AMD Radeon 540 vs NVIDIA Quadro P2200 Comparison

The data shows a decisive, one-sided matchup. The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 outperforms the AMD Radeon 540 in every recorded benchmark category, with the most extreme gap appearing in compute workloads. The Quadro P2200 delivers over five times the OpenCL performance of the Radeon 540, establishing it as the clear choice for compute-heavy professional tasks. The Radeon 540, while functional for basic display duties, trails significantly in raw processing power, and the recorded data offers no category where it takes the lead.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most dramatic separation occurs in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 scores 32,344, while the AMD Radeon 540 manages only 6,184. This represents a 423% advantage for the Quadro P2200, a massive delta that underscores the fundamental difference in compute capability. This is not a marginal win; it is a generational and architectural gap made visible through raw data.

The Vulkan results tell a similar, though slightly less extreme, story. The Quadro P2200 posts 31,351 points against the Radeon 540's 9,162. The resulting 242.2% delta shows that even in a modern graphics API, the NVIDIA part holds a commanding lead. The performance ratio is roughly 3.4 to 1, which is consistent with the substantial differences in shading units, texture mapping units, and memory bandwidth.

Both recorded head-to-head benchmarks are won by the NVIDIA Quadro P2200. The wins tally stands at 2 for the Quadro P2200 and 0 for the Radeon 540. The average benchmark score reinforces this hierarchy: the Quadro P2200 averages 8,686 across all tests, while the Radeon 540 averages 7,673. The percentiles reflect this gap, with the Quadro P2200 sitting in the 44th percentile of all GPUs and the Radeon 540 in the 41st.

The closest rival data for each card provides additional context. The Quadro P2200's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2, scores 8,743, just 0.7% higher. This places the Quadro P2200 right at the edge of that performance class. The Radeon 540's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, scores 7,723, which is only 0.6% higher than the Radeon 540's average. This means the Radeon 540 is competitive within its immediate peer group, but that peer group operates at a lower performance tier than the Quadro P2200's.

Architecture Differences

The underlying hardware explains the benchmark chasm. The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 is built on the GP106 chip using the Pascal architecture, manufactured on a 16 nm process at TSMC. It packs 4,400 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, yielding a density of 22.0 million transistors per mm². The AMD Radeon 540 uses the Lexa chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It contains 2,200 million transistors on a 103 mm² die, a density of 21.4 million per mm².

The compute resources diverge sharply. The Quadro P2200 fields 1,280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 40 raster output units. The Radeon 540 offers just 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. This means the Quadro P2200 has more than three times the shading units and TMUs, and 2.5 times the ROPs. These are not small differences; they fundamentally alter the throughput ceiling for both vertex and fragment processing.

Memory specifications widen the gap further. The Quadro P2200 carries 5 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 160-bit bus, producing 200.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon 540 has only 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 32-bit bus, resulting in 24.00 GB/s. The Quadro P2200 offers over eight times the memory bandwidth, which is critical for large textures, high resolutions, and compute workloads that stream data. The memory clock also differs: the Quadro P2200 runs at 10 Gbps effective, while the Radeon 540 runs at 6 Gbps effective.

Clock speeds and resulting throughput rates follow the same pattern. The Quadro P2200 has a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost clock of 1493 MHz. Its pixel rate is 59.72 GPixel/s and texture rate is 119.4 GTexel/s. The Radeon 540 does not list base or boost clocks, but its pixel rate is just 18.93 GPixel/s and texture rate is 28.39 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute rating is 3.822 TFLOPS for the Quadro P2200 versus 908.5 GFLOPS for the Radeon 540, a ratio of roughly 4.2 to 1. The FP16 figures are notable: the Quadro P2200 delivers 59.72 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio, while the Radeon 540 delivers 908.5 GFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, meaning the AMD card is actually faster at FP16, though this does not compensate for its overall deficit.

Power and interface details also differ. The Quadro P2200 has a TDP of 75 W, while the Radeon 540 is rated at 50 W. Both are single-slot cards with no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The Quadro P2200 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Radeon 540 uses PCIe 3.0 x8. The Quadro P2200 offers four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs; the Radeon 540 offers two.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL compute workloads?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 wins decisively, scoring 32,344 in the Geekbench OpenCL test versus 6,184 for the AMD Radeon 540, a 423% advantage.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon 540 competitive in any benchmark?

A: Based on the recorded data, no. The Radeon 540 loses both head-to-head benchmarks. Its best relative result is in Geekbench Vulkan, but it still trails by 242.2%.

