AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce MX550 Comparison

The Verdict

The data separates these two GPUs into entirely different performance classes. The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT wins both head-to-head benchmark comparisons decisively, with the GeForce MX550 trailing by 74.7% in Geekbench OpenCL and 55.2% in Geekbench Vulkan. The RX 6600 XT delivers an average benchmark score of 24,442 versus 26,421 for the MX550, yet these averages are misleading when the individual test results are examined. The MX550’s average is buoyed by only two benchmarks, while the RX 6600 XT’s average spans eleven tests including several Passmark workloads.

For users seeking a discrete GPU for portable devices with minimal power draw, the MX550 offers an integrated-class form factor at 25 W TDP with an IGP slot width and no power connectors. The RX 6600 XT, by contrast, is a dual-slot card requiring a 450 W suggested PSU and a single 8-pin connector, with a 160 W TDP. The benchmark data shows no scenario where the MX550 outperforms the RX 6600 XT. The RX 6600 XT is the choice for any workload involving compute, graphics, or gaming, provided the system can accommodate its power and physical requirements. The MX550 is appropriate only for thin-and-light designs where the 25 W TDP and connector-free layout are mandatory constraints.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The MX550 uses NVIDIA’s Turing architecture on the TU117SB chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It packs 4,700 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 23.5 million per square millimeter. The RX 6600 XT employs AMD’s RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, built on a 7 nm process also at TSMC. It contains 11,060 million transistors across a 237 mm² die, achieving 46.7 million transistors per square millimeter. The density difference—roughly double—reflects the process node advantage and the architectural complexity of RDNA 2.0.

Core configurations diverge sharply. The MX550 has 1,024 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 raster output pipelines. The RX 6600 XT doubles the shading units to 2,048, quadruples TMUs to 128, and quadruples ROPs to 64. The RX 6600 XT also integrates 32 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the MX550, which lists no RT cores and no tensor cores. Both GPUs support DirectX 12, but the RX 6600 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) while the MX550 tops out at DirectX 12 (12_1). OpenGL support is identical at 4.6, and Vulkan support matches at 1.4.

Memory subsystems are fundamentally different in scale. The MX550 has 2 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, delivering 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6600 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, more than doubling bandwidth to 256.0 GB/s. Clock speeds also favor the AMD part: the MX550 runs at a 1065 MHz base and 1320 MHz boost, while the RX 6600 XT operates at 1968 MHz base, 2359 MHz game clock, and 2589 MHz boost. The memory clock on the RX 6600 XT is 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) on the MX550.

Compute throughput metrics show the scale of the gap. The MX550 delivers 2.703 TFLOPS FP32 and the same 2.703 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio). The RX 6600 XT produces 10.60 TFLOPS FP32 and 21.21 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). Pixel and texture rates follow suit: the MX550 achieves 21.12 GPixel/s and 42.24 GTexel/s, while the RX 6600 XT reaches 165.7 GPixel/s and 331.4 GTexel/s. The RX 6600 XT is roughly five times faster in pixel throughput and nearly eight times faster in texture throughput.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 has an average benchmark score of 26,421, while the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT averages 24,442. However, the MX550’s average is based on only two benchmarks (Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan), whereas the RX 6600 XT’s average includes eleven tests spanning DirectX 9 through 12, G2D, G3D, and compute workloads.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two chips?

A: The RX 6600 XT’s Navi 23 chip achieves 46.7 million transistors per square millimeter on a 7 nm process. The MX550’s TU117SB chip reaches 23.5 million transistors per square millimeter on a 12 nm process. The RX 6600 XT packs nearly double the density despite a modestly larger die (237 mm² versus 200 mm²).

Q: Do both GPUs support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 6600 XT includes 32 dedicated ray tracing cores as part of its RDNA 2.0 architecture. The MX550 lists no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores, so it lacks hardware-accelerated ray tracing capability.

Q: What memory configuration does each GPU use?

