Notebookcheck Logo

AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop)

AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop)

The AMD Radeon RX 550 is mobile mid-range graphics card for laptops based on the Polaris 12 chip . It is manufactured in an improved 14 nm FinFET process at Globalfoundries or Samsung. The Polaris 12 chip (codename Lexa) is a smaller chip than the Polaris 11 and 21 and uses the improved 14nm process that allows higher clock rates than the first generation (Radeon RX 400 series). It features 640 shaders (10 CUs) and (at least in the Pavilion 15t) all cores are activated in the mobile version (where 512 are activated in the desktop RX 550).

According to the specified peak performance, the chip should be similar fast as a Radeon Pro 455 in the MacBook Pro 2016. In our tests it reaches the Radeon Pro 455 and bests the Nvidia GeForce MX150, but stays behind the GeForce GTX 1050.

The features of the Radeon RX 550 are identical to the faster RX 460 and all other Polaris chips. See more details on the Polaris architecture here.

The power envelope of the faster Radeon Pro 460 is rated at 35 Watt according to the AMD blog post. In our tests with The Witcher 3, the GPU needed in the Pavilion 15t 80 Watt and positiones itself between the much more power efficient MX150 and the GTX 1050.

Radeon RX 500 Series

Radeon RX 590 compare 2304 @ 1.47 - 1.55 GHz256 Bit @ 8000 MHz
Radeon RX 580 compare 2304 @ 1.26 - 1.34 GHz256 Bit @ 8000 MHz
Radeon RX 570 compare 2048 @ 1.17 - 1.24 GHz256 Bit @ 7000 MHz
Radeon RX 580 (Laptop) compare 2304 @ 1 - 1.08 GHz256 Bit @ 8000 MHz
Radeon RX 570 (Laptop) compare 2048 @ 0.93 - 1.21 GHz256 Bit @ 7000 MHz
Radeon RX 560X (Laptop) compare 1024 @ 1.17 - 1.28 GHz128 Bit @ 6000 MHz
Radeon RX 560 (Laptop) compare 1024 @ 1.09 - 1.29 GHz128 Bit @ 6000 MHz
Radeon RX 550 (Laptop) 640 @ 1.29 - 1.48 GHz128 Bit @ 6000 MHz
Radeon RX 540X compare 512 @ 1.22 GHz128 Bit @ 6000 MHz
Radeon RX 540 compare 512 @ 1.22 GHz128 Bit @ 6000 MHz
CodenamePolaris 12
ArchitecturePolaris
Pipelines640 - unified
Core Speed1287 - 1476 (Boost) MHz
Memory Speed6000 MHz
Memory Bus Width128 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory4 GB
Shared Memoryno
APIDirectX 12, OpenGL Vulkan
Power Consumption50 Watt
technology14 nm
FeaturesDisplayPort 1.3 HBR / 1.4 HDR Ready, HDMI 2.0, AMD FreeSync
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement21.03.2017
Link to Manufacturer Pagewww.amd.com

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy
1.4 pt (4%)
3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy Score
min: 1302     avg: 1410     median: 1410 (4%)     max: 1518 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy Graphics
min: 1170     avg: 1281     median: 1280.5 (3%)     max: 1391 Points
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15 OpenGL Ref. Match 64 Bit +
Emissions Witcher 3 Fan Noise +
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
red legend - 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.

med. 1920x1080
26.7 48.3 ~ 38 fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
high 1920x1080
14.4  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
ultra 1920x1080
6.8  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» With most tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Additional Benchmarks
Low Preset 1280x720
70
low 1920x1080
10.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
6.8  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
3.6  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
3.1  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Additional Benchmarks
Low Preset (FSR off) 1280x720
17.4
Steam Deck 1280x800
9
Ultra Preset (FSR2 on) 1920x1080
4.2
low 1920x1080
13.9  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
med. 1920x1080
11.7  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Additional Benchmarks
Low Preset 1280x720
18.7
F1 23

F1 23

2023
low 1920x1080
14.8  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
12.5  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
5  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Additional Benchmarks
Ultra Low Preset TAA 1280x720
39.7
Diablo 4

Diablo 4

2023
low 1920x1080
21.6  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
med. 1920x1080
19.5  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
high 1920x1080
17.4  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Additional Benchmarks
Low Preset 1280x720
39.6
low 1920x1080
6.5  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Additional Benchmarks
Low Preset 1280x720
12.9
low 1920x1080
20.9  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
med. 1920x1080
17.5  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Additional Benchmarks
Low Preset Low TAA 1280x720
30.7
low 1920x1080
3.2  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Additional Benchmarks
Low Preset 1280x720
12.8
low 1920x1080
14.3  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Additional Benchmarks
Prioritize Performance Preset 1280x720
16.2
low 1920x1080
11.9  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Additional Benchmarks
Minimum Settings 1280x720
16.5
low 1920x1080
12.1  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
med. 1920x1080
8.7  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Additional Benchmarks
Ultra Low Preset 1280x720
27.5