AMD Radeon 540X vs NVIDIA GeForce MX250

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Combined performance score

GeForce MX250
6.27
+70.8%

GeForce MX250 outperforms Radeon 540X by 71% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking541667
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money2.404.04
ArchitecturePascal (2016−2021)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameN17S-G2Lexa
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date20 February 2019 (5 years old)12 August 2019 (4 years old)
Current price$1165 $421
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

Radeon 540X has 68% better value for money than GeForce MX250.

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 cores384512
Core clock speed1518 MHzno data
Boost clock speed1582 MHz1219 MHz
Number of transistors1,800 million2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology14 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)10/25 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rate24.9133.47

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce MX250 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
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x4PCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectorsNoneNone

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB2 GB
Memory bus width64 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speed7000 MHz6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth48.06 GB/s112.0 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 outputs1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
HDMIno data+

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_1)12 (12_0)
Shader Model6.46.4
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.0
Vulkan1.21.2.131
CUDA6.1no 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.

GeForce MX250 6.27
+70.8%
Radeon 540X 3.67

GeForce MX250 outperforms Radeon 540X by 71% in our combined 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%

GeForce MX250 2429
+70.6%
Radeon 540X 1424

GeForce MX250 outperforms Radeon 540X by 71% in Passmark.

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%

GeForce MX250 16488
+42.8%
Radeon 540X 11545

GeForce MX250 outperforms Radeon 540X by 43% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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%

GeForce MX250 4633
+13.1%
Radeon 540X 4097

GeForce MX250 outperforms Radeon 540X by 13% 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%

GeForce MX250 3660
+31.7%
Radeon 540X 2779

GeForce MX250 outperforms Radeon 540X by 32% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GeForce MX250 21545
+42.1%
Radeon 540X 15167

GeForce MX250 outperforms Radeon 540X by 42% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GeForce MX250 44
+44.9%
Radeon 540X 30

GeForce MX250 outperforms Radeon 540X by 45% in Unigine Heaven 3.0.

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 HD23
+15%
20
−15%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 14
+55.6%
9
−55.6%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 19
+18.8%
16
−18.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 13
+8.3%
12
−8.3%
Battlefield 5 24
−8.3%
26
+8.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 23
+4.5%
22
−4.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 11
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Far Cry 5 19
+217%
6−7
−217%
Far Cry New Dawn 21
+31.3%
16
−31.3%
Forza Horizon 4 31
+182%
10−12
−182%
Hitman 3 14−16
−13.3%
17
+13.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 13
+18.2%
11
−18.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14
+100%
7−8
−100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18
+20%
15
−20%
Watch Dogs: Legion 9−10
−44.4%
13
+44.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 13
+8.3%
12
−8.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%
Battlefield 5 19
−5.3%
20
+5.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16
+77.8%
9
−77.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%
Far Cry 5 17
+183%
6−7
−183%
Far Cry New Dawn 18
+20%
15
−20%
Forza Horizon 4 24
+118%
10−12
−118%
Hitman 3 7
+0%
7
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 6
+0%
6−7
+0%
Metro Exodus 7
+16.7%
6
−16.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 8
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 11
−9.1%
12
+9.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21
+31.3%
16
−31.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 9−10
+200%
3−4
−200%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%
Battlefield 5 14
−28.6%
18
+28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%
Far Cry 5 16
+167%
6−7
−167%
Far Cry New Dawn 17
+21.4%
14
−21.4%
Forza Horizon 4 16
+45.5%
10−12
−45.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12
+20%
10
−20%
Watch Dogs: Legion 9−10
+200%
3−4
−200%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%
Hitman 3 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+20%
10−11
−20%
Metro Exodus 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2 0−1
Battlefield 5 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Far Cry 5 10−11
+66.7%
6−7
−66.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Forza Horizon 4 9−10
+200%
3−4
−200%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Hitman 3 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Metro Exodus 1−2 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 2−3 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Battlefield 5 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Forza Horizon 4 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2 0−1

This is how GeForce MX250 and Radeon 540X compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • GeForce MX250 is 15% faster than Radeon 540X

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

  • in Far Cry New Dawn, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GeForce MX250 is 600% faster than the Radeon 540X.
  • in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the Radeon 540X is 44.4% faster than the GeForce MX250.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GeForce MX250 is ahead in 50 tests (85%)
  • Radeon 540X is ahead in 6 tests (10%)
  • there's a draw in 3 tests (5%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 6.27 3.67
Recency 20 February 2019 12 August 2019
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 10 Watt 50 Watt

The GeForce MX250 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon 540X 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 MX250
GeForce MX250
AMD Radeon 540X
Radeon 540X

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3.6 1447 votes

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