AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce MX550 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The data splits these two GPUs into entirely different performance classes. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT wins every recorded head-to-head benchmark, and its dominance is not marginal. In the two shared tests, the RX 7700 XT leads by 85.3% in Geekbench OpenCL and 30.1% in Geekbench Vulkan. The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 records zero wins across the entire comparison set.

The use-case split is straightforward. The MX550 belongs to the low-power, integrated-class segment. Its 25 W TDP, IGP slot width, and lack of power connectors position it for thin portable devices where battery life and thermal limits trump raw throughput. The recorded data shows it still competes in lightweight compute tasks, with a Geekbench OpenCL score of 20372 and a Vulkan score of 32469, placing it in the 72nd percentile among all GPUs.

The RX 7700 XT is a desktop-class part with a 245 W TDP, dual-slot cooler, and dual 8-pin power connectors. Its benchmark footprint is much broader, covering 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, Passmark DirectX 9/10/11/12, Passmark G2D, G3D, and GPU compute tests. The 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 3316 and Passmark G3D score of 22547 confirm it targets sustained, high-fidelity gaming and compute workloads. The MX550 has no recorded entry in any of those tests, so the data cannot support a direct comparison there.

The percentile ranks reinforce the gap. The MX550 sits at the 72nd percentile, while the RX 7700 XT sits at the 67th percentile. This inversion is notable: the MX550 has a higher percentile despite a lower average benchmark score. That is because the MX550 only has two recorded benchmarks, both of which are relatively strong for its class, while the RX 7700 XT carries ten tests including demanding DX9 and DX12 Passmark entries that pull its average down. The average benchmark score for the MX550 is 26421, while the RX 7700 XT averages 22549. But the RX 7700 XT's raw compute ceiling is far higher, as shown by its 138383 Geekbench OpenCL score versus the MX550's 20372.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and process nodes. The MX550 uses the TU117SB chip, built on Turing architecture at a 12 nm TSMC process. The RX 7700 XT uses the Navi 32 chip, built on RDNA 3.0 at a 5 nm TSMC process. That process gap alone explains much of the efficiency and density difference. The MX550 packs 4,700 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 23.5 million per square millimeter. The RX 7700 XT packs 28,100 million transistors into a 346 mm² die, yielding 81.2 million per square millimeter, more than three times the density.

The RX 7700 XT also carries a much larger memory subsystem. It has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The MX550 has 2 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, delivering 96.00 GB/s. That is a 4.5x bandwidth advantage for the RX 7700 XT, which matters heavily in modern games and compute workloads that stream large datasets.

Compute unit counts scale accordingly. The MX550 has 1024 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation units. The RX 7700 XT has 3456 shading units, 216 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The RX 7700 XT also includes 54 ray tracing cores, while the MX550 has none recorded. Neither part lists tensor cores in the data. Pixel and texture rates reflect the raw throughput advantage: the RX 7700 XT hits 244.2 GPixel/s and 549.5 GTexel/s, versus 21.12 GPixel/s and 42.24 GTexel/s for the MX550. FP32 throughput is 35.17 TFLOPS for the RX 7700 XT versus 2.703 TFLOPS for the MX550, a 13x gap. Both run FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32.

Clock behavior differs as well. The MX550 runs a 1065 MHz base and 1320 MHz boost, while the RX 7700 XT runs a 1435 MHz base, 2171 MHz game clock, and 2544 MHz boost. The RX 7700 XT also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the MX550 is limited to PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs differ: the MX550 is portable-device dependent, while the RX 7700 XT offers one HDMI 2.1a, two DisplayPort 2.1, and one USB Type-C. API support also diverges: the MX550 lists DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RX 7700 XT lists DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), plus both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 7700 XT has a 267 mm length, 135 mm height, and 50 mm width, while the MX550 has no recorded dimensions.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Only two benchmarks appear in the head-to-head set, and the AMD part wins both. The first is Geekbench OpenCL. The MX550 scores 20372, and the RX 7700 XT scores 138383. That is a delta of 85.3% in favor of the RX 7700 XT. In practical terms, the RX 7700 XT delivers nearly seven times the OpenCL throughput. This test stresses general-purpose compute, and the RX 7700 XT's 3456 shading units and 35.17 FP32 TFLOPS simply overwhelm the MX550's 1024 shading units and 2.703 TFLOPS.

