Radeon RX 540 vs GeForce GTX 650

Place in the ranking	659	542
Place by popularity	67	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.36	no data
Power efficiency	4.83	9.98
Architecture	Kepler (2012−2018)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	GK107	Lexa
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	6 September 2012 (12 years ago)	11 November 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$109	no data

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	384	512
Core clock speed	1058 MHz	1124 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1219 MHz
Number of transistors	1,270 million	2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	64 Watt	50 Watt
Texture fill rate	33.86	39.01
Floating-point processing power	0.8125 TFLOPS	1.248 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	16
TMUs	32	32

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	no data	large
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x8
Length	147 mm	no data
Height	4.38" (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	1-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	128-bit GDDR5	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	5.0 GB/s	1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	80.0 GB/s	96 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	One Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One Mini HDMI	No outputs
Multi monitor support	4 displays	no data
HDMI	+	-
HDCP	+	-
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync	-	+
3D Blu-Ray	+	-
3D Gaming	+	-
3D Vision	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	5.1	6.4
OpenGL	4.3	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.0
Vulkan	1.1.126	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.

GTX 650 4.56

RX 540 7.25
+59%

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.

GTX 650 1752

RX 540 2788
+59.1%

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.

GTX 650 2270

RX 540 3686
+62.4%

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

GTX 650 4484

RX 540 9416
+110%

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

14−16

−64.3%

23
+64.3%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

7.79

no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Elden Ring	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	18 +0%	18 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Metro Exodus	18 +0%	18 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Valorant	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Dota 2	23 +0%	23 +0%
Elden Ring	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Far Cry 5	20 +0%	20 +0%
Fortnite	13 +0%	13 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	11 +0%	11 +0%
Metro Exodus	9 +0%	9 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	57 +0%	57 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Valorant	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
World of Tanks	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	8 +0%	8 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Dota 2	38 +0%	38 +0%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	18 +0%	18 +0%
Valorant	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Elden Ring	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
World of Tanks	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Metro Exodus	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Valorant	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Dota 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Elden Ring	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Metro Exodus	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Dota 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Fortnite	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Valorant	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%

This is how GTX 650 and RX 540 compete in popular games:

RX 540 is 64% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	4.56	7.25
Recency	6 September 2012	11 November 2017
Chip lithography	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	64 Watt	50 Watt

RX 540 has a 59% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 28% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 540 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 650 in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 650 is a desktop card while Radeon RX 540 is a notebook one.

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