This time we present to your attention a detailed disassembly of the improved AMD Radeon RX 550 graphics accelerator. Why improved? The fact is that only this video card model from the entire 500 series received a new graphics chip, which allowed manufacturers to make the GPU more energy efficient and at the same time increase its operating frequencies. Actually, slightly increased operating frequencies and increased energy efficiency of the Radeon RX 550 video card are, by and large, all the differences between this model and the RX 400 series of devices. It is unlikely that owners of Radeon RX 480 video cards will consider this a convincing enough argument for upgrading their PC, but AMD He doesn’t really count on it. The AMD Radeon RX 550 video card was designed specifically for gamers whose gaming systems are equipped with older video cards like the Radeon R9 380, so the main bet here is on an affordable price, which is equal to the cost of older Radeon RX 400 models.
Device Specifications
According to the manufacturer's official data, the AMD Radeon RX 550 video card received the following technical characteristics:
| Model | Radeon RX 550 |
| Official product page | AMD Radeon RX 550 |
| Name | Polaris 12 |
| Microarchitecture | GCN 1.3 |
| Technical process, nm | 14 nm FinFET |
| Number of transistors, million | 2200 |
| Clock frequency, MHz: Base Clock / Boost Clock | 1100/1183 |
| Number of shader ALUs | 512 |
| Number of texture mapping units | 32 |
| ROP number | 16 |
| Bus width, bits | 128 |
| Chip type | GDDR5 SDRAM |
| Clock frequency, MHz (bandwidth per contact, Mbit/s) | 1750 (7000) |
| Volume, MB | 2048/4096 |
| I/O bus | PCI Express 3.0 x8 |
| Peak performance FP32, GFLOPS (based on maximum specified frequency) | 1211 |
| Performance FP32/FP64 | 1/16 |
| RAM bandwidth, GB/s | 112 |
| Image output interfaces | DL DVI, HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 |
| TDP, W | 50 |
| Retail price (USA, excluding tax), $ | 79 (recommended at the time of release) |
| Retail price (Russia), rub. | 5,369 (recommended at the time of release) |
As we can see from the table, the Radeon RX 550 is based on the Polaris 12 graphics processor. This is a new AMD chip, in which the manufacturing company has incorporated all the advantages of optimized circuit design and photolithography that second-generation Polaris chips have. There is no need to equate this chip with Polaris 10 and Polaris 11, which were used in the Radeon RX 400 series devices. Polaris 12 has 2200 million transistors. This is 800 million or 27% less than Polaris 11/21, and the die area was reduced by only 18%.
In terms of HTPC capabilities, the improved Radeon RX 550 video card is not inferior to older models of new generation accelerators. Thanks to the Polaris 12 chip, which contains a dedicated block, the video card supports HEVC video decoding with resolutions up to 4K at 60 fps and an alternative high-compression format VP9, which is used by YouTube and other video hosting sites. Therefore, you can safely buy such a video card for powerful modern video games.
Some technical features
According to preliminary data, the graphics processor in the Radeon RX 550 video card will operate at frequencies of 1100/1183 MHz. This is 50% more than in the Radeon R7 350. The power consumption of the chip has been reduced from 75 to 50 W. In fact, the FP32 performance rating in the RX 550 is at the level of the original Xbox One version (1.21 and 1.31 TFLOPS, respectively).
The memory bus, which is designed for a clock frequency of 7 GHz, also speaks in favor of the Radeon RX 550. The standard RAM capacity is 2 GB or GPU 4 GB.
Among discrete video adapters, the Radeon RX 550 plays the role of an intermediate link between more powerful models, on the one hand, and the integrated graphics of the CPU and APU, on the other.
The recommended price of the Radeon RX 550 is $79, which corresponds to the cost of the GeForce GTX 1030 (the youngest member of the Pascal family). In Russia, the price for this video card is 5,369 rubles. In Moscow retail you can buy it for only 500–600 rubles. more expensive than stated price.
Delivery set, appearance and design
Since a pure Radeon RX 550 video card with a new chip is not currently on sale (and never will be), let’s look at an example of using an AMD chip in the ASUS Radeon RX 550 video card.
This video card is delivered in a thick cardboard box, on the front side of which there is an image of the device’s cooler, there is an indication of the use of a new graphics chip, and the technologies used are listed.
On the back of the box are some technical characteristics of the device and the advantages of the cooling system.
Package Included:
- Disk with software and proprietary utilities;
- Branded sticker;
- User's Manual;
- Warranty card;
- Cable.
The length of the ASUS Radeon RX 550 video card is only 184 mm. Therefore, it can be classified as a compact model.
The cooler is more compact than we are used to seeing on 2-slot devices. Its diameter is only 70 mm. The fan rotates at speeds up to 2000 rpm. At low loads on the processor, the cooler does not stop, but continues to rotate. It is powered from the PCB. It connects via a 4-pin plug, but uses only two pins and does not provide rotation speed control.
The slot cover has the following interfaces: dual-link DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort. Thanks to the transition to the GCN 4.0 architecture, HDMI is supported in version 2.0, and DP in 1.4.
If you remove the cooler and aluminum radiator, you will get access to the printed circuit board, the length of which is 184 mm. GDDR5 memory chips with a total capacity of 4 GB are installed only on the front side of the video card. Their manufacturer is Micron. Each chip has a capacity of 1.024 MB.
