NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M vs AMD Radeon HD 7970M

VS
Performance
GeForce GT 550M
973.51% of 104,598
Radeon HD 7970M480% better
5,6455% of 104,598

The Radeon HD 7970M has 480% better performance than the GeForce GT 550M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GT 550M
No data available
Radeon HD 7970M
No data available

We do not have any performance per dollar data for the GeForce GT 550M and the Radeon HD 7970M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

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About the NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q1 2012. It is built on the Fermi 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename GF116) and is manufactured on a 40 nm process.

Memory

The GT 550M has 1,024 MB of DDR3 memory, with a 900 MHz memory clock and a 128 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 28.8 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The GT 550M includes 144 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 740 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 24 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 16 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 35 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The GT 550M has the 459th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 0.93% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

About the AMD Radeon HD 7970M GPU

The AMD Radeon HD 7970M is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q2 2012. It is built on the GCN 1.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Wimbledon) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The HD 7970M has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,200 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 153.6 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The HD 7970M includes 1,280 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 850 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 80 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 100 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The HD 7970M has the 232nd best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 5.40% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoGeForce GT 550MRadeon HD 7970M
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureFermi 2.0GCN 1.0
Market SegmentMobileMobile
Release DateQ1 2012Q2 2012
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for BioShock Infinite
BioShock Infinite
Display FPS for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
CS: GO

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for BioShock Infinite
BioShock Infinite
GeForce GT 550MRadeon HD 7970M
Low - 720p
--
168 FPS
Medium - 768p
--
121 FPS
High - 768p
--
117 FPS
Ultra - 1080p
--
44 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
--
4K UHD - 2160p
--
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GT 550M orRadeon HD 7970M

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GT 550M orRadeon HD 7970M
GPUCost Per Frame
Our database does not have enough data to compare the FPS per dollar with other GPUs.

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GT 550M
973.51% of 104,598
Radeon HD 7970M480% better
5,6455% of 104,598

The Radeon HD 7970M has 480% better performance than the GeForce GT 550M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GT 550M is ranked 459th with a score of 973.5, and the Radeon HD 7970M is ranked 232nd with a score of 5,645.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GT 550M
No data available
Radeon HD 7970M
No data available

We do not have any performance per dollar data for the GeForce GT 550M and the Radeon HD 7970M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GT 550M or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GTX 775M (Mac Edition)6,071+524%
GeForce GTX 680M5,897.5+506%
Radeon HD 7970M5,645+480%
Radeon HD 6970M X25,541.5+469%
Radeon R9 M385X5,514.5+466%
NVS 5200M1,008+4%
Radeon HD 6550M993+2%
GeForce GT 550M973.5
Radeon HD 7650M945.5-3%
Quadro 1000M943-3%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GT 550M orRadeon HD 7970M
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
Our database does not have enough data to compare the benchmark performance per dollar with other GPUs.

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkGeForce GT 550MRadeon HD 7970M
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
--
31,869
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
--
4,694
3DMark 11 Performance Score
1,099.5
5,907
(+437.24%)
PassMark G3D Mark
573
3,529
(+515.88%)
PassMark G2D Mark
118
513
(+334.75%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
--
57.7
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecGeForce GT 550MRadeon HD 7970M
CodenameGF116Wimbledon
ArchitectureFermi 2.0GCN 1.0
Process Size40 nm28 nm
Transistors1,170 million2,800 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecGeForce GT 550MRadeon HD 7970M
Memory Size1,024 MB2 GB
Memory TypeDDR3GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth28.8 Gb/s153.6 Gb/s
Memory Clock900 MHz1,200 MHz
Memory Interface128 bit256 bit
L1 Cache64 KB16 KB
L2 Cache256 KB512 KB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecGeForce GT 550MRadeon HD 7970M
Bus InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16MXM-B (3.0)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)35 W100 W
OutputsDevice DependentDevice Dependent

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecGeForce GT 550MRadeon HD 7970M
Stream Processors (SP)--1,280
CUDA Cores144--
Compute Units (CU)--20
Stream Multiprocessors (SM)2--
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)2480
Render Output Units (ROP)1632
Core Clock Speed740 MHz850 MHz

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecGeForce GT 550MRadeon HD 7970M
Pixel Fill Rate1.9 GPixel/s27.2 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate11.4 GTexel/s68 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance273.6 GFLOPS2.18 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance22.8 GFLOPS136 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecGeForce GT 550MRadeon HD 7970M
DirectX12 (11_0)12 (11_1)
OpenCL1.12.1 (1.2)
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model5.16.5 (5.1)

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.