GeForce MX550 GPU Rises Above Ryzen 6000 RDNA 2 APUs

Early benchmarks revealed that Nvidia's GeForce MX550 was marginally faster than the integrated Vega graphics inside the Ryzen 5000 (Cezanne) APUs. According to a Weibo user's review (via HXL), the GeForce MX550 also surpassed AMD's latest RDNA 2-powered Ryzen 6000 (Rembrandt) APUs in gaming.

Although Nvidia has officially announced the GeForce MX550, there is still a lot we don't know about the graphics card. From what we've pieced together, the GeForce MX550 utilizes the TU117 (Turing), silicon that also powers the previous GeForce MX450, and other popular models, such as the GeForce GTX 1650. The GeForce MX550 lacks Tensor and RT cores, as those are only in the TU10x chips, but that helps keep die size down — perfectly sensible for a SKU that's at the bottom of the barrel.

The GeForce MX550 arrives with PCIe 4.0 support and GDDR6 memory. The Turing-powered graphics card could sport 1,024 CUDA cores if the rumors are accurate. The Weibo user tested the 2GB variant, but there have been talks of a 4GB SKU as well. The memory probably clocks in at 12 Gbps across a 64-bit memory interface, which would amount to a memory bandwidth up to 96 GBps.

The reviewer claimed that Nvidia would no longer put a TDP rating on the MX500-series graphics cards. The power consumption for the MX550 35W is reportedly the same as the MX450 25W.

The reviewer used a mix of eSports and triple-A titles for testing at 1080p (1920 x 1080). He didn't specify which graphics preset he used for the tests, but we suspect low to medium settings. As we know, cooling solutions and other factors contribute to the performance of mobile graphics cards. Since the user didn't reveal the model of the laptops, you should approach the rest results with an open mind.

Cumulatively, the GeForce MX550 delivered up to 98.64% faster performance than an undisclosed Intel Core i5 processor. The Turing-based graphics card also wiped the floor with Radeon 660M (Ryzen 5 6600H), showing 59.63% better performance. 

However, the GeForce MX550 was only 4.45% faster than the Radeon 680M (Ryzen 7 6800H), so it wasn't exactly a blowout. Moreover, the Turing performer didn't outclass the Radeon 680M in every game. For example, the Radeon 680M utterly dominated the GeForce MX550 in League of Legends and Metro Exodus. The latter shows the GeForce MX550's 2GB limitation, but the rumored 4GB variant should solve that problem.

For reference, the Radeon 680M for the SKU, as mentioned earlier, has 12 CUs that boost up to 2,200 MHz. Therefore, given the slight performance difference, a faster Ryzen 6000 chip, such as the Ryzen 9 6900HS or the flagship Ryzen 9 6980HX with the Radeon 680M, clocked up to 2,400 MHz, should match if not surpass the GeForce MX550.