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AMD Radeon RX 550X

AMD Radeon RX 550X: Budget GPU for Basic Tasks and Casual Gamers

April 2025

Introduction

The AMD Radeon RX 550X graphics card remains one of the most affordable solutions on the market, despite the release of more modern models. It targets users who do not need ultra-modern graphics but value energy efficiency and low cost. In this article, we will explore what makes the RX 550X noteworthy in 2025 and who it is suited for.

1. Architecture and Key Features

Polaris Architecture: A Time-Tested Foundation

The RX 550X is based on the Polaris architecture (Polaris 12 core), developed by AMD back in 2016. The card is manufactured using a 14nm process, which accounts for its compact size and low heat output.

Unique Features

- AMD FidelityFX: A set of technologies for enhancing graphics, including Contrast Adaptive Sharpening (CAS).

- Radeon Image Sharpening (RIS): Increases image clarity without significant performance loss.

- FreeSync: Support for frame synchronization with monitors, minimizing screen tearing.

Limitations

- No hardware ray tracing support.

- Lack of an equivalent to NVIDIA's DLSS, reducing capabilities in modern AI-scaling focused games.

2. Memory: Modest, but Sufficient for Basic Tasks

Type and Capacity

- GDDR5: An outdated standard, but still functional for less demanding tasks.

- 4 GB: A standard capacity for budget models. This is adequate for gaming at low settings and working with simple applications.

Bandwidth

- The 128-bit bus and 6000 MHz memory frequency provide up to 96 GB/s. In comparison, modern cards with GDDR6 offer 192–448 GB/s.

Impact on Performance

4 GB of GDDR5 is a bottleneck in games with high textures (e.g., Cyberpunk 2077 or Hogwarts Legacy). However, for games like CS:GO, Dota 2, or indie titles, this is sufficient.

3. Gaming Performance: Modest Ambitions

1080p — A Comfortable Zone

- CS:GO: 90–120 FPS (low/medium settings).

- Fortnite: 45–60 FPS (low settings, without TSR).

- GTA V: 50–60 FPS (medium settings).

1440p and 4K — Not for RX 550X

Even in simpler projects, resolutions above 1080p lead to FPS dropping below 30.

Ray Tracing

No hardware RTX support. In games with software emulation (e.g., Minecraft Bedrock), performance drops to 10–15 FPS.

4. Professional Tasks: Basic Capabilities

Video Editing and Rendering

- OpenCL: Support allows for functioning in DaVinci Resolve or Blender, but rendering complex scenes can take 2–3 times longer compared to an NVIDIA GTX 1650.

- Premiere Pro: Without hardware acceleration for AV1—only H.264/HEVC decoding.

3D Modeling

Programs like AutoCAD or SketchUp will run, but complex projects may lag.

Scientific Calculations

The lack of specialized cores (like CUDA) makes the card unsuitable for machine learning or simulations.

5. Power Consumption and Heat Output

TDP: 50–65 W

The card does not require additional power through a 6/8-pin connector—just a PCIe x16 slot is sufficient.

Cooling

- Passive or single-slot coolers: Suitable for mini-PCs and HTPCs.

- Case Recommendations: Budget models with 1–2 fans are sufficient.

Temperatures

Even under load, the GPU rarely heats above 70°C, ensuring quiet operation.

6. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Radeon RX 6400

- Pros: 6nm process, PCIe 4.0 support, 4 GB GDDR6.

- Cons: Price ($120–140) is higher than RX 550X ($80–100).

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630

- Weaker in gaming (15–20% performance drop), but better in CUDA tasks.

Intel Arc A380

- Higher performance in DirectX 12 and AV1 support, but requires a more powerful PSU (450 W).

Conclusion: RX 550X wins only in price and energy efficiency.

7. Practical Tips

Power Supply

A 300–350 W PSU is sufficient. Examples: EVGA 400W, Be Quiet! System Power 10.

Compatibility

- PCIe 3.0 x8: Works on PCIe 2.0, but with up to 5% performance loss.

- Platforms: Compatible with Windows 10/11, Linux (AMDGPU drivers).

Drivers

- Adrenalin Edition: Regular updates, but optimization for older games is weaker than NVIDIA's.

