AMD Radeon 540X vs NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS SLI

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Combined performance score

9800M GTS SLI
1.99

Radeon 540X outperforms GeForce 9800M GTS SLI by 84% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking844667
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money0.314.04
ArchitectureG9x (2007−2010)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameNB9E-GTLexa
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date15 July 2008 (15 years old)12 August 2019 (4 years old)
Current price$149 $421
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

Radeon 540X has 1203% better value for money than 9800M GTS SLI.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores128512
Core clock speed600 MHzno data
Boost clock speedno data1219 MHz
Number of transistors1508 Million2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)150 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rateno data33.47

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce 9800M GTS SLI and Radeon 540X compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop sizelargeno data
Interfaceno dataPCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectorsno dataNone
SLI options+no data

Memory

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 typeGDDR3GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount512 MB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speed800 MHz6000 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data112.0 GB/s
Shared memory--

Video outputs and ports

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 Connectorsno data1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
HDMIno data+

API support

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

DirectX1012 (12_0)
Shader Modelno data6.4
OpenGLno data4.6
OpenCLno data2.0
Vulkanno data1.2.131
CUDA+no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

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


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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.

9800M GTS SLI 1.99
Radeon 540X 3.67
+84.4%

Radeon 540X outperforms GeForce 9800M GTS SLI by 84% in our combined benchmark results.


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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

9800M GTS SLI 5663
Radeon 540X 11545
+104%

Radeon 540X outperforms GeForce 9800M GTS SLI by 104% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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 HD10−12
−100%
20
+100%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
−80%
9
+80%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3
−700%
16
+700%
Battlefield 5 2−3
−1200%
26
+1200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
−100%
22
+100%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
−40%
7−8
+40%
Far Cry 5 1−2
−500%
6−7
+500%
Far Cry New Dawn 1−2
−1500%
16
+1500%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
−175%
10−12
+175%
Hitman 3 3−4
−467%
17
+467%
Horizon Zero Dawn 3−4
−267%
11
+267%
Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
−40%
7−8
+40%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 8−9
−87.5%
15
+87.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3
−500%
12
+500%
Battlefield 5 2−3
−900%
20
+900%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+22.2%
9
−22.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
−40%
7−8
+40%
Far Cry 5 1−2
−500%
6−7
+500%
Far Cry New Dawn 1−2
−1400%
15
+1400%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
−175%
10−12
+175%
Hitman 3 3−4
−133%
7
+133%
Horizon Zero Dawn 3−4
−100%
6−7
+100%
Metro Exodus 3−4
−100%
6
+100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
−40%
7−8
+40%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 8−9
−50%
12
+50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 5−6
−220%
16
+220%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3
−200%
6−7
+200%
Battlefield 5 2−3
−800%
18
+800%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
−40%
7−8
+40%
Far Cry 5 1−2
−500%
6−7
+500%
Far Cry New Dawn 1−2
−1300%
14
+1300%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
−175%
10−12
+175%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 5−6
−100%
10
+100%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
−50%
6−7
+50%
Hitman 3 5−6
−40%
7−8
+40%
Horizon Zero Dawn 9−10
−11.1%
10−11
+11.1%
Metro Exodus 0−1 2−3
Red Dead Redemption 2 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 5−6
−40%
7−8
+40%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Far Cry 5 3−4
−100%
6−7
+100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%
Hitman 3 2−3
−100%
4−5
+100%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Far Cry 5 3−4
−33.3%
4−5
+33.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%

This is how 9800M GTS SLI and Radeon 540X compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • Radeon 540X is 100% faster than 9800M GTS SLI

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

  • in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the 9800M GTS SLI is 22.2% faster than the Radeon 540X.
  • in Far Cry New Dawn, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the Radeon 540X is 1500% faster than the 9800M GTS SLI.

All in all, in popular games:

  • 9800M GTS SLI is ahead in 1 test (2%)
  • Radeon 540X is ahead in 45 tests (94%)
  • there's a draw in 2 tests (4%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 1.99 3.67
Recency 15 July 2008 12 August 2019
Maximum RAM amount 512 MB 2 GB
Chip lithography 55 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 50 Watt

The Radeon 540X is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9800M GTS SLI in performance tests.


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS SLI
GeForce 9800M GTS SLI
AMD Radeon 540X
Radeon 540X

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Questions and comments

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