GPU Comparison
Select up to 2 GPUs to analyze their pricing, performance, and specifications side-by-side.
The Radeon R9 390X is dramatically faster than the Radeon RX 550, leading by roughly 400% in our performance index. The Radeon RX 550, however, delivers more performance per dollar — $353 USD cheaper.
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Radeon R9 390X vs Radeon RX 550: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Radeon R9 390X vs Radeon RX 550
The Radeon R9 390X is dramatically faster, around 400% ahead of the Radeon RX 550. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p. The Radeon R9 390X packs 2,816 stream processors versus 640 on the Radeon RX 550.
Price & Value
Right now the Radeon RX 550 starts at $76 USD against $429 USD for the Radeon R9 390X. Despite being slower, the Radeon RX 550 offers the better performance-per-dollar (~13% better value), so budget-focused buyers should weigh it carefully.
Power & Efficiency
The Radeon RX 550 draws just 50W versus 275W for the Radeon R9 390X, and it also delivers more performance per watt — so it runs cooler and quieter and needs less PSU headroom. 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
With 8GB against 2GB, the Radeon R9 390X has more headroom for 4K textures and memory-hungry creative/AI tasks where the Radeon RX 550's 2GB can fall short. The Radeon R9 390X's memory is also faster — 384 GB/s versus 96 GB/s (512-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 390X (GCN 4.0 (Polaris) vs GCN 2.0), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Which should you buy: Radeon R9 390X or Radeon RX 550?
Choose the Radeon R9 390X 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.