Radeon 540X vs GeForce GT 550M

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GT 550M and Radeon 540X, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GT 550M
2011
1 GB DDR3, 35 Watt
1.47

540X outperforms GT 550M by a whopping 154% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking986708
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency2.885.11
ArchitectureFermi (2010−2014)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameGF108Lexa
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date5 January 2011 (13 years ago)5 September 2018 (6 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 cores96512
Core clock speed475 MHz980 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1046 MHz
Number of transistors585 million2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)35 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rate7.60033.47
Floating-point processing power0.1824 TFLOPS1.071 TFLOPS
ROPs416
TMUs1632

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 sizelargeno data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectorsNoneNone

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 typeDDR3GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB2 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speed900 MHz1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth28.8 GB/s48 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 ConnectorsPortable Device DependentNo outputs

Supported technologies

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

Optimus+-

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12 API12 (12_0)
Shader Model5.16.4
OpenGL4.54.6
OpenCL1.12.0
VulkanN/A1.2.131
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.

GT 550M 1.47
Radeon 540X 3.73
+154%

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.

GT 550M 567
Radeon 540X 1437
+153%

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.

GT 550M 974
Radeon 540X 4097
+321%

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.

GT 550M 4782
Radeon 540X 11545
+141%

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:

900p15
−133%
35−40
+133%
Full HD23
+21.1%
19
−21.1%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
−125%
9
+125%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
−167%
16
+167%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
−100%
8−9
+100%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
−75%
7−8
+75%
Far Cry 5 2−3
−250%
7−8
+250%
Far Cry New Dawn 4−5
−150%
10−11
+150%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
−450%
21−24
+450%
Hitman 3 6−7
−83.3%
11
+83.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−73.3%
24−27
+73.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
−533%
19
+533%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 8−9
−75%
14−16
+75%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
−27.3%
40−45
+27.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
−83.3%
10−12
+83.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
−100%
8−9
+100%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
−75%
7−8
+75%
Far Cry 5 2−3
−250%
7−8
+250%
Far Cry New Dawn 4−5
−150%
10−11
+150%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
−450%
21−24
+450%
Hitman 3 6−7
−50%
9−10
+50%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−73.3%
24−27
+73.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
−367%
14
+367%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 8−9
−150%
20
+150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−12
−36.4%
14−16
+36.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
−27.3%
40−45
+27.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
−83.3%
10−12
+83.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
−100%
8−9
+100%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
−75%
7−8
+75%
Far Cry 5 2−3
−250%
7−8
+250%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
−450%
21−24
+450%
Hitman 3 6−7
−50%
9−10
+50%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−73.3%
24−27
+73.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 8−9
−113%
17
+113%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−12
+10%
10
−10%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
−27.3%
40−45
+27.3%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
−300%
12
+300%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 2−3
−250%
7−8
+250%
Far Cry New Dawn 2−3
−200%
6−7
+200%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 1−2
−200%
3−4
+200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 0−1 3−4
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Far Cry 5 2−3
−100%
4−5
+100%
Hitman 3 7−8
−14.3%
8−9
+14.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 5−6
−80%
9−10
+80%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 1−2
−200%
3−4
+200%
Watch Dogs: Legion 7−8
−229%
21−24
+229%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
−75%
7−8
+75%

4K
High Preset

Far Cry New Dawn 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 1−2
−200%
3−4
+200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 0−1 1−2
Far Cry 5 0−1 2−3

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
−66.7%
5−6
+66.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12
+0%
12
+0%
Battlefield 5 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Metro Exodus 23
+0%
23
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Battlefield 5 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Metro Exodus 17
+0%
17
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Forza Horizon 4 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Metro Exodus 0−1 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%

This is how GT 550M and Radeon 540X compete in popular games:

  • Radeon 540X is 133% faster in 900p
  • GT 550M is 21% faster in 1080p

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

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GT 550M is 10% faster.
  • in Red Dead Redemption 2, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the Radeon 540X is 533% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GT 550M is ahead in 1 test (2%)
  • Radeon 540X is ahead in 48 tests (80%)
  • there's a draw in 11 tests (18%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 1.47 3.73
Recency 5 January 2011 5 September 2018
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 40 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 35 Watt 50 Watt

GT 550M has 42.9% lower power consumption.

Radeon 540X, on the other hand, has a 153.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 185.7% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon 540X is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 550M 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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NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M
GeForce GT 550M
AMD Radeon 540X
Radeon 540X

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.6 61 vote

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3.8 317 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.