Radeon HD 8730M vs Radeon RX 550X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 8730M and Radeon RX 550X, 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 8730M stacks up against Radeon RX 550X, check out specs charts below.

Radeon HD 8730M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 8730M 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 8730M here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 8730M Radeon RX 550X
Power consumption (TDP) 50 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type DDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x8 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • Radeon RX 550X has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 8730M.
  • Radeon HD 8730M is used in Laptops, and Radeon RX 550X - in Desktops.
  • Radeon HD 8730M is build with GCN architecture, and Radeon RX 550X - with GCN 4.0.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon RX 550X is 450 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8730M.
  • Radeon HD 8730M is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon RX 550X - by 14 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon RX 550X is 4000 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8730M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 0−1 10−11
ultra / 1080p 6−7
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 1−2 21−24
medium / 1080p 0−1 12−14
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 550X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 2100% more, than Radeon HD 8730M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 8730M Radeon RX 550X
Architecture GCN GCN 4.0
Code name Mars Lexa
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 16 November 2012 16 December 2018
Pipelines 384 512
Core clock speed 650 MHz 1100 MHz
Boost Clock 700 MHz 1183 MHz
Transistor count 950 million 2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 14 nm
Texture fill rate 16.80 37.86
Floating-point performance 537.6 gflops 1,211 gflops
Length 145 mm
Memory bus width 128 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 2000 MHz 6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 32 GB/s 96 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
Laptop size medium sized
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