ATI Radeon X550 XTX

The ATI Radeon X550 XTX is an end-of-life graphics card from AMD, built on the RV410 chip with the R400 architecture and released on 2007-01-23. It sits at the 50th percentile of all GPUs in the database, yet its average benchmark score is 0 — a figure that indicates no recorded performance data rather than a literal measurement. With 128 MB of DDR memory on a 64-bit bus and a bandwidth of 4.800 GB/s, this is an entry-level part aimed at legacy systems, not modern workloads. The card's predecessor is the Radeon R200, and its successor is the Radeon R400 AGP, but no scores for either are available in the fact pack.

Who Should Consider It

The X550 XTX is not suited to contemporary gaming or demanding 3D applications. Its 128 MB DDR frame buffer, 64-bit memory interface, and 4.800 GB/s bandwidth restrict it to low resolutions and older DirectX 9.0b titles. The 50th percentile placement suggests it sits at the midpoint of all GPUs ever recorded, but because the underlying benchmark score is 0, this percentile is a placeholder rather than a meaningful performance ranking. Users with legacy machines from the Radeon R300 generation, or those who need a basic display adapter for 2D workloads and video output, are the realistic audience.

The card's 8 TMUs and 8 ROPs, paired with a pixel rate of 3.200 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 3.200 GTexel/s, describe a fill-rate-oriented design capable of simple 3D scenes at modest settings. The single-slot form factor and lack of power connectors make installation straightforward in compact cases. The display outputs — 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video — further cement its role as a legacy connectivity solution for CRT monitors and older displays. Given its end-of-life production status, the card is best considered for retro builds or as a stopgap for machines that only require video output. For any workload that pushes beyond basic desktop use, the data suggests the card will struggle, though exact resolution limits are not recorded in the fact pack.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The X550 XTX has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed in its specifications. This is consistent with its DirectX 9.0b (9_2) API support, an API level that predates hardware-accelerated ray tracing by a wide margin. The card supports OpenGL 2.0, but no Vulkan support is listed — Vulkan is a modern API that this hardware cannot expose. The feature set is firmly rooted in the early 2000s: 8 texture mapping units and 8 raster operation units, with a texture rate of 3.200 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 3.200 GPixel/s. These figures describe a fixed-function pipeline design that was common before unified shaders became standard.

The absence of RT and tensor cores means no hardware acceleration for ray-traced effects or AI-based features. Users should not expect any modern rendering features from this card; its API ceiling is DirectX 9.0b, which limits it to the rendering techniques of that era. The R400 architecture, built on a 110 nm process at TSMC with 120 million transistors on a 156 mm² die, reflects a design philosophy centered on fixed-function hardware rather than programmable compute. The transistor density of 769.2K per mm² is a modest figure by today's standards, but it was typical for the process node. The lack of Vulkan support is particularly notable, as it means the card cannot run any modern graphics API beyond OpenGL 2.0.

Benchmark Performance

The database records an average benchmark score of 0 for the ATI Radeon X550 XTX, and the benchmarks array is empty. This means no performance data has been captured for this card. The percentile rank of 50 places it exactly at the median of all GPUs in the database, but this percentile is computed from a score of zero, which is an anomaly — a score of zero typically indicates missing data rather than a literal performance measurement. Without benchmark scores, no direct comparisons to rivals can be made from the fact pack. The nearestRivals list is empty, so there are no deltaPct values to cite.

What can be stated from the hardware data: the 3.200 GPixel/s pixel rate and 3.200 GTexel/s texture rate are the only quantitative performance indicators available. These figures describe the card's fill-rate capabilities, but they do not translate into frame rates without additional context. The honest interpretation is that the X550 XTX's performance is undocumented in this database, and the 50th percentile rank should be treated as a placeholder rather than a meaningful performance metric. Users seeking performance comparisons should look to the card's predecessor, the Radeon R200, and its successor, the Radeon R400 AGP, but no scores for those are provided either. The benchmark data, or lack thereof, means any performance claims about this card must be grounded solely in its architectural specifications.

FAQ

Q: What memory type and capacity does the ATI Radeon X550 XTX have?

A: It has 128 MB of DDR memory on a 64-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 4.800 GB/s and a memory clock of 300 MHz (600 Mbps effective).

