AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 vs NVIDIA T550 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark entries for the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and the NVIDIA T550 Mobile. As a result, the comparison rests on their respective average benchmark scores and percentile rankings across all GPUs.

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 records an average benchmark score of 37,507, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA T550 Mobile averages 33,161, which corresponds to the 77th percentile. The raw score difference is 4,346 points, meaning the Vega 56 sits roughly 13.1% higher in average recorded performance. In percentile terms, the Vega 56 outperforms the T550 Mobile by 4 percentile points, a modest but consistent margin across the database’s full GPU population.

Looking at nearest rivals clarifies the competitive positioning. The Vega 56’s closest neighbors include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 at 37,628 (0.3% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 at 37,648 (0.4% higher), the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 at 37,157 (0.9% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38,135 (1.6% higher). These deltas are all within 2%, indicating that the Vega 56 sits in a tightly packed performance band where small margins separate entries. The Vega 56 is effectively at parity with the RTX 4070 in this database, despite the architectural generation gap, and it trails the RTX 4080 Mobile by only 1.6%.

The T550 Mobile’s nearest rivals tell a similar story of tight competition. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile matches it exactly at 33,170 (0% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro 570 is 0.1% lower at 33,207, the NVIDIA P104-100 is 0.5% higher at 32,982, and the NVIDIA T600 Mobile is 1% higher at 32,849. The T550 Mobile therefore sits in a cluster where the spread from the lowest to highest neighbor is just 1.5%. This suggests that the T550 Mobile’s performance is well established relative to its direct peers, but the entire cluster sits roughly 11% to 13% below the Vega 56’s cluster.

Individual benchmark entries provide additional texture. The Vega 56 posts a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,501 and a Geekbench Metal score of 73,512. The T550 Mobile has no corresponding Metal or Steel Nomad results, but its Geekbench OpenCL score is 35,521 and its Geekbench Vulkan score is 30,801. The Vega 56’s Metal result is more than double the T550 Mobile’s OpenCL figure, though these tests measure different APIs and should not be taken as directly comparable. The Vulkan score of 30,801 for the T550 Mobile is the lowest recorded figure among the benchmarks cited here, reinforcing the gap in raw compute throughput.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is built on the Vega 10 chip using the GCN 5.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The NVIDIA T550 Mobile uses the TU117 chip with the Turing architecture, produced on a 12 nm process at TSMC. The process node difference is modest, but the chip scales are not. The Vega 10 die measures 495 mm² and contains 12,500 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of 25.3M per mm². The TU117 die is 200 mm² with 4,700 million transistors, for a density of 23.5M per mm². The Vega 56’s die is more than twice the physical size and carries nearly three times the transistor count.

The memory subsystems diverge sharply. The Vega 56 uses 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 409.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The T550 Mobile uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, delivering 96.00 GB/s. The Vega 56’s bandwidth advantage is roughly 4.3 times for a 2 times capacity advantage. Memory clock rates also differ: the Vega 56 runs at 800 MHz with 1600 Mbps effective, while the T550 Mobile runs at 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective. The higher effective rate on the T550 Mobile cannot compensate for the far narrower bus.

Compute resources are heavily skewed toward the Vega 56. It carries 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The T550 Mobile has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Pixel rate for the Vega 56 is 94.14 GPixel/s versus 53.28 GPixel/s for the T550 Mobile. Texture rate is 329.5 GTexel/s versus 106.6 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 10.54 TFLOPS for the Vega 56 and 3.410 TFLOPS for the T550 Mobile. FP16 rates are 21.09 TFLOPS and 6.820 TFLOPS respectively, both at a 2:1 ratio.

Power and physical design differ as much as compute. The Vega 56 has a TDP of 210 W, a dual-slot footprint, and requires two 8-pin power connectors with a 550 W suggested PSU. The T550 Mobile has a 23 W TDP, is classified as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors, and no suggested PSU. The Vega 56 measures 280 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 40 mm in width. The T550 Mobile has no recorded dimensions, consistent with a portable or embedded form factor.

Both GPUs support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan, with the Vega 56 listed at Vulkan 1.3 and the T550 Mobile at Vulkan 1.4. Neither has ray tracing cores or tensor cores. The Vega 56 offers display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the T550 Mobile’s outputs are listed as portable device dependent. The Vega 56 uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, as does the T550 Mobile.

