Radeon 550 vs GeForce GTS 450

Place in the ranking	732	611
Place by popularity	100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.65	4.37
Power efficiency	2.22	7.53
Architecture	Fermi (2010−2014)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	GF106	Lexa
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	13 September 2010 (14 years ago)	20 April 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$129	$79

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

Radeon 550 has 572% better value for money than GTS 450.

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	192	512
Core clock speed	783 MHz	1100 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1183 MHz
Number of transistors	1,170 million	2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	106 Watt	50 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	100 °C	no data
Texture fill rate	25.06	37.86
Floating-point processing power	0.6013 TFLOPS	1.211 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	16
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	PCI-E 2.0 x 16	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x8
Length	210 mm	145 mm
Height	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	None
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	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	1804 (3608 data rate) MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	57.7 GB/s	56 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	Mini HDMITwo Dual Link DVI	1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI	+	+
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	5.1	6.7
OpenGL	4.2	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	2.1
Vulkan	N/A	1.3
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.

GTS 450 3.42

Radeon 550 5.47
+59.9%

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.

GTS 450 1315

Radeon 550 2103
+59.9%

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.

GTS 450 4924

Radeon 550 10391
+111%

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	30 −50%	45−50 +50%
Full HD	37 −48.6%	55−60 +48.6%
1200p	27 −48.1%	40−45 +48.1%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

3.49

−143%

1.44
+143%

Radeon 550 has 143% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −45.5%	16−18 +45.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −42.9%	10−11 +42.9%
Elden Ring	7−8 −42.9%	10−11 +42.9%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 −55.6%	14−16 +55.6%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −45.5%	16−18 +45.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −42.9%	10−11 +42.9%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 −40%	21−24 +40%
Metro Exodus	7−8 −42.9%	10−11 +42.9%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 −50%	18−20 +50%
Valorant	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 −55.6%	14−16 +55.6%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −45.5%	16−18 +45.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −42.9%	10−11 +42.9%
Dota 2	10−11 −40%	14−16 +40%
Elden Ring	7−8 −42.9%	10−11 +42.9%
Far Cry 5	18−20 −50%	27−30 +50%
Fortnite	18−20 −57.9%	30−33 +57.9%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 −40%	21−24 +40%
Grand Theft Auto V	10−11 −40%	14−16 +40%
Metro Exodus	7−8 −42.9%	10−11 +42.9%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	30−35 −45.2%	45−50 +45.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 −50%	18−20 +50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 −50%	18−20 +50%
Valorant	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
World of Tanks	86 −51.2%	130−140 +51.2%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 −55.6%	14−16 +55.6%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −45.5%	16−18 +45.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −42.9%	10−11 +42.9%
Dota 2	10−11 −40%	14−16 +40%
Far Cry 5	18−20 −50%	27−30 +50%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 −40%	21−24 +40%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	30−35 −45.2%	45−50 +45.2%
Valorant	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Elden Ring	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Grand Theft Auto V	2−3 −50%	3−4 +50%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	24−27 −45.8%	35−40 +45.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3 −50%	3−4 +50%
World of Tanks	24−27 −45.8%	35−40 +45.8%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	4−5 −50%	6−7 +50%
Counter-Strike 2	9−10 −55.6%	14−16 +55.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Far Cry 5	8−9 −50%	12−14 +50%
Forza Horizon 4	2−3 −50%	3−4 +50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 −50%	6−7 +50%
Valorant	10−12 −45.5%	16−18 +45.5%

4K
High Preset

Dota 2	16−18 −50%	24−27 +50%
Elden Ring	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 −50%	24−27 +50%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	10−11 −40%	14−16 +40%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3 −50%	3−4 +50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 −50%	24−27 +50%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Dota 2	16−18 −50%	24−27 +50%
Far Cry 5	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Fortnite	2−3 −50%	3−4 +50%
Forza Horizon 4	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Valorant	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%

This is how GTS 450 and Radeon 550 compete in popular games:

Radeon 550 is 50% faster in 900p
Radeon 550 is 49% faster in 1080p
Radeon 550 is 48% faster in 1200p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.42	5.47
Recency	13 September 2010	20 April 2017
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	106 Watt	50 Watt

Radeon 550 has a 59.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 185.7% more advanced lithography process, and 112% lower power consumption.

The Radeon 550 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTS 450 in performance tests.

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