NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile vs NVIDIA T550 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile and NVIDIA T550 Mobile are two end-of-life laptop GPUs that land within 0.0% of each other in average benchmark score (33170 vs 33161), yet their underlying designs produce sharply different results in specific workloads. The RTX 3050 Mobile wins both head-to-head tests decisively—40.9% in Geekbench OpenCL and 59.3% in Geekbench Vulkan—while the T550 Mobile counters with higher boost clocks, faster pixel and texture throughput, and a much lower power draw. This analysis uses only the provided benchmark data and specifications to determine where each GPU excels.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head results available are from Geekbench. In the OpenCL test, the RTX 3050 Mobile scores 50038 against the T550 Mobile’s 35521, a lead of 40.9%. In Vulkan, the gap widens further: 49051 vs 30801, a 59.3% advantage for the RTX 3050 Mobile. These are not marginal wins—they represent substantial performance deltas in compute-oriented APIs.

However, the average benchmark scores tell a different story. The RTX 3050 Mobile’s average is 33170, while the T550 Mobile sits at 33161, a difference of only 9 points (0.0% delta). This near-identical average is explained by the RTX 3050 Mobile’s inclusion of a third benchmark, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where it scores just 421. That low score pulls its average down to parity with the T550 Mobile, which has no listed score for that test. The percentile ranks reflect this closeness: the RTX 3050 Mobile sits at the 77th percentile of all GPUs, the T550 Mobile at the 76th.

Looking at the nearest rivals list, both GPUs are each other’s closest competitor, with a delta of 0%. The next closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce MX550, trails by only -0.1%, and the AMD Radeon Pro 570 and NVIDIA RTX A5000 are -0.3% and -0.4% behind respectively. In other words, the RTX 3050 Mobile and T550 Mobile are statistically tied in overall performance, despite the RTX 3050 Mobile’s clear wins in the two Geekbench subtests.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on different architectures and process nodes. The RTX 3050 Mobile uses the GA107 chip on NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm Samsung process. It packs 8,700 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 43.5 million per mm². The T550 Mobile, by contrast, uses the TU117 chip on the older Turing architecture, made on a 12 nm TSMC process. It contains 4,700 million transistors on the same 200 mm² die, resulting in a density of only 23.5 million per mm²—less than half the RTX 3050 Mobile’s density.

The core configurations diverge significantly. The RTX 3050 Mobile has 2048 shading units, 64 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 32 raster output units (ROPs). It also includes 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the T550 Mobile. The T550 Mobile offers only 1024 shading units, though it retains the same 64 TMUs and 32 ROPs. This means the RTX 3050 Mobile has twice the shading units and dedicated hardware for ray tracing and AI workloads, while the T550 Mobile relies purely on conventional shader processing.

Memory architecture also differs. Both GPUs have 4 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 1500 MHz memory clock (12 Gbps effective), but the bus width is 128-bit on the RTX 3050 Mobile versus 64-bit on the T550 Mobile. Consequently, the RTX 3050 Mobile’s memory bandwidth is 192.0 GB/s, exactly double the T550 Mobile’s 96.00 GB/s. This bandwidth advantage is crucial for compute-heavy tasks and high-resolution textures.

Clock speeds tell a more nuanced story. The base clock is identical at 1065 MHz for both, but the boost clock differs: the RTX 3050 Mobile reaches 1343 MHz, while the T550 Mobile boosts to 1665 MHz—a 322 MHz advantage. This higher boost clock helps the T550 Mobile achieve better pixel and texture rates: 53.28 GPixel/s and 106.6 GTexel/s, versus the RTX 3050 Mobile’s 42.98 GPixel/s and 85.95 GTexel/s. On the other hand, the RTX 3050 Mobile delivers higher FP32 throughput at 5.501 TFLOPS compared to the T550 Mobile’s 3.410 TFLOPS. The FP16 numbers are also telling: the RTX 3050 Mobile offers 5.501 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), while the T550 Mobile reaches 6.820 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), meaning the T550 Mobile is faster in half-precision workloads.

Power consumption is a major differentiator. The RTX 3050 Mobile has a TDP of 45 W, while the T550 Mobile draws only 23 W—nearly half the power. Both are integrated into laptops (IGP form factor) with no power connectors, but the lower TDP makes the T550 Mobile far more suitable for thin-and-light designs. The bus interface also differs: the RTX 3050 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the T550 Mobile uses PCIe 3.0 x16. In terms of API support, the RTX 3050 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the T550 Mobile is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The release timeline also separates them: the RTX 3050 Mobile was released on May 10, 2021, while the T550 Mobile has no listed release date. The RTX 3050 Mobile’s predecessor is the GeForce 20 Mobile series, while the T550 Mobile’s predecessor is the Quadro Pascal-M line. The T550 Mobile has a listed successor, Ampere-MW, while the RTX 3050 Mobile does not.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split: the RTX 3050 Mobile is the stronger GPU for compute-heavy, modern API workloads, while the T550 Mobile wins on raw pixel throughput and power efficiency. In the two head-to-head benchmarks, the RTX 3050 Mobile leads by 40.9% in OpenCL and 59.3% in Vulkan, making it the better choice for applications that leverage these APIs. Its 2048 shading units, 16 RT cores, 64 tensor cores, and 192.0 GB/s memory bandwidth give it a substantial edge in parallel processing and memory-bound tasks. The RTX 3050 Mobile also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which is essential for the latest games and ray-tracing effects.

