GeForce GTX 280 vs Radeon 540

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 280 and Radeon 540 you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people GeForce GTX 280 will be the best choice, for others Radeon 540 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.
GeForce GTX 280
Radeon 540

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 280 Radeon 540
Power consumption (TDP) 236 Watt 50 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectors 6-pin & 8-pin None
Memory type GDDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x S-Video 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
 
  • GeForce GTX 280 has 372% more power consumption, than Radeon 540.
  • GeForce GTX 280 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon 540 uses PCIe 3.0 x8 interface.
  • Radeon 540 has 1 GB more memory, than GeForce GTX 280.
  • Both cards are used in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 280 is build with Tesla 2.0 architecture, and Radeon 540 - with GCN 4.0.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 280 is 196 MHz higher, than Radeon 540.
  • GeForce GTX 280 is manufactured by 65 nm process technology, and Radeon 540 - by 14 nm process technology.
  • Radeon 540 is 135 mm longer, than GeForce GTX 280.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon 540 is 5893 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 280.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 1−2 6−7
ultra / 1080p 0−1 3−4
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 12−14 14−16
medium / 1080p 3−4 7−8
The average gaming FPS of Radeon 540 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 50% more, than GeForce GTX 280.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 280 Radeon 540
Architecture Tesla 2.0 GCN 4.0
Code name GT200 Lexa
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 16 June 2008 26 March 2019
Pipelines 240 512
Core clock speed 1296 MHz 1100 MHz
Boost Clock 1124 MHz
Transistor count 1,400 million 2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 65 nm 14 nm
Texture fill rate 48.2 billion/sec 35.97
Floating-point performance 622.1 gflops
Length 10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm) 145 mm
Memory bus width 512 Bit 64 Bit
Memory clock speed 1107 MHz 7000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 141.7 GB/s 56 GB/s
DirectX 11.1 (10_0) 12 (12_0)
Shader Model 4.0 6.4
OpenGL 2.1 4.6
OpenCL 1.1 2.0
Vulkan N/A 1.2.131
CUDA +
CUDA cores 240
Height 4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI S/PDIF