GeForce 9800M GTX SLI vs Radeon RX 540

Place in the ranking	546	773
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	9.98	1.41
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	G9x (2007−2010)
GPU code name	Lexa	NB9E-GTX
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	11 November 2017 (7 years ago)	15 July 2008 (16 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 cores	512	224
Core clock speed	1124 MHz	500 MHz
Boost clock speed	1219 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,200 million	3016 Million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	39.01	no data
Floating-point processing power	1.248 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	16	no data
TMUs	32	no data

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 size	large	large
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x8	no data
Supplementary power connectors	None	no data
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 type	GDDR5	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1500 MHz	800 MHz
Memory bandwidth	96 GB/s	no data
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 Connectors

No outputs

no data

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.

DirectX	12 (12_0)	10
Shader Model	6.4	no data
OpenGL	4.6	no data
OpenCL	2.0	no data
Vulkan	1.2.131	-
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.

RX 540 6.92
+135%

9800M GTX SLI 2.94

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.

RX 540 13720
+67.5%

9800M GTX SLI 8193

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

23
+156%

9−10

−156%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +114%	7−8 −114%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	18 +125%	8−9 −125%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +114%	7−8 −114%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +93.3%	14−16 −93.3%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 +467%	3−4 −467%
Metro Exodus	18 +200%	6−7 −200%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +81.8%	10−12 −81.8%
Valorant	24−27 +525%	4−5 −525%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +188%	8−9 −188%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +114%	7−8 −114%
Dota 2	23 +156%	9−10 −156%
Far Cry 5	20 +17.6%	16−18 −17.6%
Fortnite	13 −30.8%	16−18 +30.8%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +93.3%	14−16 −93.3%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 +467%	3−4 −467%
Grand Theft Auto V	11 +22.2%	9−10 −22.2%
Metro Exodus	9 +50%	6−7 −50%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	57 +104%	27−30 −104%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +81.8%	10−12 −81.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +100%	10−12 −100%
Valorant	24−27 +525%	4−5 −525%
World of Tanks	110−120 +102%	55−60 −102%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	8 +0%	8−9 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +114%	7−8 −114%
Dota 2	38 +322%	9−10 −322%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +88.2%	16−18 −88.2%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +93.3%	14−16 −93.3%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 +467%	3−4 −467%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	18 −55.6%	27−30 +55.6%
Valorant	24−27 +525%	4−5 −525%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Grand Theft Auto V	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 +77.3%	21−24 −77.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 +200%	2−3 −200%
World of Tanks	50−55 +148%	21−24 −148%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +333%	3−4 −333%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +114%	7−8 −114%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 +600%	2−3 −600%
Forza Horizon 5	10−12 +267%	3−4 −267%
Metro Exodus	10−12 +175%	4−5 −175%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 +66.7%	6−7 −66.7%
Valorant	18−20 +90%	10−11 −90%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Dota 2	18−20 +12.5%	16−18 −12.5%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 +20%	14−16 −20%
Metro Exodus	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	21−24 +133%	9−10 −133%
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +12.5%	16−18 −12.5%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	6−7 +200%	2−3 −200%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Dota 2	18−20 +12.5%	16−18 −12.5%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +167%	3−4 −167%
Fortnite	7−8 +250%	2−3 −250%
Forza Horizon 4	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Forza Horizon 5	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Valorant	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%

This is how RX 540 and 9800M GTX SLI compete in popular games:

RX 540 is 156% faster in 1080p

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

in Dota 2, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the RX 540 is 700% faster.
in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the 9800M GTX SLI is 56% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 540 is ahead in 55 tests (90%)
9800M GTX SLI is ahead in 2 tests (3%)
there's a draw in 4 tests (7%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	6.92	2.94
Recency	11 November 2017	15 July 2008
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	150 Watt

RX 540 has a 135.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 9 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 364.3% more advanced lithography process, and 200% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 540 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9800M GTX SLI in performance tests.

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