Radeon RX 6550M vs GeForce GTX 870M

Place in the ranking	485	219
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	6.23	21.67
Architecture	Kepler (2012−2018)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	GK104	Navi 24
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	12 March 2014 (10 years ago)	4 January 2023 (2 years ago)

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	1344	1024
Core clock speed	941 MHz	2000 MHz
Boost clock speed	967 MHz	2840 MHz
Number of transistors	3,540 million	5,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	80 Watt
Texture fill rate	108.3	181.8
Floating-point processing power	2.599 TFLOPS	5.816 TFLOPS
ROPs	24	32
TMUs	112	64
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	16

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	large	medium sized
Bus support	PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	PCIe 4.0 x4
Supplementary power connectors	None	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	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	4 GB
Standard memory configuration	GDDR5	no data
Memory bus width	192 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	Up to 2500 MHz	2250 MHz
Memory bandwidth	120.0 GB/s	144.0 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	Portable Device Dependent
eDP 1.2 signal support	Up to 3840x2160	no data
LVDS signal support	Up to 1920x1200	no data
VGA аnalog display support	Up to 2048x1536	no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	Up to 3840x2160	no data
HDMI	+	-
HDCP content protection	+	-
7.1 channel HD audio on HDMI	+	-
TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreaming	+	-

Supported technologies

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

H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	+	-
Optimus	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	5.1	6.7
OpenGL	4.5	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	2.2
Vulkan	1.1.126	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.

GTX 870M 9.04

RX 6550M 25.14
+178%

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.

GTX 870M 3473

RX 6550M 9661
+178%

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.

GTX 870M 7156

RX 6550M 20506
+187%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

GTX 870M 4694

RX 6550M 14696
+213%

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	45 −51.1%	68 +51.1%
1440p	8−9 −200%	24 +200%
4K	20 −175%	55−60 +175%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −231%	53 +231%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −183%	50−55 +183%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −166%	75−80 +166%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −188%	46 +188%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −183%	50−55 +183%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −242%	123 +242%
Forza Horizon 5	21−24 −200%	65−70 +200%
Metro Exodus	24−27 −175%	65−70 +175%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 −129%	55−60 +129%
Valorant	30−35 −197%	100−110 +197%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −166%	75−80 +166%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −119%	35 +119%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −183%	50−55 +183%
Dota 2	24 −258%	85−90 +258%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +15.2%	33 −15.2%
Fortnite	50−55 −138%	120−130 +138%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −181%	101 +181%
Forza Horizon 5	21−24 −200%	65−70 +200%
Grand Theft Auto V	36 −139%	85−90 +139%
Metro Exodus	24−27 −175%	65−70 +175%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	70−75 −123%	150−160 +123%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 −129%	55−60 +129%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	31 −165%	80−85 +165%
Valorant	30−35 −197%	100−110 +197%
World of Tanks	130−140 −94%	250−260 +94%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −166%	75−80 +166%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −81.3%	29 +81.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −183%	50−55 +183%
Dota 2	30−35 −169%	85−90 +169%
Far Cry 5	35−40 −103%	75−80 +103%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −144%	88 +144%
Forza Horizon 5	21−24 −200%	65−70 +200%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	70−75 −123%	150−160 +123%
Valorant	30−35 −197%	100−110 +197%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	10−12 −282%	40−45 +282%
Grand Theft Auto V	12−14 −258%	40−45 +258%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	40−45 −298%	170−180 +298%
Red Dead Redemption 2	8−9 −188%	21−24 +188%
World of Tanks	65−70 −155%	160−170 +155%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18 −200%	50−55 +200%
Counter-Strike 2	30−35 +82.4%	17 −82.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −200%	21−24 +200%
Far Cry 5	18−20 −284%	70−75 +284%
Forza Horizon 4	20−22 −235%	65−70 +235%
Forza Horizon 5	14−16 −186%	40−45 +186%
Metro Exodus	16−18 −256%	55−60 +256%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 −208%	35−40 +208%
Valorant	21−24 −196%	65−70 +196%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	3−4 −667%	21−24 +667%
Dota 2	18−20 −132%	40−45 +132%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 −132%	40−45 +132%
Metro Exodus	4−5 −375%	18−20 +375%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	24−27 −196%	75−80 +196%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 −167%	16−18 +167%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 −132%	40−45 +132%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 −225%	24−27 +225%
Counter-Strike 2	3−4 −667%	21−24 +667%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
Dota 2	18−20 −132%	40−45 +132%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −200%	30−35 +200%
Fortnite	9−10 −244%	30−35 +244%
Forza Horizon 4	10−12 −255%	35−40 +255%
Forza Horizon 5	6−7 −250%	21−24 +250%
Valorant	9−10 −267%	30−35 +267%

This is how GTX 870M and RX 6550M compete in popular games:

RX 6550M is 51% faster in 1080p
RX 6550M is 200% faster in 1440p
RX 6550M is 175% faster in 4K

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

in Counter-Strike 2, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 870M is 82% faster.
in Counter-Strike 2, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RX 6550M is 667% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 870M is ahead in 2 tests (3%)
RX 6550M is ahead in 62 tests (97%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	9.04	25.14
Recency	12 March 2014	4 January 2023
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	80 Watt

RX 6550M has a 178.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 366.7% more advanced lithography process, and 25% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 6550M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 870M in performance tests.

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