Q: How do the memory bandwidth figures compare?

A: The Quadro P2200 has 200.2 GB/s of bandwidth from 5 GB of GDDR5X on a 160-bit bus. The Radeon 540 has 24.00 GB/s from 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 32-bit bus.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The Quadro P2200 has a density of 22.0 million transistors per mm², slightly higher than the Radeon 540's 21.4 million per mm².

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 has 1,280 shading units, while the AMD Radeon 540 has 384, a difference of more than three times.

Q: What are the power consumption ratings?

A: The Quadro P2200 is rated at 75 W TDP, and the Radeon 540 is rated at 50 W TDP. Both require a 250 W suggested PSU and have no power connectors.

The Verdict

The data supports only one conclusion: the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 is the superior product for any workload that leverages GPU compute or modern graphics APIs. Its 423% lead in OpenCL and 242.2% lead in Vulkan are not subtle margins; they represent a different performance class entirely. The Quadro P2200's average benchmark score of 8,686 places it in the 44th percentile, while the Radeon 540's average of 7,673 lands in the 41st percentile. The Radeon 540's nearest rival, the GTX 1660 Ti, sits only 0.6% higher, meaning the Radeon 540 is already at the ceiling of its performance tier. The Quadro P2200, by contrast, sits within 0.7% of the GTX 460 v2, showing it is competitive with a broader range of cards.

For users who need to run OpenCL-based simulations, rendering, or data processing, the Quadro P2200 is the obvious pick. Its memory subsystem alone, with 200.2 GB/s versus 24.00 GB/s, prevents the Radeon 540 from even approaching the same workload sizes. The Radeon 540 may suffice for basic 2D display output or light 3D acceleration in a low-power system, but the benchmark evidence shows it is outclassed in every measurable way. The wins tally of 2 to 0 is the simplest summary: the Quadro P2200 wins every recorded test.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification field. The process nodes are close, 16 nm for the Quadro P2200 and 14 nm for the Radeon 540, but the transistor counts diverge: 4,400 million versus 2,200 million. Die sizes are 200 mm² versus 103 mm². The Quadro P2200 uses GDDR5X memory, the Radeon 540 uses GDDR5. Memory capacity is 5 GB versus 1 GB, and bus widths are 160-bit versus 32-bit. Bandwidth is 200.2 GB/s versus 24.00 GB/s.

Shading units are 1,280 versus 384, TMUs are 80 versus 24, and ROPs are 40 versus 16. The FP32 compute rating is 3.822 TFLOPS versus 908.5 GFLOPS. The FP16 ratio is 1:64 for the Quadro P2200 and 1:1 for the Radeon 540. Pixel rates are 59.72 GPixel/s versus 18.93 GPixel/s, and texture rates are 119.4 GTexel/s versus 28.39 GTexel/s. The Quadro P2200 has a base clock of 1000 MHz and boost of 1493 MHz; the Radeon 540 lists no base or boost clocks. The memory clock is 10 Gbps effective versus 6 Gbps effective. TDP is 75 W versus 50 W. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x8. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 1.4a versus 2x DisplayPort 1.4a. The Quadro P2200 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4; the Radeon 540 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The Quadro P2200 is 201 mm long and 111 mm high; the Radeon 540 has no recorded dimensions.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 wins in every head-to-head benchmark category recorded in the database. Its dominance is most pronounced in OpenCL, where the 423% delta indicates a workload class that is simply unavailable to the Radeon 540. For tasks like GPU-accelerated compute, large-buffer processing, or multi-output display configurations, the Quadro P2200 is the clear winner. Its 5 GB memory capacity and 200.2 GB/s bandwidth allow it to handle datasets that would exhaust the Radeon 540's 1 GB frame buffer almost immediately. The four DisplayPort outputs also make it more suitable for multi-monitor professional setups.

The AMD Radeon 540 has no recorded benchmark wins. Its only comparative advantages come from secondary specifications: a lower TDP of 50 W, a smaller die of 103 mm², and a 1:1 FP16 ratio. These factors could matter in a system where power draw is the absolute priority or where FP16 compute is the sole focus. The Radeon 540 also uses a narrower PCIe 3.0 x8 interface, which is less demanding on motherboard lanes. However, none of these translate into a performance win in the recorded data. The Radeon 540 is a low-power, low-bandwidth card that fits a niche for simple acceleration, but the Quadro P2200 is the superior choice for any task that stresses GPU throughput.