AMD Radeon RX 550 vs AMD Radeon RX 6600S Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 550 and AMD Radeon RX 6600S are two very different GPUs from the same manufacturer, separated by nearly five years of architectural evolution. In the single benchmark where they overlap, the RX 6600S is decisively faster, posting a Geekbench OpenCL score of 66,435 against the RX 550’s 11,063, a 83.3% advantage. However, the RX 550 holds its own in the aggregate standings, with an average benchmark score of 11,075 versus 10,629 for the RX 6600S, placing both in the 49th and 50th percentiles of all GPUs respectively, suggesting that while the newer part wins on raw compute, the older one remains surprisingly competitive in mixed workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it is not close. The RX 6600S delivers 66,435 points, dwarfing the RX 550’s 11,063. That is roughly six times the score, a gap that reflects the massive generational leap in compute resources. The RX 6600S packs 1,792 shading units compared to just 512 on the RX 550, and it clocks much higher, with a boost of 2000 MHz versus 1183 MHz. The delta of -83.3% from the perspective of the RX 550 means it trails by an enormous margin in this raw compute workload.

Looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the RX 550 has a slightly higher average score of 11,075, which is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER and just 0.1% behind the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q. Its nearest rival, the AMD FirePro W4300, scores 11,225, putting the RX 550 1.3% behind that professional card. The RX 6600S, by contrast, averages 10,629, which is 1.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 550X but 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti and 1.2% behind the NVIDIA Quadro K2200. This is a curious situation: the RX 6600S wins the one shared test but loses in the aggregate standings, likely because the RX 550 benefits from a more consistent performance across the Geekbench Metal and Vulkan tests it participates in, scoring 20,838 and 12,270 respectively, while the RX 6600S’s Passmark results are uneven, with a DirectX 9 score of 176 but a DirectX 12 score of only 56.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The RX 550 uses the Lexa chip based on GCN 4.0, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, with 2,200 million transistors on a 103 mm² die. The RX 6600S uses the Navi 23 chip based on RDNA 2.0, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story of manufacturing progress: the RX 550 has 21.4M transistors per mm², while the RX 6600S has 46.7M per mm², more than double.

Memory is a major differentiator. The RX 550 offers 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 7 Gbps effective. The RX 6600S doubles the capacity to 4 GB of GDDR6 on the same 128-bit bus, but doubles the effective speed to 14 Gbps, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. That is a 100% increase in memory throughput, which is critical for modern textures and higher resolutions.

Compute resources are similarly lopsided. The RX 550 has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The RX 6600S has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The RX 6600S also introduces 28 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the RX 550. Pixel and texture rates reflect this: the RX 550 manages 18.93 GPixel/s and 37.86 GTexel/s, while the RX 6600S hits 128.0 GPixel/s and 224.0 GTexel/s. Floating point performance is similarly skewed, with the RX 550 at 1,211.4 GFLOPS FP32 and the RX 6600S at 7.168 TFLOPS, with the latter also offering 14.34 TFLOPS FP16 via a 2:1 ratio, whereas the RX 550 is 1:1 for FP16.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6600S wins outright in any scenario that stresses raw compute or memory bandwidth. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 66,435 is the clear evidence, and its 224.0 GB/s bandwidth and 7.168 TFLOPS FP32 make it the obvious choice for tasks like GPU-accelerated rendering, machine learning inference, or any workload that can leverage its 28 ray tracing cores. The Passmark DirectX 11 score of 105 and DirectX 9 score of 176 also indicate strong legacy DirectX performance, while its DirectX 10 score of 81 shows it handles older APIs well.

The RX 550 wins in the aggregate benchmark average, posting 11,075 versus 10,629. That suggests it delivers more consistent performance across a wider range of tests, particularly in Geekbench Metal (20,838) and Vulkan (12,270). Its lower 50 W TDP and lack of external power connectors make it a simpler drop-in solution for small form factor systems, and its dual-slot design with multiple display outputs (1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a) provides connectivity that the RX 6600S, being an IGP with portable-device-dependent outputs, cannot offer. The RX 550 also has a higher percentile ranking at 50 versus 49, a small but notable edge.

The Verdict

From the data, the RX 6600S is the superior performer for computationally intensive tasks. Its 83.3% lead in Geekbench OpenCL, combined with 4 GB of GDDR6 memory and double the bandwidth, makes it the only choice for modern gaming or compute workloads that demand high throughput. The ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) give it a feature set the RX 550 cannot match, as the latter only supports DirectX 12 (12_0).

However, the RX 550’s higher average benchmark score and 50th percentile ranking indicate it is not obsolete. For users who need a low-power, end-of-life card with traditional display outputs and consistent performance across Metal and Vulkan, the RX 550 remains viable. Its 2 GB memory is a limitation, but its 1,211.4 GFLOPS FP32 is sufficient for basic 2D workloads or legacy applications. The RX 6600S, despite being a mobile IGP, offers no display outputs of its own and relies on the host device, which narrows its use case to laptops or systems with dedicated output paths.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600S scores 66,435, which is 83.3% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 550’s 11,063.

Q: How much memory bandwidth does each card provide?

A: The RX 550 provides 112.0 GB/s with GDDR5, while the RX 6600S provides 224.0 GB/s with GDDR6, both on a 128-bit bus.

Q: What is the transistor density of each chip?

A: The RX 550’s Lexa chip has 21.4M transistors per mm², while the RX 6600S’s Navi 23 chip has 46.7M per mm².

Q: Does the RX 550 support ray tracing?

A: No, the RX 550 has no ray tracing cores, while the RX 6600S has 28.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The RX 550 averages 11,075, and the RX 6600S averages 10,629, placing them at the 50th and 49th percentiles of all GPUs, respectively.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The RX 6600S boosts to 2000 MHz, compared to the RX 550’s 1183 MHz.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 550 | AMD Radeon RX 6600S |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | RDNA 2.0 |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 2,200 million | 11,060 million |

| Die Size | 103 mm² | 237 mm² |

| Base Clock | 1100 MHz | 1700 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1183 MHz | 2000 MHz |

| Game Clock | N/A | 1881 MHz |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Speed | 7 Gbps effective | 14 Gbps effective |

| Memory Bandwidth | 112.0 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 512 | 1792 |

| TMUs | 32 | 112 |

| ROPs | 16 | 64 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | N/A | 28 |

| Pixel Rate | 18.93 GPixel/s | 128.0 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 37.86 GTexel/s | 224.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 1,211.4 GFLOPS | 7.168 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 1,211.4 GFLOPS (1:1) | 14.34 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 50 W | 80 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Display Outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a | Portable Device Dependent |