AMD Radeon 540X vs AMD Radeon R9 290X

VS
Performance
Radeon 540X
4,0974% of 104,598
Radeon R9 290X295% better
16,167.515% of 104,598

The Radeon R9 290X has 295% better performance than the Radeon 540X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
Radeon 540X
No data available
Radeon R9 290X
29.4518% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 290X has 18% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: AMD Radeon RX 7600.

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Summary

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About the AMD Radeon 540X GPU

The AMD Radeon 540X is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q3 2018. It is built on the GCN 4.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Lexa) and is manufactured on a 14 nm process.

Memory

The 540X has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,500 MHz memory clock and a 64 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The 540X includes 512 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 980 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,046 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 32 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 16 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The 540X occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 50 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The 540X has the 273rd best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 3.92% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

About the AMD Radeon R9 290X GPU

The AMD Radeon R9 290X is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q4 2013 with a MSRP of $549. It is built on the GCN 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Hawaii) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The R9 290X has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,250 MHz memory clock and a 512 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 320 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The R9 290X includes 2,816 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,000 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 176 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 64 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The R9 290X occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 600 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 290 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The R9 290X has the 137th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 15.46% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 16,167.5 score and $549 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 29.45. This is the 80th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoRadeon 540XRadeon R9 290X
ManufacturerAMDAMD
ArchitectureGCN 4.0GCN 2.0
Market SegmentMobileDesktop
Release DateQ3 2018Q4 2013
Launch Price (MSRP)--$549
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Sons of the Forest
Sons of the Forest
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Counter-Strike 2
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Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Display FPS for Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3
Display FPS for F1 23
F1 23
Display FPS for Riders Republic
Riders Republic
Display FPS for Diablo 4
Diablo 4

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for Sons of the Forest
Sons of the Forest
Radeon 540XRadeon R9 290X
Low - 1080p
13 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
--
--
High - 1080p
--
--
Ultra - 1080p
--
--
QHD - 1440p
--
--
4K UHD - 2160p
--
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon 540X orRadeon R9 290X
GPUFrames Per Second
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile35.8+186%
GeForce MX35026.2+110%
Radeon 660M24.7+98%
GeForce MX25020+60%
Radeon 540X12.5
Radeon RX 550 Mobile12.1-3%
GeForce MX1307.88-37%

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon 540X orRadeon R9 290X
GPUCost Per Frame
Our database does not have enough data to compare the FPS per dollar with other GPUs.

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
Radeon 540X
4,0974% of 104,598
Radeon R9 290X295% better
16,167.515% of 104,598

The Radeon R9 290X has 295% better performance than the Radeon 540X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon 540X is ranked 273rd with a score of 4,097, and the Radeon R9 290X is ranked 137th with a score of 16,167.5.

Performance per dollar
Radeon 540X
No data available
Radeon R9 290X
29.4518% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 290X has 45% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

Radeon R9 290X's 29.45 performance per dollar ranks it 0th among the other benchmarked GPUs in our database.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon 540X or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)17,401+325%
Radeon R9 Nano17,282+322%
Radeon R9 290X16,167.5+295%
GeForce GTX 97016,033+291%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti15,619+281%
FirePro W5170M4,197+2%
Quadro P5204,185.5+2%
Radeon 540X4,097
GeForce GTX 765M4,019-2%
GeForce GTX 675MX3,978.5-3%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon 540X orRadeon R9 290X
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
Radeon R9 280X36.09+23%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti35.53+21%
GeForce GTX 98032.07+9%
GeForce GTX 76031.98+9%
Radeon R9 FURY31.95+9%
Radeon R9 290X29.45
GeForce GTX 660 Ti28.14-4%
Radeon R9 Nano26.63-10%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti22.34-24%
GeForce GTX 68020.47-30%

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkRadeon 540XRadeon R9 290X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
797
4,003
(+402.26%)
3DMark Time Spy Score
933.5
4,114
(+340.71%)
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
15,167
73,987
(+387.82%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
2,779
11,717
(+321.63%)
3DMark 11 Performance Score
4,199
13,415
(+219.48%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
66.4
142
(+113.86%)
PassMark G3D Mark
1,434
8,623
(+501.32%)
PassMark G2D Mark
282
765
(+171.28%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
30.1
140
(+365.12%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL
24.8
111
(+347.58%)
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecRadeon 540XRadeon R9 290X
CodenameLexaHawaii
ArchitectureGCN 4.0GCN 2.0
Process Size14 nm28 nm
Transistors2,200 million6,200 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecRadeon 540XRadeon R9 290X
Memory Size2 GB4 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth48 Gb/s320 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,500 MHz1,250 MHz
Memory Interface64 bit512 bit
L1 Cache16 KB16 KB
L2 Cache512 KB1,024 KB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecRadeon 540XRadeon R9 290X
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x8PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)50 W290 W
Suggested PSU--600 W
Power Connectors--1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsDevice DependentDVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecRadeon 540XRadeon R9 290X
Stream Processors (SP)5122,816
Compute Units (CU)844
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)32176
Render Output Units (ROP)1664
Core Clock Speed980 MHz1,000 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,046 MHz--

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecRadeon 540XRadeon R9 290X
Pixel Fill Rate16.74 GPixel/s64 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate33.47 GTexel/s176 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance1,071 GFLOPS5.63 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance66.94 GFLOPS704 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecRadeon 540XRadeon R9 290X
DirectX12 (12_0)12 (12_0)
OpenCL2.12.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.76.5

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.