GPU Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro 570 and NVIDIA GeForce MX550 occupy nearly identical positions in the benchmark hierarchy, with average scores of 33258 and 33209 respectively, a difference of only 0.1%. Both sit at the 77th percentile among all GPUs, and their nearest rival lists are nearly mirror images, with the NVIDIA RTX A5000 (33294) and GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile (33170) bracketing them. However, the head-to-head benchmark results reveal a clear split: the MX550 wins both available tests, yet the margin ranges from negligible to substantial depending on the workload.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The GeForce MX550 takes a decisive victory in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 34198 against the Radeon Pro 570's 27702. That represents a 19% advantage for the NVIDIA part, a gap large enough to be felt in compute-heavy applications. The Radeon Pro 570's OpenCL result is its weakest showing of the three benchmark tests, trailing its own Vulkan score by 4408 points. In contrast, the MX550's OpenCL score is its strongest, exceeding its Vulkan result by 1978 points.

The Vulkan test tells a far closer story. The MX550 edges out the Radeon Pro 570 by a mere 0.3%, scoring 32220 versus 32110. This delta is within run-to-run variance territory, effectively a statistical tie. The Radeon Pro 570's Vulkan performance is notably more competitive than its OpenCL showing, suggesting the GCN architecture responds well to this particular API. The MX550 wins both head-to-head matchups, but the Vulkan result offers little separation between the two.

The overall average benchmark scores reinforce the closeness of this pairing. The Radeon Pro 570 averages 33258 across its three tests, while the MX550 averages 33209 across its two. The 49-point difference is less than 0.2%, placing both cards within 0.3% of the NVIDIA RTX A5000 (33294) and 0.3% of the GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile (33170). The data shows these are performance peers overall, with the MX550's OpenCL dominance balanced by the Radeon Pro 570's additional Metal benchmark entry.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and foundries. AMD's Radeon Pro 570 uses the Ellesmere chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm process. NVIDIA's GeForce MX550 employs the TU117SB chip based on Turing architecture, produced by TSMC on a 12 nm node. The process node difference is modest, but the architectural philosophies diverge significantly.

The Radeon Pro 570 packs 5,700 million transistors into a 232 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.6M per mm². The MX550 contains 4,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, with a density of 23.5M per mm². Despite having 1,000 million fewer transistors, the MX550 achieves near-parity in average performance through architectural efficiency.

Compute resources differ markedly. The Radeon Pro 570 fields 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The MX550 counters with 1024 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The AMD part holds a 75% advantage in shading units and a 3.5x lead in TMUs, yet the NVIDIA card still matches or beats it in most workloads. Clock speeds tell part of the story: the MX550 boosts to 1320 MHz versus the Radeon Pro 570's 1105 MHz, a 19% higher boost clock that helps compensate for fewer execution units.

Memory configurations are radically different. The Radeon Pro 570 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 217.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The MX550 uses only 2 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 96.00 GB/s. The AMD card has 2.26x the memory bandwidth and twice the capacity, yet this advantage fails to translate into benchmark wins. The MX550's faster memory clock (1500 MHz versus 1695 MHz, though with 12 Gbps effective versus 6.8 Gbps effective) partially offsets its narrow bus.

Where Each One Wins

The MX550 wins decisively in OpenCL compute workloads. Its 34198 OpenCL score is 19% higher than the Radeon Pro 570's 27702, making it the clear choice for applications that leverage OpenCL acceleration. This is the single largest performance gap between the two cards and represents the MX550's strongest territory. The Turing architecture's compute efficiency appears to give it a substantial edge in this API.

The Radeon Pro 570 fights back in Vulkan rendering, where its 32110 score trails the MX550's 32220 by only 0.3%. For Vulkan-based games or applications, the two cards are effectively interchangeable. The Radeon Pro 570 also offers a Metal benchmark score of 39963, a test the MX550 does not participate in, suggesting AMD's card has a role in macOS ecosystems where Metal is the primary graphics API.

For memory-intensive workloads, the Radeon Pro 570's 217.0 GB/s bandwidth and 4 GB capacity give it a theoretical edge over the MX550's 96.00 GB/s and 2 GB. However, benchmark results indicate this advantage does not manifest in the tested workloads. The MX550's higher boost clock and architectural efficiency compensate for its memory deficit. Users prioritizing OpenCL performance should choose the MX550; those needing Vulkan performance can pick either card with little practical difference.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 570 averages 33258 across three tests, while the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 averages 33209 across two tests. The difference is 0.1%, within normal variation.

Q: How large is the OpenCL performance gap?

A: The MX550 scores 34198 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the Radeon Pro 570's 27702, giving NVIDIA a 19% advantage in this test.

Q: Do the two cards differ in Vulkan performance?

A: The MX550 leads by only 0.3% in Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 32220 versus 32110, making the result effectively a tie.

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The Radeon Pro 570 provides 217.0 GB/s over a 256-bit GDDR5 bus, while the MX550 delivers 96.00 GB/s over a 64-bit GDDR6 bus.

Q: What are the transistor counts for each chip?

A: The Radeon Pro 570's Ellesmere chip contains 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, while the MX550's TU117SB has 4,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die.

Q: Which API versions do the two GPUs support?

A: The Radeon Pro 570 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, while the MX550 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro 570 | NVIDIA GeForce MX550 |

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

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | Turing |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 12 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 5,700 million | 4,700 million |

| Die Size | 232 mm² | 200 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.6M / mm² | 23.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1000 MHz | 1065 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1105 MHz | 1320 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1695 MHz (6.8 Gbps effective) | 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 217.0 GB/s | 96.00 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1792 | 1024 |

| TMUs | 112 | 32 |

| ROPs | 32 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 35.36 GPixel/s | 21.12 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 123.8 GTexel/s | 42.24 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 3.960 TFLOPS | 2.703 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 3.960 TFLOPS (1:1) | 2.703 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 150 W | 25 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_0) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Release Date | 2017-06-04 | 2021-12-16 |

| Geekbench OpenCL | 27702 | 34198 |

| Geekbench Vulkan | 32110 | 32220 |

The specification table highlights the Radeon Pro 570's raw compute advantage: 1.47x the FP32 throughput, 2.93x the texture rate, and 2.26x the memory bandwidth. Yet the MX550's 1320 MHz boost clock, 12 Gbps memory, and Turing efficiency close the performance gap to near-zero in real benchmarks. The 150 W TDP of the AMD card versus 25 W for the NVIDIA part underscores the efficiency disparity, though both are integrated into portable devices with no external power connectors. The Radeon Pro 570's additional Metal benchmark score of 39963, absent from the MX550's results, gives AMD a data point in Apple-centric workflows that NVIDIA cannot match.