AMD Radeon RX 6550M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains two direct head-to-head comparisons between the AMD Radeon RX 6550M and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, and in both cases the NVIDIA part takes a commanding lead. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5080 Mobile scores 166,986 against the RX 6550M's 42,536, a difference of 74.5 percent. That is not a marginal gap; it is a generational chasm. The Vulkan result tells the same story: the NVIDIA GPU posts 169,754 while the AMD GPU manages 50,867, leaving the RX 6550M 70 percent behind.

The head-to-head tally is unambiguous. The RTX 5080 Mobile wins both recorded comparisons, and the RX 6550M registers zero victories in this matchup. The average benchmark scores in the database reinforce the same hierarchy, though with a curious twist. The RX 6550M carries a higher percentile ranking at 85 versus 81 for the RTX 5080 Mobile, yet its average benchmark score of 46,702 is actually higher than the RTX 5080 Mobile's 38,349. This inverted relationship between percentile and average score stems from the distribution of benchmark workloads captured in the database. The RTX 5080 Mobile's average is dragged down by a set of Passmark scores that are unusually low relative to its other results, including a Passmark DirectX 12 score of 116 and a Passmark DirectX 10 score of 171. These figures look anomalous next to its Geekbench results, but they are what the database records.

Look at the nearest rivals for context. The RX 6550M sits within 0.2 percent of the Intel Arc A530M (46,614) and the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (46,601), and it is 1.4 percent ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A2000 (46,043). The RTX 5080 Mobile, by contrast, is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 (38,299, a 0.1 percent delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38,135, a 0.6 percent delta). The MX570 A sits 0.9 percent higher, and the AMD Radeon Pro 580X also sits 0.9 percent higher. The RTX 5080 Mobile's average score is therefore not representative of its peak capability; it is surrounded by far older and lower-tier parts in the aggregate metric.

When interpreting the head-to-head numbers, the Geekbench scores are the cleaner signal. The RTX 5080 Mobile's OpenCL result is roughly four times the RX 6550M's, and its Vulkan result is more than three times higher. The delta percentages, 74.5 and 70 percent respectively, quantify the lead precisely. No other benchmark pair exists in the database for these two GPUs, so the analysis must rest on these two data points plus the broader benchmark profiles.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two parts is substantial. The AMD Radeon RX 6550M uses the Navi 24 chip built on RDNA 2.0, a 6 nm TSMC process, and belongs to the Navi Mobile generation within the RX 6000 series. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile uses the GB203 chip on Blackwell 2.0, a 5 nm TSMC process, and belongs to the GeForce 50 Mobile generation. The process node difference is small in absolute terms, but the transistor counts are not. The RX 6550M packs 5,400 million transistors on a 107 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 50.5 million per square millimeter. The RTX 5080 Mobile contains 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, with a density of 120.6 million per square millimeter. That is more than eight times the transistor count and more than double the density.

The compute resources scale accordingly. The RX 6550M has 1,024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The RTX 5080 Mobile has 7,680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The NVIDIA part also carries 60 ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores, while the AMD part lists 16 ray tracing cores and no tensor core field. The FP32 throughput tells the practical story: the RTX 5080 Mobile reaches 23.04 TFLOPS, exactly four times the RX 6550M's 5.816 TFLOPS. The FP16 figures differ in character as well. The RX 6550M delivers 11.63 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, meaning it halves FP32 throughput for FP16. The RTX 5080 Mobile delivers 23.04 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, meaning it maintains full throughput for FP16, a sign of a more modern and flexible compute pipeline.

Memory configurations are entirely different generations. The RX 6550M uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64 bit bus, with 144.0 GB/s of bandwidth and an effective memory clock of 18 Gbps. The RTX 5080 Mobile uses 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 256 bit bus, with 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth and an effective memory clock of 28 Gbps. The bandwidth advantage is more than sixfold, and the capacity advantage is fourfold. The pixel and texture rates reflect the same gap: the RX 6550M posts 90.88 GPixel/s and 181.8 GTexel/s, while the RTX 5080 Mobile posts 144.0 GPixel/s and 360.0 GTexel/s.

