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AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB Review

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Battlefield 1 (DX12)

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Even using Battlefield 1’s Low quality preset, there’s no real way to get Intel’s HD Graphics 530 playable at 1920x1080. At an average of 15 frames per second, it’s hard enough getting through a pre-determined path for benchmarking.

But AMD’s Radeon RX 550 keeps you above 50 FPS, averaging more than 60 FPS. There are occasional frame time spikes to contend with. Those affect all of the discrete GPUs we’re testing, though.

Back in 2013, the Radeon R7 260X sold for $140. Its 28nm Bonaire GPU sports 896 Stream processors and 56 texture units at 1100 MHz. That advantage in front-end resources translates to a 16%-higher frame rate than RX 550. Remember, though, that R7 260X is a 115W card. Its TDP is 130% higher than RX 550’s. In other words, Radeon RX 550 serves up better performance per watt and better performance per dollar than its R7 260X/360 predecessor.

Radeon RX 460 is a full 43% faster than RX 550, and RX 560 should be quicker still. If you find yourself desiring higher frame rates than what RX 550 is capable of, but don’t necessarily have the budget for AMD’s max-quality 1080p card, the RX 570, Radeon RX 460s still start for less than $100 and remain a solid alternative.


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39 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dstarr3 27 April 2017 15:15
    Wow, can't even hit 60fps in Doom. Talk about a sheep in wolf's clothing. This is barely a step above those $30 GPUs that you buy strictly because you don't have onboard graphics.
    Reply
  • TechyInAZ 27 April 2017 15:21
    19617624 said:
    Wow, can't even hit 60fps in Doom. Talk about a sheep in wolf's clothing. This is barely a step above those $30 GPUs that you buy strictly because you don't have onboard graphics.

    This is an 85$ GPU, competing with more the likes of a GT 740. So don't expect good details at such a low price point. $30 GPUs are worse than IGPUs BTW.

    However, you can still find GTX 750s and 750 tis used for the price of a 550 and it performs much better.
    Reply
  • LucoTF 27 April 2017 15:22
    I think if it comes down $10-$20 it will be a contender, it does solidly outperform AMD APUs and hopefully will help to keep our more budget orientated gamers away from the A8s and A10s...
    Reply
  • jaber2 27 April 2017 15:45
    How is this even "Gaming"?
    Reply
  • MCMunroe 27 April 2017 15:46
    I don't understand why these are all full height double width cards. Wouldn't the only purpose be to install in a small form factor case?
    Reply
  • TallestJon96 27 April 2017 15:49
    They should be selling the old 460 as the 550, for $80, and then sold this gpu as the 540 for $50-$60.

    Its hard to buy a card that you know can't keep up with the consoles. What happens when a big game comes out and you don't have the horse power to actually play it? The 460 and 560 can keep up, but the 550 might he left behind.

    Save your pennies for another couple weeks and buy something better, its worth the wait
    Reply
  • Glock24 27 April 2017 15:54
    Very dissapointing for the price. At $50 might make more sense. Then again, I would only use this for a system without IGP for video acceleration.

    On a side note, images finally load correctly using Firefox on Android.
    Reply
  • Joe Black 27 April 2017 16:04
    Face it... Its a 720p card. Just like something like the a10-7890K using integrated graphics is good for 720p gaming too.

    That's the value proposition that should be explored. the A10 w. integrated, or the 550 discreet.
    Reply
  • InvalidError 27 April 2017 16:17
    19617777 said:
    They should be selling the old 460 as the 550, for $80, and then sold this gpu as the 540 for $50-$60.
    There is a very simple reason nobody makes new GPUs for under $80: there is next to no profit to be made from them.

    Keep in mind that out of that $80 MSRP, there is a ~60% distributor and retailer markup on the manufacturer's own price, so the manufacturer itself only sees ~$50 of it to cover DRAM, GPU chip, PCB, support components, HSF, assembly, testing, packaging, R&D, marketing, gross profit margin, etc. In other words, manufacturers barely break even on those and don't want you to buy them unless your choice boils down to either that or nothing. They'd much prefer that you buy the RX560 for $20-30 more which translates to $10-20 more gross profit for the manufacturer.

    Who are you going to get an alternative sub-$100 GPU from? Nvidia has bailed out of that market altogether to focus on $150+ (launch-time MSRP) GPUs.
    Reply
  • ohim 27 April 2017 16:17
    The card is for E-Sports gaming and instead of starting with CS/DOTA etc you start with Doom and BF1.. games for which the card is not intended :)
    Reply