AMD Radeon RX 540X vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 vs AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop)
AMD Radeon RX 540X
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The AMD Radeon RX 540X is mobile mid-range graphics card for laptops based on the Polaris 12 chip (most likely). It is manufactured in an improved 14 nm FinFET process and technically similar to the older Radeon RX 540. The only difference so far is a 4% higher theoretical peak performance (1.25 versus 1.2 TFLOPS according to AMD). Compared to Nvidia graphics cards, the gaming performance should be between the GeForce GTX 950M and GTX 960M.
The similar named Radeon 540X (without RX) offers a smaller memory bus and therefore also a slightly reduced performance.
The features of the Radeon RX 540X are identical to the faster RX 460 and all other Polaris chips. See more details on the Polaris architecture here.
The power envelope of the faster Radeon Pro 460 is rated at 35 Watt according to the AMD blog post. Due to the slower specs, the Radeon RX 540 use slightly less.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
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The Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 is a high end desktop graphics card based on the Maxwell architecture. As the faster GTX 980, the GTX 970 uses the GM204 chip, but with reduced shaders (2048 vs. 1664) and TMUs (128 vs 103). The graphics card is equipped with 4 GB GDDR5 (7 GHz effective). 3.5 GB of the 4 GB are connected with 224 Bit, the rest only with a 32 Bit interface. This can lead to some stuttering or reduced frame rates in games that use the full 4 GB. The similar named mobile GeForce GTX 970M is clearly slower as it features only 1280 shader cores.
Despite the unique memory configuration, the GTX 970 performs on average on par with the older GeForce GTX 780 Ti or a AMD Radeon R9 290X.
The GM204 supports CUDA, 3D Vision, PhysX, GeForce Experience, Surround, GameStream, GPU Boost 2.0, Adaptive Vertical Sync / G-SYNC, SLI, DSR, MFAA and Virtual Reality latency improvements.
The Maxwell architecture is very power efficient. While gaming, the card only uses as much power as the Radeon R9 285 which is more than 35% slower on average.
AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop)
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The AMD Radeon RX 550 is mobile mid-range graphics card for laptops based on the Polaris 12 chip . It is manufactured in an improved 14 nm FinFET process at Globalfoundries or Samsung. The Polaris 12 chip (codename Lexa) is a smaller chip than the Polaris 11 and 21 and uses the improved 14nm process that allows higher clock rates than the first generation (Radeon RX 400 series). It features 640 shaders (10 CUs) and (at least in the Pavilion 15t) all cores are activated in the mobile version (where 512 are activated in the desktop RX 550).
According to the specified peak performance, the chip should be similar fast as a Radeon Pro 455 in the MacBook Pro 2016. In our tests it reaches the Radeon Pro 455 and bests the Nvidia GeForce MX150, but stays behind the GeForce GTX 1050.
The features of the Radeon RX 550 are identical to the faster RX 460 and all other Polaris chips. See more details on the Polaris architecture here.
The power envelope of the faster Radeon Pro 460 is rated at 35 Watt according to the AMD blog post. In our tests with The Witcher 3, the GPU needed in the Pavilion 15t 80 Watt and positiones itself between the much more power efficient MX150 and the GTX 1050.
AMD Radeon RX 540X | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 | AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Radeon RX 500 Series |
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Codename | Polaris 12 | GM204 | Polaris 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | GCN 4.0 | Maxwell | Polaris | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pipelines | 512 - unified | 1664 - unified | 640 - unified | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Core Speed | 1219 (Boost) MHz | 1050 - 1178 (Boost) MHz | 1287 - 1476 (Boost) MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Speed | 6000 MHz | 3500 MHz | 6000 MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Bus Width | 128 Bit | 224 + 32 Bit | 128 Bit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 | GDDR5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Max. Amount of Memory | 4 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shared Memory | no | no | no | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
