Radeon HD 6550A vs Radeon R9 M290X
If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 6550A and Radeon R9 M290X, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the Radeon HD 6550A stacks up against Radeon R9 M290X, check out specs charts below.
Radeon HD 6550A
Radeon R9 M290X is a Laptop Graphics Card
Note: Radeon R9 M290X is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with Radeon R9 M290X here:
Main Specs
| Radeon HD 6550A | Radeon R9 M290X | |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 100 Watt |
| Interface | MXM-A (3.0) | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | |
| Memory type | GDDR3 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 4 GB |
| Display Connectors | No outputs | No outputs |
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- Radeon R9 M290X has 185% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 6550A.
- Radeon HD 6550A is connected by MXM-A (3.0), and Radeon R9 M290X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
- Radeon R9 M290X has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6550A.
- Radeon HD 6550A is used in Desktops, and Radeon R9 M290X - in Laptops.
- Radeon HD 6550A is build with TeraScale 2 architecture, and Radeon R9 M290X - with GCN.
- Core clock speed of Radeon R9 M290X is 300 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6550A.
- Radeon HD 6550A is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 M290X - by 28 nm process technology.
- Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 6550A is 400 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M290X.
Game benchmarks
| high / 1080p | 0−1 | 16−18 |
| ultra / 1080p | − | 10−11 |
| QHD / 1440p | 0−1 | 4−5 |
| 4K / 2160p | − | 4−5 |
| low / 720p | 1−2 | 30−35 |
| medium / 1080p | 0−1 | 20−22 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M290X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 3100% more, than Radeon HD 6550A. | ||
| high / 1080p | − | 24−27 |
| ultra / 1080p | − | 21−24 |
| QHD / 1440p | 0−1 | 9−10 |
| 4K / 2160p | − | 6−7 |
| low / 720p | 0−1 | 55−60 |
| medium / 1080p | − | 27−30 |
| low / 768p | 50−55 | 45−50 |
| high / 1080p | 45−50 | − |
| QHD / 1440p | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 6550A in Call of Duty: Warzone is 10% more, than Radeon R9 M290X. | ||
| low / 768p | 60−65 | 210−220 |
| medium / 768p | 27−30 | 180−190 |
| ultra / 1080p | 7−8 | 100−110 |
| QHD / 1440p | − | 55−60 |
| 4K / 2160p | − | 30−35 |
| high / 768p | 16−18 | 150−160 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M290X in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 489% more, than Radeon HD 6550A. | ||
| low / 768p | 70−75 | 55−60 |
| ultra / 1080p | 0−1 | 40−45 |
| medium / 1080p | 45−50 | 45−50 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 6550A in Cyberpunk 2077 is 15% more, than Radeon R9 M290X. | ||
| low / 768p | 45−50 | 110−120 |
| medium / 768p | 10−11 | 95−100 |
| ultra / 1080p | 0−1 | 65−70 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M290X in Dota 2 is 265% more, than Radeon HD 6550A. | ||
| high / 1080p | − | 18−20 |
| ultra / 1080p | − | 18−20 |
| QHD / 1440p | − | 16−18 |
| 4K / 2160p | − | 6−7 |
| low / 720p | 0−1 | 40−45 |
| medium / 1080p | − | 21−24 |
| high / 1080p | − | 27−30 |
| ultra / 1080p | − | 21−24 |
| QHD / 1440p | − | 16−18 |
| low / 720p | 21−24 | 100−110 |
| medium / 1080p | 0−1 | 55−60 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M290X in Fortnite is 377% more, than Radeon HD 6550A. | ||
| high / 1080p | 0−1 | 27−30 |
| ultra / 1080p | − | 21−24 |
| QHD / 1440p | 0−1 | 10−11 |
| 4K / 2160p | − | 10−11 |
| low / 720p | 0−1 | 55−60 |
| medium / 1080p | 0−1 | 30−35 |
| low / 768p | 18−20 | 90−95 |
| medium / 768p | − | 80−85 |
| high / 1080p | 0−1 | 30−35 |
| ultra / 1080p | − | 12−14 |
| QHD / 1440p | 0−1 | 4−5 |
| medium / 720p | 12−14 | − |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M290X in Grand Theft Auto V is 384% more, than Radeon HD 6550A. | ||
| high / 1080p | − | 10−11 |
| ultra / 1080p | − | 8−9 |
| 4K / 2160p | − | 3−4 |
| low / 720p | 0−1 | 30−35 |
| medium / 1080p | − | 14−16 |
| low / 768p | 75−80 | 110−120 |
| high / 1080p | 27−30 | − |
| medium / 1080p | − | 100−110 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M290X in Minecraft is 49% more, than Radeon HD 6550A. | ||
| high / 1080p | − | 24−27 |
| ultra / 1080p | − | 18−20 |
| low / 720p | 8−9 | 60−65 |
| medium / 1080p | − | 24−27 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M290X in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 675% more, than Radeon HD 6550A. | ||
| high / 1080p | − | 14−16 |
| ultra / 1080p | − | 10−11 |
| QHD / 1440p | − | 0−1 |
| low / 720p | 0−1 | 30−35 |
| medium / 1080p | − | 16−18 |
| low / 768p | 0−1 | 60−65 |
| medium / 768p | − | 35−40 |
| high / 1080p | − | 21−24 |
| ultra / 1080p | − | 12−14 |
| 4K / 2160p | − | 8−9 |
| low / 768p | 45−50 | 100−110 |
| medium / 768p | 14−16 | 60−65 |
| ultra / 1080p | 0−1 | 35−40 |
| high / 768p | 12−14 | 55−60 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M290X in World of Tanks is 200% more, than Radeon HD 6550A. | ||
Full Specs
| Radeon HD 6550A | Radeon R9 M290X | |
| Architecture | TeraScale 2 | GCN |
| Code name | Pinewood | Neptune |
| Type | Desktop | Laptop |
| Release date | 7 February 2011 | 7 January 2014 |
| Pipelines | 480 | 1280 |
| Core clock speed | 550 MHz | 850 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 900 MHz | |
| Transistor count | 627 million | 2,800 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 28 nm |
| Texture fill rate | 13.20 | 72.00 |
| Floating-point performance | 624.0 gflops | 2,304 gflops |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1600 MHz | 1200 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 25.6 GB/s | 153.6 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | |
| DirectX | 11.2 (11_0) | |
| Shader Model | 5.0 | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | Not Listed |
| Vulkan | N/A | |
| FreeSync | + | |
| Bus support | PCIe 3.0 x16 | |
| Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) | 300 Mh/s | |
| Laptop size | large | |
| Eyefinity | + | |
| HD3D | + | |
| PowerTune | + | |
| DualGraphics | + | |
| ZeroCore | + | |
| Switchable graphics | + | |
| Mantle | + | |
| Compute units | 20 | |
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