Maxwell GPU Surface Book vs Radeon 540

In this comparison between Maxwell GPU Surface Book 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 Maxwell GPU Surface Book will be the best choice, for others Radeon 540 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Maxwell GPU Surface Book is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Maxwell GPU Surface Book is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with Maxwell GPU Surface Book here:

Main Specs

  Maxwell GPU Surface Book Radeon 540
Power consumption (TDP) 50 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon 540 has 1 GB more memory, than Maxwell GPU Surface Book.
  • Maxwell GPU Surface Book is used in Laptops, and Radeon 540 - in Desktops.
  • Maxwell GPU Surface Book is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon 540 - with GCN 4.0.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon 540 is 146 MHz higher, than Maxwell GPU Surface Book.
  • Maxwell GPU Surface Book is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon 540 - by 14 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon 540 is 1988 MHz higher, than Maxwell GPU Surface Book.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 8−9 6−7
ultra / 1080p 5−6 3−4
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 20−22 14−16
medium / 1080p 10−12 7−8
The average gaming FPS of Maxwell GPU Surface Book in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 37% more, than Radeon 540.

Full Specs

  Maxwell GPU Surface Book Radeon 540
Architecture Maxwell GCN 4.0
Code name Surface Book Lexa
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 1 October 2015 26 March 2019
Pipelines 384 512
Core clock speed 954 MHz 1100 MHz
Boost Clock 993 MHz 1124 MHz
Transistor count 2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 14 nm
Texture fill rate 35.97
Length 145 mm
Memory bus width 64 Bit 64 Bit
Memory clock speed 5012 MHz 7000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 56 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX DirectX 12 (FL 11_0), Shader 5.0 12 (12_0)
Shader Model 6.4
OpenGL 4.6
OpenCL 2.0
Vulkan 1.2.131
CUDA +
Optimus +
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