NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce MX550 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti and the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 represent two very different approaches to GPU design, separated by six years of architectural evolution but occupying surprisingly similar overall performance percentiles. The GTX 980 Ti is a 2015 flagship desktop card built on the massive GM200 chip, while the MX550 is a 2021 entry-level mobile part using the Turing architecture. Benchmark data shows the GTX 980 Ti holds a commanding lead in the two shared tests, yet the MX550’s efficiency and modern feature set tell a different story. This analysis walks through the data to determine where each card wins, how they compare in direct benchmarks, and what the specifications reveal about their intended roles.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 980 Ti wins decisively in raw compute performance. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, it scores 43,513 against the MX550’s 20,372, a 113.6% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 47,724 versus 32,469, a 47% lead. These are the only two head-to-head benchmarks available, and the GTX 980 Ti wins both, giving it a 2-0 record. The data indicates that for any workload that stresses raw shader throughput, memory bandwidth, or pixel filling, the GTX 980 Ti is the clear choice. Its 6.060 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, 336.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth, and 96 ROPs provide a massive hardware foundation that the MX550’s 2.703 TFLOPS, 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, and 16 ROPs simply cannot match.

The MX550’s wins are not in performance but in efficiency and portability. Its 25 W TDP is one-tenth of the GTX 980 Ti’s 250 W, and it requires no power connectors, drawing everything from the PCIe slot. It is an IGP-class part, meaning it is designed for thin-and-light laptops where the GTX 980 Ti’s 267 mm length, dual-slot width, and 600 W suggested PSU are physically impossible. The MX550 also uses a 12 nm process node versus the GTX 980 Ti’s 28 nm, and its transistor density of 23.5M / mm² is nearly double the GTX 980 Ti’s 13.3M / mm². For tasks like light gaming, video playback, or general desktop acceleration in a portable device, the MX550 is the only viable option between these two, given the GTX 980 Ti’s form factor and power requirements.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 980 Ti has an average benchmark score of 28,020, compared to the MX550’s 26,421. This places the GTX 980 Ti at the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, while the MX550 sits at the 72nd percentile.

Q: How large is the performance gap in OpenCL?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 980 Ti scores 43,513 versus the MX550’s 20,372. The GTX 980 Ti is 113.6% faster, meaning it more than doubles the MX550’s score.

Q: Does the MX550 support any newer APIs?

A: No. Both GPUs support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The MX550’s Turing architecture does not add any API-level advantages in these benchmarks.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The GTX 980 Ti has 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, yielding 336.6 GB/s bandwidth. The MX550 has 2 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 980 Ti has 3.5 times the bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The MX550 has a boost clock of 1320 MHz, while the GTX 980 Ti boosts to 1076 MHz. Despite the higher clock, the MX550’s much lower shader count and memory bandwidth result in far lower overall performance.

Q: How do their nearest rivals compare in average score?

A: The GTX 980 Ti’s closest rival is the AMD FirePro S7150 at 28,117 (0.3% faster), with the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X at 27,973 (0.2% slower). The MX550’s closest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A4000 at 26,683 (1% faster), and the AMD Radeon 860M at 26,401 (0.1% slower).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data is limited to two Geekbench tests, but both show overwhelming victories for the GTX 980 Ti. In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 980 Ti’s score of 43,513 dwarfs the MX550’s 20,372. The 113.6% delta means the GTX 980 Ti delivers more than double the compute throughput. This is consistent with the hardware: the GTX 980 Ti has 2,816 shading units, 176 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, compared to the MX550’s 1,024 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The GTX 980 Ti also has 6.060 TFLOPS of FP32 performance versus 2.703 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate of 103.3 GPixel/s is nearly five times the MX550’s 21.12 GPixel/s.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap narrows but remains substantial. The GTX 980 Ti scores 47,724 against the MX550’s 32,469, a 47% advantage. This smaller delta suggests that Vulkan workloads may be less dependent on raw fill-rate and more balanced across other factors, but the GTX 980 Ti still wins decisively. The MX550’s higher boost clock (1320 MHz vs 1076 MHz) and newer GDDR6 memory help it close some distance, but the GTX 980 Ti’s 384-bit memory bus and 336.6 GB/s bandwidth provide a fundamental throughput advantage that clocks cannot overcome.

The GTX 980 Ti also has a higher average benchmark score of 28,020 versus 26,421, a 6% difference. This average includes the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test (score 1,321) and Geekbench Metal (score 19,520) for the GTX 980 Ti, which are not available for the MX550. The MX550’s average is computed solely from its two Geekbench scores. This means the GTX 980 Ti’s lead is even more pronounced when considering the broader benchmark suite, as it demonstrates capability across DirectX, Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan, while the MX550 only has data for OpenCL and Vulkan.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every fundamental specification. The GTX 980 Ti uses the GM200 chip on a 28 nm process, while the MX550 uses the TU117SB chip on a 12 nm process. The GTX 980 Ti has 8,000 million transistors on a 601 mm² die, giving a density of 13.3M / mm². The MX550 has 4,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, giving a density of 23.5M / mm². The MX550 packs its transistors nearly twice as densely.

