NVIDIA GRID K540Q
NVIDIA graphics card specifications and benchmark scores
At a Glance
NVIDIANVIDIA GRID K540Q Specifications
GRID K540Q GPU Core
Shader units and compute resources
The NVIDIA GRID K540Q GPU core specifications define its raw processing power for graphics and compute workloads. Shading units (also called CUDA cores, stream processors, or execution units depending on manufacturer) handle the parallel calculations required for rendering. TMUs (Texture Mapping Units) process texture data, while ROPs (Render Output Units) handle final pixel output. Higher shader counts generally translate to better GPU benchmark performance, especially in demanding games and 3D applications.
GRID K540Q Clock Speeds
GPU and memory frequencies
Clock speeds directly impact the GRID K540Q's performance in GPU benchmarks and real-world gaming. The base clock represents the minimum guaranteed frequency, while the boost clock indicates peak performance under optimal thermal conditions. Memory clock speed affects texture loading and frame buffer operations. The GRID K540Q by NVIDIA dynamically adjusts frequencies based on workload, temperature, and power limits to maximize performance while maintaining stability.
NVIDIA's GRID K540Q Memory
VRAM capacity and bandwidth
VRAM (Video RAM) is dedicated memory for storing textures, frame buffers, and shader data. The GRID K540Q's memory capacity determines how well it handles high-resolution textures and multiple displays. Memory bandwidth, measured in GB/s, affects how quickly data moves between the GPU and VRAM. Higher bandwidth improves performance in memory-intensive scenarios like 4K gaming. The memory bus width and type (GDDR6, GDDR6X, HBM) significantly influence overall GPU benchmark scores.
GRID K540Q by NVIDIA Cache
On-chip cache hierarchy
On-chip cache provides ultra-fast data access for the GRID K540Q, reducing the need to fetch data from slower VRAM. L1 and L2 caches store frequently accessed data close to the compute units. AMD's Infinity Cache (L3) dramatically increases effective bandwidth, improving GPU benchmark performance without requiring wider memory buses. Larger cache sizes help maintain high frame rates in memory-bound scenarios and reduce power consumption by minimizing VRAM accesses.
GRID K540Q Theoretical Performance
Compute and fill rates
Theoretical performance metrics provide a baseline for comparing the NVIDIA GRID K540Q against other graphics cards. FP32 (single-precision) performance, measured in TFLOPS, indicates compute capability for gaming and general GPU workloads. FP64 (double-precision) matters for scientific computing. Pixel and texture fill rates determine how quickly the GPU can render complex scenes. While real-world GPU benchmark results depend on many factors, these specifications help predict relative performance levels.
Kepler Architecture & Process
Manufacturing and design details
The NVIDIA GRID K540Q is built on NVIDIA's Kepler architecture, which defines how the GPU processes graphics and compute workloads. The manufacturing process node affects power efficiency, thermal characteristics, and maximum clock speeds. Smaller process nodes pack more transistors into the same die area, enabling higher performance per watt. Understanding the architecture helps predict how the GRID K540Q will perform in GPU benchmarks compared to previous generations.
NVIDIA's GRID K540Q Power & Thermal
TDP and power requirements
Power specifications for the NVIDIA GRID K540Q determine PSU requirements and thermal management needs. TDP (Thermal Design Power) indicates the heat output under typical loads, guiding cooler selection. Power connector requirements ensure adequate power delivery for stable operation during demanding GPU benchmarks. The suggested PSU wattage accounts for the entire system, not just the graphics card. Efficient power delivery enables the GRID K540Q to maintain boost clocks without throttling.
GRID K540Q by NVIDIA Physical & Connectivity
Dimensions and outputs
Physical dimensions of the NVIDIA GRID K540Q are critical for case compatibility. Card length, height, and slot width determine whether it fits in your chassis. The PCIe interface version affects bandwidth for communication with the CPU. Display outputs define monitor connectivity options, with modern cards supporting multiple high-resolution displays simultaneously. Verify these specifications against your case and motherboard before purchasing to ensure a proper fit.
