AMD Radeon RX 6550M vs NVIDIA A2 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark data splits cleanly between the two adapters, with the AMD Radeon RX 6550M taking both available tests. In the Geekbench OpenCL workload, the AMD part scores 42,536 against the NVIDIA A2's 35,357, a 20.3% advantage. The gap widens substantially in the Vulkan test: 50,867 versus 34,023, a 49.5% lead. There are no tests in the database where the NVIDIA A2 comes out ahead; the win count stands at 2 for AMD and 0 for NVIDIA. This makes the AMD Radeon RX 6550M the clear choice for applications that stress either OpenCL compute or Vulkan rendering, with its largest margin appearing in the Vulkan path. For users whose workloads rely on those APIs, the data does not show any scenario favoring the A2.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6550M records an average benchmark score of 46,702, placing it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA A2 averages 34,690, sitting in the 79th percentile.

Q: How large is the performance gap in Vulkan?

A: In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the AMD Radeon RX 6550M scores 50,867 versus the NVIDIA A2's 34,023, a delta of 49.5% in favor of AMD.

Q: What memory configurations do the two cards offer?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6550M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 144.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA A2 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 200.1 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient according to the specifications?

A: The NVIDIA A2 has a TDP of 60 W, while the AMD Radeon RX 6550M has a TDP of 80 W. However, the AMD part delivers higher raw benchmark scores in both recorded tests.

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No. The AMD Radeon RX 6550M is listed as Active, while the NVIDIA A2 is listed as End-of-life.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same graphics APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two recorded head-to-head tests both result in AMD victories, but the magnitude differs significantly. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon RX 6550M produces 42,536 points, which is 20.3% above the NVIDIA A2's 35,357. That is a solid, meaningful margin for compute workloads that rely on OpenCL. The Vulkan test tells a more decisive story: the AMD part reaches 50,867, while the A2 trails at 34,023. The 49.5% delta means the AMD card is roughly half again as fast in this workload. Looked at another way, the A2 would need to improve its Vulkan score by nearly half to match the RX 6550M. These two tests cover distinct rendering and compute paths, so the consistency of the AMD lead across both suggests the architecture advantage is not limited to a single API. The closest rival data for the AMD card shows the Intel Arc A530M at 46,614 (0.2% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 5600M at 46,601 (0.2% delta), so the RX 6550M sits right at the edge of a tightly grouped set. The NVIDIA A2, by contrast, sits near the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB (34,561, 0.4% delta) and the AMD Radeon HD 7970 (34,541, 0.4% delta), placing it in a much lower performance tier.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge sharply on memory, interface, and physical design. The AMD Radeon RX 6550M offers 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus delivering 144.0 GB/s, whereas the NVIDIA A2 provides 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 200.1 GB/s. The A2 thus has four times the capacity and roughly 39% more bandwidth, though the AMD card compensates with higher clock speeds. The RX 6550M runs at a base clock of 2000 MHz and a boost of 2840 MHz, with a game clock of 2560 MHz; the A2 has a base of 1440 MHz and a boost of 1770 MHz, with no game clock listed. Memory clock also differs: 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for AMD versus 1563 MHz (12.5 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x4 on the AMD side and PCIe 4.0 x8 on the NVIDIA side. The AMD card is an integrated graphics package (IGP) with no power connectors, while the A2 is a single-slot card with no power connectors but a suggested PSU of 250 W. The AMD part has portable-device-dependent display outputs; the A2 has no display outputs at all. Pixel rate favors AMD at 90.88 GPixel/s versus 56.64 GPixel/s, and texture rate favors AMD at 181.8 GTexel/s versus 70.80 GTexel/s.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different design generations and foundries. The AMD Radeon RX 6550M uses the Navi 24 chip on a 6 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 107 mm² and 5,400 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of 50.5M per mm². The NVIDIA A2 uses the GA107 chip on an 8 nm process at Samsung, with a die size of 200 mm² and 8,700 million transistors, giving 43.5M per mm². The AMD architecture is RDNA 2.0, while the A2 is Ampere. The RX 6550M packs 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and 16 ray tracing cores; the A2 has 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 10 ray tracing cores, and 40 tensor cores. The AMD card reaches 5.816 TFLOPS FP32 and 11.63 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio); the A2 delivers 4.531 TFLOPS FP32 and 4.531 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio). The AMD part has no tensor cores, while the A2 includes them. The A2's FP16 performance is identical to its FP32, which is typical of Ampere's datacenter-oriented design, whereas the AMD card doubles its FP16 throughput. The generations are listed as Navi Mobile (RX 6000M) for AMD and Workstation Ampere (Ax000) for NVIDIA. The AMD card's predecessor is Polaris Mobile; the A2's predecessor is Quadro Turing, and its successor is Workstation Ada.

The Verdict

The database points to a straightforward conclusion: the AMD Radeon RX 6550M wins both recorded benchmarks by substantial margins. In OpenCL, it leads by 20.3%, and in Vulkan, by 49.5%. Its average score sits at 46,702, comfortably above the A2's 34,690, and its 85th percentile placement beats the A2's 79th. For any workload that uses OpenCL or Vulkan, the RX 6550M is the faster part. The NVIDIA A2, however, offers 16 GB of memory versus 4 GB, and 200.1 GB/s of bandwidth versus 144.0 GB/s, which matters for large datasets that exceed the AMD card's capacity. The A2 also draws less power at 60 W versus 80 W and includes tensor cores, which the AMD part lacks. If the task is compute-heavy and fits within 4 GB, the RX 6550M is the clear choice from the recorded data. If the workload requires more than 4 GB of VRAM or relies on tensor core operations, the A2 becomes relevant despite its lower raw scores. The A2 is end-of-life, while the RX 6550M remains active, so availability favors AMD. Users who need maximum OpenCL or Vulkan throughput should pick the RX 6550M; users who need large memory capacity or tensor core functionality should consider the A2, accepting the performance deficit. The data does not show any scenario where the A2 wins a benchmark, so the decision hinges entirely on memory size and feature requirements rather than measured speed.