AMD Radeon RX 550 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL, where the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 records a score of 13,515 against the AMD Radeon RX 550's 11,063. That is a 22.2% advantage for the older NVIDIA card. This is a substantial margin, placing the GTX 570 clearly ahead in raw compute workloads as measured by this test.

Looking at the surrounding data, the GTX 570's score places it at the 54th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13,515. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7770M at 13,536 (0.2% faster), the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT at 13,543 (0.2% faster), the NVIDIA P106-090 at 13,470 (0.3% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 555 at 13,407 (0.8% slower). The GTX 570 sits in a tight cluster where the spread between the slowest and fastest of these five cards is only about 1%, meaning its performance is highly competitive with that specific peer group despite its age.

The RX 550, by contrast, records an average benchmark score of 11,075, placing it at the 50th percentile. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q at 11,088 (0.1% faster), the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q at 11,088 (0.1% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER at 11,047 (0.3% slower), and the AMD FirePro W4300 at 11,225 (1.3% faster). The RX 550's cluster is similarly tight, with all four rivals within 1.3% of its score. However, the absolute level is notably lower than the GTX 570's group.

The RX 550 does have additional benchmark entries in the database that the GTX 570 lacks. In Geekbench Metal it scores 20,838, in Geekbench Vulkan it scores 12,270, and in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 it scores 127. These results cannot be compared directly to the GTX 570 because the older card has no recorded scores for those tests. The OpenCL result remains the only apples-to-apples comparison, and it favors the GTX 570 decisively.

The delta of 22.2% is not a marginal gap. It indicates that in OpenCL compute tasks, the GTX 570 delivers roughly a fifth more performance than the RX 550. This is particularly striking given the architectural and generational differences between the two cards, which are covered in later sections. For users relying on OpenCL-accelerated applications, the data clearly favors the NVIDIA product.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the head-to-head benchmark comparison?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 wins the only directly comparable test, Geekbench OpenCL, with a score of 13,515 against the AMD Radeon RX 550's 11,063, a 22.2% advantage.

Q: How does the GTX 570 compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The GTX 570's average score of 13,515 places it within 0.2% of the AMD Radeon HD 7770M and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA P106-090, and 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 555. All five cards are clustered within roughly 1% of each other.

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

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

Q: Does the RX 550 have any benchmark results the GTX 570 lacks?

A: Yes. The RX 550 has recorded scores for Geekbench Metal (20,838), Geekbench Vulkan (12,270), and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (127). The GTX 570 has no entries for these tests in the database.

Q: What is the percentile ranking for each card?

A: The GTX 570 sits at the 54th percentile among all GPUs, while the RX 550 sits at the 50th percentile. This reflects the GTX 570's higher average benchmark score.

Q: Which card has the higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The GTX 570 delivers 1,405.4 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the RX 550 delivers 1,211.4 GFLOPS. The GTX 570 is ahead by roughly 16% in this specification.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from entirely different architectural lineages and manufacturing eras. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 uses the GF110 chip built on the Fermi 2.0 architecture, produced on a 40 nm process by TSMC. It packs 3,000 million transistors onto a die size of 520 mm², giving a transistor density of 5.8 million transistors per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon RX 550 uses the Lexa chip based on GCN 4.0 architecture, produced on a 14 nm process by GlobalFoundries. It contains 2,200 million transistors on a much smaller die of 103 mm², yielding a transistor density of 21.4 million per square millimeter. The RX 550's process node is substantially more advanced, allowing roughly 3.7 times higher transistor density despite having fewer total transistors.

The compute resources differ in composition. The GTX 570 has 480 shading units, 60 texture mapping units, and 40 render output units. The RX 550 has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. While the RX 550 has more shading units, the GTX 570 has nearly double the TMUs and 2.5 times the ROPs. This explains why the GTX 570 achieves higher pixel and texture rates: 21.96 GPixel/s and 43.92 GTexel/s respectively, against the RX 550's 18.93 GPixel/s and 37.86 GTexel/s.

Memory subsystems also diverge significantly. The GTX 570 uses 1,280 MB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus, yielding 152.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 550 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, producing 112.0 GB/s. The GTX 570's wider bus gives it 35.7% more memory bandwidth, while the RX 550 offers 56% more capacity. The memory clocks are 950 MHz (3.8 Gbps effective) for the GTX 570 and 1,750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) for the RX 550, but the larger bus width of the older card overcomes the lower clock speed.