All components are located on the board quite freely. The chip is placed exactly. In the previous generation of video cards, AMD positioned them at a 45-degree angle. The manufacturer decided not to experiment with Polaris 12. Four phase power supply is implemented with high quality Super Alloy Power components.
The thermal package of the GPU is only 50 W, so the video card does not have thick aluminum tubes, and the cooling system consists only of an aluminum radiator and cooler.
In general, the video card looks like a budget model, but its capabilities are quite sufficient to run modern games and programs for graphics and video processing.
conclusions
Radeon RX 550 video cards, which received the Polaris 12 graphics chip, have good gaming performance. Even with maximum graphics settings, Polaris 12, combined with 4 GB of memory, allows you to run modern video games. In addition, the RX 550 has a full set of multimedia functions of the Polaris family, including DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 interfaces, HDMI 2.0 with HDR support and high-compression video decoding. Therefore, saving about $50 you can get a decent video card for gaming needs.
The new video card from the 500 series of AMD is a modern and affordable device that uses all the company’s advanced technologies, as well as the new Polaris 12 processor. The company has not released products in the lower price segment for a long time, and finally, in the spring of 2017, The AMD Radeon RX 550 video card based on the brand’s most advanced processor at the moment was presented. Considering the period of calm, we should expect a noticeable gap with the models released in previous series in all respects.
The Radeon RX 550 is perfect for a desktop personal computer or home theater. Its distinctive features are good picture quality and support for all the most popular video formats with minimal heating, modest dimensions and reduced power consumption.
The cooling system copes well with the load. On the RX 550 video card, the fan does not spin if the operating temperature is less than 50°C. As soon as the processor overclocks due to increased loads and the temperature rises, the cooler starts working.
The purpose stated by the manufacturer is games in Full HD at medium quality settings. Unfortunately, it was not possible to make the video card passive, nor was it possible to do without an external power supply. The model is available in two versions: with a memory capacity of 2 Gb and 4 Gb. However, with a rather weak GPU, purchasing 4 GB does not make much sense; the processor will not allow you to use the volume to its full potential.
The main difference and feature of the model is the new Polaris 12 processor, which is part of the fourth generation of the GCN architecture. At this point in time, this is AMD's most advanced development. The RX 550 runs on a truncated version of the processor: of the 10 CUs available on the chip, only 8 are used, which significantly affects performance.
AMD is positioning the new product as a replacement for very outdated video cards that have not been upgraded in the past few years. For this reason, in tests the manufacturer compares the characteristics of the Radeon RX 550 not with the previous 400 series, but with the Radeon R7 250 and the like.
Radeon RX 550 Review
AMD's main competitor in the fight for buyers is Nvidia. And the main competitor and analogue of the RX 550 from Nvidia is. This model is closest to the RX 550: it will also not be able to handle powerful games and tasks that require high performance, and will also appeal to an undemanding user who prefers e-sports and Full HD movies.
Below is a comparative table of the main differences in technical parameters between the cards:
| Model | Radeon RX 550 | GeForce GT 1030 |
|---|---|---|
| Number of threads. processors | 512 | 384 |
| Number of TMUs | 32 | 24 |
| Number of rendering units | 16 | |
| Core frequency, GHz | 1.183 | 1,227-1,468 |
| Memory bus, bit | 128 | 64 |
| Memory frequency, GHz | 7 | 6 |
| Memory capacity, MB | 4096 | 2048 |
| Power, W | 50 | 30 |
Of course, it is correct to compare quantitative indicators only within one brand. Since the architecture of devices can differ significantly, which means the “bigger is better” rule does not always work. In order to evaluate which card is better, you need to see both models in action. To do this, let's compare tests conducted in three games: Batterfield 4 and 1, as well as Dota 2.
For comparison, Butterfield 4 took the first mission at the moment after the wall was blown up. Both video cards were tested during a run to an area with thickets, before descending to a construction site. The graphics were in high quality mode with anti-aliasing disabled.
In Butterfield 1, the test was carried out with average graphics quality on the scene from the beginning of the mission “With all our might” at the time of controlling a tank while attacking an enemy position.
Dota 2 was tested while playing a tournament game. For the calculation, a recording of 70 seconds was used, which was played several times for a more accurate result. Testing was carried out with high picture and shadow quality.
For the final calculation, the peak values of each run were taken, which were then summed and divided by the number of tests to find the arithmetic mean. Based on the results of the comparison in Batterfield 4, the GeForce GT 1030 turned out to be 5-15% weaker than the Radeon RX 550.
In Battlefield 1, the GeForce GT 1030 easily overtook the Radeon RX 550 at standard frequencies. In Dota 2, the GT 1030 outperformed its competitor by 20%.
Thus, the card from Nvidia either shows similar results or is slightly inferior to the RX 550. However, if you consider that the GT 1030 is somewhat cooler in the passive case than the Radeon model and does not have problems with decoding VP9, unlike the RX 550, then the conclusion suggests itself that the GT 1030 still outperformed its competitor, albeit slightly.
Improving mining performance
The low bandwidth of the video card, due to the 128-bit bus and low clock frequency, leaves practically no options on how to overclock the RX 550 series video card for mining. You definitely shouldn’t expect high profits from using it.