Both GPUs share the same API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Both are classified as IGP slot width with no power connectors, and both have a TDP of 80 W. The bus interface differs: the RX 6550M uses PCIe 4.0 x4, while the RTX 5080 Mobile uses PCIe 5.0 x16. The RX 6550M was released on January 3, 2023, and its predecessor is Polaris Mobile. The RTX 5080 Mobile was released on April 1, 2025, and its predecessor is GeForce 40 Mobile. Both are marked as Active in production status.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion for most workloads. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile is the superior GPU in raw compute and graphics throughput, as measured by the two available head-to-head benchmarks. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 166,986 and Vulkan score of 169,754 dwarf the RX 6550M's 42,536 and 50,867 respectively. Anyone prioritizing compute performance, ray tracing capability, or memory bandwidth should choose the RTX 5080 Mobile based on the recorded numbers.

The RX 6550M does have one statistical point in its favor. Its percentile ranking of 85 exceeds the RTX 5080 Mobile's 81, and its average benchmark score of 46,702 is higher than the RTX 5080 Mobile's 38,349. However, this is a statistical artifact of the benchmark distribution, not evidence of real-world superiority. The RX 6550M's nearest rivals are all within 1.6 percent of its average score, meaning it sits in a dense cluster of mid-range parts. The RTX 5080 Mobile's nearest rivals are likewise close, but its two head-to-head results against the RX 6550M show a decisive performance lead. The average score for the RTX 5080 Mobile is heavily influenced by its low Passmark figures, which do not appear in the head-to-head comparison set.

For a user who needs maximum graphics performance in a mobile form factor, the RTX 5080 Mobile is the data-backed choice. For a user who values efficiency per transistor or a smaller die footprint, the RX 6550M has merits: its 107 mm² die and 5,400 million transistors are modest next to the 378 mm² and 45,600 million of the RTX 5080 Mobile. But the benchmark results do not favor the AMD part in any recorded compute test. The verdict is straightforward: the RTX 5080 Mobile wins the performance comparison, while the RX 6550M offers a lighter silicon footprint and a higher percentile standing in the aggregate database.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every specification field recorded. The process node is 6 nm for the RX 6550M versus 5 nm for the RTX 5080 Mobile. Transistor count is 5,400 million versus 45,600 million. Die size is 107 mm² versus 378 mm². Transistor density is 50.5M per mm² versus 120.6M per mm². Base clock is 2000 MHz versus 975 MHz, and boost clock is 2840 MHz versus 1500 MHz. The RX 6550M has a game clock of 2560 MHz, while the RTX 5080 Mobile has no game clock recorded. Memory clock is 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective for the AMD part, versus 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective for the NVIDIA part.

Memory size is 4 GB versus 16 GB. Memory type is GDDR6 versus GDDR7. Bus width is 64 bit versus 256 bit. Bandwidth is 144.0 GB/s versus 896.0 GB/s. Shading units are 1,024 versus 7,680. TMUs are 64 versus 240. ROPs are 32 versus 96. Ray tracing cores are 16 versus 60. Tensor cores are not listed for the RX 6550M, while the RTX 5080 Mobile has 240. Pixel rate is 90.88 GPixel/s versus 144.0 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 181.8 GTexel/s versus 360.0 GTexel/s. FP32 is 5.816 TFLOPS versus 23.04 TFLOPS. FP16 is 11.63 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 23.04 TFLOPS (1:1). TDP is identical at 80 W. Bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x4 versus PCIe 5.0 x16. Release date is January 3, 2023 versus April 1, 2025.

The two GPUs share several fields: both are IGP slot width, both have no power connectors, both have portable-device-dependent display outputs, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and both are marked Active. Neither has a recorded launch MSRP, suggested PSU, or successor. The RX 6550M's predecessor is Polaris Mobile, while the RTX 5080 Mobile's predecessor is GeForce 40 Mobile.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the recorded head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile wins both recorded comparisons. It scores 166,986 versus 42,536 in Geekbench OpenCL (a 74.5 percent delta) and 169,754 versus 50,867 in Geekbench Vulkan (a 70 percent delta).

Q: How does the memory bandwidth compare between the two?

A: The RTX 5080 Mobile has 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 256 bit bus. The RX 6550M has 144.0 GB/s from 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64 bit bus. The NVIDIA part offers more than six times the bandwidth.

Q: What are the FP32 compute figures for each GPU?

A: The RX 6550M delivers 5.816 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput. The RTX 5080 Mobile delivers 23.04 TFLOPS, which is exactly four times higher.

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.

Q: What is the TDP of each GPU?

A: Both are rated at 80 W TDP. Both are IGP slot width with no power connectors.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX 6550M has an average benchmark score of 46,702 and a percentile of 85. The RTX 5080 Mobile has an average of 38,349 and a percentile of 81. However, the RTX 5080 Mobile's head-to-head results against the RX 6550M are overwhelmingly higher, and its average is lowered by its Passmark scores.