Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs RX 540

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon RX 540 with Radeon RX 580 2048SP, including specs and performance data.

RX 540
2017
2 GB GDDR5, 50 Watt
7.24

RX 580 2048SP outperforms RX 540 by a whopping 175% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking542276
Place by popularitynot in top-10052
Power efficiency9.939.11
ArchitectureGCN 4.0 (2016−2020)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameLexaPolaris 20
Market segmentLaptopDesktop
Release date11 November 2017 (7 years ago)15 October 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 cores5122048
Core clock speed1124 MHz1168 MHz
Boost clock speed1219 MHz1284 MHz
Number of transistors2,200 million5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology14 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)50 Watt150 Watt
Texture fill rate39.01164.4
Floating-point processing power1.248 TFLOPS5.259 TFLOPS
ROPs1632
TMUs32128

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 x8PCIe 3.0 x16
Lengthno data241 mm
Widthno data2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsNone1x 8-pin

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 GB8 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1500 MHz1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth96 GB/s224.0 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 outputs1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI-+

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

DirectX12 (12_0)12 (12_0)
Shader Model6.46.4
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.02.0
Vulkan1.2.1311.2.131

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.

RX 540 7.24
RX 580 2048SP 19.93
+175%

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.

RX 540 2788
RX 580 2048SP 7681
+176%

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 HD23
−161%
60−65
+161%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
−173%
30−33
+173%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
−150%
45−50
+150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 9−10
−167%
24−27
+167%
Battlefield 5 21−24
−162%
55−60
+162%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
−167%
40−45
+167%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
−173%
30−33
+173%
Far Cry 5 13
−169%
35−40
+169%
Far Cry New Dawn 20−22
−175%
55−60
+175%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
−171%
130−140
+171%
Hitman 3 14−16
−150%
35−40
+150%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
−162%
110−120
+162%
Metro Exodus 21−24
−162%
55−60
+162%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
−175%
55−60
+175%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40
−175%
110−120
+175%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
−159%
140−150
+159%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
−150%
45−50
+150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 9−10
−167%
24−27
+167%
Battlefield 5 21−24
−162%
55−60
+162%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
−167%
40−45
+167%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
−173%
30−33
+173%
Far Cry 5 10
−170%
27−30
+170%
Far Cry New Dawn 20−22
−175%
55−60
+175%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
−171%
130−140
+171%
Hitman 3 14−16
−150%
35−40
+150%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
−162%
110−120
+162%
Metro Exodus 21−24
−162%
55−60
+162%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
−175%
55−60
+175%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
−171%
65−70
+171%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
−173%
60−65
+173%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
−159%
140−150
+159%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
−150%
45−50
+150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 9−10
−167%
24−27
+167%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
−167%
40−45
+167%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
−173%
30−33
+173%
Far Cry 5 7
−157%
18−20
+157%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
−171%
130−140
+171%
Hitman 3 14−16
−150%
35−40
+150%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
−162%
110−120
+162%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
−171%
65−70
+171%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7
−157%
18−20
+157%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
−159%
140−150
+159%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
−175%
55−60
+175%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16
−150%
35−40
+150%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−12
−173%
30−33
+173%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
−157%
18−20
+157%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
−167%
8−9
+167%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
−157%
18−20
+157%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
−167%
8−9
+167%
Far Cry 5 8−9
−163%
21−24
+163%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
−169%
70−75
+169%
Hitman 3 10−12
−173%
30−33
+173%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−167%
40−45
+167%
Metro Exodus 8−9
−163%
21−24
+163%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 5−6
−140%
12−14
+140%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 6−7
−167%
16−18
+167%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
−161%
120−130
+161%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
−150%
30−33
+150%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 6−7
−167%
16−18
+167%
Far Cry New Dawn 5−6
−140%
12−14
+140%
Hitman 3 3−4
−167%
8−9
+167%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
−161%
60−65
+161%
Metro Exodus 4−5
−150%
10−11
+150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5
−150%
10−11
+150%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
−150%
10−11
+150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
−167%
8−9
+167%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4
−167%
8−9
+167%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Far Cry 5 4−5
−150%
10−11
+150%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
−163%
21−24
+163%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 2−3
−150%
5−6
+150%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
−150%
5−6
+150%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
−157%
18−20
+157%

This is how RX 540 and RX 580 2048SP compete in popular games:

  • RX 580 2048SP is 161% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 7.24 19.93
Recency 11 November 2017 15 October 2018
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 8 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 50 Watt 150 Watt

RX 540 has 200% lower power consumption.

RX 580 2048SP, on the other hand, has a 175.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 months, and a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount.

The Radeon RX 580 2048SP is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 540 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon RX 540 is a notebook card while Radeon RX 580 2048SP 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 RX 540
Radeon RX 540
AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP
Radeon RX 580 2048SP

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.


3.7 157 votes

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Questions & comments

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