In order to use the Sapphire PULSE video card for mining, you need to download the latest driver update from the manufacturer's website. The process will be carried out using the Ethereum algorithm in dual-mining using Claymore. Heating at full load will be 55-65°C.
In the settings of the MSI Afterburner utility, select the GPU frequency equal to 2000 MHz. With the given settings, the RX 550 produces a speed of 9.8-10.5 megahashes. Considering the budget price of the model, it is quite possible to buy it as inexpensive additional equipment for the farm.
Mining on an AMD Radeon RX 550 video processor manufactured by Gigabyte with 2 GB of memory at a maximum core overclock of 1405 MHz and a memory frequency of 1750 MHz will produce 79 sols or 270 hashes/sec.
A budget video adapter from Asus with a memory capacity of 4 GB in maximum overclocking mode and a cooler speed of 80% demonstrates a temperature reading of 67°C. Using Claymore on the Ethereum algorithm, it produces an acceptable figure - 10.2-10.6 megahashes per second. For its price, it fully lives up to expectations and allows you to quickly recoup your investment.
Game testing
Radeon Chill technology has been added to the new firmware for AMD video cards, thanks to which the user can significantly reduce the power consumption of the video card and GPU heating without compromising picture quality and without losing a comfortable gaming mode.
The essence of the technology is that when the player does not perform actions, the program reduces the number of frames, thereby reducing the load on the video card. And as soon as the user returns to active mode, the image update speed returns to normal. All this happens completely unnoticed by the user.
Radeon RX 550 gaming tests demonstrate the technology's effectiveness in CS:GO, Dota 2, League of Legends and other popular eSports games.
In addition to the games already mentioned, the RX 550 will run:
- Batterfield 1, 4;
- Dirt 4;
- Fallout 4;
- Grand Theft Auto 5, etc.
The video card was created with a focus on eSports, so the RX 550 will perform well in online games designed for average resource consumption.
Comparison of parameters and prices from different manufacturers
The table shows the comparative characteristics of Radeon RX 550 video cards from four manufacturers, as well as the retail price of each of them.
| Model Radeon RX 550 | Gigabyte D5 | ASUS | MSI | Sapphire Pulse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail price, rub. | from 6500 | from 8000 | from 5800 | from 6500 |
| GPU | Polaris 12 | |||
| GPU clock frequency (base), MHz | 1.183 | 1.183 | 1.203 | 1.206 |
| Memory | 2049/4096 MB | 2049/4096 MB | 2049/4096 MB | 2049/4096 MB |
| Maximum resolution | 7680×4320 | 5120×2880 | 7680×4320 | 3840×2160 |
Today, the choice of a video card is influenced not so much by its individual characteristics as by the availability of a particular model in the store.
Due to the huge excitement around video adapters in the wake of the popularity of mining, many large retail chains have completely excluded this section from their online catalogs. Fortunately, budget models such as the RX 550 were virtually unaffected by this problem, and even their prices remained at an acceptable level.
Once again, we are pleased to confirm that AMD has saved the Polaris family of chips from the childhood diseases of the first generation and is ready to fully compete with NVIDIA in the mid-price category. But don’t forget that the discrete GPU market is not limited to hardware for hardcore gamers. The lion's share of supplies continues to be mass products costing $100 or less. Here AMD has two new proposals - Radeon RX 560 and RX 550. Postponing testing of the RX 560 for the time being, we will move straight to the Radeon RX 550. Moreover, it is to some extent more interesting than its older brothers - this is the only 500th video card series, which has no analogue in the RX 400 series.
Indeed, while the Polaris 20 and Polaris 21 chips were the result of an update to Polaris 10 and Polaris 11, the Radeon RX 550 is based on a completely new graphics processor that expands the Polaris family towards the most compact and energy-efficient solutions. The main market for such GPUs is mobile computers, but this time the chip debuted in the form of a discrete video card. An update to AMD's laptop range is planned for the second half of the year.
The Radeon RX 550 replaces the retail Radeon R7 350 and several lower-tier OEM entries in the 300 and 400 series. All of them use Cape Verde and Olland GPUs from 2012-2013, produced at 28 nm. As a result, you can expect a major leap in performance and energy efficiency from the Radeon RX 550 due to improvements to the GCN architecture and a new semiconductor process technology. Polaris also contains functional innovations that are in demand in the HTPC (Home Theater PC) niche - support for new image output interfaces and decoding of HEVC and VP9 video formats.
⇡ GPU
At the heart of the Radeon RX 550 is the Polaris 12 GPU. The name of the chip might lead you to believe that it belongs to the first generation of Polaris, along with Polaris 10 and Polaris 11, which were used in the Radeon RX 400 series. However, this is a new GPU, and It’s unlikely that AMD missed the opportunity to incorporate into it all the advantages of optimized circuit design and photolithography that second-generation Polaris chips have.
Since AMD has not been developing the low-end discrete GPU segment for a long time, Polaris 12 in all respects represents a big step forward compared to the previous entry-level GPU - Olland. In terms of the configuration of architectural elements (512 shader ALUs and 64 texture mapping units, distributed over 8 Compute Units), Polaris 12 looks like half of the next-ranking GPU - Polaris 11/21. The same resources are available in integrated graphics in older versions of APUs based on Kaveri/Godavari and Bristol Ridge cores. On the other hand, Polaris 12 and Polaris 21 have exactly the same back-end, which includes 16 ROPs and a 128-bit memory bus. Thanks to this, the performance of the Radeon RX 550 is not limited by the bottleneck of dual-channel DDR3/DDR4 memory, which the integrated GPU in the APU is forced to share with x86 cores.