The second shared test is Geekbench Vulkan. The MX550 scores 32469, and the RX 7700 XT scores 46443. The delta is 30.1% in favor of the RX 7700 XT. This is a smaller margin than OpenCL, but still decisive. Vulkan tends to favor newer architectures with better driver optimization, and RDNA 3.0 with its ray tracing cores and higher clocks pulls ahead. The MX550's Turing architecture still holds its own in Vulkan, but the raw clock and shader advantages of the RX 7700 XT carry the test.

The RX 7700 XT also has a large set of additional benchmarks that the MX550 cannot be compared against, because no equivalent MX550 scores exist in the database. Those include 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 3316, Passmark DirectX 10 at 119, DirectX 11 at 232, DirectX 12 at 79, DirectX 9 at 294, G2D at 1161, G3D at 22547, and GPU compute at 12912. These numbers indicate a well-rounded GPU that performs across legacy and modern APIs.

The nearest rivals for each part put the performance gap into context. The MX550's closest competitor in the database is the AMD Radeon 860M, with an average score of 26401 and a delta of 0.1%. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is also close at 26331, a 0.3% delta. That means the MX550 trades blows with integrated and entry-level discrete GPUs, not with desktop-class parts. The RX 7700 XT's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile at 22435, a 0.5% delta, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile at 22729, a -0.8% delta. The RX 7700 XT also sits near the RTX 2080 at 22895 and the RX 5700 at 22170. So the RX 7700 XT competes in the upper-midrange desktop and high-end mobile segment, while the MX550 is in the entry-level mobile segment.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 has an average benchmark score of 26421, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT averages 22549. However, the MX550 only has two recorded benchmarks, while the RX 7700 XT has ten, including several legacy API tests that drag down its average. In direct head-to-head tests, the RX 7700 XT wins both.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two in any single benchmark?

A: The largest gap is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT scores 138383 versus the NVIDIA GeForce MX550's 20372, a delta of 85.3% in favor of the RX 7700 XT.

Q: Does the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 have ray tracing cores?

A: No. The database records no ray tracing cores for the MX550. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT has 54 ray tracing cores.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT has 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus. The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 has 96.00 GB/s from 2 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus. The RX 7700 XT offers 4.5 times the bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 has a 25 W TDP and requires no power connectors, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT has a 245 W TDP and requires dual 8-pin connectors with a suggested 550 W power supply. The MX550 is designed for integrated-class portable systems, while the RX 7700 XT is a dual-slot desktop card.

Q: What are the closest rivals to each GPU in the database?

A: The MX550's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon 860M with a 0.1% delta, followed by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 at 0.3%. The RX 7700 XT's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile at 0.5%, followed by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile at -0.8%.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear verdict for anyone choosing between these two GPUs. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is the superior performer in every recorded head-to-head benchmark, and it offers a far larger feature set: 54 ray tracing cores, 12 GB of memory, 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and DirectX 12 Ultimate support. Its 35.17 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput is more than 13 times the MX550's 2.703 TFLOPS. For gaming, 3D rendering, or compute-heavy workloads, the RX 7700 XT is the only rational choice.

The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 has a different purpose. Its 25 W TDP, IGP form factor, and lack of power connectors target ultra-thin laptops and portable devices where the RX 7700 XT physically cannot fit. Its 72nd percentile ranking and average score of 26421 show it is competitive within its own class, trading blows with integrated GPUs like the AMD Radeon 860M. But it cannot handle the same workloads as the RX 7700 XT, and the recorded data shows no scenario where it wins.

The choice depends entirely on the system form factor and workload. If the target is a desktop or large laptop with room for a dual-slot, 245 W card, the RX 7700 XT wins outright. If the target is a thin, fanless or low-power portable device, the MX550 is the only feasible option, and its benchmark results show it handles basic compute and Vulkan workloads acceptably. The RX 7700 XT is the performance leader. The MX550 is the efficiency leader. Neither part is suitable for the other's intended use case.