GeForce GTX 280M SLI vs Radeon RX 540

Place in performance ranking	538	726
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Architecture	Polaris (2016−2019)	G9x (2007−2010)
GPU code name	Polaris 12	N10E-GTX
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	21 March 2017 (7 years ago)	2 March 2009 (15 years ago)

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	512	256
Core clock speed	no data	585 MHz
Boost clock speed	1219 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	1,500 million	1508 Million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	39.01	no data
Floating-point performance	1.248 gflops	no data

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	large
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	no data

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	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	6000 MHz	950 MHz
Memory bandwidth	96 GB/s	no data
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

no data

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 graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12.0	10
Shader Model	5.0	no data
OpenGL	4.6	no data
OpenCL	1.2	no data
CUDA	-	+

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 7.23
+111%

GTX 280M SLI 3.43

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.

RX 540 13720
+45.4%

GTX 280M SLI 9435

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

24
+140%

10−12

−140%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

10−12
+83.3%

6−7

−83.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 +80%	10−11 −80%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Battlefield 5	21−24 +250%	6−7 −250%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 +87.5%	8−9 −87.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +83.3%	6−7 −83.3%
Far Cry 5	13 +85.7%	7−8 −85.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	20−22 +122%	9−10 −122%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +153%	18−20 −153%
Hitman 3	14−16 +75%	8−9 −75%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 +75%	24−27 −75%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +320%	5−6 −320%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +150%	8−9 −150%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40 +208%	12−14 −208%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +35%	40−45 −35%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 +80%	10−11 −80%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Battlefield 5	21−24 +250%	6−7 −250%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 +87.5%	8−9 −87.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +83.3%	6−7 −83.3%
Far Cry 5	10 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Far Cry New Dawn	20−22 +122%	9−10 −122%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +153%	18−20 −153%
Hitman 3	14−16 +75%	8−9 −75%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 +75%	24−27 −75%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +320%	5−6 −320%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +150%	8−9 −150%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 +84.6%	12−14 −84.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +46.7%	14−16 −46.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +35%	40−45 −35%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 +80%	10−11 −80%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 +87.5%	8−9 −87.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +83.3%	6−7 −83.3%
Far Cry 5	7 +0%	7−8 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +153%	18−20 −153%
Hitman 3	14−16 +75%	8−9 −75%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 +75%	24−27 −75%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 +84.6%	12−14 −84.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	7 −114%	14−16 +114%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +35%	40−45 −35%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

20−22
+150%

8−9

−150%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16 +133%	6−7 −133%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 +120%	5−6 −120%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 +250%	2−3 −250%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +100%	4−5 −100%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27	0−1
Hitman 3	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	14−16 +87.5%	8−9 −87.5%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +167%	3−4 −167%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 +200%	2−3 −200%
Watch Dogs: Legion	45−50 +130%	20−22 −130%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

12−14
+71.4%

7−8

−71.4%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	6−7 +200%	2−3 −200%
Far Cry New Dawn	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
Hitman 3	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 +130%	10−11 −130%
Metro Exodus	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	4−5 +100%	2−3 −100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2	0−1
Far Cry 5	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
Forza Horizon 4	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	2−3	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

7−8
+75%

4−5

−75%

This is how RX 540 and GTX 280M SLI compete in popular games:

RX 540 is 140% faster in 1080p

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

in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 540 is 700% faster.
in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 280M SLI is 114% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 540 is ahead in 60 tests (97%)
GTX 280M SLI is ahead in 1 test (2%)
there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	7.23	3.43
Recency	21 March 2017	2 March 2009
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	150 Watt

RX 540 has a 110.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 292.9% more advanced lithography process, and 100% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 540 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 280M SLI in performance tests.

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