AMD Radeon RX 6550M vs NVIDIA Tesla T4 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear and consistent advantage for the NVIDIA Tesla T4 across both benchmark applications. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Tesla T4 posts a score of 61,276, while the AMD Radeon RX 6550M manages 42,536. That is a delta of 44.1 percent in favor of the NVIDIA part. The margin is nearly as large in Geekbench Vulkan, where the Tesla T4 scores 72,190 against the RX 6550M's 50,867, a 41.9 percent advantage. The database records two wins for the Tesla T4 and zero for the RX 6550M.

These numbers place the Tesla T4 in a higher performance class overall. Its average benchmark score across the recorded tests is 66,733, which puts it at the 90th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The RX 6550M, by contrast, averages 46,702 and sits at the 85th percentile. The gap between the two average scores is roughly 20,031 points, which is substantial when considering that both cards target different market segments.

The Tesla T4's OpenCL result is particularly notable when compared to its nearest rivals. The AMD Radeon VII averages 66,004, just 1.1 percent higher than the Tesla T4's average. The NVIDIA Tesla P40 sits 2.5 percent behind at 65,095. The AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 leads the Tesla T4 by 2.7 percent with an average of 68,562, and the Intel Arc A770 is 3 percent ahead at 68,809. What this means is that the Tesla T4, despite being an end-of-life server product, remains competitive with much newer and larger desktop and workstation cards.

The RX 6550M's nearest rival list tells a different story. Its average of 46,702 is nearly identical to the Intel Arc A530M, which scores 46,614, a delta of just 0.2 percent. The AMD Radeon RX 5600M is also 0.2 percent behind at 46,601. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 trails by 1.4 percent with 46,043, and the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation is 1.6 percent behind at 45,972. This clustering suggests the RX 6550M sits right at the top of a tight performance band, but that band is far below where the Tesla T4 operates.

In raw compute terms, the Tesla T4 delivers 8.141 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the RX 6550M produces 5.816 TFLOPS. The NVIDIA card also leads in FP16 with 16.28 TFLOPS versus 11.63 TFLOPS for the AMD part. These figures align with the benchmark deltas and confirm that the Tesla T4 is the stronger compute performer in every measured category.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL performance?

The NVIDIA Tesla T4 scores 61,276, which is 44.1 percent higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6550M's 42,536.

Q: How large is the Vulkan performance gap?

The Tesla T4 scores 72,190 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the RX 6550M scores 50,867. The delta is 41.9 percent in favor of the NVIDIA card.

Q: How do these GPUs rank against all other GPUs in the database?

The Tesla T4 is at the 90th percentile with an average benchmark score of 66,733. The RX 6550M is at the 85th percentile with an average of 46,702.

Q: What is the closest rival to the Tesla T4 in average score?

The AMD Radeon VII averages 66,004, which is 1.1 percent higher than the Tesla T4's 66,733. The NVIDIA Tesla P40 is 2.5 percent lower at 65,095.

Q: What is the closest rival to the RX 6550M in average score?

The Intel Arc A530M averages 46,614, just 0.2 percent behind the RX 6550M's 46,702. The AMD Radeon RX 5600M is also 0.2 percent behind at 46,601.

Q: Which card has a higher FP32 compute throughput?

The NVIDIA Tesla T4 delivers 8.141 TFLOPS FP32, while the AMD Radeon RX 6550M delivers 5.816 TFLOPS.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 6550M in every recorded benchmark, with deltas exceeding 40 percent in both OpenCL and Vulkan. Its average benchmark score is 66,733, placing it at the 90th percentile, while the RX 6550M averages 46,702 at the 85th percentile. The Tesla T4 also leads in FP32 and FP16 compute throughput, and it offers 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth, compared to the RX 6550M's 4 GB and 144.0 GB/s.

For buyers choosing between these two based strictly on benchmark data, the Tesla T4 is the clear pick for compute-heavy workloads. Its 44.1 percent OpenCL lead and 41.9 percent Vulkan lead are decisive. The RX 6550M, however, is an active product with a newer 6 nm process node, while the Tesla T4 is end-of-life. The RX 6550M also has a higher base clock of 2000 MHz and a boost clock of 2840 MHz, versus 585 MHz and 1590 MHz for the Tesla T4. Those clock advantages do not translate into benchmark wins, however, because the Tesla T4 has far more shading units, texture mapping units, and render output units.