Q: What power connectors does the card require?

A: The card requires no power connectors — the specification lists "None" for power connectors, and the suggested PSU is 200 W.

Q: What APIs does the card support?

A: It supports DirectX 9.0b (9_2) and OpenGL 2.0. No Vulkan support is listed.

Q: When was the card released and what is its production status?

A: The release date is 2007-01-23, and the production status is "End-of-life."

Q: What is the bus interface of the X550 XTX?

A: It uses a PCIe 1.0 x16 bus interface.

Q: What display outputs are available?

A: The card has 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video outputs.

Q: What is the process node and transistor count?

A: The chip is fabricated on a 110 nm process at TSMC, with 120 million transistors on a 156 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 769.2K per mm².

Power and Cooling

The ATI Radeon X550 XTX does not list a TDP in the fact pack, so no thermal design power figure can be cited. However, the suggested PSU is 200 W, which is a modest requirement for a system of this era. The card uses no power connectors — it draws all power from the PCIe 1.0 x16 slot. This absence of auxiliary power is a strong indicator that the card is designed for low-power systems. It is a single-slot card, indicating a slim cooler design that occupies minimal space in a chassis. Given the 110 nm process node and 120 million transistors, the power draw is likely low, but no wattage is recorded in the fact pack.

Users building or upgrading a legacy machine should ensure their power supply meets the 200 W suggestion, though most period-appropriate PSUs will exceed this. The single-slot form factor makes it compatible with compact cases, and the lack of power connectors simplifies installation — no extra cables are required. The cooling solution is not specified beyond the single-slot designation; a capable air cooler is implied, but no dimensions or fan specifications are provided. The card's end-of-life status means replacement coolers may be difficult to source, but the low power draw reduces thermal stress on any passive or active solution.

Memory Subsystem

The memory subsystem is a critical limitation of the X550 XTX. It consists of 128 MB of DDR memory on a 64-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 4.800 GB/s. The memory clock is 300 MHz, with an effective data rate of 600 Mbps. This is a very narrow memory interface by modern standards — even by mid-2000s standards, a 64-bit bus was considered entry-level. The 128 MB capacity limits texture-heavy workloads, and the 4.800 GB/s bandwidth constrains fill-rate-bound scenarios. For high resolutions, the data shows this card will be severely limited; the 3.200 GPixel/s pixel rate combined with the narrow bus means that as resolution increases, the memory bandwidth becomes the primary bottleneck.

The DDR memory type, as opposed to faster memory variants, further indicates a low-bandwidth design. Users should expect to run games at low resolutions with reduced texture quality. The 64-bit bus is the single most restrictive element of the card's design — it halves the memory bandwidth compared to a 128-bit bus at the same clock, though no such comparison card is in the fact pack. The 4.800 GB/s figure is the definitive number to remember: it is the ceiling for all data movement between the GPU and memory. Any workload that requires frequent texture swaps or large frame buffers will quickly exhaust this bandwidth, making the card unsuitable for anything beyond basic 3D acceleration.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals list in the fact pack is empty, so no direct rival comparisons with scores or deltaPct values are available. However, the fact pack does identify a predecessor and successor. The predecessor is the Radeon R200, and the successor is the Radeon R400 AGP. The X550 XTX occupies a position between these two generations, but without benchmark scores for any of them, a quantitative comparison is impossible. The X550 XTX's 50th percentile rank places it at the median of all GPUs in the database, but as noted, this is based on a score of zero.

In the absence of rival data, the most defensible statement is that the X550 XTX is an end-of-life, entry-level card from the Radeon R300 generation, built on the R400 architecture, with a 64-bit memory bus and 128 MB of DDR memory. Its position in the product stack is defined by these hardware characteristics rather than by measured performance. The card's successor, the Radeon R400 AGP, suggests a move to the AGP interface for the next generation, while the X550 XTX itself uses PCIe 1.0 x16. This interface difference is notable: the X550 XTX is a PCIe card, whereas its successor targets AGP. Without further data, no performance hierarchy can be established between these three parts. The 50th percentile rank, while mathematically defined, carries no comparative weight without accompanying scores for other GPUs.