GeForce GT 540M vs GTX 960M
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GTX 960M and GeForce GT 540M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GTX 960M outperforms GT 540M by a whopping 609% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 460 | 1004 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 1.49 | 0.05 |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2018) | Fermi (2010−2014) |
| GPU code name | N16P-GX | N12P-GS |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 12 March 2015 (9 years ago) | 6 January 2011 (13 years ago) |
| Current price | $799 | $283 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
GTX 960M has 2880% better value for money than GT 540M.
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 | 640 | 96 |
| CUDA cores | 640 | 96 |
| Core clock speed | 1096 MHz | 672 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1202 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 1,870 million | 585 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | 35 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 47.04 | 10.8 billion/sec |
| Floating-point performance | 1,505 gflops | 258.05 gflops |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on GeForce GTX 960M and GeForce GT 540M 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 size | medium sized | large |
| Bus support | PCI Express 3.0 | no data |
| Interface | MXM-B (3.0) | MXM-A (3.0) |
| SLI options | + | no data |
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 | GDDR5 | DDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 2 GB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 2500 MHz | 900 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 80 GB/s | 28.8 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 | No outputs |
| VGA аnalog display support | + | no data |
| DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support | + | no data |
| HDMI | + | no data |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| 3D Blu-Ray | no data | + |
| 3D Gaming | no data | + |
| GameStream | + | no data |
| GeForce ShadowPlay | + | no data |
| GPU Boost | 2.0 | no data |
| GameWorks | + | no data |
| H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder | + | no data |
| Optimus | + | + |
| BatteryBoost | + | no data |
| Ansel | + | no data |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 API |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | N/A |
| 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.
GTX 960M outperforms GT 540M by 609% based on our aggregate 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%
GTX 960M outperforms GT 540M by 609% in Passmark.
3DMark 11 Performance GPU
3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.
Benchmark coverage: 17%
GTX 960M outperforms GT 540M by 494% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.
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%
GTX 960M outperforms GT 540M by 468% 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%
GTX 960M outperforms GT 540M by 409% 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%
GTX 960M outperforms GT 540M by 357% 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 | 95
+494%
| 16
−494%
|
| Full HD | 36
+89.5%
| 19
−89.5%
|
| 1440p | 14
+1300%
| 1−2
−1300%
|
| 4K | 14
+1300%
| 1−2
−1300%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 14−16 | no data |
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 25 | no data |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 12−14
+1100%
|
1−2
−1100%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 30
+650%
|
4−5
−650%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 18−20 | no data |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 14−16 | no data |
| Far Cry 5 | 28 | no data |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 31 | no data |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 35 | no data |
| Hitman 3 | 16−18 | no data |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 35−40 | no data |
| Metro Exodus | 31
+675%
|
4−5
−675%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 24−27 | no data |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 27−30 | no data |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35 | no data |
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 19 | no data |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 12−14
+1100%
|
1−2
−1100%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 23
+667%
|
3−4
−667%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 18−20 | no data |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 14−16 | no data |
| Far Cry 5 | 24 | no data |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 23 | no data |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 71 | no data |
| Hitman 3 | 16−18 | no data |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 35−40 | no data |
| Metro Exodus | 25
+733%
|
3−4
−733%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 24−27 | no data |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 27−30 | no data |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 24 | no data |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35 | no data |
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 11 | no data |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 12−14
+1100%
|
1−2
−1100%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 18−20 | no data |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 14−16 | no data |
| Far Cry 5 | 18 | no data |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 25 | no data |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 35−40 | no data |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 27−30 | no data |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 14 | no data |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35 | no data |
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 24−27 | no data |
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 14 | no data |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 16 | no data |
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 8 | no data |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 4−5 | 0−1 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 10−12 | no data |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5 | no data |
| Far Cry 5 | 15 | no data |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 18 | no data |
| Hitman 3 | 12−14 | no data |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 18−20 | no data |
| Metro Exodus | 15
+650%
|
2−3
−650%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 10−11
+900%
|
1−2
−900%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 8−9 | no data |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 4−5 | 0−1 |
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 14−16 | no data |
4K
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 6 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 7 | no data |
| Hitman 3 | 5−6 | 0−1 |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 9−10 | no data |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 4−5 | 0−1 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10
+900%
|
1−2
−900%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 5−6 | no data |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 4−5 | no data |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5 | no data |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 4 | no data |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 10−12
+1000%
|
1−2
−1000%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 9−10 | no data |
| Metro Exodus | 6 | no data |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 3−4 | 0−1 |
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 9−10 | no data |
This is how GTX 960M and GT 540M compete in popular games:
- GTX 960M is 494% faster in 900p
- GTX 960M is 89% faster in 1080p
- GTX 960M is 1300% faster in 1440p
- GTX 960M is 1300% faster in 4K
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 8.79 | 1.24 |
| Recency | 12 March 2015 | 6 January 2011 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 2 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | 35 Watt |
The GeForce GTX 960M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 540M in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
