Radeon HD 8550M vs R5 M420

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R5 M420 and Radeon HD 8550M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R5 M420
2016
4 GB DDR3
1.26

HD 8550M outperforms R5 M420 by a moderate 19% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking1033973
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code nameJetSun
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date15 May 2016 (8 years ago)13 July 2014 (10 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 cores320320
Core clock speed780 MHz650 MHz
Boost clock speed850 MHz850 MHz
Number of transistors690 million690 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Texture fill rate17.0017.00
Floating-point processing power0.544 TFLOPS0.544 TFLOPS
ROPs88
TMUs2020

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 sizeno datamedium sized
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x8PCIe 3.0 x8

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 typeDDR3DDR3
Maximum RAM amount4 GB1 GB
Memory bus width64 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speed1000 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth16 GB/s14.4 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 ConnectorsNo outputsNo outputs

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)12 (11_1)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.2.1311.2.131

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
−33.3%
4−5
+33.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
−33.3%
4−5
+33.3%
Far Cry 5 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Far Cry New Dawn 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%
Hitman 3 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−7.1%
14−16
+7.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
−33.3%
4−5
+33.3%
Far Cry 5 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Far Cry New Dawn 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%
Hitman 3 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−7.1%
14−16
+7.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
−33.3%
4−5
+33.3%
Far Cry 5 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Forza Horizon 4 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%
Hitman 3 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−7.1%
14−16
+7.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Far Cry New Dawn 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 0−1 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Far Cry 5 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Hitman 3 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 4−5
−25%
5−6
+25%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 0−1 1−2
Watch Dogs: Legion 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%

4K
High Preset

Far Cry New Dawn 0−1 1−2

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 0−1 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

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

  • in Far Cry 5, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the HD 8550M is 100% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • HD 8550M is ahead in 17 tests (36%)
  • there's a draw in 30 tests (64%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 1.26 1.50
Recency 15 May 2016 13 July 2014
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 1 GB

R5 M420 has an age advantage of 1 year, and a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount.

HD 8550M, on the other hand, has a 19% higher aggregate performance score.

The Radeon HD 8550M is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R5 M420 in performance tests.


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

Vote for your favorite

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


AMD Radeon R5 M420
Radeon R5 M420
AMD Radeon HD 8550M
Radeon HD 8550M

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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.


2.9 106 votes

Rate Radeon R5 M420 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.5 31 vote

Rate Radeon HD 8550M on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.