GPU Comparison

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The AMD Radeon RX 570 dominates the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 in every benchmark where both were tested. The data shows a decisive, though not unexpected, victory for the older desktop part. In the two shared tests, Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 570 wins both, with zero wins for the MX550.

The most lopsided result comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 570 scores 32,084 against the MX550’s 20,372. That is a 57.5% advantage, a massive gap that reflects the fundamental difference in compute resources between the two. The RX 570’s 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is nearly double the MX550’s 2.703 TFLOPS, and that raw throughput translates directly into OpenCL workloads.

The Vulkan result narrows the margin somewhat, but the RX 570 still wins comfortably. It scores 42,752 versus 32,469 for the MX550, a 31.7% lead. This suggests that while the MX550’s Turing architecture handles Vulkan more efficiently relative to its own specs, it cannot overcome the RX 570’s substantial hardware advantage in shading units, texture units, and memory bandwidth.

To put these scores in context, the RX 570’s average benchmark score across all tests is 28,766, placing it at the 74th percentile of all GPUs. The MX550 averages 26,421, sitting at the 72nd percentile. Despite the large head-to-head margins, the overall percentile difference is only two points, a reminder that the MX550 is a competent performer in its own right, just outclassed in direct comparison.

The RX 570’s nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (average score 28,874, only 0.4% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28,996, 0.8% higher). This places the RX 570 in a tight cluster of mid-range performers. The MX550, meanwhile, sits alongside the AMD Radeon 860M (26,401, 0.1% higher) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (26,331, 0.3% higher). The delta percentages are small in both cases, indicating that these scores are highly reproducible and the rankings are stable.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 570 wins with a score of 32,084 versus 20,372 for the NVIDIA GeForce MX550, a 57.5% advantage.

Q: Is the Vulkan performance gap smaller than the OpenCL gap?

A: Yes. The RX 570 leads 42,752 to 32,469 in Geekbench Vulkan, a 31.7% margin, which is notably tighter than the 57.5% OpenCL gap.

Q: How do the overall percentile rankings compare?

A: The RX 570 sits at the 74th percentile of all GPUs, while the MX550 is at the 72nd percentile. Despite the large head-to-head deltas, the overall standing is only two percentile points apart.

Q: What are the average benchmark scores for each card?

A: The RX 570 has an average benchmark score of 28,766 across all tested workloads. The MX550 averages 26,421.

Q: Does the MX550 win any shared benchmark?

A: No. The head-to-head data shows zero wins for the MX550 and two wins for the RX 570.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest rival, the RX 6800M?

A: The RX 6800M averages 28,874, which is 0.4% higher than the RX 570’s 28,766. This is a negligible difference, placing them in the same performance tier.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 570 is the clear winner for compute-heavy tasks. Its 57.5% lead in OpenCL shows that any workload leveraging general-purpose GPU compute, such as rendering, physics simulation, or data processing, will run dramatically faster on the AMD card. The 31.7% Vulkan advantage also covers modern gaming APIs, making the RX 570 the better choice for DirectX 12 and Vulkan titles that stress the GPU.

The MX550’s strengths lie elsewhere, specifically in power efficiency and form factor. With a 25 W TDP and an IGP slot width, it consumes one-sixth the power of the RX 570’s 150 W TDP and requires no power connectors. This makes it suited for thin-and-light laptops where space and thermal headroom are constrained. The RX 570 is a dual-slot card requiring a 1x 6-pin power connector and a 450 W suggested PSU, making it a desktop-only proposition.

For gaming at typical laptop resolutions, the MX550’s 2 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus provides 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth, sufficient for esports titles and older games. The RX 570’s 4 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus delivers 224.0 GB/s, which is 2.33 times the bandwidth. This memory advantage shows up in texture-heavy scenes and higher resolution settings.

The MX550 also supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the RX 570 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. On modern platforms, the MX550’s interface offers newer signaling, though the RX 570’s wider physical lane count mitigates this in practice. The MX550 has a higher boost clock at 1320 MHz versus 1244 MHz for the RX 570, but this cannot compensate for the AMD card’s 2x shading units, 4x texture units, and 2x ROPs.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every major specification. The RX 570 uses the Polaris 20 chip on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the MX550 uses TU117SB on TSMC’s 12 nm node. The RX 570 has 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, versus 4,700 million on 200 mm² for the MX550. Transistor density is similar: 24.6M per mm² for AMD and 23.5M per mm² for NVIDIA.

