AMD Radeon RX 550x mobile is a graphics card from Advanced Micro Devices also known as AMD. As you can guess it by name, it is a mobile processor used in mostly budget gaming laptops. It was launched by AMD in April 2018. Since then we have seen this chip in many laptops. It is based on a Polaroid 23 graphics processor.
When it comes to getting high performance from your laptop or desktop, having a good graphics card is essential. In this particular article, we will discuss AMD Radeon RX 550x mobile.
How well it performs, what type of users should opt for it, what are its alternatives? We are going to take a deep dive and unveil it inside out for you.
AMD Radeon RX 550x Mobile Specifications
| Series | Radeon RX 500X |
| Used in | Laptops |
| Speed | 7GBPS |
| Type | GDDR5 |
| Max Frequency | Upto 1287MHz |
| VGA support | No |
| OS Support | Windows 11 |
Overview
It is based on the fourth-gen graphics core next architecture featuring Polaris chips and 14-nanometer architecture. Before this AMD was not really into the GPU world. It was one of the first GPUs from AMD. Before this, they used to have NVIDIA GPUs in these laptops and desktops. Although, most of their machines still use NVIDIA.
Even though the company launched this GPU while targeting gamers, this GPU is not for heavy gamers. If you look at the benchmark scores or real-world gaming tests, this doesn’t perform that well.
Performance
Now you know the basic specs of this GPU, it’s time to understand its performance inside out. So let us start with the performance itself. The performance it offers is just average. During our test, we found out that it is not suitable for people who play games on high settings and want high FPS.
You need to lower your settings to get a decent FPS 45-65 FPS. For the asking price we can’t complain much about the performance, that’s why we can’t compare laptops featuring this GPU with a full fledged gaming laptops like Clevo pa71.
This gives us a clear picture of its gaming performance. So testing it with demanding games doesn’t make sense. If you play older games that are not GPU heavy then you can expect good FPS around 70 to 90. We have discussed gaming but what if you need this for other work such as a photo or video editing?
Photo/ video editing is a bit different from gaming as it is not as heavy as high-end gaming.
Let us make it simple if you are a graphic designer who mostly works with Photoshop and Illustrator, it will get the job done. On the other hand, if you are a video editor who edits videos in 4k resolution this may not be the best for you. Although it can handle editing HD videos.
Power Consumption/ Efficiency
In terms of performance, the AMD Radeon RX 550x mobile does a great job as it consumes only 50w of power. Which is considered low power consumption. This makes sure that it can handle various games without consuming too much power.
Memory Support
It comes with 2GB of memory which is relatively low if we compare it with the recommended memory which is 4GB. However, it will not hinder your performance if don’t throw heavy tasks on it. But for heavy work, at least 4GB of graphics memory is recommended. The important point to note here is that the MXT 23 variant comes with 4GB of memory. So check the variant in case you need more memory.
Price
At this moment we pretty much know everything about this GPU. So it is time to check and compare its pricing. Even though AMD launched this as a mid-range graphic card, it is priced low.
If we compare it with its competitors such as the Nvidia GTX 1030, it is priced similarly. But the point here is that the GT 1030 is a bit older. Another factor is it is not easily available. You may or may not get it if you try to find it. If something like this happens to you, you can opt for RX 550 mobile.
Build
You may already know that support for DirectX 12 is required to make it suitable to run modern games. The Polaris 23 MXT version of this chipset supports DirectX which makes it capable of running the latest games.The previous version of this chipset didn’t have the interface to connect external monitor. Since the MXT version launched, you have the option to connect to an external monitor.
AMD Radeon RX 550x mobile vs Other Integrated GFX
As you know it is an Entry level GPU and can perform decent. The question is how it performs as compared to other integrated GPUs. When it was launched it was quite good as compared to integrated GPUs. Currently, the scenario has changed a bit. Since Intel launched its 11th series processors, the situation changed completely. The iris Xe graphics in the 11th-generation processors perform great for an integrated graphics processor and are comparable with a normal 2GB GPU. Other than that, we don’t have many budget-friendly GPUs.
Final Thoughts
AMD Radeon RX 550x mobile was AMD’s first step towards making GPUs. We couldn’t say it was the best budget GPU but it was a successful step from AMD. One reason behind this is that there aren’t many GPUs available around the same price point.
Till this say AMD, we don’t have many options in the budget GPUs which makes it a relevant option. So the question is should you opt for it?
The answer to this question lies in the needs of the user. If you are a bit more than a casual user then it makes sense to opt for a budget GPU like this. For instance, you sometimes play casual games or edit videos. If your usage pattern is like this where you need decent performance but not often, you can opt for this. You should opt for a powerful GPU.
