Radeon 550 vs GeForce GTX 960

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 960 and Radeon 550, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GTX 960
2015
4 GB GDDR5, 120 Watt
13.64
+190%

GTX 960 outperforms 550 by a whopping 190% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking353621
Place by popularity37not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation7.914.37
Power efficiency9.057.50
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameGM206Lexa
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date22 January 2015 (10 years ago)20 April 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$199 $79

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

GTX 960 has 81% better value for money than Radeon 550.

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 cores1024512
Core clock speed1127 MHz1100 MHz
Boost clock speed1178 MHz1183 MHz
Number of transistors2,940 million2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)120 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rate75.3937.86
Floating-point processing power2.413 TFLOPS1.211 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs6432

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 supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x8
Length241 mm145 mm
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slot2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)400 Wattno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pinNone
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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB2 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speed7.0 GB/s1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth112 GB/s56 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 ConnectorsDual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.21x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a
Multi monitor support4 displaysno data
HDMI++
HDCP+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
G-SYNC support+-
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

Supported technologies

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

GameStream+-
GeForce ShadowPlay+-
GPU Boost2.0no data
GameWorks+-

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_1)12 (12_0)
Shader Model6.46.7
OpenGL4.44.6
OpenCL1.22.1
Vulkan+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.

GTX 960 13.64
+190%
Radeon 550 4.71

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 960 6101
+190%
Radeon 550 2104

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.

GTX 960 18663
+79.8%
Radeon 550 10378

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 HD65
+210%
21−24
−210%
4K29
+190%
10−12
−190%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.06
+22.9%
3.76
−22.9%
4K6.86
+15.1%
7.90
−15.1%
  • GTX 960 has 23% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • GTX 960 has 15% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+217%
12−14
−217%
Counter-Strike 2 80−85
+211%
27−30
−211%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+210%
10−11
−210%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+217%
12−14
−217%
Battlefield 5 60−65
+205%
21−24
−205%
Counter-Strike 2 80−85
+211%
27−30
−211%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+210%
10−11
−210%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+219%
16−18
−219%
Fortnite 80−85
+207%
27−30
−207%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+195%
21−24
−195%
Forza Horizon 5 45−50
+194%
16−18
−194%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55−60
+206%
18−20
−206%
Valorant 120−130
+205%
40−45
−205%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+217%
12−14
−217%
Battlefield 5 60−65
+205%
21−24
−205%
Counter-Strike 2 80−85
+211%
27−30
−211%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 190−200
+205%
65−70
−205%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+210%
10−11
−210%
Dota 2 90−95
+210%
30−33
−210%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+219%
16−18
−219%
Fortnite 80−85
+207%
27−30
−207%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+195%
21−24
−195%
Forza Horizon 5 45−50
+194%
16−18
−194%
Grand Theft Auto V 49
+206%
16−18
−206%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+210%
10−11
−210%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55−60
+206%
18−20
−206%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 50
+213%
16−18
−213%
Valorant 120−130
+205%
40−45
−205%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 60−65
+205%
21−24
−205%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+210%
10−11
−210%
Dota 2 90−95
+210%
30−33
−210%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+219%
16−18
−219%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+195%
21−24
−195%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55−60
+206%
18−20
−206%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 28
+211%
9−10
−211%
Valorant 120−130
+205%
40−45
−205%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 80−85
+207%
27−30
−207%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 27−30
+190%
10−11
−190%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 110−120
+214%
35−40
−214%
Grand Theft Auto V 24−27
+200%
8−9
−200%
Metro Exodus 18−20
+200%
6−7
−200%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 140−150
+216%
45−50
−216%
Valorant 150−160
+204%
50−55
−204%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 40−45
+200%
14−16
−200%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+225%
4−5
−225%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+230%
10−11
−230%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+208%
12−14
−208%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+200%
8−9
−200%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 30−35
+230%
10−11
−230%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 12−14
+200%
4−5
−200%
Counter-Strike 2 10−12
+267%
3−4
−267%
Grand Theft Auto V 27−30
+200%
9−10
−200%
Metro Exodus 10−12
+267%
3−4
−267%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20−22
+233%
6−7
−233%
Valorant 80−85
+204%
27−30
−204%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 21−24
+200%
7−8
−200%
Counter-Strike 2 10−12
+267%
3−4
−267%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+200%
2−3
−200%
Dota 2 50−55
+194%
18−20
−194%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+220%
5−6
−220%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+225%
8−9
−225%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 14−16
+250%
4−5
−250%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 14−16
+200%
5−6
−200%

This is how GTX 960 and Radeon 550 compete in popular games:

  • GTX 960 is 210% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 960 is 190% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 13.64 4.71
Recency 22 January 2015 20 April 2017
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 120 Watt 50 Watt

GTX 960 has a 189.6% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

Radeon 550, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 140% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 960 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon 550 in performance tests.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
GeForce GTX 960
AMD Radeon 550
Radeon 550

Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4 3933 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can give us your opinion about GeForce GTX 960 or Radeon 550, agree or disagree with our ratings, or report errors or inaccuracies on the site.