NVIDIA Quadro GV100 vs NVIDIA T550 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA Quadro GV100 and NVIDIA T550 Mobile represent two vastly different endpoints in NVIDIA’s professional lineup. The GV100 is a flagship workstation card built on the Volta architecture, designed for maximum compute throughput. The T550 Mobile is a low-power Turing-based mobile part intended for portable workstations. The benchmark data reveals a stark performance chasm, but the story is more nuanced when considering the target use cases for each.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The available head-to-head data is limited to two OpenCL and Vulkan compute tests, and in both, the Quadro GV100 delivers a decisive victory. The most dramatic gap appears in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the GV100 scores 139,526 against the T550 Mobile’s 30,801. This translates to a 353% advantage for the GV100, meaning it delivers roughly 4.5 times the compute performance in this API. The OpenCL test shows a similar, though slightly less extreme, margin: the GV100 posts 150,004 points versus 35,521 for the T550 Mobile, a 322.3% difference.

These deltas are enormous, but they reflect the fundamental positioning of the two cards. The GV100 is engineered with raw compute in mind, featuring 5,120 shading units and 640 tensor cores. In contrast, the T550 Mobile is a stripped-down mobile chip with 1,024 shading units and no tensor cores at all. The benchmark scores align precisely with this hardware disparity. The GV100’s average benchmark score across all tests is 35,520, while the T550 Mobile’s average is 33,161. Interestingly, the T550 Mobile’s OpenCL score of 35,521 is nearly identical to the GV100’s overall average, highlighting that the mobile card’s single strong result still cannot match the flagship’s peak output.

Looking at the broader benchmark context, the GV100 holds an 80th percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the T550 Mobile sits at the 77th percentile. This is a surprisingly close percentile gap given the massive performance delta in the head-to-head tests. The reason is that the percentile ranking is based on average scores across a wide range of tests, and the T550 Mobile’s two available scores are relatively strong for its class. The GV100’s average is pulled down by its low scores in older DirectX tests, such as 84 in Passmark DirectX 12 and 140 in Passmark DirectX 10, which are not representative of its compute capabilities.

Where Each One Wins

The Quadro GV100 wins categorically in every measurable benchmark comparison available. Beyond the two head-to-head tests, its Passmark G3D score of 19,650 and Passmark GPU Compute score of 9,069 dwarf anything the T550 Mobile could produce, though the T550 Mobile lacks these specific benchmark entries for direct comparison. The GV100 is the clear choice for any workload that prioritizes compute density, large memory capacity, or high bandwidth. Its 32 GB of HBM2 memory with 868.4 GB/s bandwidth is a class of its own, suitable for datasets that would overwhelm the T550 Mobile’s 4 GB GDDR6 configuration.

The T550 Mobile’s wins are not about raw performance but about efficiency and form factor. With a 23 W TDP, it consumes a fraction of the GV100’s 250 W envelope. It requires no external power connectors and is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) form factor, making it suitable for thin-and-light mobile workstations. Its boost clock of 1665 MHz is actually higher than the GV100’s 1627 MHz boost, though this does not translate into real-world advantages given the massive core count disparity. The T550 Mobile also has a higher memory clock at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) versus the GV100’s 848 MHz (1696 Mbps effective), but again, the GV100’s 4096-bit bus width overpowers this advantage.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Quadro GV100 has an average benchmark score of 35,520, while the T550 Mobile averages 33,161. This places the GV100 about 7.1% higher on average.

Q: How much faster is the GV100 in OpenCL compute?

A: The GV100 scores 150,004 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 322.3% higher than the T550 Mobile’s 35,521.

Q: Does the T550 Mobile have any performance advantage?

A: In the available data, no. The GV100 wins both head-to-head tests. The T550 Mobile does have a higher boost clock (1665 MHz vs 1627 MHz) and higher memory clock (1500 MHz vs 848 MHz), but these do not compensate for the GV100’s far larger core count and memory bus width.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The GV100 has 32 GB of HBM2 memory, while the T550 Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6. The GV100’s bandwidth is 868.4 GB/s compared to 96.00 GB/s for the T550 Mobile.

Q: Which card ranks higher in the global GPU percentile?

A: The GV100 ranks in the 80th percentile, while the T550 Mobile ranks in the 77th percentile. Despite the large performance gap, the percentile difference is only 3 points.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the T550 Mobile scores higher?

