NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M vs NVIDIA T600 Comparison

The NVIDIA T600 and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M represent two very different eras of mobile and workstation graphics. The T600 is a modern, low-profile professional card built on the Turing architecture, while the GT 555M is a legacy mobile chip from the Fermi generation. The benchmark data reveals a stark performance gulf, but the differences go far beyond raw speed. This analysis breaks down where each card wins, the architectural chasm between them, and what the numbers mean for prospective users.

Where Each One Wins

The data presents a clear-cut case: the NVIDIA T600 wins the only directly comparable benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL test, by a massive margin. The T600 scores 27,875, while the GT 555M scores 6,493. This is a 329.3% difference. In this single head-to-head comparison, the T600 is the unequivocal winner. The GT 555M has no benchmark wins in the provided data.

However, the win condition for each card is contextual. The T600 is a professional workstation card, evidenced by its Quadro lineage and its 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. Its wins are in compute-heavy workloads and modern API support. The GT 555M, as a mobile chip from 2011, was designed for gaming and general multimedia in laptops of its era. Its "win" is not in performance, but in its specific historical niche as a mobile solution with a lower 35 W TDP, which was relevant for the thin-and-light laptops of its time. The data shows the T600 is the performance winner outright, but the GT 555M’s legacy is as a capable mobile part for its generation.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between the T600 and GT 555M is generational. The T600 uses the TU117 chip based on the Turing architecture, manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It packs 4,700 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 23.5M / mm². In contrast, the GT 555M uses the GF106 chip based on the much older Fermi architecture, built on a 40 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains only 1,170 million transistors on a larger 238 mm² die, giving a density of just 4.9M / mm². This means the T600 has over four times the transistor density, enabling far more complex compute capabilities.

The memory subsystems are also from different generations. The T600 features 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GT 555M has just 1024 MB of DDR3 memory on the same 128-bit bus, but its bandwidth is a paltry 28.80 GB/s. This is a fundamental difference in memory technology. The T600’s GDDR6 is vastly superior in speed and capacity, which is critical for modern workstation tasks.

Feature support also diverges. The T600 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GT 555M supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support listed. The T600 also has a newer PCIe interface (3.0 x16) compared to the GT 555M’s PCIe 2.0 x16. Neither card has ray tracing or tensor cores listed, but the T600’s Turing architecture provides modern compute features that the Fermi-based GT 555M simply lacks.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it is not close. The NVIDIA T600 scores 27,875, which is 329.3% higher than the GT 555M’s score of 6,493. This indicates a massive advantage in general-purpose GPU compute performance. For context, the T600’s average benchmark score across all tests is 7,035, which places it in the 39th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (avg score 7,157, -1.7% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M (avg score 7,023, +0.2% delta). This suggests the T600 performs in the range of older desktop gaming cards, despite its professional focus.

The GT 555M’s average benchmark score is 6,493, placing it in the 37th percentile. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M5000M (avg score 6,481, +0.2% delta) and the Intel UHD Graphics P750 (avg score 6,554, -0.9% delta). This shows the GT 555M is competitive with integrated graphics from a much later era, but it is fundamentally outclassed by the T600. The 329.3% delta in the OpenCL test is the single biggest data point in this comparison, underscoring the generational leap in compute capability.

FAQ

Q: Which card has better raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA T600 is vastly superior. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, it scores 27,875 versus the GT 555M’s 6,493, a 329.3% advantage.

Q: How do their memory configurations compare?

A: The T600 has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the GT 555M has 1024 MB of DDR3 with 28.80 GB/s bandwidth. Both use a 128-bit bus.

Q: Are they from the same architecture generation?

A: No. The T600 uses the Turing architecture (TU117 chip) on a 12 nm process, while the GT 555M uses the Fermi architecture (GF106 chip) on a 40 nm process.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: The T600 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GT 555M supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but lacks Vulkan support.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The T600 has a TDP of 40 W, while the GT 555M has a TDP of 35 W. The T600 is a single-slot card with no power connectors, while the GT 555M’s slot width and power connectors are not specified.

Q: How do they rank among all GPUs?

A: The T600 is in the 39th percentile of all GPUs, while the GT 555M is in the 37th percentile. Their average benchmark scores are 7,035 and 6,493, respectively.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every technical specification. The T600 is built on a 12 nm process with 4,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, while the GT 555M uses a 40 nm process with 1,170 million transistors on a 238 mm² die. The T600 has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, compared to the GT 555M’s 144 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The T600’s clock speeds are 735 MHz base and 1335 MHz boost, with memory at 1250 MHz (10 Gbps effective), while the GT 555M has no base or boost clocks listed, only a memory clock of 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective).

The T600’s FP32 performance is 1.709 TFLOPS, and it has FP16 performance of 3.418 TFLOPS (2:1). The GT 555M’s FP32 performance is just 339.8 GFLOPS, with no FP16 capability listed. The T600 has a 40 W TDP, is single-slot, has no power connectors, and requires a 200 W suggested PSU. The GT 555M has a 35 W TDP, but its slot width, power connectors, and suggested PSU are not specified. The T600 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and has 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the GT 555M uses PCIe 2.0 x16 and has "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs. The T600 was released in 2021, while the GT 555M was released in 2011. Both are end-of-life.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA T600 is the superior card in every measurable performance metric. Its 329.3% lead in OpenCL compute, its modern GDDR6 memory with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth, and its support for Vulkan 1.4 make it the clear choice for any professional or modern workload. The T600’s 4 GB of VRAM is four times the GT 555M’s 1024 MB, which is essential for modern textures and datasets. Its 640 shading units versus 144 is a 4.4x increase in raw shader count. The T600 is a professional workstation card designed for tasks like CAD, video editing, and compute acceleration.

The GT 555M, on the other hand, is a relic of the Fermi era. Its 35 W TDP was low for its time, but it has been thoroughly eclipsed by even integrated graphics, as shown by its proximity to the Intel UHD Graphics P750 in the nearest rivals list. It has no Vulkan support, a memory bandwidth of just 28.80 GB/s, and an FP32 performance of only 339.8 GFLOPS. The data suggests that anyone considering the GT 555M today for modern tasks would be severely limited. For a user with legacy software or a need for a low-power mobile GPU from 2011, the GT 555M holds historical relevance, but for any current application, the T600 is the definitive choice.