Radeon 540X vs GeForce 9600M GT

Place in the ranking	1289	717
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	1.09	5.16
Architecture	Tesla (2006−2010)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	G96C	Lexa
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	4 June 2008 (16 years ago)	5 September 2018 (6 years ago)

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	32	512
Core clock speed	120 MHz	980 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1046 MHz
Number of transistors	314 million	2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	55 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	23 Watt	50 Watt
Texture fill rate	8.000	33.47
Floating-point processing power	0.08 TFLOPS	1.071 TFLOPS
ROPs	8	16
TMUs	16	32

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop size	medium sized	no data
Interface	MXM-II	PCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectors	None	None

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR3	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	512 MB	2 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	800 MHz	1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	48 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors

No outputs

API and SDK compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	11.1 (10_0)	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	4.0	6.4
OpenGL	3.3	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	2.0
Vulkan	N/A	1.2.131
CUDA	+	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

9600M GT 0.35

Radeon 540X 3.61
+931%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

9600M GT 139

Radeon 540X 1437
+934%

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

9600M GT 1459

Radeon 540X 11545
+691%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD

1−2

−1800%

19
+1800%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −18.2%	12−14 +18.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −200%	9 +200%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −18.2%	12−14 +18.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
Forza Horizon 4	6−7 −283%	23 +283%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 −375%	19 +375%

Full HD
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−12 +120%	5 −120%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
Far Cry 5	8−9 −138%	19 +138%
Forza Horizon 4	6−7 −233%	20 +233%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	7−8 −600%	49 +600%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 −200%	12−14 +200%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	5−6 −160%	12−14 +160%
World of Tanks	12−14 −323%	55 +323%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −18.2%	12−14 +18.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
Far Cry 5	8−9 −138%	19 +138%
Forza Horizon 4	6−7 −183%	17 +183%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	7−8 −371%	30−35 +371%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	3−4 −900%	30−33 +900%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	2−3 −1150%	24−27 +1150%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Far Cry 5	4−5 −125%	9−10 +125%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 −75%	7−8 +75%
Valorant	5−6 −120%	10−12 +120%

4K
High Preset

Dota 2	14−16 −6.7%	16−18 +6.7%
Grand Theft Auto V	14−16 −6.7%	16−18 +6.7%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	1−2 −1000%	10−12 +1000%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 −6.7%	16−18 +6.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	0−1	3−4
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Dota 2	14−16 −6.7%	16−18 +6.7%
Valorant	1−2 −200%	3−4 +200%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Forza Horizon 5	15 +0%	15 +0%
Metro Exodus	16 +0%	16 +0%
Valorant	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Dota 2	26 +0%	26 +0%
Fortnite	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Forza Horizon 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	15 +0%	15 +0%
Metro Exodus	8 +0%	8 +0%
Valorant	11 +0%	11 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Dota 2	44 +0%	44 +0%
Forza Horizon 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Valorant	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
World of Tanks	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Forza Horizon 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%

4K
High Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

2−3

+0%

2−3

+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Far Cry 5	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Fortnite	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Forza Horizon 5	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%

This is how 9600M GT and Radeon 540X compete in popular games:

Radeon 540X is 1800% faster in 1080p

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Counter-Strike 2, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the 9600M GT is 120% faster.
in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the Radeon 540X is 1150% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

9600M GT is ahead in 1 test (2%)
Radeon 540X is ahead in 29 tests (49%)
there's a draw in 29 tests (49%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.35	3.61
Recency	4 June 2008	5 September 2018
Maximum RAM amount	512 MB	2 GB
Chip lithography	55 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	23 Watt	50 Watt

9600M GT has 117.4% lower power consumption.

Radeon 540X, on the other hand, has a 931.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 292.9% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon 540X is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9600M GT in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.