Radeon RX 550 vs Vega Frontier Edition
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon Vega Frontier Edition with Radeon RX 550, including specs and performance data.
Vega Frontier Edition outperforms RX 550 by a whopping 378% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 156 | 550 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 21 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 19.21 | 2.92 |
| Power efficiency | 7.73 | 9.70 |
| Architecture | GCN 5.0 (2017−2020) | GCN 4.0 (2016−2020) |
| GPU code name | Vega 10 | Lexa |
| Market segment | Workstation | Desktop |
| Release date | 27 June 2017 (7 years ago) | 20 April 2017 (7 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $79 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Vega Frontier Edition has 558% better value for money than RX 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 | 4096 | 512 |
| Core clock speed | 1382 MHz | 1100 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1600 MHz | 1183 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 12,500 million | 2,200 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 14 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 50 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 409.6 | 37.86 |
| Floating-point processing power | 13.11 TFLOPS | 1.211 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 64 | 16 |
| TMUs | 256 | 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 | 267 mm | 145 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 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 | HBM2 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 16 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory bus width | 2048 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 945 MHz | 1750 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 483.8 GB/s | 112.0 GB/s |
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, 1x DisplayPort |
| HDMI | + | + |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 (12_0) |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.125 | 1.2.131 |
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.
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.
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.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 33.85 | 7.08 |
| Recency | 27 June 2017 | 20 April 2017 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 16 GB | 4 GB |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 50 Watt |
Vega Frontier Edition has a 378.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 months, and a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount.
RX 550, on the other hand, has 500% lower power consumption.
The Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 550 in performance tests.
Be aware that Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is a workstation graphics card while Radeon RX 550 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
