AMD Radeon 540 vs AMD Radeon R7 M380 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark split between these two AMD GPUs is not a close contest. The AMD Radeon R7 M380 wins the only recorded head-to-head benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL test, with a score of 9313 against the AMD Radeon 540's 6184. That is a 50.6% advantage for the older chip, a decisive margin that puts the R7 M380 in a different performance class despite its older architecture.

The R7 M380's win is not just about raw score. Its OpenCL result places it at the 46th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the Radeon 540 sits at the 41st percentile. The R7 M380 also has a higher average benchmark score of 9313 (its only recorded test), compared to the Radeon 540's average of 7673 across its OpenCL and Vulkan results. The Vulkan score of 9162 for the Radeon 540 is notable, but it does not appear in the head-to-head comparison, so the only direct apples-to-apples measurement favors the R7 M380.

Where the Radeon 540 does win is in feature support and efficiency. It supports DirectX 12 (12_0) versus the R7 M380's DirectX 12 (11_1), and it supports Vulkan 1.3 versus the R7 M380's Vulkan 1.2.170. The Radeon 540 also has a lower power draw at 50 W, single-slot cooling, no power connectors, and a modest 250 W suggested PSU. The R7 M380 has no recorded TDP, slot width, or PSU requirement in the database, so the Radeon 540 is the clear choice for low-power or compact builds.

For compute workloads, the R7 M380 has more shading units (640 vs 384), more texture mapping units (40 vs 24), and higher FP32 throughput at 1,171.2 GFLOPS versus 908.5 GFLOPS. It also has more memory (4 GB vs 1024 MB) and a wider memory bus (128 bit vs 32 bit), though its DDR3 memory bandwidth of 32.00 GB/s is higher than the Radeon 540's GDDR5 bandwidth of 24.00 GB/s. The Radeon 540 counters with a higher pixel rate (18.93 GPixel/s vs 14.64 GPixel/s) and a much newer process node (14 nm GlobalFoundries vs 28 nm TSMC).

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous for raw performance: the AMD Radeon R7 M380 is the faster GPU. Its OpenCL score of 9313 beats the Radeon 540's 6184 by 50.6%, and its percentile ranking (46th vs 41st) confirms it sits higher in the overall GPU landscape. If you are choosing based on benchmark results alone, the R7 M380 is the pick.

However, the Radeon 540 has a clear role for specific use cases. It is a 50 W, single-slot card with no power connectors and a 250 W suggested PSU, making it suitable for office desktops or small form factor systems where power and space are constrained. It also has newer API support (DirectX 12_0, Vulkan 1.3) and modern display outputs (2x DisplayPort 1.4a), which the R7 M380 lacks in the recorded data. For legacy gaming or compute tasks that rely on OpenCL, the R7 M380 dominates. For modern API compatibility, low power draw, and ease of installation, the Radeon 540 is the sensible option.

The nearest rivals in the database reinforce this split. The R7 M380 sits within 0.1% to 1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M, GTX 465, GTX 960, and AMD Radeon Vega 8, meaning it trades blows with those mid-range parts. The Radeon 540, by contrast, is within 1.6% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, AMD Radeon R7 250, and Intel Arc A310, though its average score of 7673 is lower than all of those rivals except the R7 250 and Arc A310. The Radeon 540 is a low-end part, while the R7 M380 is a mid-range part from an earlier generation.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head test is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a landslide. The R7 M380 scores 9313, the Radeon 540 scores 6184, and the delta is 50.6% in favor of the R7 M380. That is not a marginal victory; it is a performance gap that will be felt in any OpenCL compute workload, from video encoding to physics simulations.

Breaking down why the R7 M380 wins so decisively: it has 640 shading units versus 384, 40 TMUs versus 24, and 1,171.2 GFLOPS of FP32 throughput versus 908.5 GFLOPS. It also has 4 GB of memory versus 1024 MB, and a 128-bit bus versus a 32-bit bus. Even though the Radeon 540 uses faster GDDR5 memory at 6 Gbps effective versus 2 Gbps effective for the R7 M380's DDR3, the R7 M380's wider bus yields 32.00 GB/s of bandwidth versus 24.00 GB/s. More memory, more bandwidth, and more compute units all contribute to the OpenCL result.

The Radeon 540 does have a higher pixel rate (18.93 GPixel/s vs 14.64 GPixel/s), which suggests it can handle fill-rate-bound tasks like basic 2D rendering or light 3D workloads better. But that advantage does not translate to a benchmark win, because the R7 M380's texture rate (36.60 GTexel/s vs 28.39 GTexel/s) and raw compute dominate.

The Vulkan result for the Radeon 540 (9162) is worth noting, but it is not a head-to-head comparison because the R7 M380 has no Vulkan score in the database. If Vulkan is your primary API, the Radeon 540's 9162 score is close to the R7 M380's OpenCL score, but without a direct comparison, you cannot infer the R7 M380 would lose. The recorded data only supports the OpenCL head-to-head, and the R7 M380 wins it by a wide margin.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the only direct benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M380 scores 9313 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon 540 scores 6184. That is a 50.6% difference in favor of the R7 M380.