At the same time, it contains a lot of innovations that eliminated the weaknesses of the rendering pipeline in previous iterations of Graphics Core Next.
Polaris 12 contains 2200 million transistors - only 800 million, or 27%, less than Polaris 11/21, and the die area was reduced by only 18%, despite the fact that the number of programmable blocks differs by half. In compact GPUs, fixed-function logic takes up a relatively larger area than in large chips, so it is possible to effectively reduce the transistor budget through shader ALUs only to a certain limit.
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In terms of HTPC capabilities, the Radeon RX 550 is not inferior to older models of new generation accelerators: Polaris 12 contains a dedicated unit that decodes video in the HEVC format with a resolution of up to 4K at 60 frames/s and an alternative high-compression format VP9, which is used by YouTube and other video hosting sites. The display controller supports DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 and HDMI 2.0b high dynamic range (HDR) output.
Note: x Although VP9 support in Polaris was announced from day one, actual dedicated block decoding is still not available in AMD's Windows drivers. Programs that play VP9 (like the Chrome browser) can currently only do so on the CPU or shader ALUs.
⇡ Technical characteristics, prices
The graphics processor in the Radeon RX 550 operates at frequencies of 1100/1183 MHz (base and maximum frequencies, respectively). According to the roughest estimates (peak speed of FP32 operations), such specifications provide the RX 550 with a 50% performance increase compared to the Radeon R7 350 (OEM) - an Olland-based accelerator. At the same time, power consumption was reduced from 75 to 50 W. In fact, the FP32 performance rating in the RX 550 is at the level of the original Xbox One version (1.21 and 1.31 TFLOPS, respectively).
The memory bus, designed for an effective clock frequency of 7 GHz, also speaks in favor of the Radeon RX 550. The standard RAM capacity is 2 or generous for this GPU category 4 GB.
Among discrete video adapters, the Radeon RX 550 plays the role of an intermediate link between more powerful models, on the one hand, and the integrated graphics of the CPU and APU, on the other. However, neither AMD nor Intel are currently selling new processor models with a large graphics core at retail. The last thing available was the Broadwell generation of Intel Core i5/i7 chips with Iris Pro 6200 graphics and AMD's A10-7800 series APUs. As a result, there is still a niche for budget video cards like the Radeon RX 550. Compared to the integrated GPUs of Intel desktop processors on Skylake and Kaby Lake chips, the new product has incomparably higher performance, and Ryzen processors do not have an integrated graphics core at all.
| Manufacturer | AMD | |||
| Model | AMD A10-7870K | Radeon R7 350 (OEM) | Radeon R7 350 | Radeon RX 550 |
| GPU | ||||
| Name | Godavari | Holland XT | Cape Verde XTL | Polaris 12 |
| Microarchitecture | GCN 1.1 | GCN 1.1 | GCN 1.0 | GCN 1.3 |
| Technical process, nm | 28 nm | 28 nm | 28 nm | 14 nm FinFET |
| Number of transistors, million | 2410 (with CPU) | 1040 | 1 500 | 2200 |
| Clock frequency, MHz: Base Clock / Boost Clock | —/866 | 1000/1050 | 925/— | 1100/1183 |
| Number of shader ALUs | 512 | 384 | 512 | 512 |
| Number of texture mapping units | 32 | 24 | 32 | 32 |
| ROP number | 8 | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| RAM | ||||
| Bus width, bits | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 |
| Chip type | DDR3 SDRAM | GDDR3/GDDR5 SDRAM | GDDR5 SDRAM | GDDR5 SDRAM |
| Clock frequency, MHz (bandwidth per contact, Mbit/s) | 267 (2133) | 900(1800)/1125(4500) | 1125 (4500) | 1750 (7000) |
| Volume, MB | 4096 | 1024/2048 | 2048 | 2048/4096 |
| I/O bus | PCI Express 3.0 x16 | PCI Express 3.0 x16 | PCI Express 3.0 x8 | |
| Performance | ||||
| Peak performance FP32, GFLOPS (based on maximum specified frequency) | 887 | 806 | 947 | 1211 |
| Performance FP32/FP64 | 1/16 | 1/16 | 1/16 | 1/16 |
| RAM bandwidth, GB/s | 34 | 29/72 | 72 | 112 |
| Image output | ||||
| Image output interfaces | DL DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 | DL DVI-I, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 | DL DVI, HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 | |
| TDP, W | 95 | 75 | 75 | 50 |
| Retail price (USA, excluding tax), $ | 99 (amazon.com) | — | 89 (recommended at the time of release) | 79 (recommended at the time of release) |
| Retail price (Russia), rub. | 7 960 | — | ND | 5,369 (recommended at the time of release) |
The recommended price of the video card is set at $79, which corresponds to the cost of the GeForce GTX 1030, the youngest member of the Pascal family ($80). In Russia, the RX 550 is priced at RUB 5,369. Unlike older accelerators of the 400 and 500 series, the availability of the new product and real retail prices have not suffered from the boom in cryptocurrencies. In Moscow retail you can buy it for only 500-600 rubles. more expensive than recommended price.
