GeForce GT 550M vs GTS 360M
Aggregated performance score
GTS 360M outperforms GT 550M by 14% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
General info
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 890 | 934 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Value for money | 0.13 | 0.27 |
| Architecture | GT2xx (2009−2012) | Fermi (2010−2014) |
| GPU code name | N11E-GS1 | N12P-GT |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 7 January 2010 (14 years ago) | 6 January 2011 (13 years ago) |
| Current price | $230 | $55 |
Value for money
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
GT 550M has 108% better value for money than GTS 360M.
Technical specs
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 | 96 |
| CUDA cores | 96 | 96 |
| Core clock speed | 575 MHz | 740 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 727 million | 585 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 38 Watt | 35 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 17.60 | 11.8 billion/sec |
| Floating-point performance | 275.71 gflops | 284.16 gflops |
| Gigaflops | 413 | no data |
Size and compatibility
Information on GeForce GTS 360M and GeForce GT 550M compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.
| Laptop size | large | large |
| Bus support | PCI-E 2.0 | no data |
| Interface | MXM-II | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | None |
| SLI options | + | no data |
| MXM Type | MXM 3.0 Type-B | no data |
Memory
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 | DDR3, GDDR3, GDDR5 | DDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 1536 MB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | Up to 2000 MHz | 900 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 57.6 GB/s | 28.8 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | - |
Video outputs and ports
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 | Single Link DVILVDSHDMIDual Link DVIDisplayPortVGA | No outputs |
| HDMI | + | no data |
| Maximum VGA resolution | 2048x1536 | no data |
Technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Optimus | no data | + |
| Power management | 8.0 | no data |
API support
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.1 (10_1) | 12 API |
| Shader Model | 4.1 | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | 2.1 | 4.5 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| 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.
GTS 360M outperforms GT 550M by 14% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 25%
GTS 360M outperforms GT 550M by 14% in Passmark.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 17%
GTS 360M outperforms GT 550M by 15% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.
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 | 18
+20%
| 15
−20%
|
| Full HD | 23
+0%
| 23
+0%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Battlefield 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Hitman 3 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Battlefield 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Hitman 3 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Metro Exodus | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 5−6
+25%
|
4−5
−25%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Battlefield 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 5−6
+25%
|
4−5
−25%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| Hitman 3 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
4K
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Hitman 3 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
This is how GTS 360M and GT 550M compete in popular games:
- GTS 360M is 20% faster than GT 550M in 900p
- GT 550M is 0% faster than GTS 360M in 1080p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTS 360M is 100% faster than the GT 550M.
All in all, in popular games:
- GTS 360M is ahead in 9 tests (28%)
- there's a draw in 23 tests (72%)
Advantages and disadvantages
| Performance score | 1.68 | 1.48 |
| Recency | 7 January 2010 | 6 January 2011 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 1536 MB |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 38 Watt | 35 Watt |
The GeForce GTS 360M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 550M in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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