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AMD Radeon HD 8550M

AMD Radeon HD 8550M

The AMD Radeon HD 8550M is a DirectX 11.1 graphics card for small laptops. The core is clocked at 700 MHz, while the DDR3 graphics memory runs at 900 MHz. The 28nm Mars core uses the GCN architecture. Compared to the 8600M and 8700M series, the 8550M is different only in clock speed, memory bus configuration and memory type.

The performance of the Radeon HD 8550M is very similar to the Radeon HD 8570M or GeForce GT 630M. Current and demanding games like Far Cry 3 will run fluently only in low resolutions and detail settings.

The 384 shaders can be used with OpenCL 1.2 for general-purpose calculations (as 6 compute units). Compared to old TeraScale 2 chips, the GCN-based Mars architecture offers improved performance in this framework.

Features of the 8550M include video decoding via UVD3 for decoding MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and Flash directly from the AMD GPU. Multi-View Codec (MVC) and MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, xVid) HD videos are now compatible as well.

The 8500M series also supports automatic graphics switching between the integrated GPU and discrete GPU. Called Enduro, the technology supersedes AMD's Dynamic Switchable Graphics and is similar to Nvidia's Optimus. Furthermore, the 8550M can directly support up to 2 connected monitors using Eyefinity Technology if Enduro is disabled.

Other features of the 8500M series include ZeroCore for reducing power consumption when the display is turned off and Power Gating to power down areas of the chip that are not used. PowerTune allows automatic overclocking and underclocking of the graphics card as long as the GPU is within its TDP limit. For example, the chip may be underclocked when running FurMark and OCCT, but will overclock in certain games like Lost Planet, Crysis or Resident Evil 5.

The integrated HD audio processor is able to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g., for Blu-Ray videos). Additionally, it now allows audio to output simultaneously and in parallel to multiple devices with the new Discrete Digital Multipoint Audio (DDMA) feature.

The power consumption should be somewhat below that of the old HD 7650M. As a result, the 8550M is suited for 13-inch notebooks or larger.

Radeon HD 8500M Series

Radeon HD 8650G + HD 8570M Dual Graphics compare 768 @ 0.72 GHz64 Bit @ 1800 - 2000 MHz
Radeon HD 8590M compare 384 @ 0.62 GHz64 Bit @ 4500 MHz
Radeon HD 8450G + Radeon HD 8570M Dual Graphics compare 576 @ 0.72 GHz64 Bit @ 1800 MHz
Radeon HD 8570M compare 384 @ 0.65 GHz64 Bit @ 1800 - 2000 MHz
Radeon HD 8550M 384 @ 0.7 GHz64 Bit @ 1800 MHz
ArchitectureGCN
Pipelines384 - unified
Core Speed700 MHz
Memory Speed1800 MHz
Memory Bus Width64 Bit
Memory TypeDDR3
Shared Memoryno
APIDirectX 11.1, Shader 5.0
technology28 nm
Notebook Sizemedium sized
Date of Announcement16.11.2012

Benchmarks

3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3

2012
low 1024x768
15.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
15.3  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
11  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1024x768
11.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
9.4  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
8.8  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1024x768
36.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
28.6  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
15.9  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1024x768
14.9  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
13.4  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
9.3  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1024x768
28.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
21.6  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
16.5  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1024x768
32  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
29.4  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
26.7  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Fifa 13

Fifa 13

2012
low 1024x768
58.7  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
43.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
41.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
low 1024x768
25.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
20.9  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
16.7  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1024x768
38.7  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
33.6  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
29.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1024x768
22.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
15.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
13.5  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1024x768
11.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
10.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
10  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1024x768
16.5  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
11.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
10.4  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1024x768
59.5  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
44.9  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
34.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
low 1024x768
10  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
17  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
13.1  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1280x720
30.2  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
23.6  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Alan Wake

Alan Wake

2012
low 1024x768
20.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
12.8  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Anno 2070

Anno 2070

2011
low 1024x768
56.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
25.6  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
19.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1280x720
20.9  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
19  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
15.9  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1024x768
44.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
30.1  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
24  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1024x768
16.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
14.4  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
13.4  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
lowmed.highultraQHD4K
Far Cry 315.415.311
Assassin´s Creed III7.26.8
Hitman: Absolution11.19.48.8
Call of Duty: Black Ops 236.628.615.9
Need for Speed: Most Wanted14.913.49.3
Medal of Honor: Warfighter28.121.616.5
Dishonored3229.426.7
Fifa 1358.743.541.5
Borderlands 225.420.916.7
Guild Wars 216.87.8
Counter-Strike: GO38.733.629.4
Darksiders II31.5
Sleeping Dogs22.115.513.5
Max Payne 311.210.510
Dirt Showdown16.511.510.4
Diablo III59.544.934.4
Risen 2: Dark Waters101713.1
Mass Effect 330.223.6
Alan Wake20.612.8
Anno 207056.425.619.1
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim20.91915.9
CoD: Modern Warfare 344.630.124
Battlefield 316.414.413.4
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps
13
8

16
5

19
2










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Notebook reviews with AMD Radeon HD 8550M graphics card

 

Review Asus VivoBook U38DT Subnotebook

Flat beauty. The VivoBook U38DT is a 13-inch subnotebook that is powered by a Trinity processor and the brand new Radeon HD 8550M from AMD. The ultra-thin const...
AMD A8-4555M | AMD Radeon HD 8550M | 13.30" | 1.6 kg

Toshiba Satellite S50D-A-10G: AMD A10-5745M, 15.60", 2.4 kg
  External Review » Toshiba Satellite S50D-A-10G

Samsung ATIV 670Z5E-X01PL: Intel Core i5-3230M, 15.60", 2.2 kg
  External Review » Samsung ATIV 670Z5E-X01PL

Samsung 740U3E-S01PL: Intel Core i5-3337U, 13.30", 1.6 kg
  External Review » Samsung 740U3E-S01PL

Asus VivoBook U38DT-R3001H: AMD A8-4555M, 13.30", 1.6 kg
  External Review » Asus VivoBook U38DT-R3001H

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» Comparison of GPUs
Detailed list of all laptop GPUs sorted by class and performance.

» Benchmark List
Sort and restrict laptop GPUs based on performance in synthetic benchmarks.

» Notebook Gaming List
Playable games for each graphics card and their average FPS results.

Class 0

Arc A380

Class 1

Class 2

Radeon PRO W6600M *

Class 3

UHD Graphics 32EUs
UHD Graphics 750

Class 4

Class 5

* Approximate position of the graphics adapter