GeForce GT 120 vs Mobility Radeon HD 4550

NVIDIA

GeForce GT 120

2017Core: 1228 MHzBoost: 1468 MHz
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VS
AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 4550

2010Core: 700 MHz
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GeForce GT 120 vs Mobility Radeon HD 4550 Performance Spectrum

About G3D Mark

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

GeForce GT 120 vs Mobility Radeon HD 4550: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce GT 120

2017

Why buy it

  • Draws 30W instead of 50W, a 20W reduction.
  • More future proof: Pascal (2016−2021) on 14nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

  • 2017 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 104.1% HIGHER MSRP
    $100 MSRPvs$49 MSRP
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 1.9 vs 3.9 G3D/$ ($100 MSRP vs $49 MSRP).
  • 16700% longer card at 168mm vs 1mm.

Mobility Radeon HD 4550

2010

Why buy it

  • Costs $51 less on MSRP ($49 MSRP vs $100 MSRP).
  • Delivers 107.3% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 3.9 vs 1.9 G3D/$ ($49 MSRP vs $100 MSRP).
  • Measures 1mm instead of 168mm, a 167mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

  • 2010 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 66.7% higher power demand at 50W vs 30W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Mobility Radeon HD 4550 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 1.6% in PassMark G3D (191 vs 188), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
GeForce GT 120 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a 14nm process instead of 40nm and a newer 2017 generation instead of 2010. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
Mobility Radeon HD 4550 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $51 cheaper on MSRP at $49 vs $100, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 107.3% (3.9 vs 1.9), so the value case lines up with the gaming result. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Mobility Radeon HD 4550 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, GeForce GT 120 has the stronger long-term case.

GeForce GT 120 vs Mobility Radeon HD 4550 Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

NVIDIA

GeForce GT 120

The GeForce GT 120 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in May 17 2017. It features the Pascal architecture. The core clock ranges from 1228 MHz to 1468 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 30W. Manufactured using 14 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 188 points. Launch price was $79.

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 4550

The Mobility Radeon HD 4550 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 7 2010. It features the TeraScale 2 architecture. The core clock speed is 700 MHz. It has 800 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 50W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 191 points.

Graphics Performance

The GeForce GT 120 scores 188 and the Mobility Radeon HD 4550 reaches 191 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.6% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GT 120 is built on Pascal while the Mobility Radeon HD 4550 uses TeraScale 2, both on 14 nm vs 40 nm. Shader units: 384 (GeForce GT 120) vs 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 4550). Raw compute: 1.127 TFLOPS (GeForce GT 120) vs 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 4550).

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 4550
G3D Mark Score
188
191+2%
Architecture
Pascal
TeraScale 2
Process Node
14 nm
40 nm
Shading Units
384
800+108%
Compute (TFLOPS)
1.127 TFLOPS
1.12 TFLOPS
ROPs
16
16
TMUs
24
40+67%
L1 Cache
144 KB+80%
80 KB
L2 Cache
512 KB+100%
256 KB

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GT 120 gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Mobility Radeon HD 4550 leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 4550
Upscaling Tech
Upscaling support
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
NVIDIA Reflex
AMD Anti-Lag
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 512 MB of GDDR5. Memory bus width is 64-bit on the GeForce GT 120 and 128-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 4550. L2 Cache: 512 KB (GeForce GT 120) vs 256 KB (Mobility Radeon HD 4550) — the GeForce GT 120 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 4550
VRAM Capacity
0.5 GB
0.5 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
Unknown
Bus Width
64-bit
128-bit+100%
L2 Cache
512 KB+100%
256 KB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 10.0 (GeForce GT 120) vs 10.1 (Mobility Radeon HD 4550). Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 0.

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 4550
DirectX
10.0
10.1
Max Displays
2
0
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: No (GeForce GT 120) vs UVD 2 (Mobility Radeon HD 4550). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP3 vs UVD 2.

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 4550
Encoder
No
UVD 2
Decoder
PureVideo HD VP3
UVD 2
Codecs
MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GT 120 draws 30W versus the Mobility Radeon HD 4550's 50W — a 50% difference. The GeForce GT 120 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce GT 120) vs 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 4550). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 168mm vs 1mm, occupying 1 vs 0 slots.

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 4550
TDP
30W-40%
50W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
PCIe-powered
Length
168mm
1mm
Height
111mm
Slots
1
0-100%
Temp (Load)
65°C
Perf/Watt
6.3+66%
3.8
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the GeForce GT 120 came in at $100, while the Mobility Radeon HD 4550 launched at $49. On MSRP, Mobility Radeon HD 4550 was 51% cheaper ($51 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 1.9 (GeForce GT 120) vs 3.9 (Mobility Radeon HD 4550) — the Mobility Radeon HD 4550 offers 105.3% better value. The newer card here is GeForce GT 120 (2017 vs 2010).

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 4550
MSRP
$100
$49-51%
Performance per Dollar
1.9
3.9+105%
Codename
GP108
Broadway
Release
May 17 2017
January 7 2010
Ranking
#641
#846

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