- Tip: Disable background services from Radeon Software to save resources.

8. Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Price: $80–100 for a new card.

- Energy Efficiency: Suitable for office PCs and mini builds.

- Quiet Operation: No noise even under load.

Cons:

- Weak for modern AAA games.

- Only 4 GB of outdated GDDR5.

- No support for ray tracing or AI scaling.

9. Final Verdict: Who is the RX 550X For?

This graphics card is a choice for:

1. Budget Gamers playing older or less demanding titles.

2. Office PCs and HTPCs where silence and minimal power consumption are essential.

3. Users with Morally Outdated Systems needing to replace an old GPU without upgrading the PSU.

Alternatives: If your budget allows spending $150–200, consider the AMD RX 6500 XT or Intel Arc A580—they will provide a better future-proofing.

The RX 550X is not a "gaming monster," but a reliable tool for specific scenarios. Its time is not yet over, but it should be chosen thoughtfully.

Basic

Label Name

AMD

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

December 2018

Model Name

Radeon RX 550X

Generation

Polaris

Base Clock

1100MHz

Boost Clock

1183MHz

Bus Interface

PCIe 3.0 x8

Transistors

2,200 million

Compute Units

TMUs

Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) serve as components of the GPU, which are capable of rotating, scaling, and distorting binary images, and then placing them as textures onto any plane of a given 3D model. This process is called texture mapping.

Foundry

GlobalFoundries

Process Size

14 nm

Architecture

GCN 4.0

Memory Specifications

Memory Size

4GB

Memory Type

GDDR5

Memory Bus

The memory bus width refers to the number of bits of data that the video memory can transfer within a single clock cycle. The larger the bus width, the greater the amount of data that can be transmitted instantaneously, making it one of the crucial parameters of video memory. The memory bandwidth is calculated as: Memory Bandwidth = Memory Frequency x Memory Bus Width / 8. Therefore, when the memory frequencies are similar, the memory bus width will determine the size of the memory bandwidth.

128bit

Memory Clock

1500MHz

Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth refers to the data transfer rate between the graphics chip and the video memory. It is measured in bytes per second, and the formula to calculate it is: memory bandwidth = working frequency × memory bus width / 8 bits.

96.00 GB/s

Theoretical Performance

Pixel Rate

Pixel fill rate refers to the number of pixels a graphics processing unit (GPU) can render per second, measured in MPixels/s (million pixels per second) or GPixels/s (billion pixels per second). It is the most commonly used metric to evaluate the pixel processing performance of a graphics card.

18.93 GPixel/s

Texture Rate

Texture fill rate refers to the number of texture map elements (texels) that a GPU can map to pixels in a single second.

37.86 GTexel/s

FP16 (half)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy.

1211 GFLOPS

FP64 (double)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy, while single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

75.71 GFLOPS

FP32 (float)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

1.235 TFLOPS

Miscellaneous

Shading Units

The most fundamental processing unit is the Streaming Processor (SP), where specific instructions and tasks are executed. GPUs perform parallel computing, which means multiple SPs work simultaneously to process tasks.

512

L1 Cache

16 KB (per CU)

L2 Cache

512KB

TDP

50W

Vulkan Version

Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API by Khronos Group, offering high performance and low CPU overhead. It lets developers control the GPU directly, reduces rendering overhead, and supports multi-threading and multi-core processors.

1.2

OpenCL Version

2.1

OpenGL

4.6

DirectX

12 (12_0)

Power Connectors

None

Shader Model

6.4

ROPs

The Raster Operations Pipeline (ROPs) is primarily responsible for handling lighting and reflection calculations in games, as well as managing effects like anti-aliasing (AA), high resolution, smoke, and fire. The more demanding the anti-aliasing and lighting effects in a game, the higher the performance requirements for the ROPs; otherwise, it may result in a sharp drop in frame rate.

Suggested PSU

250W

Benchmarks

FP32 (float)

Score

1.235 TFLOPS

Compared to Other GPU

FP32 (float) / TFLOPS

Radeon HD 6970M

1.28 +3.6%

Radeon HD 8760 OEM

1.254 +1.5%

Radeon RX 550X

1.235

Radeon Pro WX 2100

1.223 -1%

GeForce GTX 490

1.189 -3.7%