Radeon 550 vs RX 590

Place in the ranking	237	616
Place by popularity	100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	24.04	4.37
Power efficiency	9.63	7.59
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	Polaris 30	Lexa
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	15 November 2018 (6 years ago)	20 April 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$279	$79

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

RX 590 has 450% better value for money than Radeon 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	2304	512
Core clock speed	1469 MHz	1100 MHz
Boost clock speed	1545 MHz	1183 MHz
Number of transistors	5,700 million	2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	12 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	175 Watt	50 Watt
Texture fill rate	222.5	37.86
Floating-point processing power	7.119 TFLOPS	1.211 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	16
TMUs	144	32

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

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	8 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	2000 MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	256.0 GB/s	56 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 HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI	+	+

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync

API and SDK 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	6.7
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	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.

RX 590 23.71
+344%

Radeon 550 5.34

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 590 9389
+344%

Radeon 550 2116

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	102 +386%	21−24 −386%
1440p	61 +408%	12−14 −408%
4K	37 +363%	8−9 −363%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	2.74 +37.5%	3.76 −37.5%
1440p	4.57 +43.9%	6.58 −43.9%
4K	7.54 +31%	9.88 −31%

RX 590 has 38% lower cost per frame in 1080p
RX 590 has 44% lower cost per frame in 1440p
RX 590 has 31% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +350%	10−11 −350%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +400%	10−11 −400%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	87 +383%	18−20 −383%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +350%	10−11 −350%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +400%	10−11 −400%
Forza Horizon 4	137 +357%	30−33 −357%
Forza Horizon 5	65−70 +364%	14−16 −364%
Metro Exodus	88 +389%	18−20 −389%
Red Dead Redemption 2	91 +406%	18−20 −406%
Valorant	128 +374%	27−30 −374%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	129 +378%	27−30 −378%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +350%	10−11 −350%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +400%	10−11 −400%
Dota 2	52 +420%	10−11 −420%
Far Cry 5	75−80 +369%	16−18 −369%
Fortnite	116 +383%	24−27 −383%
Forza Horizon 4	114 +375%	24−27 −375%
Forza Horizon 5	65−70 +364%	14−16 −364%
Grand Theft Auto V	79 +394%	16−18 −394%
Metro Exodus	60 +400%	12−14 −400%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	239 +378%	50−55 −378%
Red Dead Redemption 2	39 +388%	8−9 −388%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	75−80 +394%	16−18 −394%
Valorant	64 +357%	14−16 −357%
World of Tanks	250−260 +364%	55−60 −364%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	71 +407%	14−16 −407%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +350%	10−11 −350%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +400%	10−11 −400%
Dota 2	80−85 +367%	18−20 −367%
Far Cry 5	75−80 +369%	16−18 −369%
Forza Horizon 4	100 +376%	21−24 −376%
Forza Horizon 5	65−70 +364%	14−16 −364%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	79 +394%	16−18 −394%
Valorant	110 +358%	24−27 −358%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +425%	4−5 −425%
Dota 2	40−45 +356%	9−10 −356%
Grand Theft Auto V	40−45 +356%	9−10 −356%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	170−180 +400%	35−40 −400%
Red Dead Redemption 2	25 +400%	5−6 −400%
World of Tanks	160−170 +363%	35−40 −363%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +390%	10−11 −390%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +425%	4−5 −425%
Far Cry 5	70−75 +407%	14−16 −407%
Forza Horizon 4	70 +400%	14−16 −400%
Forza Horizon 5	35−40 +388%	8−9 −388%
Metro Exodus	58 +383%	12−14 −383%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 +350%	8−9 −350%
Valorant	75 +369%	16−18 −369%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−12 +450%	2−3 −450%
Dota 2	41 +356%	9−10 −356%
Grand Theft Auto V	41 +356%	9−10 −356%
Metro Exodus	19 +375%	4−5 −375%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	82 +356%	18−20 −356%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16 +433%	3−4 −433%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	41 +356%	9−10 −356%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	30 +400%	6−7 −400%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 +450%	2−3 −450%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Dota 2	40−45 +367%	9−10 −367%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +357%	7−8 −357%
Fortnite	34 +386%	7−8 −386%
Forza Horizon 4	40 +344%	9−10 −344%
Forza Horizon 5	21−24 +425%	4−5 −425%
Valorant	39 +388%	8−9 −388%

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

RX 590 is 386% faster in 1080p
RX 590 is 408% faster in 1440p
RX 590 is 363% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	23.71	5.34
Recency	15 November 2018	20 April 2017
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	12 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	175 Watt	50 Watt

RX 590 has a 344% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 16.7% more advanced lithography process.

Radeon 550, on the other hand, has 250% lower power consumption.

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

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