Memory configuration is a major divergence. The RX 570 offers 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The MX550 has 2 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. Memory clock rates differ as well: the RX 570 runs at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective), while the MX550 runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). The faster effective rate on the MX550 cannot overcome the narrower bus.

Compute unit counts favor the RX 570 overwhelmingly. It has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The MX550 has 1024 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, exactly half the shaders and ROPs, and one-quarter the TMUs. Pixel rate is 39.81 GPixel/s for the RX 570 versus 21.12 GPixel/s for the MX550. Texture rate is 159.2 GTexel/s versus 42.24 GTexel/s.

Power delivery is another stark contrast. The RX 570 draws 150 W, requires a dual-slot cooler, a 1x 6-pin power connector, and a 450 W suggested PSU. The MX550 draws only 25 W, is IGP-class, has no power connectors, and no suggested PSU. The RX 570 measures 241 mm (9.5 inches) in length; the MX550 has no listed dimensions since it is a mobile part.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split is generational and philosophical. The RX 570 uses GCN 4.0 architecture on the Polaris 20 chip, part of the Polaris (RX 500) generation. It is the successor to Arctic Islands and was succeeded by Vega. The MX550 uses Turing architecture on the TU117SB chip, part of the GeForce MX (5xx) generation, with no listed predecessor or successor.

The process nodes differ: 14 nm for AMD versus 12 nm for NVIDIA. The foundries are GlobalFoundries and TSMC, respectively. Both cards lack dedicated ray tracing cores and tensor cores, making them pure rasterization and compute parts. Both support DirectX 12 (though the MX550 supports 12_1 while the RX 570 supports 12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan (the MX550 supports 1.4, the RX 570 supports 1.3).

The RX 570’s FP16 performance equals its FP32 at 5.095 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), while the MX550 also runs FP16 at 2.703 TFLOPS (1:1). This means neither card offers the FP16 acceleration found in newer architectures. The RX 570’s display outputs include 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, whereas the MX550’s outputs are portable-device dependent, reflecting its laptop-only design.

The MX550 supports PCIe 4.0 x8, a newer interface than the RX 570’s PCIe 3.0 x16. However, the RX 570’s full x16 lane count provides more bandwidth in practice. Both cards are end-of-life in production status. The RX 570 launched on 2017-04-17 with a launch MSRP of 169 USD; the MX550 launched on 2021-12-16 with no listed MSRP.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 570 is the significantly faster GPU. It wins both shared benchmarks by margins of 57.5% and 31.7%, and its average benchmark score is 8.9% higher. For any user prioritizing raw performance in compute or gaming workloads, the RX 570 is the correct choice.

However, the MX550 is not without a role. Its 25 W TDP versus 150 W, IGP form factor versus dual-slot, and lack of power connectors versus a 6-pin requirement make it the only viable option for ultraportable laptops. The RX 570 cannot physically fit in such devices, and its power draw would overwhelm their thermal solutions. The MX550’s 2 GB GDDR6 memory is also sufficient for light gaming and media tasks where the RX 570’s 4 GB would go unused.

For desktop users with a 450 W PSU and space for a 241 mm dual-slot card, the RX 570 is the obvious pick. Its 4x texture rate, 2x pixel rate, and 2.33x memory bandwidth provide a level of performance that the MX550 cannot approach. The RX 570’s 74th percentile ranking versus the MX550’s 72nd confirms this is a meaningful, not marginal, gap.

For laptop buyers, the MX550 is a capable entry-level discrete GPU that outperforms integrated graphics while maintaining efficiency. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 860M, scores only 0.1% higher, showing that the MX550 is competitive within its mobile class. But in a direct head-to-head, the RX 570 wins every test. The verdict is simple: choose the RX 570 for performance, choose the MX550 for portability. There is no scenario where the MX550 outperforms the RX 570 in compute or gaming benchmarks.