Radeon HD 8970M vs Radeon RX 550

In this comparison between Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon RX 550 you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people Radeon HD 8970M will be the best choice, for others Radeon RX 550 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon HD 8970M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 8970M 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 HD 8970M here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 8970M Radeon RX 550
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 50 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 8970M has 100% more power consumption, than Radeon RX 550.
  • Radeon HD 8970M is connected by PCIe 3.0 x16, and Radeon RX 550 uses PCIe 3.0 x8 interface.
  • Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon RX 550 have maximum RAM of 4 GB.
  • Radeon HD 8970M is used in Laptops, and Radeon RX 550 - in Desktops.
  • Radeon HD 8970M is build with GCN architecture, and Radeon RX 550 - with GCN 4.0.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon RX 550 is 250 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8970M.
  • Radeon HD 8970M is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon RX 550 - by 14 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon RX 550 is 2200 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8970M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 20−22 14−16
ultra / 1080p 12−14 8−9
QHD / 1440p 6−7 3−4
4K / 2160p 5−6
low / 720p 35−40 30−33
medium / 1080p 24−27 18−20
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 8970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 33% more, than Radeon RX 550.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 8970M Radeon RX 550
Architecture GCN GCN 4.0
Code name Neptune Lexa
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 15 May 2013 20 April 2017
Pipelines 1280 512
Core clock speed 850 MHz 1100 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz 1183 MHz
Transistor count 2,800 million 2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 14 nm
Texture fill rate 72.00 37.86
Floating-point performance 2,304 gflops 1,211 gflops
Length 145 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 4800 MHz 7000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 153.6 GB/s 112.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (11_1) 12 (12_0)
Shader Model 5.1 6.4
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 2.0
Vulkan 1.2.131 1.2.131
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 273 Mh/s
Laptop size large
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