NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M is a fast middle class graphics card for laptops. It is based on the same chip as the GeForce GT 435M but with slightly higher clock speeds. Furthermore, it supports GDDR5 and 900MHz DDR3 graphics memory. Unfortunately, no models have utilized GDDR5 due to the increase in power consumption and higher prices compared to DDR3 VRAM.

GF108 Architecture

The GT 540M is based on the same GF108 architecture as the older GT 435M. The GF108 stems from the GF100 (Fermi) DirectX 10 architecture. However, it is optimized for the consumer end (gaming) and stripped down to save power. More information on the architecture can be found on our GeForce GT 435M page.

Performance

In general, the performance of the 540M lies between the Radeon HD 5650 and 5730 in our first benchmark tests. Therefore, the 540M is about 10% faster than the GT 435M using DDR3 graphics memory.

Paired with a fast CPU, demanding games of 2010 should run fluently in medium to high details and SXGA (1280x1024) resolution. In our tests, for example, Call of Duty: Black Ops and StarCraft 2 ran fluently in high details and 1360x768. More gaming benchmarks can be found below. Demanding games released in 2011 like Anno 2070 or Skyrim will only run fluent in low to medium detail settings.

Features

A novelty of the GF104/106/108 chips is the support for Bitstream HD Audio (Blu-Ray) output via HDMI. Alike the Radeon HD 5730, the GT 540M can transfer Dolby True HD and DTS-HD bitstream without quality loss to a HiFi receiver.

The GT 540M offers PureVideo HD technology for video decoding using the GPU. The integrated Video Processor 4 (VP4) supports feature set C and therefore the GPU is able to fully decode MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2 (MPEG-4 ASP - e.g., DivX or Xvid), VC-1/WMV9, and H.264 (VLD, IDCT, Motion Compensation, and Deblocking). Furthermore, the GPU is able to decode two 1080p streams simultaneously (e.g. for Blu-Ray Picture-in-Picture).

Through CUDA, OpenCL and DirectCompute 2.1 support, the GeForce GT 540M can be of help in general calculations. For example, the stream processor can encode videos considerably faster than can a modern CPU. Furthermore, physics calculations can be done by the GPU using PhysX (supported by Mafia 2 and Metro 2033). However, the GPU is not fast enough to calculate PhysX high detail game settings.

Following the current 3D trend, the 540M supports 3D Vision. It enables the laptop to send 3D content (3D games, 3D Web Streaming, 3D photos, 3D Blu-Rays) to a built-in 3D-enabled screen or an external 3D TV if supported by the manufacturer. This feature is disabled if the notebook includes Optimus.

The power consumption of the GeForce GT 540M should be similar to the GeForce GT 435M or Radeon HD 5730 and is therefore suited for 15" or larger laptops. Without load, the chip is clocked approximately at 50/101/137 MHz (chip/shader/memory) in 2D mode and 202/405/324 in 3D mode to save power. Furthermore, the 500M series supports Optimus to automatically switch between the integrated graphics card from Intel and the Nvidia GPU. The implementation of the Nvidia graphics switching technology is dependent on the laptop manufacturer.

Manufacturer	NVIDIA
GeForce GT 500M Series	GeForce GT 555M 144@525-753MHz GeForce GT 550M 96@740MHz GeForce GT 540M 96@672MHz GeForce GT 525M 96@600MHz GeForce GT 520MX 48@900MHz GeForce GT 520M 48@740 / 600MHz
Codename	N12P-GS
Architecture	Fermi
Pipelines	96 - unified
Core Speed *	672 MHz
Shader Speed *	1344 MHz
Memory Speed *	900 MHz
Memory Bus Width	128 Bit
Memory Type	GDDR5, DDR3
Max. Amount of Memory	1536 MB
Shared Memory	no
DirectX	DirectX 11, Shader 5.0
Current Consumption	35 Watt
technology	40 nm
Features	Optimus Support, PureVideo HD VP4, 3D Vision, 3DTV Play, Bitstream HD Audio, CUDA, DirectCompute, OpenCL, OpenGL 4.0, DirectX 11
Notebook Size	large
Date of Announcement	06.01.2011

* The specified clock rates are only guidelines for the manufacturer and can be altered by them.

