GeForce GTX 550 Ti vs Quadro M520

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Quadro M520 with GeForce GTX 550 Ti, including specs and performance data.

Quadro M520
2017
2 GB GDDR5, 25 Watt
4.85
+20.3%

M520 outperforms GTX 550 Ti by a significant 20% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking630688
Place by popularitynot in top-10077
Cost-effectiveness evaluationno data0.70
Power efficiency14.002.51
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2017)Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code nameGM108GF116
Market segmentMobile workstationDesktop
Release date11 January 2017 (7 years ago)15 March 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$149

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 cores384192
Core clock speed1041 MHz900 MHz
Boost clock speed1019 MHzno data
Number of transistorsno data1,170 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)25 Watt116 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data100 °C
Texture fill rate16.6628.80
Floating-point processing power0.7995 TFLOPS0.6912 TFLOPS
ROPs824
TMUs1632

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 sizemedium sizedno data
Bus supportno data16x PCI-E 2.0
InterfaceMXM-A (3.0)PCIe 2.0 x16
Lengthno data210 mm
Heightno data4.376" (11.1 cm)
Widthno data2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsNone1x 6-pin
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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB2 GB
Memory bus width64 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed1253 MHz4.1 GB/s
Memory bandwidth40 GB/s98.4 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 outputsTwo Dual Link DVI-IMini HDMI
Multi monitor supportno data+
HDMI-+
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataInternal

Supported technologies

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

Optimus+-
3D Stereo+no data
nView Display Management+no data
Optimus+no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX1212 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.54.2
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan1.1.126N/A
CUDA5.0+

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.

Quadro M520 4.85
+20.3%
GTX 550 Ti 4.03

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.

Quadro M520 1872
+20.5%
GTX 550 Ti 1554

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.

Quadro M520 11278
+10.3%
GTX 550 Ti 10229

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.

Quadro M520 2658
+17%
GTX 550 Ti 2272

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

Quadro M520 6059
+5%
GTX 550 Ti 5772

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:

900p45−50
+18.4%
38
−18.4%
Full HD19
−73.7%
33
+73.7%
4K13
+30%
10−12
−30%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
+18.2%
10−12
−18.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Battlefield 5 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Far Cry 5 10−11
+25%
8−9
−25%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+29.2%
24−27
−29.2%
Hitman 3 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+18.5%
27−30
−18.5%
Metro Exodus 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+7%
40−45
−7%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
+18.2%
10−12
−18.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Battlefield 5 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Far Cry 5 10−11
+25%
8−9
−25%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+29.2%
24−27
−29.2%
Hitman 3 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+18.5%
27−30
−18.5%
Metro Exodus 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 41
+156%
16−18
−156%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+7%
40−45
−7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
+18.2%
10−12
−18.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Far Cry 5 10−11
+25%
8−9
−25%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+29.2%
24−27
−29.2%
Hitman 3 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+18.5%
27−30
−18.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+12.5%
16−18
−12.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+7%
40−45
−7%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Forza Horizon 4 10−11
+100%
5−6
−100%
Hitman 3 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Metro Exodus 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
+24%
24−27
−24%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Far Cry New Dawn 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Hitman 3 1−2 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Metro Exodus 2−3 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 1−2 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%

This is how Quadro M520 and GTX 550 Ti compete in popular games:

  • Quadro M520 is 18% faster in 900p
  • GTX 550 Ti is 74% faster in 1080p
  • Quadro M520 is 30% faster in 4K

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

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the Quadro M520 is 156% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Quadro M520 is ahead in 55 tests (87%)
  • there's a draw in 8 tests (13%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 4.85 4.03
Recency 11 January 2017 15 March 2011
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 25 Watt 116 Watt

Quadro M520 has a 20.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 364% lower power consumption.

The Quadro M520 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 550 Ti in performance tests.

Be aware that Quadro M520 is a mobile workstation card while GeForce GTX 550 Ti is a desktop 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 Quadro M520
Quadro M520
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
GeForce GTX 550 Ti

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.


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Questions & comments

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