Radeon 540 vs Tesla M2090

AMD

Radeon 540

2017Core: 1183 MHzBoost: 1124 MHz
Similar parts
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VS
NVIDIA

Tesla M2090

2011Core: 651 MHz
Similar parts
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Radeon 540 vs Tesla M2090 Performance Spectrum

About G3D Mark

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Radeon 540 vs Tesla M2090: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

Radeon 540

2017

Why buy it

  • Costs $2,401 less on MSRP ($99 MSRP vs $2,500 MSRP).
  • Delivers 2519% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 14.7 vs 0.6 G3D/$ ($99 MSRP vs $2,500 MSRP).
  • Draws 50W instead of 250W, a 200W reduction.

Trade-offs

  • 2017 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Tesla M2090

2011

Why buy it

  • Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

  • 2011 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 2425.3% HIGHER MSRP
    $2,500 MSRPvs$99 MSRP
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0.6 vs 14.7 G3D/$ ($2,500 MSRP vs $99 MSRP).
  • 400% higher power demand at 250W vs 50W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Radeon 540 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 3.7% in PassMark G3D (1,452 vs 1,400), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
Radeon 540 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: the newer upscaling stack, FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 (2025) instead of no meaningful modern upscaling stack, a 14nm process instead of 40nm, and a newer 2017 generation instead of 2011. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
Radeon 540 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $2,401 cheaper on MSRP at $99 vs $2,500, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 2519% (14.7 vs 0.6), so the value case lines up with the gaming result.

Radeon 540 vs Tesla M2090 Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

AMD

Radeon 540

The Radeon 540 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 20 2017. It features the GCN 4.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1183 MHz to 1124 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 50W. Manufactured using 14 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,452 points. Launch price was $79.

NVIDIA

Tesla M2090

The Tesla M2090 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in July 25 2011. It features the Fermi 2.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 651 MHz. It has 512 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 250W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,400 points.

Graphics Performance

The Radeon 540 scores 1,452 and the Tesla M2090 reaches 1,400 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 3.7% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon 540 is built on GCN 4.0 while the Tesla M2090 uses Fermi 2.0, both on 14 nm vs 40 nm. Shader units: 384 (Radeon 540) vs 512 (Tesla M2090). Raw compute: 0.9085 TFLOPS (Radeon 540) vs 1.332 TFLOPS (Tesla M2090).

FeatureRadeon 540Tesla M2090
G3D Mark Score
1,452+4%
1,400
Architecture
GCN 4.0
Fermi 2.0
Process Node
14 nm
40 nm
Shading Units
384
512+33%
Compute (TFLOPS)
0.9085 TFLOPS
1.332 TFLOPS+47%
ROPs
16
48+200%
TMUs
24
64+167%
L1 Cache
0.09 MB
1 MB+1011%
L2 Cache
512 KB
768 KB+50%

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

FeatureRadeon 540Tesla M2090
Upscaling Tech
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Upscaling support
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
AMD Anti-Lag
Standard
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 512 MB of GDDR5. Memory bus width is 64-bit on the Radeon 540 and 64-bit on the Tesla M2090. L2 Cache: 512 KB (Radeon 540) vs 768 KB (Tesla M2090) — the Tesla M2090 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureRadeon 540Tesla M2090
VRAM Capacity
0.5 GB
0.5 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Bus Width
64-bit
64-bit
L2 Cache
512 KB
768 KB+50%
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon 540 draws 50W versus the Tesla M2090's 250W — a 133.3% difference. The Radeon 540 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Radeon 540) vs 350W (Tesla M2090). Power connectors: None vs PCIe-powered.

FeatureRadeon 540Tesla M2090
TDP
50W-80%
250W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
None
PCIe-powered
Length
248mm
Height
111mm
Slots
2
Perf/Watt
29.0+418%
5.6
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the Radeon 540 came in at $99, while the Tesla M2090 launched at $2500. On MSRP, Radeon 540 was 96% cheaper ($2401 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 14.7 (Radeon 540) vs 0.6 (Tesla M2090) — the Radeon 540 offers 2350% better value. The newer card here is Radeon 540 (2017 vs 2011).

FeatureRadeon 540Tesla M2090
MSRP
$99-96%
$2500
Performance per Dollar
14.7+2350%
0.6
Codename
Lexa
GF110
Release
April 20 2017
July 25 2011
Ranking
#773
#530

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