Benchmarks

3DMark 11 - Performance 1280x720

100%

min: 944 avg: 992.8 (10%) max: 1086 points

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
EasyNote TS11 (LX.BRG02.024)	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 800MHz	1024MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 66.19	944
Aspire 5750G (LX.RAZ0C.008)	2410M	4096 MB		1024MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 65.83	952
Aspire TimelineX 4830TG (LX.RGL02.045)	2410M	4096 MB		1024MB DDR3 ForceWare 67.21	954
Aspire 5742G-458G64Mnkk	450M	8192 MB	672 / 800MHz	1024MB DDR3 ForceWare 259.97	958
TravelMate 8473TG-2414G50Mnkk	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB 8.17.12.6800	967
RF511-S01PL	2310M	4096 MB		1024MB DDR3 and Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 66.10	970
X460DX-019XPL	2410M	4096 MB		1024MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 67.80	975
X43SV-VX084V	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB DirectX 11 8.17.12.6721	978
K73SV-TY032V	2410M	4096 MB	900 / 900MHz	1024MB DDR3 ForceWare 266.86	979
N73SV-V1G-TY282V	2410M	4096 MB	900 / 900MHz	1024MB DDR3 ForceWare 265.96	979
N53SV-SX240	2310M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB DDR3, plus Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 66.01	979
GE620-039XPL	2410M	4096 MB		1024MB DDR3 ForceWare 67.04	981
K53SV-SX131V	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB DDR3 267.21	982
Satellite P750-10Q	2410M	4096 MB		2048MB dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 67.44	982
M11x R3	2657M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB Shadertakt: 1344 MHz, DDR3-VRAM ForceWare 267.21	983
Aspire 5830TG-2414G75Mnbb	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB DirectX 11, Shader 5.0, Nvidia Optimus (Intel GMA HD 3000), ForceWare 267.21 8.17.12.6721	984
TravelMate TimelineX 8573TG-2624G64Mnkk	2620M	4096 MB			985
U46SV-WX018V	2410M	4096 MB		1024MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 68.83	988
Aspire 4830TG	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB GF108 nVIDIA ForceWare 67.21	989
XPS 15-L502x	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB Shadertakt: 1344 MHz, DDR3-VRAM ForceWare 265.94	989
Aspire 5750G-2634G64	2630QM	4096 MB	672 / 800MHz	2048MB DDR3 266.58	989
Aspire 3830TG-2414G75nbb	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB DDR3, DirectX 11, Nvidia Optimus ForceWare 267.21	991
Aspire 3830TG-2628G12nbb	2620M	8192 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB DDR3, DirectX 11, Nvidia Optimus ForceWare 267.21	996
K53SV-SX121V	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 66.43	996
K53SV-SX055V	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 66.43	998
RC730-S05DE	2630QM	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB Shadertakt: 1344 MHz, NVIDIA Optimus ForceWare 266.72	1008
Satellite P770-10P	2630QM	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB Nvidia Optimus mit Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 267.21	1009
A520-T.AE31G	2820QM	8192 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB Optimus Intel HD 3000 ForceWare 267.54	1009
XMG A701 Advanced	2630QM	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB Optimus + HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 265.77	1010
RF511-S05DE	2630QM	8192 MB	672 / 900MHz	2048MB ForceWare 266.72	1011
RC530-S01DE	2630QM	4096 MB			1014
XMG A501	2630QM	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB Shadertakt: 1344 MHz, DDR3-VRAM ForceWare 265.77	1015
GE620-i748W7P	2630QM	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB Shadertakt: 1344 MHz, DDR3-VRAM ForceWare 267.04	1019
RF711-S01PL	2630QM	6144 MB		1024MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 66.10	1023
Vaio VPC-F22S1E/B	2630QM	8192 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB DDR3 ForceWare 267.80	1027
Vaio VPC-F21Z1E/BI	2630QM	8192 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB DDR3 ForceWare 266.64	1033
U46SV-WX036V	2410M	4096 MB	672 / 900MHz	1024MB Shadertakt: 1344 MHz, DDR3-VRAM + Intel HD Graphics 3000 ForceWare 285.62	1086

NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M

Benchmarks

Game Benchmarks