Radeon RX 540 vs Quadro FX 3800

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Quadro FX 3800 with Radeon RX 540, including specs and performance data.

FX 3800
2009
1 GB GDDR3, 108 Watt
2.13

RX 540 outperforms FX 3800 by a whopping 239% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking861539
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.06no data
Power efficiency1.3610.00
ArchitectureTesla 2.0 (2007−2013)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameGT200BLexa
Market segmentWorkstationLaptop
Release date30 March 2009 (15 years ago)11 November 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$799 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores192512
Core clock speed600 MHz1124 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1219 MHz
Number of transistors1,400 million2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)108 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rate38.4039.01
Floating-point processing power0.4623 TFLOPS1.248 TFLOPS
ROPs1616
TMUs6432

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 sizeno datalarge
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x8
Length198 mmno data
Width1-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pinNone

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 typeGDDR3GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed800 MHz1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth51.2 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 Connectors1x DVI, 2x DisplayPortNo outputs

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync-+

API compatibility

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

DirectX11.1 (10_0)12 (12_0)
Shader Model4.06.4
OpenGL3.34.6
OpenCL1.12.0
VulkanN/A1.2.131
CUDA1.3-

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.

FX 3800 2.13
RX 540 7.23
+239%

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.

FX 3800 823
RX 540 2788
+239%

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 HD6−7
−283%
23
+283%

Cost per frame, $

1080p133.17no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Battlefield 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Far Cry 5 13
+0%
13
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Hitman 3 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40
+0%
40
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Battlefield 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Far Cry 5 10
+0%
10
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Hitman 3 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Far Cry 5 7
+0%
7
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Hitman 3 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7
+0%
7
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%

1440p
High Preset

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

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Hitman 3 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Hitman 3 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Metro Exodus 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

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

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%

This is how FX 3800 and RX 540 compete in popular games:

  • RX 540 is 283% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 72 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 2.13 7.23
Recency 30 March 2009 11 November 2017
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 55 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 108 Watt 50 Watt

RX 540 has a 239.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 292.9% more advanced lithography process, and 116% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 540 is our recommended choice as it beats the Quadro FX 3800 in performance tests.

Be aware that Quadro FX 3800 is a workstation card while Radeon RX 540 is a notebook one.


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

Vote for your favorite

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NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800
Quadro FX 3800
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

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.1 49 votes

Rate Quadro FX 3800 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.7 157 votes

Rate Radeon RX 540 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.