NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M

NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX is an entry level dedicated laptop graphics card presented in 2011. It is based on the GF119 like the GT 520M, but features a higher core and shader clock rate. Using DDR3, the 64 Bit memory bus may become a bottleneck of the graphics card.

Architecture

The GF119 offers 48 ALUs, 8 texture units and a 64 Bit memory interface for DDR3-VRAM. Therefore, it is similar to a half GF108 (GeForce GT 540M) but already manufactured with optimized transistors. As a difference the amount of raster-operation-processors (ROP) stayed the same counting 4. The GF119 is the smalles chip of the Fermi generation and is used for low end laptops.

Performance

As an entry level card, the GT 520MX has to compete against the Intel HD Graphics 3000 in the current Sandy Bridge processors. Due to the higher clock speeds, the MX should be faster than the GT 520M which was only slightly faster than the HD 3000 but clearly still beyond the faster GT 525M. Therefore demanding games like Crysis 2 or Mafia 2 run only in lowest detail and resolutions fluently. Less demanding games lik Fifa 11 or Sims 3 should be playable even in high detail settings.

Features

As the other 500M series chips, the 520MX supports Bitstream HD Audio (Blu-Ray) output via HDMI. That means the card is able to transfer Dolby True HD and DTS-HD bitstream-wise without quality loss to a HiFi receiver.

The GT520MX offers the PureVideo HD technology for video decoding. The included Video Processor 5 (VP5) supports feature set D and therefore the GPU is able to fully decode MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2 (MPEG-4 ASP - e.g., DivX or Xvid), VC-1/WMV9, and H.264 (VLD, IDCT, Motion Compensation, and Deblocking). Compared to the older VP4, the VP5 offers faster decodes at lower power, HD-to-SD transcodes and 4K x 4K resolution H.264 decode support.

Furthermore, the GPU is able to decode two 1080p streams simultaneously (e.g. for Blu-Ray Picture-in-Picture).

Through CUDA, OpenCL, and DirectCompute 2.1 support, the GeForce GT 520MX can be of help in general calculations. For example, the stream processor can considerably faster encode videos than a fast CPU can. Furthermore, physics calculations can be theoretically done by the GPU using PhysX (e.g. supported by Mafia 2 or Metro 2033) but the performance wont be sufficient for this.

NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M

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The NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M is a fast middle-class graphics card for laptops. It is based on the GF108 core, which is similar to certain GeForce 400M cards but with higher clock speeds. Therefore, features like PureVideo HD (VP4), 3DVision, HD Audio support and others are identical to the GT445M.

GF108 architecture

The GF108 core of the GTX 550M is related to the GF100 core of the GeFore GTX 480M, but offers only 96 shaders and a 128 Bit memory bus for both GDDR5 or DDR3. More information on the GF108 can be found on the GeForce GT 435M page.

Performance

The performance of the 550M depends on the used graphics memory. If using DDR3, the card is on a similar level with the Radeon HD 6750M. Demanding games such as Crysis 2 are playable in 1366x768 and high details. Higher resolutions at maximum settings will not be playable in demanding games like Metro 2033 or Bad Company 2. See below for detailed benchmark results.

Features

A novel feature of the GF104/106/108 chips is the support for Bitstream HD Audio output via HDMI for Blu-ray playback. Similar the Radeon HD 5730, the GT 550M can transfer Dolby True HD and DTS-HD bitstream without quality loss to a HiFi receiver.

The GT550M offers the PureVideo HD technology for video decoding. The included Video Processor 4 (VP4) supports feature set C and is able to fully decode MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2 (MPEG-4 ASP - e.g., DivX or Xvid), VC-1/WMV9, and H.264 (VLD, IDCT, Motion Compensation, and Deblocking).

Furthermore, the GPU is able to decode two 1080p streams simultaneously (e.g. for Blu-Ray Picture-in-Picture).

Through CUDA, OpenCL and DirectCompute 2.1 support, the GeForce GT 550M can be of help in general calculations. For example, the stream processor can encode videos considerably faster than can a modern CPU. Furthermore, physics calculations can be done by the GPU using PhysX. Certain games, such as Mafia or Metro 2033, natively support this feature.

According to Nvidia, support for 3D Vision on the GT 500M series is also new. It enables the laptop to send 3D content (3D games, 3D Web Streaming, 3D photos, 3D Blu-Rays) to a built-in 3D-enabled screen or an external 3D TV if supported by the manufacturer.

The relative high power consumption of the GeForce GT 550M suits it for 15-inch or larger laptops. To save power, the card supports Optimus to automatically switch between the integrated graphics card from Intel and the Nvidia GPU. Most notebooks with GT 5xxM GPUs support this feature, but its implementation is dependent on the laptop manufacturer.

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NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX

NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M

GeForce GT 500M Series

GeForce GT 555M	144 @ 0.53 - 0.75 GHz	128, 192 Bit @ 785-900 MHz
GeForce GT 550M	96 @ 0.74 GHz	128 Bit @ 900 MHz
GeForce GT 540M	96 @ 0.67 GHz	128 Bit @ 900 MHz
GeForce GT 525M	96 @ 0.6 GHz	128 Bit @ 900 MHz
GeForce GT 520MX	48 @ 0.9 GHz	64 Bit @ 900 MHz
GeForce GT 520M	48 @ 0.74 GHz	64 / 128 Bit @ 800 / 900 MHz

GeForce GT 555M	144 @ 0.53 - 0.75 GHz	128, 192 Bit @ 785-900 MHz
GeForce GT 550M	96 @ 0.74 GHz	128 Bit @ 900 MHz
GeForce GT 540M	96 @ 0.67 GHz	128 Bit @ 900 MHz
GeForce GT 525M	96 @ 0.6 GHz	128 Bit @ 900 MHz
GeForce GT 520MX	48 @ 0.9 GHz	64 Bit @ 900 MHz
GeForce GT 520M	48 @ 0.74 GHz	64 / 128 Bit @ 800 / 900 MHz

Codename

N12P-GVR

N12P-GT

Architecture

Fermi

Pipelines

48 - unified

96 - unified

Core Speed

900 MHz

740 MHz

Shader Speed

1800 MHz

1480 MHz

Memory Speed

900 MHz

Memory Bus Width

64 Bit

128 Bit

Memory Type

DDR3

DDR3, GDDR5

Max. Amount of Memory

1024 MB

1536 MB

Shared Memory

API

DirectX 11, Shader 5.0

technology

40 nm

Features

Verde Drivers, CUDA, Optimus, DirectCompute, OpenCL, DirectX11, OpenGL 4.1

Date of Announcement

30.05.2011

06.01.2011

Notebook Size

large