GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q vs Radeon RX 550

Place in the ranking	542	241
Place by popularity	22	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.92	68.60
Power efficiency	9.82	26.36
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	Turing (2018−2022)
GPU code name	Lexa	TU116
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	20 April 2017 (7 years ago)	23 April 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$79	$229

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q has 2249% better value for money than RX 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 cores	512	1536
Core clock speed	1100 MHz	1140 MHz
Boost clock speed	1183 MHz	1335 MHz
Number of transistors	2,200 million	6,600 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	60 Watt
Texture fill rate	37.86	128.2
Floating-point processing power	1.211 TFLOPS	4.101 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	48
TMUs	32	96

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	no data	medium sized
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x8	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	145 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	None	None

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	4 GB	6 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	1750 MHz	1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	112.0 GB/s	288.0 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	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	No outputs
HDMI	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	6.4	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2.131
CUDA	-	7.5

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.

RX 550 7.09

GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q 22.84
+222%

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.

RX 550 2736

GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q 8814
+222%

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	21−24 −262%	76 +262%
4K	10−12 −240%	34 +240%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	3.76	3.01
4K	7.90	6.74

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

35−40

+0%

35−40

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	56 +0%	56 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Battlefield 5	88 +0%	88 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70 +0%	70 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Far Cry 5	92 +0%	92 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Hitman 3	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Metro Exodus	120 +0%	120 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	92 +0%	92 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Battlefield 5	84 +0%	84 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	66 +0%	66 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Far Cry 5	77 +0%	77 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Hitman 3	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Metro Exodus	95 +0%	95 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	74 +0%	74 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	42 +0%	42 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50 +0%	50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Far Cry 5	54 +0%	54 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Hitman 3	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	79 +0%	79 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	51 +0%	51 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Hitman 3	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Metro Exodus	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40

+0%

35−40

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Hitman 3	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Metro Exodus	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	31 +0%	31 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Far Cry 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

20−22

+0%

20−22

+0%

This is how RX 550 and GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q compete in popular games:

GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q is 262% faster in 1080p
GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q is 240% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 72 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	7.09	22.84
Recency	20 April 2017	23 April 2019
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	6 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	60 Watt

RX 550 has 20% lower power consumption.

GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q, on the other hand, has a 222.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 16.7% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 550 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon RX 550 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q is a notebook one.

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