Radeon HD 6550M vs GeForce GTX 680

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 680 with Radeon HD 6550M, including specs and performance data.

GTX 680
2012
2048 MB GDDR5, 195 Watt
14.42
+960%

GTX 680 outperforms HD 6550M by a whopping 960% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking3591012
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.95no data
Power efficiency5.113.62
ArchitectureKepler (2012−2018)TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameGK104Lexington
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date22 March 2012 (12 years ago)26 November 2010 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$499 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores1536400
Core clock speed1006 MHz600 MHz
Boost clock speed1058 MHzno data
Number of transistors3,540 million2,154 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)195 Watt26 Watt
Texture fill rate135.412.00
Floating-point processing power3.25 TFLOPS0.48 TFLOPS
ROPs328
TMUs12820

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
Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16MXM-II
Length254 mmno data
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pinno data
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 typeGDDR5DDR3
Maximum RAM amount2048 MB1 GB
Memory bus width256-bit GDDR5128 Bit
Memory clock speed1502 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth192.2 GB/s28.8 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 ConnectorsOne Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPortNo outputs
Multi monitor support4 displaysno data
HDMI+-
HDCP+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_0)11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.0
OpenGL4.24.4
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.1.126N/A
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 680 14.42
+960%
HD 6550M 1.36

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 680 10217
+929%
HD 6550M 993

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 680 29702
+696%
HD 6550M 3731

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:

900p45
+221%
14
−221%
Full HD75
+295%
19
−295%
4K24
+1100%
2−3
−1100%

Cost per frame, $

1080p6.65no data
4K20.79no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+450%
4−5
−450%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+450%
6−7
−450%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
+1050%
2−3
−1050%
Battlefield 5 45−50
+1075%
4−5
−1075%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
+625%
4−5
−625%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+450%
4−5
−450%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+3300%
1−2
−3300%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
+1200%
3−4
−1200%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+4600%
2−3
−4600%
Hitman 3 27−30
+350%
6−7
−350%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
+429%
14−16
−429%
Metro Exodus 45−50
+1125%
4−5
−1125%
Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
+1900%
2−3
−1900%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
+488%
8−9
−488%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
+130%
30−35
−130%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+450%
6−7
−450%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
+1050%
2−3
−1050%
Battlefield 5 45−50
+1075%
4−5
−1075%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
+625%
4−5
−625%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+450%
4−5
−450%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+3300%
1−2
−3300%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
+1200%
3−4
−1200%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+4600%
2−3
−4600%
Hitman 3 27−30
+350%
6−7
−350%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
+429%
14−16
−429%
Metro Exodus 45−50
+1125%
4−5
−1125%
Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
+1900%
2−3
−1900%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
+488%
8−9
−488%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 94
+755%
10−12
−755%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
+130%
30−35
−130%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+450%
6−7
−450%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
+1050%
2−3
−1050%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
+625%
4−5
−625%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+450%
4−5
−450%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+3300%
1−2
−3300%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+4600%
2−3
−4600%
Hitman 3 27−30
+350%
6−7
−350%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
+429%
14−16
−429%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
+488%
8−9
−488%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 22
+100%
10−12
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
+130%
30−35
−130%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
+1900%
2−3
−1900%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 27−30
+2700%
1−2
−2700%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+1000%
2−3
−1000%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+1300%
1−2
−1300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−12
+1000%
1−2
−1000%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+1600%
1−2
−1600%
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
+1133%
6−7
−1133%
Hitman 3 16−18
+143%
7−8
−143%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
+480%
5−6
−480%
Metro Exodus 24−27
+1150%
2−3
−1150%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+1150%
2−3
−1150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+1400%
1−2
−1400%
Watch Dogs: Legion 85−90
+1383%
6−7
−1383%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+500%
4−5
−500%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16
+1300%
1−2
−1300%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−12 0−1
Hitman 3 10−11 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
+1083%
6−7
−1083%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+1300%
1−2
−1300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16
+1500%
1−2
−1500%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8−9
+700%
1−2
−700%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3 0−1
Far Cry 5 8−9 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+1800%
1−2
−1800%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+1300%
1−2
−1300%
Watch Dogs: Legion 6−7 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+333%
3−4
−333%

This is how GTX 680 and HD 6550M compete in popular games:

  • GTX 680 is 221% faster in 900p
  • GTX 680 is 295% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 680 is 1100% faster in 4K

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

  • in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 680 is 4600% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 680 surpassed HD 6550M in all 48 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 14.42 1.36
Recency 22 March 2012 26 November 2010
Maximum RAM amount 2048 MB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 195 Watt 26 Watt

GTX 680 has a 960.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

HD 6550M, on the other hand, has 650% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 680 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6550M in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 680 is a desktop card while Radeon HD 6550M is a notebook one.


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

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
GeForce GTX 680
AMD Radeon HD 6550M
Radeon HD 6550M

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

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Questions & comments

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