AMD Radeon RX 550X vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data shows a single head-to-head benchmark between these two mobile graphics processors, and the result is decisive. The AMD Radeon RX 550X does not win any of the paired tests, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile takes the sole victory. That lone win comes in the Geekbench OpenCL workload, where the NVIDIA part posts a score of 52998 against the AMD part's 9662, a difference of 81.8% in favor of the NVIDIA GPU.

Looking beyond the direct comparison, the broader benchmark database offers context for each card's standing. The AMD Radeon RX 550X holds a 49th percentile rank among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 10481. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA Tesla C2075 (average score 10400, a 0.8% delta), the AMD Radeon R9 M275X (10582, -1%), the AMD Radeon RX 6500M (10362, 1.2%), and the AMD Radeon RX 6600S (10629, -1.4%). These deltas are all within roughly 1.5 percentage points, placing the RX 550X in a tight cluster of mid-range performers.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile, by contrast, sits at the 44th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 8746. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 (8743, 0%), the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8686, 0.7%), the AMD Radeon R9 M265X (8851, -1.2%), and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (8863, -1.3%). Notably, the RTX 3050 A Mobile's average score is lower than the RX 550X's average, despite the massive win in the OpenCL test. This discrepancy suggests that the NVIDIA part's performance is highly workload-dependent, with strong compute results in some tests but weaker results in others.

The database also lists additional benchmark entries for the RTX 3050 A Mobile that have no counterpart in the RX 550X's record. These include Passmark tests: DirectX 10 (score 61), DirectX 11 (94), DirectX 12 (55), DirectX 9 (152), G2D (526), G3D (11664), and GPU Compute (4419). The RX 550X has no Passmark scores recorded, only the two Geekbench entries. This asymmetry means the overall average score for each card is computed from different test sets, which may explain why the higher-scoring OpenCL result does not translate into a higher average for the NVIDIA part.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 52998, against the AMD Radeon RX 550X's 9662, a delta of 81.8%.

Q: How do their overall average benchmark scores compare?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 550X has an average benchmark score of 10481, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile averages 8746. The AMD card's average is higher, despite losing the head-to-head test.

Q: What are their percentile rankings among all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 550X sits at the 49th percentile, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile sits at the 44th percentile.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile has 1792 shading units, compared to 512 on the AMD Radeon RX 550X.

Q: What memory types do the two cards use?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 550X uses 4 GB of GDDR5, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile uses 4 GB of GDDR6.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: No. The AMD Radeon RX 550X supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is lopsided. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile delivers a score of 52998, which is 43336 points higher than the AMD Radeon RX 550X's 9662. In percentage terms, the NVIDIA part leads by 81.8%. This is a compute-oriented workload, and the data suggests a fundamental gap in raw arithmetic throughput between the two.

The FP32 performance figures from the specification table align with this outcome. The NVIDIA GPU lists 4.813 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the AMD GPU lists 1,211.4 GFLOPS. The NVIDIA part's FP32 output is roughly four times higher on paper, and the OpenCL score reflects a similar magnitude of advantage. Both cards list FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, so the compute scaling applies equally across both precision formats.

The texture and pixel rates also favor the NVIDIA GPU. The RTX 3050 A Mobile achieves 75.21 GTexel/s and 42.98 GPixel/s, while the RX 550X manages 37.86 GTexel/s and 18.93 GPixel/s. These figures are consistent with the NVIDIA part's larger count of texture mapping units (56 vs 32) and raster output units (32 vs 16). Memory bandwidth also differs: 192.0 GB/s for the NVIDIA card versus 96.00 GB/s for the AMD card, a direct result of GDDR6 versus GDDR5 memory at the same 128-bit bus width.

The Passmark scores recorded only for the NVIDIA card give a broader view of its behavior across different API levels. DirectX 9 yields the highest Passmark score at 152, DirectX 11 at 94, DirectX 10 at 61, and DirectX 12 at 55. The G3D score of 11664 and GPU Compute score of 4419 are also listed. Without corresponding Passmark data for the AMD card, these numbers cannot be compared directly, but they do indicate that the RTX 3050 A Mobile's performance varies significantly depending on the graphics API and workload type.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every major specification field. The AMD Radeon RX 550X uses a 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile uses an 8 nm process from Samsung. Transistor counts reflect this gap: 2,200 million for the AMD chip versus 12,000 million for the NVIDIA chip, with die sizes of 103 mm² and 276 mm² respectively. Transistor density is also higher on the NVIDIA part, at 43.5M per mm² versus 21.4M per mm².

