Radeon HD 6870 vs Radeon RX 540

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 6870 and Radeon RX 540, 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 HD 6870 stacks up against Radeon RX 540, check out specs charts below.

Radeon HD 6870 Check Price

Radeon RX 540 Check Price

Radeon RX 540 is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon RX 540 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 Radeon RX 540 here:

Radeon RX 540 Laptops

Main Specs

	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon RX 540
Power consumption (TDP)	151 Watt	65 Watt
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	1x 6-pin
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	4 GB
Display Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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Radeon HD 6870 has 132% more power consumption, than Radeon RX 540.
Radeon HD 6870 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon RX 540 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
Radeon RX 540 has 3 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6870.
Radeon HD 6870 is used in Desktops, and Radeon RX 540 - in Laptops.
Radeon HD 6870 is build with Terascale 2 architecture, and Radeon RX 540 - with Polaris.
Radeon HD 6870 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon RX 540 - by 14 nm process technology.
Memory clock speed of Radeon RX 540 is 4950 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6870.

Game benchmarks


high / 1080p	10−12	14−16
ultra / 1080p	6−7	8−9
QHD / 1440p	1−2	3−4
low / 720p	24−27	30−33
medium / 1080p	12−14	18−20
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 36% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	18−20	21−24
ultra / 1080p	14−16	20−22
QHD / 1440p	1−2	6−7
4K / 2160p	−	5−6
low / 720p	35−40	45−50
medium / 1080p	20−22	24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Battlefield 5 is 33% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	45−50	45−50
QHD / 1440p	0−1	0−1
Radeon HD 6870 and Radeon RX 540 have the same average FPS in Call of Duty: Warzone.
low / 768p	180−190	200−210
medium / 768p	140−150	170−180
ultra / 1080p	75−80	90−95
QHD / 1440p	40−45	50−55
4K / 2160p	30−33	30−33
high / 768p	110−120	130−140
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 16% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	55−60	55−60
ultra / 1080p	30−33	35−40
medium / 1080p	45−50	45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Cyberpunk 2077 is 4% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	95−100	100−110
medium / 768p	75−80	90−95
ultra / 1080p	50−55	60−65
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Dota 2 is 14% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	12−14	16−18
ultra / 1080p	12−14	14−16
4K / 2160p	5−6	6−7
low / 720p	27−30	35−40
medium / 1080p	14−16	18−20
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Far Cry 5 is 26% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	20−22	24−27
ultra / 1080p	14−16	18−20
QHD / 1440p	−	16−18
low / 720p	80−85	95−100
medium / 1080p	35−40	50−55
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Fortnite is 23% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	18−20	24−27
ultra / 1080p	14−16	18−20
QHD / 1440p	5−6	8−9
low / 720p	40−45	50−55
medium / 1080p	21−24	27−30
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Forza Horizon 4 is 30% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	70−75	80−85
medium / 768p	60−65	70−75
high / 1080p	21−24	27−30
ultra / 1080p	9−10	12−14
QHD / 1440p	0−1	2−3
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Grand Theft Auto V is 19% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	7−8	9−10
ultra / 1080p	5−6	7−8
4K / 2160p	1−2	2−3
low / 720p	21−24	27−30
medium / 1080p	9−10	12−14
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Metro Exodus is 33% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	100−110	110−120
ultra / 1080p	90−95	100−110
medium / 1080p	100−105	100−110
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Minecraft is 8% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	18−20	21−24
ultra / 1080p	16−18	16−18
low / 720p	45−50	55−60
medium / 1080p	21−24	24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 15% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	12−14	14−16
ultra / 1080p	8−9	9−10
QHD / 1440p	0−1	0−1
low / 720p	20−22	27−30
medium / 1080p	12−14	16−18
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 30% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	40−45	50−55
medium / 768p	24−27	30−35
high / 1080p	14−16	18−20
ultra / 1080p	8−9	10−11
4K / 2160p	7−8	8−9
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 26% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	95−100	100−105
medium / 768p	55−60	60−65
ultra / 1080p	27−30	30−35
high / 768p	45−50	50−55
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 540 in World of Tanks is 8% more, than Radeon HD 6870.

Full Specs

	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon RX 540
Architecture	Terascale 2	Polaris
Code name	RV940 Barts	Polaris 12
Type	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	22 October 2010	21 March 2017
Pipelines	1120	512
Boost Clock	900 MHz	1219 MHz
Transistor count	1,700 million	1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	14 nm
Texture fill rate	50.40	39.01
Floating-point performance	2,016.0 gflops	1,248 gflops
Length	220 mm
Memory bus width	256 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	1050 MHz	6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	134.4 GB/s	96 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-
DirectX		12.0
Shader Model	5.0	5.0
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
FreeSync		+
Bus support	PCIe 2.0 x16
HDMI	+
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)	213 Mh/s
Laptop size		large
Eyefinity	+
Design	reference
CrossFire	+
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Radeon HD 6870 vs Radeon RX 540

Radeon RX 540 is a Laptop Graphics Card

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

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