We tested the Radeon RX 550 using the PowerColor Red Dragon accelerator, one of the most affordable models with this GPU. The video card received an absolutely symbolic factory overclock - up to 1190 MHz at the maximum GPU frequency. The amount of RAM is 2 GB. The device arrived for testing without any accessories included.
⇡ PowerColor Red Dragon Radeon RX 550: design
This is a fairly large entry-level video card. The fact is that the manufacturer simply uses similar printed circuit boards in its RX 550 and RX 560 models. Most likely, the Polaris 12 and Polaris 11/21 GPUs themselves have identical wiring due to the same 128-bit memory bus. PowerColor also has a more compact accelerator based on Polaris 12 - Red Dragon Radeon RX 550 V2.
The characteristics, delivery package and appearance of this product may differ from those indicated or may be changed by the manufacturer without being reflected in the NICS - Computer Supermarket catalog.
Information about product prices and configurations indicated on the website does not constitute an offer in the sense defined by the provisions of Art. 435 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Reviews
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Performance comparison and test results
To help you make an informed choice, the video card was tested at NICS Computer Supermarket on 11/19/2018. The test results are clearly displayed in a diagram and two tables.
The diagram shows the test results for the selected article (highlighted in red) and 9 more products of similar price. Percentages indicate an approach to the maximum recorded results. That is, if your choice fell on a product with an indicator of 50%, this means that there is an analogue that is 2 times faster (with an indicator of 100%), but, of course, at a completely different price.
The diagram is followed by a table with similar indicators for 10 champion products in their category, in the form of a TOP10 rating.
Using this table, it is easy to determine the place of the video card in the overall “table of ranks”, as well as estimate how expensive it will be to try to improve performance. The selected product is also highlighted in red.
The last plate is simply a list of test results. From these, a percentage rating is calculated, which was used in the first two reports. By clicking on the name of the test, you can go to a summary table with indicators for all products in the category, including those that are currently out of stock.
Comparisons only use products that are currently in stock.
If you decide to approach the selection of new equipment seriously and responsibly, the full rating, which includes the results of testing of products currently out of stock, will provide invaluable assistance.
Rating of gaming video cards, Comparison of video cards
percentage of the maximum recorded results for all tests
2GbEveryone is following the development of the industry in the segment of top graphics solutions, where the confrontation between AMD and NVIDIA is the most fierce. However, even the cheapest video cards are in certain demand. Some people need a replacement for a failed adapter in an elderly PC, others need a temporary “plug” with the opportunity to play popular online games. Therefore, we carefully study the gaming capabilities of the entire range of available devices. We recently tested the ultra-budget GeForce GT 1030 card. Now let's get acquainted with the new product from the red camp - AMD Radeon RX 550. Let's test the video card made by ASUS, check its overclocking capabilities, compare it with the GeForce GT 1030 and a number of older video cards.
Radeon RX 550 fully belongs to the new generation of graphics cards, although it has modest characteristics. This model is based on a Polaris family processor with all the advantages of this architecture. Therefore, the Radeon RX 550 is the most serious update to AMD's ultra-budget graphics cards in the last few years.
The new product is based on the Polaris 12 processor with eight CU computing modules. The total potential of this chip is 512 computing cores, 32 texture units and 16 rendering units. This configuration is half the performance of the Radeon RX 560, meaning the gap between these budget graphics cards should be quite large. But this situation is also typical for NVIDIA. Polaris 12 is manufactured using a progressive 14nm process technology, which provides a low TDP of 50 W. The core operating frequencies are stated from 1100 MHz (base value) to 1183 MHz (maximum Boost). Acquaintance with the Radeon RX 560 showed that there are video cards with different frequencies in the declared range, but this was due to the availability of economical versions. Since the Radeon RX 550 initially consumes little and does not require additional power, we can assume that in reality all varieties show frequencies at 1183 MHz or higher (for factory overclocked models).
An important advantage of the Radeon RX 550 is a full 128-bit bus and fast GDDR5 memory with an effective frequency of 7000 MHz. This is a significant advantage compared to the GeForce GT 1030 with a 64-bit bus.
According to the number, the Radeon RX 550 will replace the Radeon R7 350 video adapter. The latter was another variation based on the Cape Verde core, and was an updated version of the Radeon HD 7750. This is an old-timer, of which there are few. Although the entire Radeon R7 350 series is a little strange - there were modifications for 640 stream processors and OEM variations on the Oland chip with 384 stream processors (analogous to the Radeon R7 250). Also, some manufacturers equipped the Radeon R7 350 with slow DDR3 memory, which sharply reduced the overall computing potential. Now DDR3 memory has disappeared from the video card market, and there will be no unpleasant surprises with the Radeon RX 550. Within the new series, different models can only be distinguished by higher frequency cores and expanded memory instead of the standard 2 GB.
