Radeon HD 8550M vs GeForce GT 1030

Place in the ranking	577	978
Place by popularity	33	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.31	no data
Power efficiency	14.67	no data
Architecture	Pascal (2016−2021)	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code name	GP108	Sun
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	17 May 2017 (7 years ago)	13 July 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$79	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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	384	320
Core clock speed	1228 MHz	650 MHz
Boost clock speed	1468 MHz	850 MHz
Number of transistors	1,800 million	690 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	30 Watt	no data
Texture fill rate	35.23	17.00
Floating-point processing power	1.127 TFLOPS	0.544 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	8
TMUs	24	20

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).

Laptop size	no data	medium sized
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x4	PCIe 3.0 x8
Length	145 mm	no data
Width	1-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	None	no data

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	GDDR5	DDR3
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	64 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	1502 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	48.06 GB/s	14.4 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

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	1x DVI, 1x HDMI	No outputs
HDMI	+	-
G-SYNC support	+	-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

VR Ready

no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2.131
CUDA	6.1	-

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.

GT 1030 6.38
+325%

HD 8550M 1.50

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GT 1030 4728
+262%

HD 8550M 1307

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GT 1030 20192
+445%

HD 8550M 3705

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:

Full HD	24 +380%	5−6 −380%
1440p	26 +333%	6−7 −333%
4K	9 +350%	2−3 −350%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	3.29	no data
1440p	3.04	no data
4K	8.78	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	15 +275%	4−5 −275%
Elden Ring	16 +1500%	1−2 −1500%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	21 +950%	2−3 −950%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	10 +150%	4−5 −150%
Forza Horizon 4	28 +211%	9−10 −211%
Metro Exodus	23	0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2	31 +343%	7−8 −343%
Valorant	18 +350%	4−5 −350%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	20−22 +900%	2−3 −900%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	7 +75%	4−5 −75%
Dota 2	19 +850%	2−3 −850%
Elden Ring	13 +1200%	1−2 −1200%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +164%	10−12 −164%
Fortnite	35−40 +443%	7−8 −443%
Forza Horizon 4	19 +111%	9−10 −111%
Grand Theft Auto V	29 +1350%	2−3 −1350%
Metro Exodus	14	0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	63 +294%	16−18 −294%
Red Dead Redemption 2	18−20 +171%	7−8 −171%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20−22 +186%	7−8 −186%
Valorant	15 +400%	3−4 −400%
World of Tanks	100−105 +223%	30−35 −223%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	20−22 +900%	2−3 −900%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +225%	4−5 −225%
Dota 2	21−24 +1000%	2−3 −1000%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +164%	10−12 −164%
Forza Horizon 4	16 +77.8%	9−10 −77.8%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	19 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%
Valorant	14 +367%	3−4 −367%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Elden Ring	8−9	0−1
Grand Theft Auto V	7−8 +600%	1−2 −600%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 +311%	9−10 −311%
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6	0−1
World of Tanks	45−50 +411%	9−10 −411%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	10−12 +450%	2−3 −450%
Counter-Strike 2	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
Far Cry 5	12−14 +160%	5−6 −160%
Forza Horizon 4	11 +450%	2−3 −450%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	8−9 +167%	3−4 −167%
Valorant	16−18 +143%	7−8 −143%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	0−1	0−1
Dota 2	12 −33.3%	16−18 +33.3%
Elden Ring	3−4	0−1
Grand Theft Auto V	12 −25%	14−16 +25%
Metro Exodus	2−3	0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	18−20 +350%	4−5 −350%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12 −25%	14−16 +25%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Counter-Strike 2	0−1	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Dota 2	16−18 +6.3%	16−18 −6.3%
Far Cry 5	7−8 +600%	1−2 −600%
Fortnite	4	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	6 +500%	1−2 −500%
Valorant	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%

This is how GT 1030 and HD 8550M compete in popular games:

GT 1030 is 380% faster in 1080p
GT 1030 is 333% faster in 1440p
GT 1030 is 350% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Elden Ring, with 1080p resolution and the Low Preset, the GT 1030 is 1500% faster.
in Dota 2, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the HD 8550M is 33% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GT 1030 is ahead in 40 tests (91%)
HD 8550M is ahead in 3 tests (7%)
there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	6.38	1.50
Recency	17 May 2017	13 July 2014
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	28 nm

GT 1030 has a 325.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce GT 1030 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 8550M in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GT 1030 is a desktop card while Radeon HD 8550M is a notebook one.

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