API | DirectX 12_0, OpenGL 4.6 | DirectX 12_1, OpenGL 4.5 | DirectX 12, OpenGL Vulkan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Power Consumption | 50 Watt | 145 Watt | 50 Watt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Transistors | 2.2 Billion | 5.2 Billion | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
technology | 14 nm | 28 nm | 14 nm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Features | DisplayPort 1.3 HBR / 1.4 HDR Ready, HDMI 2.0, AMD FreeSync | CUDA, 3D Vision, PhysX, GeForce Experience, Surround, GameStream, GPU Boost 2.0, Adaptive Vertical Sync, G-SYNC, SLI | DisplayPort 1.3 HBR / 1.4 HDR Ready, HDMI 2.0, AMD FreeSync | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notebook Size | large | large | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of Announcement | 21.03.2018 | 19.09.2014 | 21.03.2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Link to Manufacturer Page | www.amd.com | www.geforce.com | www.amd.com |
Benchmarks
3DM Vant. Perf. total + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
GFXBench T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
Average Benchmarks NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 → 0% n=0
Average Benchmarks AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop) → 0% n=0

* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
Game Benchmarks
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Counter-Strike 2
2023
Baldur's Gate 3
2023
F1 23
2023
Diablo 4
2023
Dead Island 2
2023
The Last of Us
2023
Company of Heroes 3
2023
Sons of the Forest
2023
Atomic Heart
2023
Hogwarts Legacy
2023
Dead Space Remake
2023
The Witcher 3 v4
2023
High On Life
2023
The Quarry
2022
Ghostwire Tokyo
2022
Cyberpunk 2077 1.6
2022
Elex 2
2022
GRID Legends
2022
Elden Ring
2022
Dying Light 2
2022
God of War
2022
Forza Horizon 5
2021
Riders Republic
2021
Back 4 Blood
2021
Alan Wake Remastered
2021
F1 2021
2021
Outriders
2021
Hitman 3
2021
Yakuza Like a Dragon
2020
Dirt 5
2020
Watch Dogs Legion
2020
Crysis Remastered
2020
Horizon Zero Dawn
2020
Death Stranding
2020
Gears Tactics
2020
Doom Eternal
2020
Borderlands 3
2019
Control
2019
F1 2019
2019
The Division 2
2019
Dirt Rally 2.0
2019
Metro Exodus
2019
Apex Legends
2019
Just Cause 4
2018
Darksiders III
2018
Battlefield V
2018
Fallout 76
2018
F1 2018
2018
Far Cry 5
2018
X-Plane 11.11
2018
Fortnite
2018
Rocket League
2017
Resident Evil 7
2017
Watch Dogs 2
2016
Dishonored 2
2016
Titanfall 2
2016
Farming Simulator 17
2016
Battlefield 1
2016
Civilization 6
2016
Mafia 3
2016
Overwatch
2016
Doom
2016
Need for Speed 2016
2016
Hitman 2016
2016
The Division
2016
Far Cry Primal
2016
XCOM 2
2016
Rainbow Six Siege
2015
Just Cause 3
2015
Fallout 4
2015
Anno 2205
2015
World of Warships
2015
Metal Gear Solid V
2015
Mad Max
2015
Dota 2 Reborn
2015
The Witcher 3
2015
Dirt Rally
2015
GTA V
2015
Battlefield Hardline
2015
Evolve
2015
Far Cry 4
2014
F1 2014
2014
Ryse: Son of Rome
2014
Alien: Isolation
2014
Fifa 15
2014
Sims 4
2014
GRID: Autosport
2014
Watch Dogs
2014
Thief
2014
Battlefield 4
2013
Company of Heroes 2
2013
Metro: Last Light
2013
BioShock Infinite
2013
Tomb Raider
2013
Crysis 3
2013AMD Radeon RX 540X | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 | AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop) | |||||||||||||||||||
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low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | ||||
Counter-Strike 2 | 38 | 14.4 | 6.77 | ||||||||||||||||||
Cyberpunk 2077 2.2 Phantom Liberty | 10.6 | 6.84 | 3.57 | 3.13 | |||||||||||||||||
Baldur's Gate 3 | 13.9 | 11.7 | |||||||||||||||||||
F1 23 | 14.8 | 12.5 | 7 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
Diablo 4 | 21.6 | 19.5 | 17.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
Star Wars Jedi Survivor | 6.45 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Dead Island 2 | 20.9 | 17.5 | |||||||||||||||||||
The Last of Us | 3.22 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Resident Evil 4 Remake | 14.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Company of Heroes 3 | 11.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sons of the Forest | 12.1 | 8.73 | |||||||||||||||||||
Atomic Heart | 18.4 | 10.2 | 6.87 | ||||||||||||||||||
Hogwarts Legacy | 13.3 | 6.99 | |||||||||||||||||||