FP32 throughput favors the GTX 570 at 1,405.4 GFLOPS versus 1,211.4 GFLOPS for the RX 550. The RX 550 additionally supports FP16 at 1,211.4 GFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, a feature the GTX 570 does not list. Power consumption tells a very different story: the GTX 570 has a TDP of 219 W and requires two 6-pin power connectors with a suggested 550 W power supply, while the RX 550 has a TDP of 50 W, needs no power connectors, and suggests only a 250 W power supply. The RX 550 draws 77% less power while delivering 86% of the FP32 performance.

Interface and output capabilities also differ. The GTX 570 uses PCIe 2.0 x16, while the RX 550 uses PCIe 3.0 x8. The GTX 570 offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a outputs. The RX 550 provides 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a, giving it newer display connectivity. API support shows the RX 550 with DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, while the GTX 570 lists DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6 with no Vulkan entry.

The Verdict

The recorded data presents a clear performance hierarchy in the single comparable test. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 550 by 22.2% in Geekbench OpenCL. This is the only head-to-head benchmark available, and it consistently favors the older, larger card across every relevant specification that feeds into compute performance: FP32 throughput, memory bandwidth, texture rate, and pixel rate.

For users prioritizing raw compute performance in OpenCL workloads, the GTX 570 is the stronger choice based on the database measurements. Its 1,405.4 GFLOPS FP32, 152.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, and 43.92 GTexel/s texture rate all exceed the RX 550's corresponding figures. The GTX 570 also holds a higher percentile ranking at 54 versus 50, and its nearest rival cluster sits at a higher absolute performance level.

For users prioritizing power efficiency and modern feature support, the RX 550 has distinct advantages that the benchmark score does not capture. It consumes 50 W versus 219 W, requires no external power connectors, supports PCIe 3.0, offers HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4a, and includes Vulkan 1.3 support. Its 2 GB of memory doubles the GTX 570's capacity, which may matter in memory-constrained scenarios. The RX 550 also has benchmark results in Metal, Vulkan, and DX12 tests, indicating broader API coverage in the database.

Physical size is another differentiator. The GTX 570 measures 267 mm in length, while the RX 550 measures 145 mm. The RX 550 is substantially shorter, making it suitable for compact builds where the GTX 570 would not fit. Both cards are dual-slot designs.

The GTX 570's launch MSRP was 349 USD, while the RX 550's launch MSRP was 79 USD. Both cards are now end-of-life products.

The choice between these two cards depends heavily on the workload and system constraints. The GTX 570 is the performance leader in compute tasks, but it demands far more power, space, and PSU capacity. The RX 550 offers a much lower power footprint, modern display outputs, and double the memory, at a significant performance cost in the one test where both are measured. The 22.2% OpenCL gap is the decisive factor for compute-focused users, while the 169 W TDP difference is the decisive factor for efficiency-focused users.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 | AMD Radeon RX 550 |

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

| Chip | GF110 | Lexa |

| Architecture | Fermi 2.0 | GCN 4.0 |

| Generation | GeForce 500 | Polaris (RX 500) |

| Process Node | 40 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | GlobalFoundries |

| Transistors | 3,000 million | 2,200 million |

| Die Size | 520 mm² | 103 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 5.8M / mm² | 21.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | Not listed | 1100 MHz |

| Boost Clock | Not listed | 1183 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 950 MHz, 3.8 Gbps effective | 1750 MHz, 7 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 1280 MB | 2 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 320 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 152.0 GB/s | 112.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 480 | 512 |

| TMUs | 60 | 32 |

| ROPs | 40 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 21.96 GPixel/s | 18.93 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 43.92 GTexel/s | 37.86 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1,405.4 GFLOPS | 1,211.4 GFLOPS |

| FP16 | Not listed | 1,211.4 GFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 219 W | 50 W |

| Power Connectors | 2x 6-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | 250 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | 2x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 (12_0) |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | Not listed | 1.3 |

| Length | 267 mm (10.5 inches) | 145 mm (5.7 inches) |

| Release Date | 2010-12-06 | 2017-04-19 |

| Launch MSRP | 349 USD | 79 USD |