Arc A730M vs GeForce MX550

Place in the ranking	405	201
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	32.87	23.69
Architecture	Turing (2018−2022)	Generation 12.7 (2022−2023)
GPU code name	TU117S	DG2-512
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	17 December 2021 (2 years ago)	2022 (2 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 cores	1024	3072
Core clock speed	1065 MHz	1100 MHz
Boost clock speed	1320 MHz	2050 MHz
Number of transistors	4,700 million	21,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	12 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	25 Watt	80 Watt
Texture fill rate	42.24	393.6
Floating-point processing power	2.703 TFLOPS	12.6 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	96
TMUs	32	192
Tensor Cores	no data	384
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	24

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 4.0 x8	PCIe 4.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	None	no data

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	GDDR6	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	12 GB
Memory bus width	64 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	1500 MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	96 GB/s	336.0 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

Portable Device Dependent

Supported technologies

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

Optimus

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.7 (6.4)	6.6
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	3.0	3.0
Vulkan	1.3	1.3
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.

GeForce MX550 11.79

Arc A730M 27.19
+131%

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.

GeForce MX550 4546

Arc A730M 10487
+131%

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.

GeForce MX550 10005

Arc A730M 29144
+191%

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.

GeForce MX550 36560

Arc A730M 63380
+73.4%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

GeForce MX550 6126

Arc A730M 21294
+248%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

GeForce MX550 40364

Arc A730M 83396
+107%

3DMark Time Spy Graphics

GeForce MX550 2470

Arc A730M 8813
+257%

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	46 −60.9%	74 +60.9%
1440p	18−20 −133%	42 +133%
4K	10−12 −140%	24 +140%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

18−20

−294%

71
+294%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 −168%	75−80 +168%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 −256%	64 +256%
Battlefield 5	35−40 −200%	110−120 +200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 −200%	70−75 +200%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −256%	64 +256%
Far Cry 5	27−30 −189%	75−80 +189%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 −170%	85−90 +170%
Forza Horizon 4	75−80 −132%	180−190 +132%
Hitman 3	21−24 −132%	51 +132%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −140%	150−160 +140%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −197%	110−120 +197%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 −158%	85−90 +158%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40 −234%	120−130 +234%
Watch Dogs: Legion	65−70 −78.3%	120−130 +78.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 −168%	75−80 +168%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 −200%	54 +200%
Battlefield 5	35−40 −200%	110−120 +200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 −200%	70−75 +200%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −200%	54 +200%
Far Cry 5	27−30 −189%	75−80 +189%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 −170%	85−90 +170%
Forza Horizon 4	75−80 −132%	180−190 +132%
Hitman 3	21−24 −114%	47 +114%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −140%	150−160 +140%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −197%	110−120 +197%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 −158%	85−90 +158%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	52 −187%	149 +187%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−33 −143%	70−75 +143%
Watch Dogs: Legion	65−70 −78.3%	120−130 +78.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 −168%	75−80 +168%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 −167%	48 +167%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 −200%	70−75 +200%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −189%	52 +189%
Far Cry 5	27−30 −189%	75−80 +189%
Forza Horizon 4	75−80 −132%	180−190 +132%
Hitman 3	21−24 −109%	46 +109%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −39.7%	88 +39.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	42 −195%	124 +195%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27 −66.7%	45 +66.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	65−70 +43.8%	48 −43.8%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

30−35

−158%

85−90
+158%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −191%	65−70 +191%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 −200%	50−55 +200%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 −217%	35−40 +217%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 −363%	37 +363%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 −242%	40−45 +242%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 −417%	31 +417%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −193%	40−45 +193%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 −254%	200−210 +254%
Hitman 3	14−16 −160%	39 +160%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −175%	66 +175%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −253%	65−70 +253%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18−20 −367%	80−85 +367%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 −308%	45−50 +308%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 −143%	180−190 +143%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

18−20

−216%

60−65
+216%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	10−12 −218%	35−40 +218%
Far Cry New Dawn	8−9 −263%	27−30 +263%
Hitman 3	8−9 −263%	27−30 +263%
Horizon Zero Dawn	55−60 −207%	160−170 +207%
Metro Exodus	10−11 −340%	40−45 +340%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 −310%	40−45 +310%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 −229%	21−24 +229%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 −320%	21−24 +320%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 −267%	21−24 +267%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −450%	10−12 +450%
Far Cry 5	6−7 −233%	20−22 +233%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 −227%	45−50 +227%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 −440%	54 +440%
Watch Dogs: Legion	4−5 −325%	16−18 +325%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−12

−182%

30−35
+182%

This is how GeForce MX550 and Arc A730M compete in popular games:

Arc A730M is 61% faster in 1080p
Arc A730M is 133% faster in 1440p
Arc A730M is 140% faster in 4K

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

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GeForce MX550 is 44% faster.
in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the Arc A730M is 450% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GeForce MX550 is ahead in 1 test (1%)
Arc A730M is ahead in 71 test (99%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	11.79	27.19
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	12 GB
Chip lithography	12 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	25 Watt	80 Watt

GeForce MX550 has 220% lower power consumption.

Arc A730M, on the other hand, has a 130.6% higher aggregate performance score, a 500% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.

The Arc A730M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce MX550 in performance tests.

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