Radeon 540 vs HD 8970M

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 8970M with Radeon 540, including specs and performance data.

HD 8970M
2013
4 GB GDDR5, 100 Watt
10.06
+180%

HD 8970M outperforms 540 by a whopping 180% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking449719
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluationno data0.10
Power efficiency6.894.92
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameNeptuneLexa
Market segmentLaptopDesktop
Release date14 May 2013 (11 years ago)20 April 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$79

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 cores1280384
Core clock speed850 MHz1183 MHz
Boost clock speed900 MHz1124 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)100 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rate72.0028.39
Floating-point processing power2.304 TFLOPS0.9085 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs8024

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 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x8
Lengthno data145 mm
Widthno data1-slot
Supplementary power connectorsno dataNone

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit32 Bit
Memory clock speed1200 MHz1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s24 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 ConnectorsNo outputs2x DisplayPort 1.4a

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)12 (12_0)
Shader Model5.16.7
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.1
Vulkan1.2.1311.3

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.

HD 8970M 10.06
+180%
Radeon 540 3.59

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.

HD 8970M 3876
+180%
Radeon 540 1383

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 HD51
+183%
18−20
−183%

Cost per frame, $

1080pno data4.39

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+220%
5−6
−220%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+200%
8−9
−200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
+200%
5−6
−200%
Battlefield 5 30−35
+210%
10−11
−210%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+220%
5−6
−220%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+188%
8−9
−188%
Far Cry New Dawn 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+219%
21−24
−219%
Hitman 3 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+206%
18−20
−206%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+220%
10−11
−220%
Red Dead Redemption 2 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
+230%
10−11
−230%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+200%
21−24
−200%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+200%
8−9
−200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
+200%
5−6
−200%
Battlefield 5 30−35
+210%
10−11
−210%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+220%
5−6
−220%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+188%
8−9
−188%
Far Cry New Dawn 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+219%
21−24
−219%
Hitman 3 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+206%
18−20
−206%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+220%
10−11
−220%
Red Dead Redemption 2 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
+230%
10−11
−230%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 82
+204%
27−30
−204%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+200%
21−24
−200%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+200%
8−9
−200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
+200%
5−6
−200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+220%
5−6
−220%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+188%
8−9
−188%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+219%
21−24
−219%
Hitman 3 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+206%
18−20
−206%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
+230%
10−11
−230%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18
+200%
6−7
−200%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+200%
21−24
−200%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+200%
5−6
−200%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−11
+233%
3−4
−233%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
+200%
2−3
−200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−11
+233%
3−4
−233%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+200%
4−5
−200%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+181%
16−18
−181%
Hitman 3 12−14
+225%
4−5
−225%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+200%
7−8
−200%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+200%
5−6
−200%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
+225%
4−5
−225%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11
+233%
3−4
−233%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+205%
21−24
−205%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+183%
6−7
−183%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 9−10
+200%
3−4
−200%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%
Hitman 3 6−7
+200%
2−3
−200%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+207%
14−16
−207%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+300%
2−3
−300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
+300%
2−3
−300%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+200%
2−3
−200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+300%
1−2
−300%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+225%
4−5
−225%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
+300%
1−2
−300%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+233%
3−4
−233%

This is how HD 8970M and Radeon 540 compete in popular games:

  • HD 8970M is 183% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 10.06 3.59
Recency 14 May 2013 20 April 2017
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 50 Watt

HD 8970M has a 180.2% higher aggregate performance score, and a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount.

Radeon 540, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 100% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 8970M is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon 540 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 8970M is a notebook card while Radeon 540 is a desktop one.


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

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AMD Radeon HD 8970M
Radeon HD 8970M
AMD Radeon 540
Radeon 540

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.


4.4 46 votes

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3.1 47 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.