GeForce GT 720 vs GT 540M

Place in performance ranking	1001	917
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.05	0.02
Architecture	Fermi (2010−2014)	Kepler 2.0 (2013−2015)
GPU code name	N12P-GS	GK208B
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	6 January 2011 (13 years ago)	29 September 2014 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$49
Current price	$283	$394 (8x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GT 540M has 150% better value for money than GT 720.

Detailed specifications

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 cores	96	192
CUDA cores	96	192
Core clock speed	672 MHz	797 MHz
Number of transistors	585 million	915 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	19 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	98 °C
Texture fill rate	10.8 billion/sec	12.75
Floating-point performance	258.05 gflops	306.0 gflops

Form factor & compatibility

Information on GeForce GT 540M and GeForce GT 720 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). 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 size	large	no data
Bus support	no data	PCI Express 2.0
Interface	MXM-A (3.0)	PCIe 2.0 x8
Length	no data	5.7" (14.5 cm)
Height	no data	2.713" (6.9 cm)
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	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	DDR3	DDR3 / GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	1 GB or 1 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	900 MHz	1.8 GBps or 5.0 GB/s
Memory bandwidth	28.8 GB/s	14.4 (DDR3) or 40 (GDDR5)
Shared memory	-	no data

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	Dual Link DVI-DHDMIVGA
Multi monitor support	no data	3 displays
HDMI	no data	+
HDCP	no data	+
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI	no data	Internal

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

3D Blu-Ray	+	+
3D Gaming	+	+
3D Vision	no data	+
Optimus	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 API	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	5.1	5.1
OpenGL	4.5	4.4
OpenCL	1.1	1.2
Vulkan	N/A	1.1.126
CUDA	+	+

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.

GT 540M 1.24

GT 720 1.58
+27.4%

GT 720 outperforms GT 540M by 27% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GT 540M 478

GT 720 610
+27.6%

GT 720 outperforms GT 540M by 28% in Passmark.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GT 540M 760
+4.1%

GT 720 730

GT 540M outperforms GT 720 by 4% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

Benchmark coverage: 9%

GT 540M 2112
+21.4%

GT 720 1740

GT 540M outperforms GT 720 by 21% in GeekBench 5 OpenCL.

Octane Render OctaneBench

This is a special benchmark measuring graphics card performance in OctaneRender, which is a realistic GPU rendering engine by OTOY Inc., available either as a standalone program, or as a plugin for 3DS Max, Cinema 4D and many other apps. It renders four different static scenes, then compares render times with a reference GPU which is currently GeForce GTX 980. This benchmark has nothing to do with gaming and is aimed at professional 3D graphics artists.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GT 540M 7

GT 720 8
+14.3%

GT 720 outperforms GT 540M by 14% in Octane Render OctaneBench.

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:

900p	16 −12.5%	18−21 +12.5%
Full HD	20 −20%	24−27 +20%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

4−5

−25%

5−6
+25%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
Hitman 3	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
Hitman 3	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Metro Exodus	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Hitman 3	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Horizon Zero Dawn	8−9 −25%	10−11 +25%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry 5	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Hitman 3	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	0−1	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

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

This is how GT 540M and GT 720 compete in popular games:

GT 720 is 13% faster in 900p
GT 720 is 20% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.24	1.58
Recency	6 January 2011	29 September 2014
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	1 GB or 1 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	19 Watt