Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs RX 540

Place in performance ranking	511	263
Place by popularity	not in top-100	42
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	9.15	27.86
Architecture	Polaris (2016−2019)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	Polaris 12	Polaris 20
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	21 March 2017 (7 years ago)	15 October 2018 (5 years ago)
Current price	$166	$110

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 580 2048SP has 204% better value for money than RX 540.

Detailed specifications

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	2048
Core clock speed	no data	1168 MHz
Boost clock speed	1219 MHz	1284 MHz
Number of transistors	1,500 million	5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	39.01	164.4
Floating-point performance	1,248 gflops	no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on Radeon RX 540 and Radeon RX 580 2048SP 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.

Laptop size	large	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	no data	241 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	1x 8-pin

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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	6000 MHz	7000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	96 GB/s	224.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	no data

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	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	no data	+

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync

no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12.0	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	5.0	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.0
Vulkan	no data	1.2.131

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 540 7.21

RX 580 2048SP 19.93
+176%

RX 580 2048SP outperforms RX 540 by 176% 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 540 2788

RX 580 2048SP 7707
+176%

RX 580 2048SP outperforms RX 540 by 176% 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

−171%

65−70
+171%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

10−12

−173%

30−33
+173%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 −150%	35−40 +150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	9−10 −167%	24−27 +167%
Battlefield 5	21−24 −162%	55−60 +162%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 −150%	40−45 +150%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −173%	30−33 +173%
Far Cry 5	13 −169%	35−40 +169%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 −163%	50−55 +163%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%
Hitman 3	16−18 −150%	40−45 +150%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −169%	70−75 +169%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −163%	50−55 +163%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 −175%	55−60 +175%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 −162%	55−60 +162%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12−14 −150%	30−33 +150%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 −150%	35−40 +150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	9−10 −167%	24−27 +167%
Battlefield 5	21−24 −162%	55−60 +162%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 −150%	40−45 +150%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −173%	30−33 +173%
Far Cry 5	20 −175%	55−60 +175%
Far Cry New Dawn	9 −167%	24−27 +167%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%
Hitman 3	16−18 −150%	40−45 +150%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −169%	70−75 +169%
Metro Exodus	17 −165%	45−50 +165%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 −175%	55−60 +175%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	8 −163%	21−24 +163%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	11 −173%	30−33 +173%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12−14 −150%	30−33 +150%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 −150%	35−40 +150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	9−10 −167%	24−27 +167%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 −150%	40−45 +150%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −173%	30−33 +173%
Far Cry 5	7 −157%	18−20 +157%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −169%	70−75 +169%
Metro Exodus	16 −150%	40−45 +150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	7 −157%	18−20 +157%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12−14 −150%	30−33 +150%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

20−22

−175%

55−60
+175%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16 −150%	35−40 +150%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 −173%	30−33 +173%
Hitman 3	8−9 −163%	21−24 +163%
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 −140%	12−14 +140%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 −167%	16−18 +167%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 −150%	5−6 +150%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 −167%	24−27 +167%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −173%	30−33 +173%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 −169%	35−40 +169%
Horizon Zero Dawn	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%
Metro Exodus	8−9 −163%	21−24 +163%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	5−6 −140%	12−14 +140%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	7−8 −157%	18−20 +157%
Watch Dogs: Legion	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%

4K
High Preset

Far Cry 5	18−20 −150%	45−50 +150%
Far Cry New Dawn	5−6 −140%	12−14 +140%
Hitman 3	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
Horizon Zero Dawn	7−8 −157%	18−20 +157%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 −150%	10−11 +150%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	4−5 −150%	10−11 +150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
Battlefield 5	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 −150%	10−11 +150%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −100%	2−3 +100%
Forza Horizon 4	8−9 −163%	21−24 +163%
Horizon Zero Dawn	7−8 −157%	18−20 +157%
Metro Exodus	8−9 −163%	21−24 +163%
Watch Dogs: Legion	2−3 −150%	5−6 +150%