For comparison, let's summarize the characteristics of the Radeon RX 550 and nearby video cards into one table.
| Video adapter | Radeon RX 560 | Radeon RX 550 | Radeon R7 360 | Radeon R7 350 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core | Polaris 11 | Polaris 12 | Tobago | Cape Verde |
| Architecture | GCN 1.3 | GCN 1.3 | GCN 1.1 | GCN 1.0 |
| 3000 | 2200 | 2080 | 1500 | |
| Technical process, nm | 14 | 14 | 28 | 28 |
| Core area, sq. mm | 123 | 101 | 160 | 123 |
| 1024 | 512 | 768 | 640/512 | |
| Number of texture blocks | 64 | 32 | 48 | 40/32 |
| Number of rendering units | 16 | 16 | 16 | 8 |
| Core frequency, MHz | 1175-1275 | 1100-1183 | Up to 1050 | 925+ |
| Memory bus, bit | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 |
| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 | GDDR5 | GDDR5/DDR3 |
| Memory frequency, MHz | 7000 | 7000 | 6500 | |
| Memory capacity, MB | 4096/2048 | 4096/2048 | 2048 | 2048/1024 |
| 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | |
| Interface | PCI-E 3.0 | PCI-E 3.0 | PCI-E 3.0 | PCI-E 3.0 |
| Power, W | 75 | 50 | 100 | 75 |
Radeon RX 550 can output HDR content and are equipped with DVI, HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 HDR Ready ports.
Our testing will involve an ASUS video adapter with standard frequencies but increased memory capacity to 4 GB. More details below.
At the moment, ASUS produces two versions of the Radeon RX 550, which are identical in technical design, but differ in memory capacity. We will look at the ASUS RX550-4G with 4 GB on board.
The video adapter is made on a full-profile board and occupies two expansion slots due to the cooling system. The black color of the PCB and casing is combined with large red inserts on the body. The fan is partially covered by a decorative strip, and this clearly interferes with air flow
ASUS does without an additional power connector. When examining the reverse side, you can notice the presence of a warranty seal on one of the screws of the cooling system.
The RX550-4G has three ports for image output: DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort.
The cooler has a simple design. Under the casing there is a solid aluminum radiator with radiating fins.
This design is very reminiscent of the cooler on old budget-class ASUS cards. A full analysis was not carried out. It appears that adhesive is used and removing the casing would damage the appearance of the device.
The board looks quite serious for such a budget card. A four-phase GPU power system has been implemented. GeForce GT 1030 are content with power supply with one or two phases.
The Polaris 12 graphics chip is located on a substrate without a protective frame. Four gigabytes of memory are equipped with four Micron 6YA47 D9SXD chips.
Judging by the GPU-Z data, the video card works with an 8x PCI-E 3.0 interface. This is not surprising; the Radeon RX 560 operates in the same mode.
When tested on an open bench with a temperature of about 25 °C, peak core temperatures were 59-60 °C. The declared frequency of 1183 MHz was maintained at a stable level in absolutely all applications under any load.
With low heating, you can count on low noise levels. However, in reality there is some hum. When working inside a case, this is a less significant problem, but against the background of quiet ASUS components it will be audible. And the speed is not regulated in any way; the fan runs at the same speed when idle and under load.
It is also worth recalling that cooling the Radeon RX 560 is a non-trivial task. At low TDP, small chips remain quite hot. And the more powerful Polaris are famous for their hot temperament. It looks like the Polaris 12 isn't much better, and ASUS is addressing the cooling issue with higher RPMs.
We were pleased with the acceleration situation. From an initial frequency of 1183 MHz, the graphics processor was overclocked to 1405 MHz. The memory worked stably at 8000 MHz. It was possible to set higher values, but the stability dropped sharply.
At a fixed blowing fan speed, the heating increased to 74 °C. This is not a critical value, so overclocking can be used for everyday tasks.
Characteristics of tested video cards
Let's compare the performance of the reviewed video card with a group of models of different generations. The full list of participants is as follows:
- Radeon R7 260;
- Radeon RX 550;
- GeForce GTX 750 Ti;
- GeForce GTX 750;
- GeForce GT 1030.
The most powerful solution on this list is the GeForce GTX 750 Ti, and this card is only tested at its nominal value. The remaining participants were tested at standard frequencies and overclocked. The GeForce GT 1030 is the ASUS PH-GT1030-O2G with a slight reduction in frequencies to the standard level.
Detailed technical specifications of video cards are given below. The table shows official data on Boost frequencies for GeForce; the performance graphs show the full range of frequencies, including short-term peak values.
| Video adapter | Radeon RX 550 | Radeon R7 260 | GeForce GTX 750 Ti | GeForce GTX 750 | GeForce GT 1030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core | Polaris 12 | Bonaire | GM107 | GM107 | GP108 |
| Number of transistors, million pieces | 2200 | 2080 | 1870 | 1870 | - |
| Technical process, nm | 14 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 14 |
| Core area, sq. mm | 101 | 160 | 148 | 148 | 71 |
| Number of stream processors | 512 | 768 | 640 | 512 | 384 |
| Number of texture blocks | 32 | 48 | 40 | 32 | 24 |
| Number of rendering units | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Core frequency, MHz | 1183 | 1000 | 1020-1085 | 1020-1085 | 1227-1468 |
| Memory bus, bit | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 64 |
| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 | GDDR5 | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Memory frequency, MHz | 7000 | 6000 | 5400 | 5010 | 6000 |
| Memory capacity, MB | 4096 | 1024 | 2048 | 1024 | 2048 |
| Supported DirectX Version | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Interface | PCI-E 3.0 (8x) | PCI-E 3.0 | PCI-E 3.0 | PCI-E 3.0 | PCI-E 3.0 (4x) |
| Power, W | 50 | 95 | 60 | 55 | 30 |
Test stand
The test bench configuration is as follows:
- processor: Intel Core i7-6950X ([email protected] GHz);
- cooler: Noctua NH-D15 (two NF-A15 PWM fans, 140 mm, 1300 rpm);
- motherboard: MSI X99S MPower (Intel X99);
- memory: G.Skill F4-3200C14Q-32GTZ (4x8 GB, DDR4-3200, CL14-14-14-35);
- system disk: Intel SSD 520 Series 240GB (240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s);
- additional drive: Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 (1 TB, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm);
- power supply: Seasonic SS-750KM (750 W);
- monitor: ASUS PB278Q (2560x1440, 27″);
- operating system: Windows 10 Pro x64;
- GeForce driver: NVIDIA GeForce 382.53.
