AMD Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti

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Combined performance score

GTX 550 Ti
3.98
+30.5%

GeForce GTX 550 Ti outperforms Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) by 30% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking650722
Place by popularity63not in top-100
Value for money0.28no data
ArchitectureFermi (2010−2014)GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code nameGF116Kaveri Spectre
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date15 March 2011 (13 years old)14 January 2014 (10 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$149 no data
Current price$197 (1.3x MSRP)no data
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores192512
CUDA cores192no data
Core clock speed900 MHz720 MHz
Number of transistors1,170 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology40 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)116 Wattno data
Maximum GPU temperature100 °Cno data
Texture fill rate28.8 billion/secno data
Floating-point performance691.2 gflopsno data

Size and 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 support16x PCI-E 2.0no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16no data
Length8.25" (21 cm)no data
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectorsOne 6-pinno data
SLI options+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 typeGDDR5no data
Maximum RAM amount2 GBno data
Memory bus width192 Bitno data
Memory clock speed4.1 GB/sno data
Memory bandwidth98.4 GB/sno data
Shared memoryno data+

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 ConnectorsTwo Dual Link DVI-IMini HDMIno data
Multi monitor support+no data
HDMI+no data
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

API support

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

DirectX12 (11_0)12 (FL 12_0)
Shader Model5.1no data
OpenGL4.2no data
OpenCL1.1no data
VulkanN/Ano data
CUDA+no data

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.

GTX 550 Ti 3.98
+30.5%
R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) 3.05

GeForce GTX 550 Ti outperforms Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) by 30% in our combined benchmark results.


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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 550 Ti 2272
R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) 2302
+1.3%

Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) outperforms GeForce GTX 550 Ti by 1% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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:

900p38
+40.7%
27−30
−40.7%
Full HD37
+106%
18
−106%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
+75%
4−5
−75%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3 0−1
Battlefield 5 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+16.7%
12−14
−16.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+50%
8−9
−50%
Hitman 3 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
+75%
4−5
−75%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3 0−1
Battlefield 5 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+16.7%
12−14
−16.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+50%
8−9
−50%
Hitman 3 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Metro Exodus 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 9−10
−11.1%
10
+11.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
+75%
4−5
−75%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3 0−1
Battlefield 5 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+50%
8−9
−50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 9−10
+50%
6
−50%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Hitman 3 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
Metro Exodus 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Far Cry New Dawn 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Hitman 3 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 1−2 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Forza Horizon 4 1−2 0−1

This is how GTX 550 Ti and R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTX 550 Ti is 40.7% faster than R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop)

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 550 Ti is 106% faster than R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop)

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

  • in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 550 Ti is 100% faster than the R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop).
  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) is 11.1% faster than the GTX 550 Ti.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 550 Ti is ahead in 48 tests (91%)
  • R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) is ahead in 1 test (2%)
  • there's a draw in 4 tests (8%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 3.98 3.05
Recency 15 March 2011 14 January 2014
Chip lithography 40 nm 28 nm

The GeForce GTX 550 Ti is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) in performance tests.


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
GeForce GTX 550 Ti
AMD Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop)
Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop)

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4.9 59023 votes

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Questions and comments

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