AMD Radeon RX 6800M vs NVIDIA GeForce MX550 Comparison

The benchmark data presents a stark contrast between the AMD Radeon RX 6800M and the NVIDIA GeForce MX550. The RX 6800M is a high-performance mobile GPU designed for demanding gaming and content creation, while the MX550 is positioned as an entry-level, low-power option for thin-and-light laptops. The available head-to-head benchmark results show a decisive performance gap, with the AMD part winning both common tests by massive margins. This analysis will break down the specific scores, architectural differences, and use-case implications based solely on the provided data.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two GPUs were tested in two common compute and graphics APIs: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. In both instances, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M delivered a dominant performance.

The most significant margin is in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The RX 6800M scored 87,621 points, while the MX550 managed 20,372 points. This results in a delta of 330.1% in favor of the AMD GPU. This means the RX 6800M's OpenCL score is more than four times higher than the MX550's, indicating a massive advantage in general-purpose compute workloads that leverage this API.

The gap narrows slightly, but remains overwhelming, in the Geekbench Vulkan test. Here, the RX 6800M achieved 94,766 points, while the MX550 scored 32,469 points. This represents a 191.9% performance advantage for the AMD Radeon. While the margin is smaller than in OpenCL, the RX 6800M still delivers nearly three times the Vulkan performance, which is a critical metric for modern gaming and real-time graphics applications.

The average benchmark scores from the broader database reinforce this hierarchy. The RX 6800M has an average benchmark score of 28,874, placing it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs. This puts it in the same performance tier as the AMD Radeon RX 570 (deltaPct of 0.4) and the AMD Radeon RX 470 (deltaPct of -0.4), according to the nearestRivals data. In contrast, the MX550 has an average score of 26,421, which lands it in the 72nd percentile. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon 860M (deltaPct of 0.1), suggesting a much lower overall performance class. While the average scores are closer than the head-to-head results, this is likely due to differences in the test suites included in each GPU's respective database entry.

It is crucial to note that the database only contains head-to-head results for OpenCL and Vulkan. There are no direct comparisons for DirectX 12 (3DMark Steel Nomad) or other synthetic tests like PassMark, as the MX550 lacks those specific benchmark entries in the data.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6800M is the clear winner across all data points where the two are directly compared. Its strengths lie in raw compute and graphics throughput, making it suitable for tasks that demand significant GPU resources.

• High-Performance Gaming: The RX 6800M's massive lead in Vulkan (191.9%) directly translates to a strong advantage in modern game titles that use this API. Its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and 40 ray tracing cores positions it for high-fidelity gaming features, whereas the MX550's support for DirectX 12 (12_1) and lack of dedicated ray tracing cores puts it at a fundamental feature disadvantage.
• Content Creation and Compute: The 330.1% lead in OpenCL is a decisive factor for GPU-accelerated rendering, video encoding, and other compute-heavy professional workloads. The RX 6800M's 12.24 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 24.47 TFLOPS of FP16 performance dwarf the MX550's 2.703 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, indicating a vastly superior capacity for parallel processing.
• Higher Resolution Textures: The RX 6800M comes with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a six-fold increase in memory capacity and a four-fold increase in bandwidth over the MX550's 2 GB GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus (96.00 GB/s). This makes the RX 6800M far more capable of handling high-resolution textures and large datasets without running out of memory.

The NVIDIA GeForce MX550, with only 25 W TDP, has a clear role in ultra-portable, low-power devices. Its wins are not in performance but in its efficiency profile. It is designed for basic tasks like video playback and light productivity, where its low power draw is a significant advantage. The data shows no benchmark where the MX550 comes out ahead. Its 2 GB of memory is a limiting factor for any modern game, and its 64-bit bus severely restricts memory bandwidth.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon RX 6800M in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RX 6800M is 330.1% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce MX550, scoring 87,621 compared to the MX550's 20,372.

Q: What is the performance difference in Vulkan graphics tests?

A: The RX 6800M leads by 191.9% in Geekbench Vulkan, with a score of 94,766 versus 32,469 for the MX550.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score and percentile ranking?

A: The RX 6800M has an average benchmark score of 28,874 and sits in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, while the MX550 has an average score of 26,421 and is in the 72nd percentile.

Q: Does the NVIDIA MX550 support ray tracing?

A: No, the data shows that the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 has no ray tracing cores (rtCores: null). The AMD Radeon RX 6800M includes 40 ray tracing cores.

Q: What are the memory capacity and bandwidth differences?

A: The RX 6800M has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 192-bit bus and 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The MX550 has only 2 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which API level does each GPU support?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 supports an older feature set of DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Specification Differences

The core specifications of these two GPUs highlight their different design goals. The table below outlines the key differences.

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6800M | NVIDIA GeForce MX550 |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Shader Units | 2560 | 1024 |

| Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) | 160 | 32 |

| Render Output Units (ROPs) | 64 | 16 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 40 | None |

| Base Clock | 2116 MHz | 1065 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2390 MHz | 1320 MHz |

| Memory Size | 12 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 192 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 384.0 GB/s | 96.00 GB/s |

| FP32 Performance | 12.24 TFLOPS | 2.703 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 24.47 TFLOPS (2:1) | 2.703 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 145 W | 25 W |

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

The RX 6800M has 2.5x more shader units, 5x more TMUs, and 4x more ROPs than the MX550. Its clock speeds are also significantly higher (2116 MHz base vs 1065 MHz base). The memory subsystem is in a different league, with six times the capacity and four times the bandwidth. The TDP difference (145 W vs 25 W) is the most telling spec, explaining the performance gulf and the intended use-case for each part.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes, which explains their performance and efficiency characteristics.

• Process Node and Foundry: The AMD Radeon RX 6800M is built on TSMC's 7 nm process node, while the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 uses TSMC's older 12 nm node. This gives the AMD chip a significant density and efficiency advantage. The RX 6800M's die size is 335 mm² and contains 17,200 million transistors, resulting in a transistor density of 51.3M / mm². The MX550's die is 200 mm² with 4,700 million transistors, for a density of 23.5M / mm².
• Architecture and Generation: The RX 6800M is based on AMD's RDNA 2.0 architecture, part of the Navi Mobile (RX 6000M) generation. The MX550 uses NVIDIA's Turing architecture, part of the GeForce MX (5xx) generation. RDNA 2.0 is a modern gaming architecture that natively supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature the Turing-based MX550 lacks (rtCores: null).
• Compute and Feature Set: The architectural differences lead to distinct compute capabilities. The RX 6800M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes features like variable rate shading and mesh shaders. The MX550 only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). While both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, the RDNA 2.0 architecture's compute throughput is far higher, as evidenced by its FP32 performance of 12.24 TFLOPS versus 2.703 TFLOPS. The FP16 performance also differs, with the RX 6800M offering 2:1 FP16 throughput (24.47 TFLOPS) while the MX550 offers 1:1 throughput (2.703 TFLOPS). The NVIDIA MX550 also lacks any tensor cores, which are not present in the AMD part either, but the AMD GPU's dedicated ray tracing hardware is a major differentiator.