RX 6900 XT vs 540X

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Combined performance score

Radeon 540X
3.65

RX 6900 XT outperforms 540X by 1798% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking67218
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money4.0218.51
ArchitectureGCN 4.0 (2016−2020)Navi / RDNA2 (2020−2022)
GPU code nameLexaNavi 21
Market segmentLaptopDesktop
Release date12 August 2019 (4 years old)8 December 2020 (3 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$999
Current price$421 $957 (1x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 6900 XT has 360% better value for money than Radeon 540X.

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 cores5125120
Core clock speedno data1825 MHz
Boost clock speed1219 MHz2250 MHz
Number of transistors2,200 million26,800 million
Manufacturing process technology14 nm7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)50 Watt300 Watt
Texture fill rate33.47720.0

Size and compatibility

Information on Radeon 540X and Radeon RX 6900 XT compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). 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.

InterfacePCIe 3.0 x8PCIe 4.0 x16
Lengthno data267 mm
Widthno data3-slot
Supplementary power connectorsNone2x 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 typeGDDR5GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount2 GB16 GB
Memory bus width64 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed6000 MHz16000 MHz
Memory bandwidth112.0 GB/s512.0 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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort1x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C
HDMI++

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_0)12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model6.46.5
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.02.1
Vulkan1.2.1311.2

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.

Radeon 540X 3.65
RX 6900 XT 69.29
+1798%

RX 6900 XT outperforms 540X by 1798% 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%

Radeon 540X 1413
RX 6900 XT 26859
+1801%

RX 6900 XT outperforms 540X by 1801% 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%

Radeon 540X 4097
RX 6900 XT 59119
+1343%

RX 6900 XT outperforms 540X by 1343% 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%

Radeon 540X 2779
RX 6900 XT 50587
+1720%

RX 6900 XT outperforms 540X by 1720% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

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 HD20
−865%
193
+865%
1440p7−8
−1814%
134
+1814%
4K4−5
−1975%
83
+1975%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 9
−1411%
130−140
+1411%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 16
−631%
117
+631%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12
−1308%
169
+1308%
Battlefield 5 26
−650%
195
+650%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 22
−686%
170−180
+686%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
−1843%
130−140
+1843%
Far Cry 5 6−7
−2517%
150−160
+2517%
Far Cry New Dawn 16
−688%
126
+688%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
−2473%
283
+2473%
Hitman 3 17
−1565%
283
+1565%
Horizon Zero Dawn 11
−1764%
205
+1764%
Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
−2700%
196
+2700%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 15
−1380%
222
+1380%
Watch Dogs: Legion 13
−1362%
190
+1362%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12
−783%
106
+783%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
−7000%
142
+7000%
Battlefield 5 20
−880%
196
+880%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9
−1822%
170−180
+1822%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
−1843%
130−140
+1843%
Far Cry 5 6−7
−2517%
150−160
+2517%
Far Cry New Dawn 15
−720%
123
+720%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
−2436%
279
+2436%
Hitman 3 7
−3843%
276
+3843%
Horizon Zero Dawn 6−7
−2800%
174
+2800%
Metro Exodus 6
−2633%
164
+2633%
Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
−1671%
124
+1671%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12
−1625%
207
+1625%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16
−1919%
323
+1919%
Watch Dogs: Legion 3−4
−5567%
170
+5567%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
−1533%
98
+1533%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
−6750%
137
+6750%
Battlefield 5 18
−994%
197
+994%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
−1843%
130−140
+1843%
Far Cry 5 6−7
−2517%
150−160
+2517%
Far Cry New Dawn 14
−743%
118
+743%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
−2155%
248
+2155%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10
−1540%
164
+1540%
Watch Dogs: Legion 3−4
−3933%
121
+3933%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7
−2000%
120−130
+2000%
Hitman 3 7−8
−2943%
213
+2943%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−11
−1260%
136
+1260%
Metro Exodus 2−3
−5000%
102
+5000%
Red Dead Redemption 2 2−3
−4000%
82
+4000%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 7−8
−2171%
159
+2171%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 1−2
−9800%
99
+9800%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
−3550%
70−75
+3550%
Far Cry 5 6−7
−2117%
130−140
+2117%
Far Cry New Dawn 1−2
−11600%
117
+11600%
Forza Horizon 4 3−4
−7600%
231
+7600%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 3−4
−4167%
120−130
+4167%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4
−2500%
75−80
+2500%
Hitman 3 4−5
−3100%
128
+3100%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
−375%
38
+375%
Red Dead Redemption 2 2−3
−2650%
55
+2650%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 0−1 85

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3
−3300%
68
+3300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2
−6500%
66
+6500%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 35−40
Far Cry 5 4−5
−1950%
80−85
+1950%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
−1583%
101
+1583%
Forza Horizon 4 1−2
−16100%
162
+16100%

This is how Radeon 540X and RX 6900 XT compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • RX 6900 XT is 865% faster than Radeon 540X

1440p resolution:

  • RX 6900 XT is 1814% faster than Radeon 540X

4K resolution:

  • RX 6900 XT is 1975% faster than Radeon 540X

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

  • in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 6900 XT is 16100% faster than the Radeon 540X.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, RX 6900 XT surpassed Radeon 540X in all 59 of our tests.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 3.65 69.29
Recency 12 August 2019 8 December 2020
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 540X in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon 540X is a notebook card while Radeon RX 6900 XT is a desktop one.


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

User ratings

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AMD Radeon 540X
Radeon 540X
AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
Radeon RX 6900 XT

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