GeForce GTX 550 Ti vs Radeon RX Vega 56

Place in the ranking	150	691
Place by popularity	not in top-100	73
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	24.87	0.70
Power efficiency	11.37	2.42
Architecture	GCN 5.0 (2017−2020)	Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code name	Vega 10	GF116
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	14 August 2017 (7 years ago)	15 March 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$399	$149

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX Vega 56 has 3453% better value for money than GTX 550 Ti.

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	3584	192
Core clock speed	1156 MHz	900 MHz
Boost clock speed	1471 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	12,500 million	1,170 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	210 Watt	116 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	100 °C
Texture fill rate	329.5	28.80
Floating-point processing power	10.54 TFLOPS	0.6912 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	24
TMUs	224	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).

Bus support	no data	16x PCI-E 2.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	267 mm	210 mm
Height	no data	4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 8-pin	1x 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 type	HBM2	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	2048 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	800 MHz	4.1 GB/s
Memory bandwidth	409.6 GB/s	98.4 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 Connectors	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	Two Dual Link DVI-IMini HDMI
Multi monitor support	no data	+
HDMI	+	+
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI	no data	Internal

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.2
OpenCL	2.0	1.1
Vulkan	1.1.125	N/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.

RX Vega 56 34.25
+752%

GTX 550 Ti 4.02

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 Vega 56 13212
+751%

GTX 550 Ti 1552

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.

RX Vega 56 29086
+1180%

GTX 550 Ti 2272

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.

RX Vega 56 54586
+434%

GTX 550 Ti 10229

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:

900p	300−350 +689%	38 −689%
Full HD	115 +203%	38 −203%
1440p	75 +838%	8−9 −838%
4K	49 +880%	5−6 −880%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	3.47	3.92
1440p	5.32	18.63
4K	8.14	29.80

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

55−60
+743%

7−8

−743%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	77 +600%	10−12 −600%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	55−60 +1867%	3−4 −1867%
Battlefield 5	164 +1722%	9−10 −1722%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70−75 +678%	9−10 −678%
Cyberpunk 2077	55−60 +743%	7−8 −743%
Far Cry 5	115 +1338%	8−9 −1338%
Far Cry New Dawn	114 +936%	10−12 −936%
Forza Horizon 4	293 +1121%	24−27 −1121%
Hitman 3	70−75 +700%	9−10 −700%
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150 +448%	27−30 −448%
Metro Exodus	144 +1700%	8−9 −1700%
Red Dead Redemption 2	80−85 +730%	10−11 −730%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	184 +1127%	14−16 −1127%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +181%	40−45 −181%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	134 +1118%	10−12 −1118%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	55−60 +1867%	3−4 −1867%
Battlefield 5	153 +1600%	9−10 −1600%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70−75 +678%	9−10 −678%
Cyberpunk 2077	55−60 +743%	7−8 −743%
Far Cry 5	92 +1050%	8−9 −1050%
Far Cry New Dawn	88 +700%	10−12 −700%
Forza Horizon 4	272 +1033%	24−27 −1033%
Hitman 3	70−75 +700%	9−10 −700%
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150 +448%	27−30 −448%
Metro Exodus	119 +1388%	8−9 −1388%
Red Dead Redemption 2	80−85 +730%	10−11 −730%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	120−130 +713%	14−16 −713%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	70−75 +350%	16−18 −350%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +181%	40−45 −181%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	52 +373%	10−12 −373%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	55−60 +1867%	3−4 −1867%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70−75 +678%	9−10 −678%
Cyberpunk 2077	55−60 +743%	7−8 −743%
Far Cry 5	69 +763%	8−9 −763%
Forza Horizon 4	109 +354%	24−27 −354%
Hitman 3	70−75 +700%	9−10 −700%
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150 +448%	27−30 −448%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	120−130 +713%	14−16 −713%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	74 +363%	16−18 −363%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +181%	40−45 −181%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

80−85
+730%

10−11

−730%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	98 +1300%	7−8 −1300%
Far Cry New Dawn	60 +900%	6−7 −900%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	44 +1000%	4−5 −1000%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +825%	4−5 −825%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 +1233%	3−4 −1233%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 +1150%	2−3 −1150%
Far Cry 5	46 +820%	5−6 −820%
Forza Horizon 4	268 +5260%	5−6 −5260%
Hitman 3	40−45 +438%	8−9 −438%
Horizon Zero Dawn	70−75 +711%	9−10 −711%
Metro Exodus	74 +825%	8−9 −825%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	80−85 +800%	9−10 −800%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	45−50 +1467%	3−4 −1467%
Watch Dogs: Legion	170−180 +608%	24−27 −608%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

55−60
+638%

8−9

−638%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	46 +2200%	2−3 −2200%
Far Cry New Dawn	32 +967%	3−4 −967%
Hitman 3	27−30	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 +822%	18−20 −822%
Metro Exodus	46	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	44 +780%	5−6 −780%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27 +800%	3−4 −800%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	20−22 +900%	2−3 −900%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 +2000%	1−2 −2000%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11	0−1
Far Cry 5	23 +1050%	2−3 −1050%
Forza Horizon 4	59 +2850%	2−3 −2850%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50 +820%	5−6 −820%
Watch Dogs: Legion	16−18 +1600%	1−2 −1600%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

30−33
+500%

5−6

−500%

This is how RX Vega 56 and GTX 550 Ti compete in popular games:

RX Vega 56 is 689% faster in 900p
RX Vega 56 is 203% faster in 1080p
RX Vega 56 is 838% faster in 1440p
RX Vega 56 is 880% faster in 4K

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

in Forza Horizon 4, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX Vega 56 is 5260% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RX Vega 56 surpassed GTX 550 Ti in all 63 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	34.25	4.02
Recency	14 August 2017	15 March 2011
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	210 Watt	116 Watt

RX Vega 56 has a 752% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 185.7% more advanced lithography process.

GTX 550 Ti, on the other hand, has 81% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX Vega 56 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 550 Ti in performance tests.

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