AMD Radeon 540 vs Intel UHD Graphics P750 Comparison

# The Verdict

The benchmark data splits this matchup cleanly. The AMD Radeon 540 wins the raw score battle in the database's recorded geekbench_opencl test, posting a 6184 score against the Intel UHD Graphics P750's 6554. That is a 5.6% deficit for the AMD part, a margin that is consistent but not overwhelming. The Intel part takes the head-to-head win, and the percentile data supports that outcome: the AMD Radeon 540 sits at the 41st percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the Intel UHD Graphics P750 sits at the 38th percentile. For a builder focused on maximum compute throughput per dollar of motherboard budget, the AMD card is the practical pick, provided the rest of the system can feed its PCIe 3.0 x8 interface. For an integrated solution where power draw and system integration are the priority, the Intel part is the sensible choice. The head-to-head data shows a single win for Intel, and the delta of -5.6% in that test is within the range of run-to-run variability.

# Architecture Differences

The two parts come from different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon 540 is built on the GCN 4.0 architecture, specifically the Polaris generation (RX 500 family), manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 2,200 million transistors into a 103 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 21.4 million per square millimeter. The chip is end-of-life, meaning it is a mature product with no further driver updates planned. Its predecessor is the Arctic Islands family, and its successor is Vega. The chip carries 384 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation units. Its pixel rate is recorded as 18.93 GPixel/s and texture rate as 28.39 GTexel/s. Single-precision FP32 sits at 908.5 GFLOPS, with FP16 at 908.5 GFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, indicating no dedicated half-rate path.

The Intel side is a Generation 12.1 part, specifically HD Graphics-W (Rocket Lake), built on Intel's own 14 nm +++ process. It uses a completely different design: a system-shared memory architecture, where the video memory size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all dependent on the host system. The boost clock is 1300 MHz with a 350 MHz base. Shading units count 256, TMUs 64, ROPs 32. Pixel rate is 41.60 GPixel/s, texture rate 83.20 GTexel/s, FP32 665.6 GFLOPS, and FP16 1,331.2 GFLOPS (2:1). The 15 W TDP is a fraction of the AMD part's 50 W, reflecting its integrated nature. API support includes DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, matching the AMD part. The Intel part is at end-of-life, and it has no launched MSRP in the database.

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single geekbench_opencl test in the database is the definitive dividing line between these two. AMD scored 6184, Intel scored 6554, which is a 5.6% win for Intel. This is the largest margin in the listed rival comparisons: the nearest rivals of the AMD card are the AMD Radeon HD 7730M (6581 avg, 0.4% faster), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6513 avg, 0.6% slower), AMD Radeon R7 M460 (6612 avg, -0.9% slower), and NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M (6493 avg, 0.9% slower). These results indicate that the AMD 540 is tightly grouped with a cluster of mid-range mobile and low-end parts. Its 41st percentile of all GPUs in the database is consistent with a mainstream mobile chip, not a performance part.

The Intel UHD P750's position is slightly lower, at the 38th percentile, and its closest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (7723 avg, -0.6% delta), AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (7580 avg, +1.2%), AMD Radeon R7 250 (7557 avg, +1.5%), and Intel Arc A310 (7550 avg, +1.6%). In other words, the Intel part lands in a slightly lower performance band, but its real advantage is the system-level integration, not raw compute.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in geekbench_opencl?

A: The database records a single head-to-head run: geekbench_opencl on the Intel UHD Graphics P750 scores 6554, against 6184 for the AMD Radeon 540. That is a 5.6% win for the Intel part in this test.

Q: The AMD 540 has more cores and TMUs. Does that matter in real workloads?

A: Yes, the AMD Radeon 540 has 384 shaders, 24 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, versus 256 shaders, 64 TMUs and 32 ROPs for the Intel. The AMD 540 has a 1.5 GHz memory, 32-bit GDDR5 and 24.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The Intel part relies on system-shared memory, which is flexible but often slower. For frame-rate-bound games, the AMD part's lower raw pixel rate (18.93 GPixel/s vs 41.60 GPixel/s) means it will hit a frame-rate ceiling at lower settings than the Intel.

Q: Is the AMD 540 a good choice for an eGPU setup?

A: Not from the numbers. The AMD Radeon 540 uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 bus, which is fine for most motherboards, but it has a 50 W TDP and requires no power connector, so it is a card that can be plugged into a slot on a standard desktop. The Intel solution uses a ring bus interconnect, not a standard slot: it is only available as an integrated part of a host system. If you are adding a discrete card, the AMD is the one that fits standard expansion slots.

Q: Which one is faster in FP32 workloads?

A: The FP32 rates are 908.5 for AMD and 665.6 for Intel, so the AMD has a 36% lead in raw FP32 compute. However, the Intel part is running at a much lower TDP (15W vs. 50W), and its FP16 mode gives it 2:1 (1,331.2) versus 1:1 on the AMD side. In practice, the Intel-only choice is relevant for power-limited integrated systems, not for pure compute density.

Q: Which card is better for modern API compatibility?

A: Both are near the top of the API stack. The AMD Radeon 540 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The Intel UHD P750 matches that with DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. There is no API advantage for either on paper; the practical difference is whether the host board exposes the outputs.

# Where Each One Wins

Choose the AMD Radeon 540 when you need a plug-in discrete card for a desktop system with a PCIe 3.0 x8 slot. Its 50 W board power is low enough to be fed from the board slot, and its 2GB GDDR5 memory is dedicated, so it will not steal bandwidth from the CPU for system RAM. It is also the only one with a real, separate memory bus (24.00 GB/s), which is better for high-resolution textures and frame buffering.

Instead, choose the Intel UHD Graphics P750 when the motherboard matters more than the graphics card. It's a 15W part, so it's easy to cool in a thin chassis, and it can still run modern games at 1080p with reduced settings. Its FP16 throughput is 1,331.2 GFLOPS via the 2:1 ratio, which is a good trade-off for content creation apps that use reduced precision. The fact that the system memory is shared means no dedicated video memory, so a system with dual-channel DDR4 is required for the best results. It is an end-of-life product, but for an office PC or a home theater PC where discrete GPU is not an option, it is an integrated solution.