Radeon RX 540 vs GeForce GTX 960M

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 960M and Radeon RX 540, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GTX 960M
2015
4 GB GDDR5, 75 Watt
8.75
+21%

GTX 960M outperforms RX 540 by a significant 21% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking488539
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency8.0810.01
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2017)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameGM107Lexa
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date13 March 2015 (9 years ago)11 November 2017 (7 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 cores640512
Core clock speed1096 MHz1124 MHz
Boost clock speed1176 MHz1219 MHz
Number of transistors1,870 million2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)75 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rate47.0439.01
Floating-point processing power1.505 TFLOPS1.248 TFLOPS
ROPs1616
TMUs4032

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 sizemedium sizedlarge
Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)PCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectorsno dataNone
SLI options+-

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB2 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed2500 MHz1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth80 GB/s96 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 ConnectorsNo outputsNo outputs
VGA аnalog display support+no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+no data
HDMI+-

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync-+
GameStream+-
GeForce ShadowPlay+-
GPU Boost2.0no data
GameWorks+-
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder+-
Optimus+-
BatteryBoost+-
Ansel+-

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_0)12 (12_0)
Shader Model5.16.4
OpenGL4.54.6
OpenCL1.22.0
Vulkan1.1.1261.2.131
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.

GTX 960M 8.75
+21%
RX 540 7.23

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.

GTX 960M 3374
+21%
RX 540 2788

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.

GTX 960M 5278
+13.6%
RX 540 4646

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.

GTX 960M 4318
+17.1%
RX 540 3686

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 960M 30086
+24.5%
RX 540 24170

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.

GTX 960M 10974
+16.5%
RX 540 9416

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 960M 226308
+63.8%
RX 540 138197

3DMark Time Spy Graphics

GTX 960M 1148
+45.9%
RX 540 787

Unigine Heaven 3.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark using Unigine, a 3D game engine by eponymous Russian company. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. Version 3.0 was released in 2012, and in 2013 it was superseded by Heaven 4.0, which introduced several slight improvements, including a newer version of Unigine.

GTX 960M 56
+80%
RX 540 31

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:

900p95
+26.7%
75−80
−26.7%
Full HD34
+47.8%
23
−47.8%
1440p15
+25%
12−14
−25%
4K14
+40%
10−12
−40%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 25
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+44.4%
9−10
−44.4%
Battlefield 5 30
+42.9%
21−24
−42.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
Far Cry 5 28
+115%
13
−115%
Far Cry New Dawn 31
+55%
20−22
−55%
Forza Horizon 4 84
+75%
45−50
−75%
Hitman 3 16−18
+21.4%
14−16
−21.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 50−55
+19%
40−45
−19%
Metro Exodus 31
+47.6%
21−24
−47.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+20%
20−22
−20%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 48
+20%
40
−20%
Watch Dogs: Legion 55−60
+9.3%
50−55
−9.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 31
+72.2%
18−20
−72.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+44.4%
9−10
−44.4%
Battlefield 5 23
+9.5%
21−24
−9.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
Far Cry 5 24
+140%
10
−140%
Far Cry New Dawn 23
+15%
20−22
−15%
Forza Horizon 4 71
+47.9%
45−50
−47.9%
Hitman 3 16−18
+21.4%
14−16
−21.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 50−55
+19%
40−45
−19%
Metro Exodus 26
+23.8%
21−24
−23.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+20%
20−22
−20%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 27−30
+20.8%
24−27
−20.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 73
+232%
21−24
−232%
Watch Dogs: Legion 55−60
+9.3%
50−55
−9.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 11
−63.6%
18−20
+63.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+44.4%
9−10
−44.4%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
Far Cry 5 18
+157%
7
−157%
Forza Horizon 4 25
−92%
45−50
+92%
Hitman 3 16−18
+21.4%
14−16
−21.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 50−55
+19%
40−45
−19%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 27−30
+20.8%
24−27
−20.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14
+100%
7
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 55−60
+9.3%
50−55
−9.3%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+20%
20−22
−20%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 14
+0%
14−16
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 15
+36.4%
10−12
−36.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 10
+25%
8−9
−25%
Forza Horizon 4 45
+73.1%
24−27
−73.1%
Hitman 3 12−14
+9.1%
10−12
−9.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
Metro Exodus 15
+87.5%
8−9
−87.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−11
+100%
5−6
−100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 55−60
+21.7%
45−50
−21.7%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+25%
12−14
−25%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 6
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 7
+40%
5−6
−40%
Hitman 3 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+52.2%
21−24
−52.2%
Metro Exodus 8
+100%
4−5
−100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10
+150%
4−5
−150%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Far Cry 5 4
+0%
4−5
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Watch Dogs: Legion 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%

This is how GTX 960M and RX 540 compete in popular games:

  • GTX 960M is 27% faster in 900p
  • GTX 960M is 48% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 960M is 25% faster in 1440p
  • GTX 960M is 40% faster in 4K

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

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 960M is 232% faster.
  • in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 540 is 92% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 960M is ahead in 66 tests (92%)
  • RX 540 is ahead in 2 tests (3%)
  • there's a draw in 4 tests (6%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 8.75 7.23
Recency 13 March 2015 11 November 2017
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 75 Watt 50 Watt

GTX 960M has a 21% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

RX 540, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 50% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 960M is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 540 in performance tests.


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

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
GeForce GTX 960M
AMD Radeon RX 540
Radeon RX 540

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

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Questions & comments

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