Radeon 540 vs Radeon R9 290X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon 540 and Radeon R9 290X, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the Radeon 540 stacks up against Radeon R9 290X, check out specs charts below.

Radeon 540

Radeon R9 290X Check Price

Main Specs

	Radeon 540	Radeon R9 290X
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	250 Watt
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x8	PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	None	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	4 GB
Display Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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Radeon R9 290X has 400% more power consumption, than Radeon 540.
Radeon 540 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x8, and Radeon R9 290X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
Radeon R9 290X has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon 540.
Both cards are used in Desktops.
Radeon 540 is build with GCN 4.0 architecture, and Radeon R9 290X - with GCN.
Radeon 540 is manufactured by 14 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 290X - by 28 nm process technology.
Radeon R9 290X is 130 mm longer, than Radeon 540.
Memory clock speed of Radeon 540 is 5750 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 290X.

Game benchmarks


high / 1080p	6−7	35−40
ultra / 1080p	3−4	24−27
QHD / 1440p	0−1	18−20
4K / 2160p	−	10−11
low / 720p	14−16	60−65
medium / 1080p	7−8	45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 437% more, than Radeon 540.
high / 1080p	10−12	60−65
ultra / 1080p	9−10	50−55
QHD / 1440p	0−1	35−40
4K / 2160p	−	18−20
low / 720p	21−24	110−120
medium / 1080p	10−12	65−70
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Battlefield 5 is 469% more, than Radeon 540.
low / 768p	45−50	50−55
high / 1080p	45−50	−
QHD / 1440p	0−1	0−1
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Call of Duty: Warzone is 10% more, than Radeon 540.
low / 768p	120−130	250−260
medium / 768p	100−110	220−230
ultra / 1080p	50−55	190−200
QHD / 1440p	27−30	110−120
4K / 2160p	−	70−75
high / 768p	75−80	210−220
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 161% more, than Radeon 540.
low / 768p	55−60	60−65
ultra / 1080p	16−18	−
medium / 1080p	45−50	55−60
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Cyberpunk 2077 is 15% more, than Radeon 540.
low / 768p	75−80	120−130
medium / 768p	55−60	110−120
ultra / 1080p	30−35	100−110
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Dota 2 is 109% more, than Radeon 540.
high / 1080p	7−8	45−50
ultra / 1080p	7−8	45−50
QHD / 1440p	−	30−35
4K / 2160p	3−4	16−18
low / 720p	16−18	85−90
medium / 1080p	8−9	50−55
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Far Cry 5 is 525% more, than Radeon 540.
high / 1080p	14−16	65−70
ultra / 1080p	10−11	50−55
QHD / 1440p	−	30−35
4K / 2160p	−	27−30
low / 720p	55−60	180−190
medium / 1080p	20−22	120−130
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Fortnite is 311% more, than Radeon 540.
high / 1080p	10−12	65−70
ultra / 1080p	10−11	45−50
QHD / 1440p	0−1	35−40
4K / 2160p	−	24−27
low / 720p	24−27	110−120
medium / 1080p	12−14	70−75
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Forza Horizon 4 is 400% more, than Radeon 540.
low / 768p	50−55	140−150
medium / 768p	40−45	130−140
high / 1080p	10−12	75−80
ultra / 1080p	6−7	30−35
QHD / 1440p	0−1	24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Grand Theft Auto V is 246% more, than Radeon 540.
high / 1080p	4−5	27−30
ultra / 1080p	3−4	21−24
QHD / 1440p	−	18−20
4K / 2160p	0−1	9−10
low / 720p	10−12	70−75
medium / 1080p	6−7	35−40
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Metro Exodus is 566% more, than Radeon 540.
low / 768p	90−95	130−140
high / 1080p	85−90	−
ultra / 1080p	75−80	−
medium / 1080p	90−95	120−130
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Minecraft is 41% more, than Radeon 540.
high / 1080p	16−18	−
ultra / 1080p	14−16	14−16
low / 720p	30−33	100−110
medium / 1080p	16−18	18−20
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 119% more, than Radeon 540.
high / 1080p	−	27−30
ultra / 1080p	7−8	18−20
QHD / 1440p	0−1	12−14
4K / 2160p	−	8−9
low / 720p	10−12	70−75
medium / 1080p	10−11	35−40
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 377% more, than Radeon 540.
low / 768p	21−24	140−150
medium / 768p	14−16	90−95
high / 1080p	8−9	50−55
ultra / 1080p	6−7	27−30
4K / 2160p	−	16−18
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 507% more, than Radeon 540.
low / 768p	85−90	90−95
medium / 768p	40−45	60−65
ultra / 1080p	18−20	55−60
high / 768p	35−40	−
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in World of Tanks is 42% more, than Radeon 540.

Full Specs

	Radeon 540	Radeon R9 290X
Architecture	GCN 4.0	GCN
Code name	Lexa	Hawaii XT
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	26 March 2019	24 October 2013
Pipelines	512	2816
Core clock speed	1100 MHz
Boost Clock	1124 MHz	947 MHz
Transistor count	2,200 million	6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	28 nm
Texture fill rate	35.97	176.0
Floating-point performance		5,632 gflops
Length	145 mm	275 mm
Memory bus width	64 Bit	512 Bit
Memory clock speed	7000 MHz	1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth	56 GB/s	320 GB/s
Shared memory		-
DirectX	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	6.4	6.3
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	+
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight)		0.76 kh/s
FreeSync		+
Bus support		PCIe 3.0
HDMI		+
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)		623 Mh/s
Eyefinity		+
HD3D		+
TrueAudio		+
Design		reference
DisplayPort support		+
CrossFire		+
DDMA audio		+
Decred / DCR (Decred)		1.07 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)		25.75 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash)		350 Sol/s
AppAcceleration		+
LiquidVR		+
TressFX		+
UVD		+
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Radeon 540 vs Radeon R9 290X

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

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