Dead Space Remake | 3.69 | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Witcher 3 v4 | 20.6 | 15.8 | 12.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
High On Life | 12.6 | 8.67 | |||||||||||||||||||
The Callisto Protocol | 19.4 | 6.4 | |||||||||||||||||||
Need for Speed Unbound | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Spider-Man Miles Morales | 8.01 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 2022 | 16 | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||
A Plague Tale Requiem | 12.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Quarry | 16.8 | 12.3 | |||||||||||||||||||
Ghostwire Tokyo | 24.3 | 23.1 | 21.7 | 21.6 | |||||||||||||||||
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | 17.4 | 8.9 | 5.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
Cyberpunk 2077 1.6 | 9.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Elex 2 | 12.6 | 5.46 | |||||||||||||||||||
GRID Legends | 24.6 | 18.9 | 15.8 | ||||||||||||||||||
Elden Ring | 14.5 | 11.5 | 9.32 | ||||||||||||||||||
Dying Light 2 | 13.5 | 10.3 | |||||||||||||||||||
God of War | 13.5 | 4.75 | |||||||||||||||||||
Forza Horizon 5 | 35 | 13 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
Riders Republic | 27 | 13 | 10 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
Back 4 Blood | 66.1 | 19.6 | 14.2 | 13.9 | |||||||||||||||||
Far Cry 6 | 3.44 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Alan Wake Remastered | 8.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Deathloop | 8.99 | ||||||||||||||||||||
F1 2021 | 57.1 | 18.8 | 14.5 | 9.49 | |||||||||||||||||
Monster Hunter Stories 2 | 53.4 | 35.3 | 31.6 | ||||||||||||||||||
Days Gone | 20.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Outriders | 42.4 | 15.8 | 12.4 | 9.48 | |||||||||||||||||
Hitman 3 | 31.3 | 14.3 | 10.3 | 9.5 | |||||||||||||||||
Yakuza Like a Dragon | 38 | 12.1 | 11.7 | ||||||||||||||||||
Assassin´s Creed Valhalla | 17 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
Dirt 5 | 25.6 | 8.1 | |||||||||||||||||||
Watch Dogs Legion | 20.3 | 9.51 | 7.87 | 3.68 | |||||||||||||||||
Crysis Remastered | 52.6 | 23.3 | 3.58 | ||||||||||||||||||
Flight Simulator 2020 | 25.5 | 9.12 | |||||||||||||||||||
Horizon Zero Dawn | 15 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||
Death Stranding | 22.2 | 11 | 10.4 | 10.2 | |||||||||||||||||
Gears Tactics | 76.5 | 27.3 | 19.1 | 11.6 | |||||||||||||||||
Doom Eternal | 14.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Control | 153 | 50 | 36 | 22.8 | 37.8 | 10.2 | 6.92 | ||||||||||||||
The Division 2 | 50 | 21 | 12 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||
Metro Exodus | 99 | 49 | 37.2 | 31.1 | 23.9 | 13.2 | 8.1 | 6.6 | 4.9 | ||||||||||||
Strange Brigade | 71.6 | 28.1 | 23.8 | 16.1 | |||||||||||||||||
Far Cry 5 | 43 | 18 | 15 | 13 | |||||||||||||||||
X-Plane 11.11 | 44.4 | 30.9 | 28.7 | ||||||||||||||||||
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark | 101 | 55.3 | 35.6 | 12.8 | 30.5 | 14.8 | 5.23 | ||||||||||||||
Civilization 6 | 68 | 57.5 | 59.8 | 48.74 | 24.04 | ||||||||||||||||
Doom | 170.1 | 161.2 | 108.8 | 99 | 34.3 | 56 | 37 | 22 | 21 | ||||||||||||
Ashes of the Singularity | 80.8 | 60.8 | 54.8 | 20.6 | 41.9 | 25.4 | 22 | ||||||||||||||
Rise of the Tomb Raider | 159.1 | 127.7 | 75.9 | 62 | 25.3 | 68 | 45 | 23 | 21 | ||||||||||||
Dota 2 Reborn | 98.4 | 78.4 | 45.3 | 42.9 | |||||||||||||||||
Batman: Arkham Knight | 82 | 71 | 39 | 27 | |||||||||||||||||
The Witcher 3 | 146.2 | 81.2 | 43 | 29.1 | 53.8 | 34.04 | 17.34 | 24 | |||||||||||||
GTA V | 167.9 | 159 | 97.8 | 44 | 46 | 106 | 62.1 | 23.8 | 12.9 | ||||||||||||
Thief | 131 | 126.9 | 121.6 | 73 | 65.2 | 58.3 | 55.1 | 29 | |||||||||||||
Company of Heroes 2 | 49 | 44.85 | 29.85 | 16.97 | |||||||||||||||||
Metro: Last Light | 144.2 | 143.9 | 130.9 | 84 | 90 | 85.4 | 59.5 | 28.4 | |||||||||||||
BioShock Infinite | 264.9 | 234.4 | 219.2 | 113 | 166 | 104 | 71 | 37 | |||||||||||||
Tomb Raider | 554 | 433 | 285.8 | 135 | 289.8 | 149.5 | 114.9 | 51.2 | |||||||||||||
AMD Radeon RX 540X | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 | AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop) | |||||||||||||||||||
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | | | | | | | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 3 8 | 3 1 8 | 4 4 4 | 3 6 1 | 2 | 5 3 | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 42 17 9 2 | 42 9 5 1 | 36 5 2 | 23 3 | | |
For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List