A: The MX550 has 2 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6600 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6600 XT offers four times the memory capacity and more than 2.5 times the bandwidth.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The MX550 draws 25 W TDP, uses no power connectors, and fits an IGP slot width. The RX 6600 XT draws 160 W TDP, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and is a dual-slot card. The RX 6600 XT also has a suggested PSU rating of 450 W, while the MX550 lists no suggested PSU.

Q: Which GPU has better DirectX support?

A: The RX 6600 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes features like ray tracing and mesh shaders. The MX550 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), a lower feature level. Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce MX550 | AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | TU117SB | Navi 23 |

| Architecture | Turing | RDNA 2.0 |

| Process Node | 12 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 4,700 million | 11,060 million |

| Die Size | 200 mm² | 237 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 23.5M / mm² | 46.7M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1065 MHz | 1968 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1320 MHz | 2589 MHz |

| Game Clock | None | 2359 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 64 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 96.00 GB/s | 256.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1,024 | 2,048 |

| TMUs | 32 | 128 |

| ROPs | 16 | 64 |

| RT Cores | None | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 21.12 GPixel/s | 165.7 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 42.24 GTexel/s | 331.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 2.703 TFLOPS | 10.60 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 2.703 TFLOPS (1:1) | 21.21 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 25 W | 160 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | None | 450 W |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Release Date | 2021-12-16 | 2021-07-29 |

| Dimensions | None listed | 190 mm x 110 mm x 40 mm |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two available head-to-head comparisons both favor the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT by substantial margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6600 XT scores 80,503 against the MX550’s 20,372. This represents a delta of 74.7% in favor of the AMD card. The RX 6600 XT’s OpenCL result is roughly four times higher than the MX550’s, which aligns with the differences in shading units (2,048 versus 1,024) and memory bandwidth (256.0 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s). The MX550’s FP32 ceiling of 2.703 TFLOPS caps its compute throughput, while the RX 6600 XT’s 10.60 TFLOPS FP32 and 21.21 TFLOPS FP16 provide far more headroom for OpenCL workloads that can utilize mixed precision.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap narrows slightly but remains decisive. The RX 6600 XT scores 72,417, while the MX550 scores 32,469, a delta of 55.2%. The MX550’s Vulkan result is actually stronger relative to its OpenCL score than the RX 6600 XT’s, suggesting the Turing architecture handles Vulkan efficiently. Still, the RX 6600 XT maintains a lead of roughly 2.2 times in raw Vulkan performance. The RX 6600 XT’s higher boost clock (2589 MHz versus 1320 MHz) and larger memory bus contribute to this advantage, as does its ray tracing core count of 32, which can offload certain workloads even in Vulkan.

Looking at the broader benchmark picture, the RX 6600 XT posts a Passmark G3D score of 16,461 and a GPU compute score of 7,520. Its Passmark DirectX scores range from 61 in DirectX 12 to 194 in DirectX 9, with DirectX 10 at 109 and DirectX 11 at 163. The G2D score of 912 indicates solid 2D acceleration. The MX550 has no equivalent Passmark data in the fact pack, so direct comparisons on those workloads are unavailable. The RX 6600 XT’s percentile ranking of 70th versus the MX550’s 72nd suggests both sit in similar overall percentile territory, but this ranking is influenced by the different benchmark counts and the MX550’s unusually high Vulkan score relative to its other specifications.

The RX 6600 XT’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (0.7% higher average score), the Intel Arc A350M (0.8% lower), the GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.8% higher), and the GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (1.1% higher). The MX550’s nearest rivals cluster around a 26,400 average score, including the AMD Radeon 860M (0.1% higher), the GeForce RTX 5060 (0.3% higher), the Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (0.5% lower), and the RTX A4000 (1.0% lower). This positioning shows the MX550’s average is competitive with midrange desktop GPUs from several generations, but the RX 6600 XT’s average sits in a slightly lower percentile band despite its vastly superior head-to-head performance. The explanation lies in benchmark composition: the RX 6600 XT’s Passmark DirectX 12 score of 61 drags down its average, while the MX550’s two Geekbench results are both relatively strong.