Radeon RX 590 vs RX 550

Place in the ranking	551	231
Place by popularity	29	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.92	24.71
Power efficiency	9.77	9.62
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	Lexa	Polaris 30
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	20 April 2017 (7 years ago)	15 November 2018 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$79	$279

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 590 has 746% 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	2304
Core clock speed	1100 MHz	1469 MHz
Boost clock speed	1183 MHz	1545 MHz
Number of transistors	2,200 million	5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	37.86	222.5
Floating-point processing power	1.211 TFLOPS	7.119 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	32
TMUs	32	144

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).

Interface	PCIe 3.0 x8	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	145 mm	241 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	1x 8-pin

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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1750 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	112.0 GB/s	256.0 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	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	+	+

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	6.4	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2.131

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 7.08

RX 590 24.41
+245%

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 2722

RX 590 9388
+245%

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	27−30 −278%	102 +278%
1440p	16−18 −281%	61 +281%
4K	10−12 −270%	37 +270%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	2.93 −7%	2.74 +7%
1440p	4.94 −8%	4.57 +8%
4K	7.90 −4.8%	7.54 +4.8%

RX 590 has 7% lower cost per frame in 1080p
RX 590 has 8% lower cost per frame in 1440p
RX 550 and RX 590 have nearly equal cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Elden Ring	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	87 +0%	87 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	137 +0%	137 +0%
Metro Exodus	88 +0%	88 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	91 +0%	91 +0%
Valorant	128 +0%	128 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	129 +0%	129 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Dota 2	52 +0%	52 +0%
Elden Ring	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Far Cry 5	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Fortnite	116 +0%	116 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	114 +0%	114 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	79 +0%	79 +0%
Metro Exodus	60 +0%	60 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	239 +0%	239 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	39 +0%	39 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Valorant	64 +0%	64 +0%
World of Tanks	250−260 +0%	250−260 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	71 +0%	71 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Dota 2	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Far Cry 5	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	100 +0%	100 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	79 +0%	79 +0%
Valorant	110 +0%	110 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Elden Ring	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	170−180 +0%	170−180 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	25 +0%	25 +0%
World of Tanks	160−170 +0%	160−170 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Far Cry 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	70 +0%	70 +0%
Metro Exodus	58 +0%	58 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Valorant	75 +0%	75 +0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Dota 2	41 +0%	41 +0%
Elden Ring	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	41 +0%	41 +0%
Metro Exodus	19 +0%	19 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	82 +0%	82 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16 +0%	16 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	41 +0%	41 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	30 +0%	30 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Dota 2	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Fortnite	34 +0%	34 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	40 +0%	40 +0%
Valorant	39 +0%	39 +0%

This is how RX 550 and RX 590 compete in popular games:

RX 590 is 278% faster in 1080p
RX 590 is 281% faster in 1440p
RX 590 is 270% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	7.08	24.41
Recency	20 April 2017	15 November 2018
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	175 Watt

RX 550 has 250% lower power consumption.

RX 590, on the other hand, has a 244.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 16.7% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 590 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 550 in performance tests.

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