AMD Radeon RX 6550M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in raw compute benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti dominates. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 170,037 against the AMD Radeon RX 6550M's 42,536, a 75% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 3080 Ti scores 192,697 versus 50,867, a 73.6% lead.

Q: How do their overall benchmark averages compare?

A: The RX 6550M has a higher average benchmark score of 46,702, while the RTX 3080 Ti averages 41,187. However, the RTX 3080 Ti's average is pulled down by several low-scoring Passmark sub-tests (DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12 and G2D), while its headline compute scores are far higher.

Q: Which GPU ranks higher among all GPUs?

A: The RX 6550M sits at the 85th percentile, two points above the RTX 3080 Ti's 83rd percentile. This reflects the RX 6550M's more consistent performance across its available benchmark suite, despite the RTX 3080 Ti's massive raw compute wins.

Q: What are the closest rivals for each card?

A: For the RX 6550M, the Intel Arc A530M is the nearest rival with a 0.2% score difference, followed by the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (also 0.2%). For the RTX 3080 Ti, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 trails by 0.8%, and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB leads by 1.2%.

Q: What memory configurations do the two cards use?

A: The RX 6550M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 144.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3080 Ti has 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth — roughly 6.3 times the bandwidth.

Q: Are both cards currently in production?

A: No. The RX 6550M is listed as "Active" production status with a release date of January 3, 2023. The RTX 3080 Ti is "End-of-life" and was released on May 30, 2021.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX 6550M is built on the Navi 24 chip using RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC. It packs 5,400 million transistors into a 107 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 50.5 million per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti uses the GA102 chip with Ampere architecture, built on Samsung's 8 nm process. That die is far larger at 628 mm² and holds 28,300 million transistors, but its density of 45.1 million per mm² is actually lower than AMD's.

The compute configurations diverge sharply. The RX 6550M has 1,024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, with 16 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 3080 Ti scales up to 10,240 shading units — exactly ten times more — along with 320 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 80 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores. That tensor core count is a fundamental architectural difference: NVIDIA's card supports dedicated AI acceleration, while AMD's RDNA 2 implementation relies on its regular shader array.

Clock behavior also differs. The RX 6550M runs a 2000 MHz base clock and boosts to 2840 MHz, with a game clock of 2560 MHz. The RTX 3080 Ti has a lower 1365 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost. Despite the lower clocks, the RTX 3080 Ti's massive shader count produces far higher throughput rates: 186.5 GPixel/s pixel rate and 532.8 GTexel/s texture rate versus 90.88 GPixel/s and 181.8 GTexel/s on the AMD part.

Memory architecture is another major split. AMD pairs its 4 GB GDDR6 with a 64-bit bus, while NVIDIA uses 12 GB GDDR6X on a 384-bit interface. The bandwidth gap is enormous: 912.4 GB/s versus 144.0 GB/s. The RTX 3080 Ti's memory clock runs at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) versus the RX 6550M's 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). Power and physical design differ as well: the RX 6550M is an IGP with no power connectors and an 80 W TDP, while the RTX 3080 Ti is a dual-slot card with a single 12-pin connector, 350 W TDP, and a suggested 750 W PSU.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 Ti wins decisively in every compute-heavy workload measured. Its 170,037 OpenCL score and 192,697 Vulkan score are roughly 4x the RX 6550M's respective 42,536 and 50,867. For GPU compute tasks — rendering, scientific simulation, or any workload that scales with raw shader throughput — the NVIDIA card is in a different class. The 34.10 TFLOPS FP32 rating versus 5.816 TFLOPS reinforces this: the RTX 3080 Ti has nearly six times the single-precision compute power.

The RX 6550M's advantages are more circumstantial. Its 80 W TDP and IGP form factor mean it can operate in thin-and-light laptops where the 350 W RTX 3080 Ti simply cannot fit. Its 6 nm process gives it a transistor density advantage (50.5M / mm² versus 45.1M / mm²), which contributes to better efficiency per die area. The RX 6550M also has a higher average benchmark score (46,702 versus 41,187) and a better percentile ranking (85th versus 83rd), indicating more consistent performance across its test suite relative to all other GPUs.

For gaming specifically, the data is one-sided. The RTX 3080 Ti's 12 GB memory capacity and 912.4 GB/s bandwidth enable high-resolution textures and heavy asset streaming that the 4 GB RX 6550M cannot handle. The RX 6550M's 64-bit memory bus is a severe bottleneck for modern titles. While the AMD card's 2840 MHz boost clock is impressive for its class, it cannot compensate for the 10x shading unit deficit.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. Process node: 6 nm (AMD) versus 8 nm (NVIDIA). Transistor count: 5,400 million versus 28,300 million. Die size: 107 mm² versus 628 mm². Base clock: 2000 MHz versus 1365 MHz. Boost clock: 2840 MHz versus 1665 MHz. The RX 6550M has no game clock field; the RTX 3080 Ti has none either.

