Radeon RX 550X vs GeForce GT 420M

Place in performance ranking	1107	585
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Architecture	Fermi (2010−2014)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	N11P-GE	Lexa
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	3 September 2010 (14 years ago)	16 December 2018 (5 years ago)

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	96	512
CUDA cores	96	no data
Core clock speed	500 MHz	1100 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1183 MHz
Number of transistors	585 million	2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	23 Watt	50 Watt
Texture fill rate	8.000	37.86
Floating-point performance	0.192 gflops	1.211 gflops

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	medium sized	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x8
Length	no data	145 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	None

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	(G)DDR3	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	4 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	800 MHz	6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	96 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	No outputs	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
HDMI	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 API	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	5.1	6.4
OpenGL	4.5	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	2.0
Vulkan	N/A	1.2.131
CUDA	+	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

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

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 420M 1.03

RX 550X 5.91
+474%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

GT 420M 397

RX 550X 2281
+475%

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

GT 420M 1583

RX 550X 11290
+613%

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	12 −442%	65−70 +442%
Full HD	17 −459%	95−100 +459%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

3−4
−433%

16−18

+433%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 −440%	27−30 +440%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 −425%	21−24 +425%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −433%	16−18 +433%
Far Cry 5	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Far Cry New Dawn	2−3 −400%	10−11 +400%
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
Hitman 3	5−6 −440%	27−30 +440%
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 −438%	70−75 +438%
Red Dead Redemption 2	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 −471%	40−45 +471%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 −463%	180−190 +463%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 −440%	27−30 +440%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 −425%	21−24 +425%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −433%	16−18 +433%
Far Cry 5	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Far Cry New Dawn	2−3 −400%	10−11 +400%
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
Hitman 3	5−6 −440%	27−30 +440%
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 −438%	70−75 +438%
Red Dead Redemption 2	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 −471%	40−45 +471%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 −445%	60−65 +445%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 −463%	180−190 +463%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 −440%	27−30 +440%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 −425%	21−24 +425%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −433%	16−18 +433%
Far Cry 5	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
Hitman 3	5−6 −440%	27−30 +440%
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 −438%	70−75 +438%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 −471%	40−45 +471%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 −445%	60−65 +445%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 −463%	180−190 +463%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

1−2

−400%

5−6
+400%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Far Cry New Dawn	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Far Cry 5	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Hitman 3	7−8 −471%	40−45 +471%
Horizon Zero Dawn	4−5 −425%	21−24 +425%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	0−1	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	4−5 −425%	21−24 +425%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

4−5
−425%

21−24

+425%

4K
High Preset

Far Cry New Dawn

0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	0−1	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	0−1	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

2−3
−400%

10−11

+400%

This is how GT 420M and RX 550X compete in popular games:

RX 550X is 442% faster in 900p
RX 550X is 459% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.03	5.91
Recency	3 September 2010	16 December 2018
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	23 Watt	50 Watt

GT 420M has 117.4% lower power consumption.

RX 550X, on the other hand, has a 473.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 185.7% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 550X is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 420M in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GT 420M is a notebook card while Radeon RX 550X is a desktop one.

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