Clock speeds show a mixed picture. The AMD card has a higher base clock at 1100 MHz versus 1065 MHz, but the NVIDIA card has a higher boost clock at 1343 MHz versus 1183 MHz. Memory clocks are listed as 1500 MHz with 6 Gbps effective for the AMD card and 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective for the NVIDIA card. Both use a 128-bit memory bus, but the NVIDIA card's faster GDDR6 memory yields 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus 96.00 GB/s.

Power draw differs in an unusual direction. The AMD Radeon RX 550X is rated at 50 W TDP, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile is rated at 45 W TDP, making the NVIDIA part the lower-power option despite its larger chip and higher performance. The AMD card lists a suggested PSU of 250 W, while the NVIDIA card has no suggested PSU listed. The AMD card is dual-slot with a 145 mm length, while the NVIDIA card is listed as IGP (integrated graphics processor) form factor with no dimensions recorded. Neither card uses external power connectors.

Bus interfaces differ as well: the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x8, while the NVIDIA card uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs are also distinct, with the AMD card offering 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the NVIDIA card lists "Portable Device Dependent" outputs, reflecting its mobile integration focus.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split is stark. The AMD Radeon RX 550X is built on GCN 4.0 architecture with the Lexa chip, part of the Polaris (RX 500X) generation. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile uses Ampere architecture with the GA106 chip, part of the GeForce 30 Mobile series. These are generations apart in design philosophy and capability.

The AMD card has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 raster output units. It has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The NVIDIA card has 1792 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units, plus 14 ray tracing cores and 56 tensor cores. The presence of dedicated ray tracing and tensor hardware is a defining feature of the NVIDIA part, absent entirely from the AMD part.

API support reflects this generational gap. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The DirectX 12 Ultimate designation indicates support for ray tracing and mesh shaders, which the AMD card cannot offer given its lack of RT cores.

Release dates confirm the temporal separation. The AMD Radeon RX 550X launched on 2018-12-15, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile launched on 2023-12-31. Both are now listed as end-of-life products. The AMD card's predecessor is Polaris and its successor is Vega. The NVIDIA card's predecessor is GeForce 20 Mobile, and it has no listed successor.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear performance hierarchy in compute workloads, but the overall picture is more nuanced. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark by an 81.8% margin in Geekbench OpenCL, and its specification sheet shows substantial advantages in shading units, texture units, ROPs, memory bandwidth, and FP32 throughput. It also brings ray tracing cores, tensor cores, and a newer architecture with broader API support.

However, the AMD Radeon RX 550X holds a higher average benchmark score (10481 vs 8746) and a higher percentile ranking (49th vs 44th). This suggests that the AMD card may perform more consistently across a wider range of tests, or that the NVIDIA card's recorded benchmarks include workloads where it underperforms relative to its compute potential. The Passmark scores for the NVIDIA card, particularly the low DirectX 12 score of 55, hint at inefficiencies in certain API paths.

For compute-heavy tasks like OpenCL workloads, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile is the clear choice based on the head-to-head result. For users prioritizing consistent average performance across diverse applications, the AMD Radeon RX 550X's higher average score and percentile rank make it a defensible option. The NVIDIA part also consumes less power (45 W vs 50 W) despite its larger die, which matters in mobile contexts.

The architectural advantages of the NVIDIA card are unambiguous: ray tracing, tensor cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate, and Vulkan 1.4 support are features the AMD card simply does not have. But the AMD card's 14 nm GCN 4.0 design, with its lower transistor count and smaller die, still manages a competitive average score. The choice between these two depends entirely on whether the workload favors the NVIDIA card's specialized hardware or the AMD card's more balanced profile. The recorded data supports either conclusion, depending on which metric takes priority.