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AMD Instinct MI210 vs AMD Radeon 550X: Comparison

AMD Instinct MI210 and AMD Radeon 550X separate most on tdp: AMD Instinct MI210 at 300 W, AMD Radeon 550X at 50 W, 500% in favor of AMD Radeon 550X. VRAM splits them by another 97%, this time favoring AMD Instinct MI210.

Pick the AMD Instinct MI210 if that matters to you: 32x the VRAM (64 GB vs 2 GB), which matters at 1440p and 4K with high texture settings. Pick the AMD Radeon 550X if that matters to you: 6x the TDP (50 W vs 300 W), so it needs a smaller power supply and runs cooler.

Which is better, AMD Instinct MI210 or AMD Radeon 550X?

On paper, AMD Radeon 550X has the edge on tdp, at 50 W vs AMD Instinct MI210 at 300 W.

What is the main difference between AMD Instinct MI210 and AMD Radeon 550X?

The AMD Instinct MI210 and AMD Radeon 550X are built for different jobs. The AMD Instinct MI210 has 32x the VRAM (64 GB vs 2 GB), which matters at 1440p and 4K with high texture settings. The AMD Radeon 550X has 6x the TDP (50 W vs 300 W), so it needs a smaller power supply and runs cooler.

Specs and benchmarks

  • GPU Brand

    AMD Instinct MI210
    AMD
    AMD Radeon 550X
    AMD
  • Series

    AMD Instinct MI210
    Instinct MI200
    AMD Radeon 550X
    Radeon 500X Series
  • Board Partner

    AMD Instinct MI210
    AMD Reference (PCIe dual-slot card, data center/OEM only)
    AMD Radeon 550X
    AMD (Reference)
  • VRAM

    AMD Instinct MI210
    64 GBBest
    AMD Radeon 550X
    2 GB-97%
  • Memory Type

    AMD Instinct MI210
    HBM2E
    AMD Radeon 550X
    GDDR5Best
  • Boost Clock

    AMD Instinct MI210
    1700 MHzBest
    AMD Radeon 550X
    1218 MHz-28%
  • TDP

    AMD Instinct MI210
    300 W-500%
    AMD Radeon 550X
    50 WBest
  • Architecture

    AMD Instinct MI210
    CDNA 2 (single Graphics Compute Die)
    AMD Radeon 550X
    GCN
  • Process Node

    AMD Instinct MI210
    TSMC 6nm
    AMD Radeon 550X
    Other
  • Card Length

    AMD Instinct MI210
    267 mm-84%
    AMD Radeon 550X
    145 mmBest
  • Compute Blocks

    AMD Instinct MI210
    104
    AMD Radeon 550X
    8
  • Memory Bus Width

    AMD Instinct MI210
    4096 bitBest
    AMD Radeon 550X
    128 bit-97%
  • Memory Bandwidth

    AMD Instinct MI210
    1600 GB/sBest
    AMD Radeon 550X
    112 GB/s-93%
  • PCIe Generation

    AMD Instinct MI210
    PCIe 4.0 x16
    AMD Radeon 550X
    PCIe 3.0
  • Launch Date

    AMD Instinct MI210
    2022-03
    AMD Radeon 550X
    3/27/2019

    Which one should you pick?

    Choose AMD Instinct MI210 if you want the higher VRAM (64 GB vs 2 GB), the higher boost clock (1700 MHz vs 1218 MHz) and the higher memory bus width (4096 bit vs 128 bit).

    Choose AMD Radeon 550X if you want the lower TDP (50 W vs 300 W) and the lower card length (145 mm vs 267 mm).

    Verdict

    AMD Instinct MI210

    7.3 / 10 Expert Rating

    A practical, PCIe-slot-friendly way to get CDNA 2 compute into a standard server, useful for smaller HPC and AI deployments, but clearly the entry point of its generation next to the dual-die MI250X and now well behind the MI300 series.

    More comparisons in Graphics Cards