Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
RX 6900 XT vs 540
Aggregated performance score
Radeon 540
2019
2 GB GDDR5
3.51
RX 6900 XT
2020
16 GB GDDR6
69.34
+1875%
RX 6900 XT outperforms 540 by 1875% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
General info
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 682 | 18 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Value for money | 0.30 | 18.65 |
| Architecture | GCN 4.0 (2016−2020) | Navi / RDNA2 (2020−2022) |
| GPU code name | Lexa | Navi 21 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 26 March 2019 (5 years old) | 8 December 2020 (3 years old) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $79 | $999 |
| Current price | $1233 (15.6x MSRP) | $957 (1x MSRP) |
Value for money
RX 6900 XT has 6117% better value for money than Radeon 540.
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 cores | 512 | 5120 |
| Core clock speed | 1100 MHz | 1825 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1124 MHz | 2250 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 2,200 million | 26,800 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 14 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 50 Watt | 300 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 35.97 | 720.0 |
Size and 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).
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |
| Length | 145 mm | 267 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 3-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | 2x 8-pin |
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 type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 16 GB |
| Memory bus width | 64 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 7000 MHz | 16000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 56 GB/s | 512.0 GB/s |
| Shared memory | no data | - |
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 Connectors | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort | 1x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C |
| HDMI | + | + |
API support
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 6.5 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 2.0 | 2.1 |
| Vulkan | 1.2.131 | 1.2 |
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.
RX 6900 XT outperforms 540 by 1875% 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%
RX 6900 XT outperforms 540 by 1873% in Passmark.
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 HD | 9−10
−2044%
| 193
+2044%
|
| 1440p | 6−7
−2133%
| 134
+2133%
|
| 4K | 4−5
−1975%
| 83
+1975%
|
Advantages and disadvantages
| Performance score | 3.51 | 69.34 |
| Recency | 26 March 2019 | 8 December 2020 |
| Cost | $79 | $999 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 16 GB |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 50 Watt | 300 Watt |
The Radeon RX 6900 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon 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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