GPU Comparison
Select up to 2 GPUs to analyze their pricing, performance, and specifications side-by-side.
On raw speed the Radeon R9 380X comes out dramatically faster — about 200% ahead of the Radeon RX 550. But the Radeon RX 550 is the better value, undercutting it by $273 USD for the performance you get.
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Radeon R9 380X vs Radeon RX 550: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Radeon R9 380X vs Radeon RX 550
The Radeon R9 380X is dramatically faster, around 200% ahead of the Radeon RX 550. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p. The Radeon R9 380X packs 2,048 stream processors versus 640 on the Radeon RX 550.
Price & Value
The Radeon RX 550 currently lists from $76 USD, $273 USD less than the Radeon R9 380X at $349 USD. Despite being slower, the Radeon RX 550 offers the better performance-per-dollar (~53% better value), so budget-focused buyers should weigh it carefully. The Radeon R9 380X still sits about $120 USD above its $229 USD MSRP.
Power & Efficiency
At 50W against 190W, the Radeon RX 550 is both the lower-power and the more efficient card, making it the easier build to cool and power. Its more modern GCN 4.0 (Polaris) architecture on a GloFo 14nm process is part of why it does more with each watt.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
The Radeon R9 380X carries 4GB versus 2GB on the Radeon RX 550. The extra 2GB helps at 4K, with high-resolution texture packs, and for content-creation or local-AI workloads that exhaust smaller buffers. The Radeon R9 380X's memory is also faster — 182 GB/s versus 96 GB/s (256-bit vs 128-bit bus) — which helps feed the GPU at 4K and with heavy textures.
Generation & Longevity
The Radeon RX 550 is roughly 2 years newer than the Radeon R9 380X (GCN 4.0 (Polaris) vs GCN 3.0), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Which should you buy: Radeon R9 380X or Radeon RX 550?
Choose the Radeon R9 380X if you want the most performance and can absorb the higher price. If you're optimizing for value, the Radeon RX 550 stretches your money further for only slightly lower performance.