Radeon RX 6400 vs RX 540

Place in the ranking	544	284
Place by popularity	not in top-100	92
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	53.96
Power efficiency	10.00	25.82
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Lexa	Navi 24
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	11 November 2017 (7 years ago)	19 January 2022 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$159

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 cores	512	768
Core clock speed	1124 MHz	1923 MHz
Boost clock speed	1219 MHz	2321 MHz
Number of transistors	2,200 million	5,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	53 Watt
Texture fill rate	39.01	111.4
Floating-point processing power	1.248 TFLOPS	3.565 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	32
TMUs	32	48
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	12

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	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x8	PCIe 4.0 x4
Width	no data	1-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	None

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	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	4 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	1500 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	96 GB/s	128.0 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 Connectors	No outputs	1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI	-	+

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)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.4	6.7
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.3

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.

RX 540 7.25

RX 6400 19.84
+174%

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.

RX 540 2788

RX 6400 7626
+174%

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

−161%

60−65
+161%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

no data

2.65

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −150%	35−40 +150%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	18 −150%	45−50 +150%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −150%	35−40 +150%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 −159%	75−80 +159%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 −165%	45−50 +165%
Metro Exodus	18 −150%	45−50 +150%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 −150%	50−55 +150%
Valorant	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −161%	60−65 +161%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −150%	35−40 +150%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%
Dota 2	23 −161%	60−65 +161%
Far Cry 5	20 −150%	50−55 +150%
Fortnite	13 −169%	35−40 +169%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 −159%	75−80 +159%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 −165%	45−50 +165%
Grand Theft Auto V	11 −173%	30−33 +173%
Metro Exodus	9 −167%	24−27 +167%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	57 −163%	150−160 +163%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 −150%	50−55 +150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −173%	60−65 +173%
Valorant	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%
World of Tanks	110−120 −170%	300−310 +170%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	8 −163%	21−24 +163%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −150%	35−40 +150%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%
Dota 2	38 −163%	100−105 +163%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −166%	85−90 +166%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 −159%	75−80 +159%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 −165%	45−50 +165%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	18 −150%	45−50 +150%
Valorant	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	8−9 −163%	21−24 +163%
Grand Theft Auto V	9−10 −167%	24−27 +167%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 −156%	100−105 +156%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 −167%	16−18 +167%
World of Tanks	50−55 −169%	140−150 +169%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 −169%	35−40 +169%
Counter-Strike 2	30−35 −158%	80−85 +158%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 −167%	16−18 +167%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 −150%	35−40 +150%
Forza Horizon 5	10−12 −173%	30−33 +173%
Metro Exodus	10−12 −173%	30−33 +173%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 −170%	27−30 +170%
Valorant	18−20 −150%	45−50 +150%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	1−2 −100%	2−3 +100%
Dota 2	18−20 −150%	45−50 +150%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 −150%	45−50 +150%
Metro Exodus	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	21−24 −162%	55−60 +162%
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 −140%	12−14 +140%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 −150%	45−50 +150%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	6−7 −167%	16−18 +167%
Counter-Strike 2	1−2 −100%	2−3 +100%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −150%	5−6 +150%
Dota 2	18−20 −150%	45−50 +150%
Far Cry 5	8−9 −163%	21−24 +163%
Fortnite	7−8 −157%	18−20 +157%
Forza Horizon 4	8−9 −163%	21−24 +163%
Forza Horizon 5	5−6 −140%	12−14 +140%
Valorant	7−8 −157%	18−20 +157%

This is how RX 540 and RX 6400 compete in popular games:

RX 6400 is 161% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	7.25	19.84
Recency	11 November 2017	19 January 2022
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	53 Watt

RX 540 has 6% lower power consumption.

RX 6400, on the other hand, has a 173.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 133.3% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 6400 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 540 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon RX 540 is a notebook card while Radeon RX 6400 is a desktop one.

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