GeForce GTX 550 Ti vs 9600 GT

Place in the ranking	1038	695
Place by popularity	not in top-100	81
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.06	0.79
Power efficiency	0.90	2.38
Architecture	Tesla (2006−2010)	Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code name	G94	GF116
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	21 February 2008 (16 years ago)	15 March 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$179	$149

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 550 Ti has 1217% better value for money than 9600 GT.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	64	192
Core clock speed	650 MHz	900 MHz
Number of transistors	505 million	1,170 million
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	96 Watt	116 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	105 °C	100 °C
Texture fill rate	20.80	28.80
Floating-point processing power	0.208 TFLOPS	0.6912 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	24
TMUs	32	32

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Bus support	16x PCI-E 2.0	16x PCI-E 2.0
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	229 mm	210 mm
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width	1-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	1x 6-pin
SLI options	+	+

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR3	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	512 MB	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	900 MHz	4.1 GB/s
Memory bandwidth	57.6 GB/s	98.4 GB/s

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	HDTVTwo Dual Link DVI	Two Dual Link DVI-IMini HDMI
Multi monitor support	+	+
HDMI	-	+
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI	S/PDIF	Internal

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	11.1 (10_0)	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	4.0	5.1
OpenGL	2.1	4.2
OpenCL	1.1	1.1
Vulkan	N/A	N/A
CUDA	+	+

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

9600 GT 1.25

GTX 550 Ti 4.03
+222%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

9600 GT 482

GTX 550 Ti 1554
+222%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

900p	10−12 −280%	38 +280%
Full HD	10−12 −280%	38 +280%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

17.90

3.92

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

7−8

+0%

7−8

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Battlefield 5	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Hitman 3	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Battlefield 5	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Hitman 3	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Hitman 3	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−11

+0%

10−11

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Hitman 3	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

8−9

+0%

8−9

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Hitman 3	0−1	0−1
Metro Exodus	0−1	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

5−6

+0%

5−6

+0%

This is how 9600 GT and GTX 550 Ti compete in popular games:

GTX 550 Ti is 280% faster in 900p
GTX 550 Ti is 280% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.25	4.03
Recency	21 February 2008	15 March 2011
Maximum RAM amount	512 MB	2 GB
Chip lithography	65 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	96 Watt	116 Watt

9600 GT has 20.8% lower power consumption.

GTX 550 Ti, on the other hand, has a 222.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 62.5% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce GTX 550 Ti is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9600 GT in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.