However, the T550 Mobile is not without merit. Its higher boost clock (1665 MHz vs 1343 MHz) and superior pixel/texture rates (53.28 GPixel/s and 106.6 GTexel/s) make it better suited for fill-rate-bound workloads like certain CAD applications or older games. Its 23 W TDP is less than half the RTX 3050 Mobile’s 45 W, enabling longer battery life and thinner chassis. The T550 Mobile also achieves higher FP16 throughput (6.820 TFLOPS vs 5.501 TFLOPS), which could benefit certain machine learning inference tasks that use half precision.

Given the near-identical average scores (33170 vs 33161), neither GPU is a clear winner in overall performance. The choice hinges on the intended use case: if the workload relies on OpenCL, Vulkan, ray tracing, or tensor operations, the RTX 3050 Mobile is the obvious pick. If the priority is low power consumption, high fill rates, or half-precision compute, the T550 Mobile may be the better fit. For most modern gaming and general-purpose computing, the RTX 3050 Mobile’s architectural advantages make it the more future-proof option.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 3050 Mobile averages 33170, while the T550 Mobile averages 33161—a delta of 0.0%. They are statistically tied.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 3050 Mobile in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The RTX 3050 Mobile scores 49051, compared to the T550 Mobile’s 30801, a 59.3% advantage.

Q: Does the T550 Mobile have ray tracing cores?

A: No. The T550 Mobile has no RT cores, while the RTX 3050 Mobile includes 16 ray tracing cores.

Q: Which GPU has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3050 Mobile offers 192.0 GB/s, exactly double the T550 Mobile’s 96.00 GB/s.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The RTX 3050 Mobile has a TDP of 45 W, while the T550 Mobile draws only 23 W.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The T550 Mobile boosts to 1665 MHz, compared to the RTX 3050 Mobile’s 1343 MHz.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3050 Mobile wins decisively in the two available head-to-head benchmarks: Geekbench OpenCL (50038 vs 35521) and Geekbench Vulkan (49051 vs 30801). It also has higher FP32 throughput (5.501 TFLOPS vs 3.410 TFLOPS), double the memory bandwidth (192.0 vs 96.00 GB/s), twice the shading units (2048 vs 1024), and exclusive ray tracing and tensor core hardware. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate support and PCIe 4.0 interface further cement its advantage for modern compute and gaming workloads.

The T550 Mobile wins on several specification metrics: it has a higher boost clock (1665 MHz vs 1343 MHz), higher pixel rate (53.28 GPixel/s vs 42.98 GPixel/s), higher texture rate (106.6 GTexel/s vs 85.95 GTexel/s), and higher FP16 throughput (6.820 TFLOPS vs 5.501 TFLOPS). Its 23 W TDP is less than half the RTX 3050 Mobile’s 45 W, making it the more power-efficient choice. These traits favor fill-rate-bound applications, half-precision workloads, and designs where thermal and battery constraints are paramount.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile | NVIDIA T550 Mobile |

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

| Chip | GA107 | TU117 |

| Architecture | Ampere | Turing |

| Process Node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 12 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 8,700 million | 4,700 million |

| Transistor Density | 43.5M / mm² | 23.5M / mm² |

| Boost Clock | 1343 MHz | 1665 MHz |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 192.0 GB/s | 96.00 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2048 | 1024 |

| RT Cores | 16 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 64 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 42.98 GPixel/s | 53.28 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 85.95 GTexel/s | 106.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 5.501 TFLOPS | 3.410 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 5.501 TFLOPS (1:1) | 6.820 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 45 W | 23 W |

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

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Release Date | 2021-05-10 | Not listed |

| Predecessor | GeForce 20 Mobile | Quadro Pascal-M |

| Successor | Not listed | Ampere-MW |

The RTX 3050 Mobile and T550 Mobile share identical memory size (4 GB GDDR6), base clock (1065 MHz), memory clock (1500 MHz, 12 Gbps effective), TMU/ROP counts (64/32), slot width (IGP), power connectors (None), display outputs (Portable Device Dependent), OpenGL version (4.6), Vulkan version (1.4), and production status (End-of-life). Those fields are omitted from the table because they do not differ.