Q: Does the Radeon 540 have any performance advantage?

A: Yes, in pixel rate. The Radeon 540 outputs 18.93 GPixel/s versus 14.64 GPixel/s for the R7 M380. It also has a higher FP16 throughput of 908.5 GFLOPS (1:1), while the R7 M380 has no recorded FP16 result.

Q: Which GPU has better API support?

A: The Radeon 540 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, while the R7 M380 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: Which GPU uses less power?

A: The Radeon 540 has a recorded TDP of 50 W, a single-slot design, no power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The R7 M380 has no TDP, slot width, or PSU data in the database.

Q: How do these GPUs compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The R7 M380 is within 1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M, GTX 465, GTX 960, and AMD Radeon Vega 8. The Radeon 540 is within 1.6% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, AMD Radeon R7 250, and Intel Arc A310.

Q: Which GPU has more memory?

A: The R7 M380 has 4 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus, providing 32.00 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon 540 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 32-bit bus, providing 24.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different generations and foundries. The R7 M380 uses the Tropo chip, based on GCN 1.0 architecture, and belongs to the Gem System (R7 M300) generation. It is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.2M per mm². The Radeon 540 uses the Lexa chip, based on GCN 4.0 architecture, and belongs to the Polaris (RX 500) generation. It is built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, with 2,200 million transistors on a smaller 103 mm² die, yielding a much higher transistor density of 21.4M per mm².

The architectures differ significantly in feature support. GCN 1.0 on the R7 M380 is older, with DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. GCN 4.0 on the Radeon 540 is newer, with DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. The Radeon 540 also has FP16 support at 1:1 ratio (908.5 GFLOPS), while the R7 M380 has no recorded FP16 capability. The Radeon 540's display outputs are 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the R7 M380's display outputs are not recorded.

The R7 M380 connects via PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Radeon 540 uses PCIe 3.0 x8. The Radeon 540's lower lane count is a trade-off for its low power design, but for most workloads the bandwidth difference is unlikely to matter given the Radeon 540's lower compute throughput.

Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the two GPUs, based only on recorded data:

• Process node: R7 M380 is 28 nm (TSMC), Radeon 540 is 14 nm (GlobalFoundries).
• Transistors: R7 M380 has 1,500 million, Radeon 540 has 2,200 million.
• Die size: R7 M380 is 123 mm², Radeon 540 is 103 mm².
• Transistor density: R7 M380 is 12.2M / mm², Radeon 540 is 21.4M / mm².
• Base clock: R7 M380 is 900 MHz, Radeon 540 has no recorded base clock.
• Boost clock: R7 M380 is 915 MHz, Radeon 540 has no recorded boost clock.
• Memory clock: R7 M380 is 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective), Radeon 540 is 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective).
• Memory size: R7 M380 has 4 GB, Radeon 540 has 1024 MB.
• Memory type: R7 M380 uses DDR3, Radeon 540 uses GDDR5.
• Memory bus: R7 M380 is 128 bit, Radeon 540 is 32 bit.
• Memory bandwidth: R7 M380 is 32.00 GB/s, Radeon 540 is 24.00 GB/s.
• Shading units: R7 M380 has 640, Radeon 540 has 384.
• TMUs: R7 M380 has 40, Radeon 540 has 24.
• ROPs: Both have 16.
• Pixel rate: R7 M380 is 14.64 GPixel/s, Radeon 540 is 18.93 GPixel/s.
• Texture rate: R7 M380 is 36.60 GTexel/s, Radeon 540 is 28.39 GTexel/s.
• FP32: R7 M380 is 1,171.2 GFLOPS, Radeon 540 is 908.5 GFLOPS.
• FP16: R7 M380 has no recorded value, Radeon 540 is 908.5 GFLOPS (1:1).
• TDP: R7 M380 has no recorded TDP, Radeon 540 is 50 W.
• Slot width: R7 M380 has no recorded slot width, Radeon 540 is single-slot.
• Power connectors: R7 M380 has none recorded, Radeon 540 has none.
• Suggested PSU: R7 M380 has none recorded, Radeon 540 is 250 W.
• Bus interface: R7 M380 is PCIe 3.0 x16, Radeon 540 is PCIe 3.0 x8.
• Display outputs: R7 M380 has none recorded, Radeon 540 has 2x DisplayPort 1.4a.
• DirectX: R7 M380 is 12 (11_1), Radeon 540 is 12 (12_0).
• Vulkan: R7 M380 is 1.2.170, Radeon 540 is 1.3.
• Release date: R7 M380 is 2015-05-04, Radeon 540 is 2017-04-19.
• Predecessor: R7 M380 is Solar System, Radeon 540 is Arctic Islands.
• Successor: R7 M380 is Polaris Mobile, Radeon 540 is Vega.
• Benchmark scores: R7 M380 has one OpenCL score (9313), Radeon 540 has OpenCL (6184) and Vulkan (9162) scores.
• Percentile: R7 M380 is 46th, Radeon 540 is 41st.
• Average benchmark score: R7 M380 is 9313, Radeon 540 is 7673.