- Radeon driver: AMD Crimson Edition 17.6.2.
Testing was carried out in 1920x1080 resolution using the method described below. The games are listed alphabetically. Tank games and 3DMark results are listed at the end of the list.
Testing methodology
Battlefield 4
Testing was carried out in the first mission after the wall was blown up. The run was repeated through a small area of dense vegetation before descending onto a large construction site. Frame rate was measured using Fraps.
Graphics settings are set to High, Antialiasing Post is set to Medium, and MSAA is completely disabled.
Battlefield 1
Instead of the usual scene in the mission "Cape Helles" with extreme load, a test scene was used at the beginning of the mission "At All Might", where the hero participates in an attack on enemy positions while driving a tank.
The graphics quality is set to medium. Testing was carried out in DirectX 11 using Fraps.
DIRT 4
Testing was conducted during a replay of the first race of the Dirt Fish Championship (Liske Forest, Michigan). Five repetitions were performed to obtain a more accurate average result.
The High graphics quality profile is selected. All anti-aliasing options are disabled, anisotropic filtering is in 16x mode.
Dota 2
A recording of one of the tournament games was played, and a test segment of 70 seconds was selected. Several repetitions to reduce the error. The graphics quality is set to maximum; in manual mode, the maximum shadow quality is additionally activated. Our settings configuration is reflected below.
The game was launched in DirectX 11 rendering mode by specifying the corresponding attribute in the launch parameters. It has been experimentally revealed that this is the most productive mode. Vulkan was not used due to the lack of normal monitoring tools under this API.
Fallout 4
Testing was carried out using Fraps immediately after leaving the shelter at the beginning of the game. There was a short walk around the surrounding area with an abundance of vegetation and rich rays of light. Scenes with such environments result in the most noticeable performance degradation. The procedure is shown below.
The profile for medium graphics quality is selected. Instead of TAA anti-aliasing, the simpler FXAA was chosen.
Gears of War 4
We used the built-in gaming benchmark, which was run seven times.
Medium graphics quality is selected, additional DirectX 12 functions are active (Async Compute, etc.).
Grand Theft Auto 5
The built-in benchmark was used for testing. Five reps. For a comprehensive assessment, the average fps was calculated based on the results of all test scenes. The minimum fps was measured using Fraps based on the results of a full benchmark run.
All graphics settings are limited to “very high”, shadows are “softer”. For most parameters this is the maximum value, for some it is one level below the maximum. Simple FXAA anti-aliasing selected. No additional settings are enabled.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
There was a short jog during the very first landing on the planet. Frame rate was measured by Fraps.
Medium quality presets were selected without any additional edits. In this mode, the game activates scaling with a lower resolution of the initial rendering (900p with upscaling to Full HD).
Prey (2017)
Performance was measured by Fraps while replaying a specific sequence of actions during the initial game phase where the hero must break glass.
A medium graphics quality profile was selected, and the quality of anisotropic filtering was additionally increased to 8x.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
A walk was carried out along a certain route near the road that leads from the caves from which the hero flees from the Helgen fortress at the beginning of the game. This route is notable for the rich vegetation around and the pronounced effect of the sun's rays at the selected moment in time.
Selected medium graphics quality, additionally reduced the quality of light rays to a low level.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Testing was carried out using Fraps. FPS was measured during a trip to the village of White Garden. Five reps.
In the main settings section, the quality is set to medium for all parameters. In the post-processing section, all effects are turned off.
Tom Clancy's The Division
The built-in performance test was run at least seven times for each mode.
Selected low quality profile in DirectX 11. Additionally, settings related to general shadows (shadow quality, shadow resolution) have been increased one step. It is worth noting that in Low mode the game sets the scaling to 85% of the selected resolution, so the actual resolution is less than Full HD.
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Testing was carried out at the beginning of the game, when the hero enters the first open location. The frame rate was measured for 15 seconds, three runs. Cameras are positioned as far away as possible to cover as much space as possible.
The game has virtually no graphics settings. Selected resolution, high quality anti-aliasing and dynamic display of clothing.
Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III
The built-in benchmark was used. The Fraps utility is additionally used for control.
Minimum graphics quality is selected at a fixed resolution of 1920x1080, physics is minimal, anti-aliasing is disabled.