Clocks differ significantly: the GTX 980 Ti runs at 1000 MHz base and 1076 MHz boost, while the MX550 runs at 1065 MHz base and 1320 MHz boost. Memory clocks also differ, with the GTX 980 Ti at 1753 MHz (7 Gbps effective) and the MX550 at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). Despite the MX550’s higher effective memory speed, its 64-bit bus limits bandwidth to 96.00 GB/s versus the GTX 980 Ti’s 336.6 GB/s.

The memory capacity and type differ: 6 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus for the GTX 980 Ti, versus 2 GB GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus for the MX550. The GTX 980 Ti has 2,816 shading units, 176 TMUs, and 96 ROPs; the MX550 has 1,024 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Pixel rate is 103.3 GPixel/s versus 21.12 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 189.4 GTexel/s versus 42.24 GTexel/s.

Power and physical attributes show the starkest contrast. The GTX 980 Ti has a 250 W TDP, requires a 600 W suggested PSU, uses dual-slot width, and needs 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin power connectors. It measures 267 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 40 mm in width. The MX550 has a 25 W TDP, needs no power connectors, is IGP-class, and has no listed dimensions. The GTX 980 Ti uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the MX550 uses PCIe 4.0 x8.

Display outputs also differ: the GTX 980 Ti offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.2, while the MX550’s outputs are portable device dependent. The GTX 980 Ti has a launch MSRP of 649 USD. The MX550 has no launch MSRP listed.

Architecture Differences

The GTX 980 Ti is built on Maxwell 2.0, which was NVIDIA’s architecture for the GeForce 900 generation. It uses the GM200 chip, a 28 nm design from TSMC. Maxwell 2.0 focused on improving power efficiency over the previous Kepler generation while delivering high raw throughput. The GTX 980 Ti’s FP32 performance of 6.060 TFLOPS is its primary strength, with no dedicated FP16 path listed.

The MX550 is built on Turing, which is a newer architecture that introduced several features not present in Maxwell 2.0. The TU117SB chip is manufactured on a 12 nm process, also by TSMC. Turing introduces a 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratio, meaning the MX550 can achieve 2.703 TFLOPS in FP16, matching its FP32 output. The GTX 980 Ti has no FP16 data listed, suggesting it either lacks this capability or it is not documented.

Both architectures support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so there is no API-level difference. Neither GPU has dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, as indicated by null values for both rtCores and tensorCores. The MX550’s Turing architecture does not include the RTX-specific features found in higher-end Turing parts, so its architectural advantage is limited to the newer process node, higher clock speeds, and FP16 support.

The GTX 980 Ti’s transistor density of 13.3M / mm² reflects the older 28 nm process, while the MX550’s 23.5M / mm² reflects the more advanced 12 nm process. The GTX 980 Ti compensates with a much larger die (601 mm² versus 200 mm²) and more total transistors (8,000 million versus 4,700 million). This allows the GTX 980 Ti to house 2.75 times the shading units, 5.5 times the TMUs, and 6 times the ROPs of the MX550.

The Verdict

The data clearly indicates that the GTX 980 Ti is the superior performer in every benchmark where both cards have been tested. It wins OpenCL by 113.6% and Vulkan by 47%, and its average benchmark score of 28,020 is 6% higher than the MX550’s 26,421. For any user who needs maximum compute throughput, the GTX 980 Ti is the only choice between these two, provided the system can accommodate its 250 W TDP, dual-slot size, and 600 W PSU requirement.

The MX550, however, serves a completely different purpose. Its 25 W TDP and IGP form factor make it suitable for portable devices where the GTX 980 Ti physically cannot fit. Its higher boost clock (1320 MHz) and newer 12 nm process do not overcome the GTX 980 Ti’s massive advantages in memory bandwidth, shader count, and fill rate, but they do make it a reasonable choice for light workloads in a laptop. The MX550’s percentile ranking of 72 versus the GTX 980 Ti’s 73 shows that, in the grand scheme of all GPUs, they are nearly comparable overall, but that comparison is heavily skewed by the MX550’s efficiency and the GTX 980 Ti’s age.

The verdict depends entirely on use case. The GTX 980 Ti wins for desktop users with power to spare who prioritize raw performance. The MX550 wins for mobile users who need a capable integrated solution. Neither card is a substitute for the other, and the benchmark data confirms that the GTX 980 Ti is the performance king while the MX550 is the efficiency champion.