Radeon 540 vs R9 270

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 270 and Radeon 540, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 270
2013
2 GB GDDR5, 150 Watt
11.17
+211%

R9 270 outperforms 540 by a whopping 211% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking422719
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation5.050.10
Power efficiency5.114.92
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameCuracaoLexa
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date13 November 2013 (11 years ago)20 April 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$179 $79

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 270 has 4950% better value for money than Radeon 540.

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 speedno data1183 MHz
Boost clock speed925 MHz1124 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)150 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rate74.0028.39
Floating-point processing power2.368 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).

Bus supportPCIe 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x8
Length210 mm145 mm
Width2-slot1-slot
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pinNone

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 amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit32 Bit
Memory clock speedno data1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth179.2 GB/s24 GB/s

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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort2x DisplayPort 1.4a
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-
DisplayPort support+-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire+-
FreeSync+-
HD3D+-
LiquidVR+-
TressFX+-
TrueAudio+-
UVD+-
DDMA audio+no data

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212 (12_0)
Shader Model5.16.7
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.1
Vulkan+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.

R9 270 11.17
+211%
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.

R9 270 4306
+211%
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.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.17 3.59
Recency 13 November 2013 20 April 2017
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 50 Watt

R9 270 has a 211.1% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

Radeon 540, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 200% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R9 270 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon 540 in performance tests.


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

Vote for your favorite

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AMD Radeon R9 270
Radeon R9 270
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.


3.9 602 votes

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3.1 47 votes

Rate Radeon 540 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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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.