Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs RX 540

Place in the ranking	538	274
Place by popularity	not in top-100	62
Power efficiency	10.08	9.26
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	Lexa	Polaris 20
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	11 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 cores	512	2048
Core clock speed	1124 MHz	1168 MHz
Boost clock speed	1219 MHz	1284 MHz
Number of transistors	2,200 million	5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	39.01	164.4
Floating-point processing power	1.248 TFLOPS	5.259 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	32
TMUs	32	128

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	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x8	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	no data	241 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	1x 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 type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1500 MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	96 GB/s	224.0 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 Connectors	No outputs	1x 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.

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	6.4	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2.131

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 7.23

RX 580 2048SP 19.93
+176%

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 7687
+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 HD

−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	7.23	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 175.7% 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.