Memory: 4 GB GDDR6 versus 12 GB GDDR6X. Bus width: 64-bit versus 384-bit. Bandwidth: 144.0 GB/s versus 912.4 GB/s. Shading units: 1,024 versus 10,240. TMUs: 64 versus 320. ROPs: 32 versus 112. RT cores: 16 versus 80. Tensor cores: none versus 320. Pixel rate: 90.88 GPixel/s versus 186.5 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 181.8 GTexel/s versus 532.8 GTexel/s. FP32: 5.816 TFLOPS versus 34.10 TFLOPS. FP16: 11.63 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 34.10 TFLOPS (1:1).

TDP: 80 W versus 350 W. Slot width: IGP versus dual-slot. Power connectors: none versus 1x 12-pin. Suggested PSU: not listed versus 750 W. Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x4 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs: "Portable Device Dependent" versus 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Dimensions: not listed versus 285 mm length, 112 mm height, 40 mm width. Release date: January 3, 2023 versus May 30, 2021. Production status: Active versus End-of-life. The RX 6550M has no launch MSRP; the RTX 3080 Ti launched at 1,199 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data contains only two benchmark comparisons, and the RTX 3080 Ti wins both outright. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA card scores 170,037 against the RX 6550M's 42,536, a delta of -75% from AMD's perspective. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 3080 Ti scores 192,697 versus 50,867, a -73.6% delta. The wins tally is 2-0 in favor of NVIDIA.

These are not close contests. The RTX 3080 Ti's OpenCL result is exactly four times the RX 6550M's score. The Vulkan result is 3.79 times higher. The deltas of -75% and -73.6% indicate that the AMD card delivers roughly one-quarter of the NVIDIA card's performance in both APIs.

Context matters, however. The RX 6550M's average benchmark score of 46,702 is actually higher than the RTX 3080 Ti's 41,187. This seeming contradiction resolves when examining the full benchmark suites. The RTX 3080 Ti's Passmark sub-scores are oddly low — 184 in DirectX 10, 223 in DirectX 11, 110 in DirectX 12, 274 in DirectX 9, and 1,091 in G2D. These drag its average down despite the 26,896 G3D score and 15,282 GPU compute score. The RX 6550M only has two benchmarks listed, both in the 40-50k range, which keeps its average concentrated and higher.

The RTX 3080 Ti's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,077 provides an additional data point, though the RX 6550M has no comparable result. The percentile rankings — 85th for AMD versus 83rd for NVIDIA — suggest that when all GPUs are considered, the RX 6550M's performance profile places it slightly higher relative to the broader market, despite losing every direct comparison.

The Verdict

Choose the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti if you need raw compute performance. The data is unambiguous: 170,037 versus 42,536 in OpenCL and 192,697 versus 50,867 in Vulkan. The 34.10 TFLOPS FP32 rating is nearly six times the RX 6550M's 5.816 TFLOPS. The 12 GB GDDR6X memory with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth provides a 6.3x bandwidth advantage over the AMD card's 4 GB GDDR6 at 144.0 GB/s. This is the card for demanding workloads, high-resolution gaming, and any task that stresses memory capacity or shader throughput.

Choose the AMD Radeon RX 6550M if power efficiency and form factor are paramount. At 80 W with an IGP design and no power connectors, it fits into portable devices where the 350 W, dual-slot RTX 3080 Ti with its 12-pin connector and 750 W PSU requirement is physically impossible. The RX 6550M's 6 nm process and 50.5M / mm² transistor density represent a more modern manufacturing approach. Its higher average benchmark score (46,702 versus 41,187) and superior percentile rank (85th versus 83rd) indicate that, relative to all GPUs, it performs more consistently within its available test set.

The RTX 3080 Ti is end-of-life with a 1,199 USD launch MSRP; the RX 6550M is actively produced with no listed MSRP. For a current-generation mobile solution, the RX 6550M is the only one of these two that is still in production. For absolute performance in a desktop-class system, the RTX 3080 Ti's benchmark results make it the clear choice — the 75% and 73.6% deltas in the head-to-head tests are decisive. The verdict splits cleanly: performance seekers take NVIDIA; efficiency and mobility seekers take AMD.