.00 GB/s). The R7 M380's only advantages are memory capacity (4 GB vs 2 GB) and a wider PCIe bus (x16 vs x8), neither of which shows up in benchmark results.

For a user choosing between these two, the RX 550 is the defensible pick. It wins the compute test decisively, supports newer DirectX and Vulkan versions, and has proven results in Metal, Vulkan, and DirectX 12 workloads. The R7 M380 has one recorded score and no wins.

The R7 M380's nearest rivals (GeForce GTX 850M, GTX 465, GTX 960) all sit within 0.4% of its score, meaning it is competitive with that older mid-range class. But the RX 550's nearest rivals include workstation-class cards like the RTX PRO 6000 series, which are within 0.1% of its average. That puts the RX 550 in a different performance tier entirely.

The verdict is straightforward: the RX 550 is the superior GPU in every recorded metric. The R7 M380 is not a bad card by the standards of its era, but the database shows no scenario where it outperforms the RX 550. Choose the RX 550 for compute, modern API support, and proven benchmark results. The R7 M380 should only be considered if 4 GB of memory capacity is a hard requirement, and even then, the 32.00 GB/s bandwidth will limit its usefulness.