The Verdict

The recorded data makes the performance hierarchy clear. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 outperforms the NVIDIA T550 Mobile in average benchmark score by 4,346 points, a 13.1% margin, and sits 4 percentile points higher in the global GPU distribution. Every major compute metric in the database favors the Vega 56: shading units, TMUs, ROPs, pixel rate, texture rate, FP32, and FP16. Memory bandwidth is 409.6 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s, a 4.3 times advantage.

The T550 Mobile’s advantages are limited to efficiency and form factor. Its 23 W TDP is drastically lower than the Vega 56’s 210 W, and its IGP classification with no power connectors makes it suitable for compact or portable systems where the Vega 56’s dual-slot, 280 mm board cannot fit. The T550 Mobile also has a smaller die (200 mm² versus 495 mm²) and a newer process node (12 nm versus 14 nm), though those factors do not translate into a performance win.

For users selecting based purely on recorded performance, the Vega 56 is the stronger choice. For users constrained by power or physical space, the T550 Mobile is the only viable option among the two. The data does not support any scenario where the T550 Mobile wins on raw compute, but its power envelope and portability are decisive in their own right.

Specification Differences

| Field | AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 | NVIDIA T550 Mobile |

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

| Chip | Vega 10 | TU117 |

| Architecture | GCN 5.0 | Turing |

| Process node | 14 nm | 12 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 12,500 million | 4,700 million |

| Die size | 495 mm² | 200 mm² |

| Transistor density | 25.3M / mm² | 23.5M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1156 MHz | 1065 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1471 MHz | 1665 MHz |

| Memory clock | 800 MHz, 1600 Mbps effective | 1500 MHz, 12 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 8 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory type | HBM2 | GDDR6 |

| Memory bus width | 2048 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 409.6 GB/s | 96.00 GB/s |

| Shading units | 3584 | 1024 |

| TMUs | 224 | 64 |

| ROPs | 64 | 32 |

| Pixel rate | 94.14 GPixel/s | 53.28 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 329.5 GTexel/s | 106.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 10.54 TFLOPS | 3.410 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 21.09 TFLOPS (2:1) | 6.820 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 210 W | 23 W |

| Slot width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power connectors | 2x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | None |

| Display outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | Portable device dependent |

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Dimensions | 280 mm x 111 mm x 40 mm | Not recorded |

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 has an average benchmark score of 37,507, compared to 33,161 for the NVIDIA T550 Mobile, a difference of 4,346 points.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in memory bandwidth?

A: The Vega 56 provides 409.6 GB/s via HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, while the T550 Mobile provides 96.00 GB/s via GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Vega 56 has a TDP of 210 W, requires two 8-pin power connectors, and has a suggested PSU of 550 W. The T550 Mobile has a TDP of 23 W, uses no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU.

Q: Does the NVIDIA T550 Mobile support ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No, the T550 Mobile has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The Vega 56 also has none.

Q: Which GPU has a higher FP32 throughput?

A: The Vega 56 delivers 10.54 TFLOPS FP32, while the T550 Mobile delivers 3.410 TFLOPS FP32.

Q: What is the percentile ranking of each GPU?

A: The Vega 56 is in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, and the T550 Mobile is in the 77th percentile.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 wins decisively in every recorded performance category. Its average benchmark score is 13.1% higher, and its percentile placement is 4 points higher. Compute resources are overwhelmingly in its favor: 3,584 shading units versus 1,024, 224 TMUs versus 64, and 64 ROPs versus 32. The Vega 56’s pixel rate of 94.14 GPixel/s is nearly double the T550 Mobile’s 53.28 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 329.5 GTexel/s is more than three times the T550 Mobile’s 106.6 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 10.54 TFLOPS against 3.410 TFLOPS, a factor of 3.1. Memory bandwidth of 409.6 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s means the Vega 56 can feed its larger compute pipeline without bottlenecks, which is critical for high-resolution textures or compute-heavy workloads.

The NVIDIA T550 Mobile wins in power efficiency and physical integration. Its 23 W TDP is a 187 W reduction from the Vega 56’s 210 W, and its IGP form factor with no power connectors allows installation in systems where a dual-slot, 280 mm board with two 8-pin connectors is impossible. The T550 Mobile’s 12 nm process also gives it a smaller die (200 mm² versus 495 mm²) and a more recent manufacturing node. For workloads that prioritize low power draw, minimal heat output, or portability, the T550 Mobile is the data-supported choice. For any workload where compute throughput, memory bandwidth, or raw performance matters, the Vega 56 is the only reasonable selection based on the recorded benchmarks.