Watch Dogs 2
In this case, a walk was carried out in the Palo Alto area, running through the streets and a nearby grove of trees and thick grass.
The profile for medium graphics quality is selected. Additionally, the “Temporary Filtering” parameter is included, which allows you to increase productivity with minimal losses in quality.
War Thunder
The gaming performance benchmark “Tank Battle” was run seven times. The “Cinema” quality profile is selected.
World of Tanks
For testing, among the replays posted in the public domain, a recording of the battle on the large detailed map “Fjords” was selected, and a 70-second test segment was selected. Four replicates, frame rate measured by Fraps.
The maximum quality profile was selected without additional parameter adjustments, FXAA anti-aliasing.
3DMark Fire Strike
Fire Strike test from the latest 3DMark benchmark suite, tested in Easy mode at 1920x1080 resolution.
3DMark Time Spy
The new benchmark for DirectX 12 was launched with default settings.
Energy consumption
The results of measurements in six annexes are presented:
- Dota 2;
- Grand Theft Auto 5;
- Tom Clancy's The Division;
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III;
- War Thunder;
- World of Tanks.
The peak values during each run were taken into account, from which the average consumption value for each application was calculated, and then the overall average was calculated. The data was collected using a Cost Control 3000 device.
Test results
Battlefield 4
The Radeon RX 550 and Radeon R7 260 have similar results in Battlefield 4 at nominal and overclocked. The GeForce GTX 750 performs at the same level, and the GeForce GT 1030 is 6-14% weaker than the Radeon RX 550. Increasing frequencies speeds up the Radeon RX 550 by 15-19%, which allows it to catch up with the GeForce GTX 750 Ti.
Battlefield 1
3DMark Fire Strike
The Radeon RX 550 and Radeon R7 260 have identical results at nominal and overclocked. At standard frequencies, the Radeon RX 550 is 13% faster than the GeForce GT 1030 and 6% better than the GeForce GTX 750. When overclocked, it can confidently outperform the GeForce GTX 750 Ti at standard frequencies.
As an addition, we will present a comparison of the results of ultra-budget video cards with representatives of a higher price category from our recent testing. This will allow you to compare the Radeon RX 550 with the Radeon RX 560 or with the GeForce GTX 1050.
The Radeon RX 550 is 37% weaker than the simplest economic version of the Radeon RX 560, and the difference with the full-fledged version of the Radeon RX 560 is 55%
3DMark Time Spy
Unusual balance of power in the new benchmark. There is a colossal gap between the GeForce GTX 750 Ti and the GeForce GTX 750, which is clearly due to the different amount of memory. There is no such a striking gap between the Radeon RX 550 and Radeon R7 260, but the advantage is clearly on the side of the newcomer. The GeForce GT 1030 is inferior to the Radeon RX 550 by up to 8%.
And again, we will present on a separate graph together the results of the reviewed video cards and participants in the large Radeon RX 560 test.
Here the difference between the Radeon RX 550 and the older version of the Radeon RX 560 reaches 68%.
Energy consumption
A system with Radeon RX 550 is more economical than configurations with GeForce GTX 750 or GeForce GTX 750 Ti. Overclocking seriously increases the level of power consumption of the Radeon RX 550; the resulting difference with the accelerated video adapter GeForce GTX 750 is small. The most economical solution is the GeForce GT 1030, which fully corresponds to the stated characteristics.
conclusions
Based on the testing results, it is clear that the performance of the Radeon RX 550 is as close as possible to the performance of the Radeon R7 260. In some games we even see a good advantage, but this is due to the large amount of memory (Battlefield 1, DiRT 4, GTA 5). Compared to the older generation of NVIDIA, the new Radeon RX 550 occupies a middle position between the GeForce GTX 750 and GeForce GTX 750 Ti, and overclocking allows it to easily overtake its older rival. At the same time, the Radeon RX 550 has the lowest power consumption. But with heating and noise, everything is not so successful; the characteristics depend on the cooling system of each specific model. Polaris chips are quite hot, and the high speeds of the ASUS RX550-4G hint to us that in quiet mode the operating temperatures of the budget GPU may be high. If complete comfort is important to you, then it is better to look for reviews before choosing a specific Radeon RX 550 model. The advantages of this card include the presence of all current video interfaces, including DisplayPort. GeForce GT 1030 is equipped only with DVI-D and HDMI.
The GeForce GT 1030 is weaker in most games, although in some applications the video adapter is equal to the Radeon RX 550. Overclocking allows it to catch up with its AMD competitor. At the same time, the option from NVIDIA is cheaper, which is quite consistent with its capabilities. Among the advantages are the lowest power consumption and very low heating of the chip, due to which there are versions with passive cooling.
The reviewed ASUS Radeon RX 550 4G (RX550-4G) video card has an increased amount of memory. For products of this level, 2 GB is the optimal solution, but 4 GB can also be used in certain demanding games. At nominal value, the video card is cool, but a bit noisy. The fixed fan speed does not allow you to select the optimal settings manually. Good overclocking potential can significantly improve performance.
It is pleasant to note the overall growth in the gaming potential and capabilities of the cheapest video cards of the new generation. They compete confidently with older models that in the past started at a higher price level. Radeon RX 550 and GeForce GT 1030 allow you to play modern games at low or medium graphics settings, and in some cases they can provide higher picture quality.