The Tesla T4's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon VII at 1.1 percent higher average score, the NVIDIA Tesla P40 at 2.5 percent lower, the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 at 2.7 percent higher, and the Intel Arc A770 at 3 percent higher. The RX 6550M's rivals are all within 1.6 percent of its average score. This means the Tesla T4 competes with high-end workstation and desktop cards, while the RX 6550M competes with mid-range mobile and workstation parts. The performance class difference is reflected in the percentile rankings and the benchmark deltas.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification field. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 uses the TU104 chip on a 12 nm process with 13,600 million transistors and a die size of 545 mm². The AMD Radeon RX 6550M uses the Navi 24 chip on a 6 nm process with 5,400 million transistors and a die size of 107 mm². The transistor density tells the story of process efficiency: the RX 6550M packs 50.5 million transistors per mm², while the Tesla T4 manages 25.0 million per mm².

Memory configurations are starkly different. The Tesla T4 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256 bit bus, delivering 320.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6550M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64 bit bus, delivering 144.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, while the AMD card has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Tesla T4 also has 40 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores; the RX 6550M has 16 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores.

Clock speeds favor the AMD card significantly. The RX 6550M runs at 2000 MHz base, 2560 MHz game clock, and 2840 MHz boost, with memory at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). The Tesla T4 runs at 585 MHz base and 1590 MHz boost, with memory at 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective). Despite the clock disadvantage, the Tesla T4 achieves higher pixel rate at 101.8 GPixel/s versus 90.88 GPixel/s, and higher texture rate at 254.4 GTexel/s versus 181.8 GTexel/s.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The Tesla T4 has a TDP of 70 W, is single-slot, requires no power connectors, and needs a 250 W suggested PSU. The RX 6550M has a TDP of 80 W, is an IGP form factor, and requires no power connectors. The Tesla T4 is 168 mm (6.6 inches) long, while the RX 6550M has no recorded dimensions. The Tesla T4 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RX 6550M uses PCIe 4.0 x4. The Tesla T4 has no display outputs, while the RX 6550M's outputs are portable device dependent.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split is fundamental. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 is built on the Turing architecture, part of the Tesla Turing generation, and uses the TU104 chip. The AMD Radeon RX 6550M is built on RDNA 2.0, part of the Navi Mobile RX 6000M generation, and uses the Navi 24 chip. Both are manufactured by TSMC, but on different nodes: 12 nm for the Tesla T4 and 6 nm for the RX 6550M.

The Turing architecture in the Tesla T4 includes 40 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores. These tensor cores are absent from the RX 6550M, which has 16 ray tracing cores but no tensor core count recorded. This makes the Tesla T4 better suited for AI and machine learning workloads that leverage tensor operations, while the RX 6550M focuses on traditional RDNA 2.0 compute and ray tracing.

Both GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The API compatibility is identical, which means software support is not a differentiator. The production status, however, is: the Tesla T4 is end-of-life, while the RX 6550M is active. The Tesla T4's predecessor is Tesla Volta and its successor is Server Ampere. The RX 6550M's predecessor is Polaris Mobile and it has no recorded successor.

The Tesla T4 was released on 2018-09-12, while the RX 6550M was released on 2023-01-03. That four-year gap explains the process node difference and the clock speed disparity. The newer AMD part uses a much smaller die, 107 mm² versus 545 mm², and draws 80 W versus 70 W. The Tesla T4's larger die and older process allow it to house far more compute resources, which is why it wins the benchmark comparisons despite being older and lower clocked.

The bus interface also reflects their intended environments. The Tesla T4 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, a full-bandwidth server connection, while the RX 6550M uses PCIe 4.0 x4, a narrower link typical of mobile implementations. The Tesla T4 has no display outputs, confirming its role as an accelerator, while the RX 6550M's outputs depend on the portable device in which it is installed. These architectural choices explain the performance hierarchy recorded in the database.