Radeon RX 6550M vs R9 280X

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 280X with Radeon RX 6550M, including specs and performance data.

R9 280X
2013
3 GB GDDR5, 250 Watt
15.15

RX 6550M outperforms R9 280X by an impressive 65% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking351216
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation5.57no data
Power efficiency4.1521.35
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code nameTahitiNavi 24
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date8 October 2013 (11 years ago)4 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$299 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 cores20481024
Core clock speedno data2000 MHz
Boost clock speed1000 MHz2840 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 million5,400 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)250 Watt80 Watt
Texture fill rate128.0181.8
Floating-point processing power4.096 TFLOPS5.816 TFLOPS
ROPs3232
TMUs12864
Ray Tracing Coresno data16

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 supportPCIe 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x4
Length275 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pinNone

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 typeGDDR5GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount3 GB4 GB
Memory bus width384 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speedno data2250 MHz
Memory bandwidth288 GB/s144.0 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPortPortable Device Dependent
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-
DisplayPort support+-

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration+-
CrossFire+-
FreeSync+-
HD3D+-
LiquidVR+-
TressFX+-
TrueAudio+-
UVD+-
DDMA audio+no data

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model5.16.7
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.2
Vulkan+1.3

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.

R9 280X 15.15
RX 6550M 24.93
+64.6%

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.

R9 280X 5837
RX 6550M 9605
+64.6%

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.

R9 280X 10792
RX 6550M 20506
+90%

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.

R9 280X 8343
RX 6550M 14696
+76.1%

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 HD64
−15.6%
74
+15.6%
1440p12−14
−91.7%
23
+91.7%
4K31
−61.3%
50−55
+61.3%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.67no data
1440p24.92no data
4K9.65no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
−66.7%
40−45
+66.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
−58.8%
50−55
+58.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
−68%
40−45
+68%
Battlefield 5 45−50
−63.3%
80−85
+63.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−33
−66.7%
50−55
+66.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
−66.7%
40−45
+66.7%
Far Cry 5 35−40
−60%
55−60
+60%
Far Cry New Dawn 40−45
−56.1%
60−65
+56.1%
Forza Horizon 4 95−100
−46.9%
140−150
+46.9%
Hitman 3 27−30
−69%
45−50
+69%
Horizon Zero Dawn 75−80
−46.8%
110−120
+46.8%
Metro Exodus 50−55
−64.7%
80−85
+64.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
−56.1%
60−65
+56.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
−69.4%
80−85
+69.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
−30.8%
100−110
+30.8%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
−58.8%
50−55
+58.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
−68%
40−45
+68%
Battlefield 5 45−50
−63.3%
80−85
+63.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−33
−66.7%
50−55
+66.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
−66.7%
40−45
+66.7%
Far Cry 5 35−40
−60%
55−60
+60%
Far Cry New Dawn 40−45
−56.1%
60−65
+56.1%
Forza Horizon 4 95−100
−46.9%
140−150
+46.9%
Hitman 3 27−30
−69%
45−50
+69%
Horizon Zero Dawn 75−80
−46.8%
110−120
+46.8%
Metro Exodus 50−55
−64.7%
80−85
+64.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
−56.1%
60−65
+56.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
−106%
101
+106%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 110
+108%
50−55
−108%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
−30.8%
100−110
+30.8%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
−58.8%
50−55
+58.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
−68%
40−45
+68%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−33
−66.7%
50−55
+66.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
−66.7%
40−45
+66.7%
Far Cry 5 35−40
−60%
55−60
+60%
Forza Horizon 4 95−100
−46.9%
140−150
+46.9%
Hitman 3 27−30
−69%
45−50
+69%
Horizon Zero Dawn 75−80
−46.8%
110−120
+46.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
−79.6%
88
+79.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
−145%
49
+145%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
−30.8%
100−110
+30.8%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
−56.1%
60−65
+56.1%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 27−30
−62.1%
45−50
+62.1%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
−60.9%
35−40
+60.9%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
−66.7%
24−27
+66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
−100%
24−27
+100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16−18
−75%
27−30
+75%
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
−87.5%
14−16
+87.5%
Far Cry 5 16−18
−64.7%
27−30
+64.7%
Forza Horizon 4 75−80
−77.2%
140−150
+77.2%
Hitman 3 18−20
−61.1%
27−30
+61.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
−61.3%
50−55
+61.3%
Metro Exodus 27−30
−70.4%
45−50
+70.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 27−30
−96.3%
50−55
+96.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
−87.5%
30−33
+87.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 90−95
−49.5%
130−140
+49.5%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
−64%
40−45
+64%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16
−60%
24−27
+60%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−12
−72.7%
18−20
+72.7%
Hitman 3 10−12
−72.7%
18−20
+72.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 75−80
−65.8%
120−130
+65.8%
Metro Exodus 14−16
−86.7%
27−30
+86.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
−85.7%
24−27
+85.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
−66.7%
14−16
+66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
−85.7%
12−14
+85.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
−75%
14−16
+75%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
−200%
6−7
+200%
Far Cry 5 8−9
−75%
14−16
+75%
Forza Horizon 4 20−22
−70%
30−35
+70%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
−100%
30−33
+100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 6−7
−83.3%
10−12
+83.3%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
−50%
21−24
+50%

This is how R9 280X and RX 6550M compete in popular games:

  • RX 6550M is 16% faster in 1080p
  • RX 6550M is 92% faster in 1440p
  • RX 6550M is 61% 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 R9 280X is 108% faster.
  • in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 6550M is 200% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • R9 280X is ahead in 1 test (1%)
  • RX 6550M is ahead in 71 test (99%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 15.15 24.93
Recency 8 October 2013 4 January 2023
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 4 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 6 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 250 Watt 80 Watt

RX 6550M has a 64.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 9 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 366.7% more advanced lithography process, and 212.5% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 6550M is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 280X in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R9 280X is a desktop card while Radeon RX 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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AMD Radeon R9 280X
Radeon R9 280X
AMD Radeon RX 6550M
Radeon RX 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

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.1 693 votes

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Questions & comments

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