A: No. The T550 Mobile has no winning benchmark entries in the data provided. Its scores are 35,521 in OpenCL and 30,801 in Vulkan, both far below the GV100’s corresponding scores.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every core specification. The GV100 uses HBM2 memory with a 4096-bit bus, while the T550 Mobile uses GDDR6 with a 64-bit bus. This drives the bandwidth difference: 868.4 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s. The GV100 has 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, while the T550 Mobile has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The GV100 also includes 640 tensor cores, a feature entirely absent from the T550 Mobile.

The transistor counts tell a similar story: the GV100 packs 21,100 million transistors on an 815 mm² die, while the T550 Mobile has 4,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die. Both use TSMC’s 12 nm process, but the GV100’s transistor density is slightly higher at 25.9M per mm² versus 23.5M per mm². The GV100’s base clock is 1132 MHz with a boost of 1627 MHz, while the T550 Mobile starts at 1065 MHz and boosts to 1665 MHz. The GV100’s pixel rate is 208.3 GPixel/s and texture rate is 520.6 GTexel/s, compared to 53.28 GPixel/s and 106.6 GTexel/s for the T550 Mobile. The FP32 compute is 16.66 TFLOPS versus 3.410 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 33.32 TFLOPS versus 6.820 TFLOPS.

The physical specifications diverge completely. The GV100 is a dual-slot card requiring a 1x 8-pin power connector and a 600 W suggested PSU, measuring 267 mm in length. The T550 Mobile is an IGP with no power connectors and no listed dimensions, designed for direct integration into a laptop motherboard. The GV100 offers 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the T550 Mobile’s outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent." Finally, the GV100 had a launch MSRP of 8,999 USD, while the T550 Mobile has no listed launch price.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is generational. The GV100 is built on the Volta architecture, belonging to the Quadro Volta (Vx000) generation. The T550 Mobile uses the Turing architecture, part of the Quadro Turing-M (Tx000) generation. This distinction matters because Volta introduced the tensor core concept, which is present in the GV100 with 640 units. Turing refined this design but the T550 Mobile, as an entry-level part, omits tensor cores entirely.

The GV100’s chip is the GV100, a massive die designed for compute-heavy datacenter and professional visualization workloads. The T550 Mobile uses the TU117 chip, a small, efficient die intended for basic mobile graphics tasks. The GV100’s predecessor is Quadro Pascal, and its successor is Quadro Turing. The T550 Mobile’s predecessor is Quadro Pascal-M, and its successor is Ampere-MW. This places the T550 Mobile in a mobile-specific product line that prioritizes power efficiency over peak performance.

Both cards support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Neither has dedicated ray tracing cores. The GV100’s 32 GB memory capacity is designed for large-scale rendering, simulation, and AI workloads, while the T550 Mobile’s 4 GB is suited for lighter CAD and multimedia tasks. The GV100’s 868.4 GB/s bandwidth supports feeding its 5,120 cores, whereas the T550 Mobile’s 96.00 GB/s is adequate for its 1,024 cores. The GV100 is end-of-life, as is the T550 Mobile, but the GV100 had a clear release date of March 2018, while the T550 Mobile’s release date is not specified.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear binary choice based on workload requirements. The Quadro GV100 is the only option for users who need maximum compute throughput, massive memory capacity, or high-bandwidth operations. Its 322.3% OpenCL lead and 353% Vulkan lead over the T550 Mobile are not incremental improvements; they are categorical differences. The GV100’s 80th percentile ranking and average score of 35,520 place it in a performance tier that the T550 Mobile cannot approach, despite the latter’s 77th percentile ranking. Professionals working with large datasets, complex simulations, or AI model training would find the T550 Mobile’s 4 GB memory and 3.410 TFLOPS FP32 performance severely limiting.

The T550 Mobile, however, serves a completely different purpose. Its 23 W TDP and IGP form factor make it suitable for ultra-portable workstations where battery life and thermal management are paramount. Its average score of 33,161 is respectable for its class, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile and NVIDIA T600 Mobile, indicating it is competitive within its mobile segment. For users who prioritize portability and basic professional graphics over raw compute, the T550 Mobile is the sensible pick. The GV100’s 250 W TDP, dual-slot design, and 600 W suggested PSU make it a desktop-only solution with no mobile equivalent.

The verdict is straightforward: the GV100 wins every performance benchmark by enormous margins, but it is a high-power, high-cost desktop component. The T550 Mobile is a low-power mobile part that trades performance for efficiency. There is no overlap in their target markets. The data does not suggest one is "better" overall; it indicates they are optimized for mutually exclusive use cases. Buyers needing desktop-class compute should choose the GV100. Buyers needing a mobile GPU for professional software should choose the T550 Mobile.