NVIDIA API Support
Graphics and compute APIs
API support determines which games and applications can fully utilize the NVIDIA GRID K540Q. DirectX 12 Ultimate enables advanced features like ray tracing and variable rate shading. Vulkan provides cross-platform graphics capabilities with low-level hardware access. OpenGL remains important for professional applications and older games. CUDA (NVIDIA) and OpenCL enable GPU compute for video editing, 3D rendering, and scientific applications. Higher API versions unlock newer graphical features in GPU benchmarks and games.
GRID K540Q Product Information
Release and pricing details
The NVIDIA GRID K540Q is manufactured by NVIDIA as part of their graphics card lineup. Release date and launch pricing provide context for comparing GPU benchmark results with competing products from the same era. Understanding the product lifecycle helps evaluate whether the GRID K540Q by NVIDIA represents good value at current market prices. Predecessor and successor information aids in tracking generational improvements and planning future upgrades.
GRID K540Q Benchmark Scores
No benchmark data available for this GPU.
About NVIDIA GRID K540Q
The NVIDIA GRID K540Q is a Kepler-generation server-side accelerator built around the GK104 chip on TSMC's 28 nm process, packing 3,540 million transistors into a 294 mm² die at a density of 12.0M per mm². With 1,536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, it delivers 2.289 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, a 23.84 GPixel/s pixel rate, and a 95.36 GTexel/s texture rate. Released on 2014-07-01 and now end-of-life, the card sits at the 50th percentile among all GPUs in the database. Its defining characteristic is the complete absence of display outputs, this is a virtualization appliance, not a desktop graphics card.
Benchmark Performance
The database records no aggregate benchmark score for the GRID K540Q; the avgBenchmarkScore field is zero and the benchmarks array is empty. This is expected for a server-side virtualization card, since standard gaming benchmarks require a display output that this card simply does not have. The performance story must be read from the silicon specifications. The FP32 throughput of 2.289 TFLOPS is the primary compute metric, driven by 1,536 shading units operating across the GK104 die. These shading units feed 128 texture mapping units, which in turn pass pixels through 32 raster output units. The resulting pixel rate of 23.84 GPixel/s and texture rate of 95.36 GTexel/s describe a card that can handle moderate rasterization workloads without complaint.
The 50th percentile ranking is the single most important comparative fact in the database. Among every GPU tracked, the GRID K540Q lands exactly at the median: half of all GPUs are faster, half are slower. This reflects the reality of a 2014 mid-range server part. The GK104 chip was never NVIDIA's top silicon, and the 2.289 TFLOPS figure confirms that. For virtualized desktop workloads, this level of compute is adequate for office productivity, web browsing, light photo editing, and basic 3D CAD viewing. It would struggle with heavy compute tasks such as machine learning inference or high-fidelity rendering, where the median performance would place it behind more specialized accelerators.
The memory clock of 1250 MHz, running at 5 Gbps effective, drives a 256-bit bus to produce 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This bandwidth is the hard ceiling for how much data the card can move per second, and it directly limits how many concurrent virtual desktop sessions can run before memory contention sets in. In a virtualized environment, the GPU's compute and memory resources are partitioned across sessions, so the median performance translates to a modest number of users per card, sufficient for small to mid-sized VDI deployments, but not for dense, high-resolution virtual desktop farms.
Who Should Consider It
The GRID K540Q has no display outputs. That fact alone disqualifies it for any desktop use case. No monitor, no VR headset, no direct video capture, the card is invisible to any user sitting at a physical workstation. Instead, this card is built for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and cloud GPU environments where rendering happens on a server and the resulting frames are streamed over the network to thin clients. If you are deploying a VDI cluster and need a GPU that can serve multiple virtual machines with hardware-accelerated graphics, this card fits that role.
The 4 GB GDDR5 frame buffer, paired with 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth, supports several concurrent virtual desktops at moderate display resolutions and settings. The 50th percentile performance means each virtual session gets roughly half the compute headroom of the fastest GPUs in the database, adequate for productivity applications, but not for demanding 3D workloads. For organizations running virtualized AutoCAD, basic SolidWorks, or media playback, the GRID K540Q can handle those tasks. For cloud gaming or high-end simulation, the median performance and 160 GB/s bandwidth would become bottlenecks.
The card's dual-slot form factor and 267 mm length (10.5 inches) mean it will fit in most server chassis, but the 225 W TDP requires adequate cooling. The suggested 550 W power supply is a recommendation for the whole system, not just the card. Since there are no display outputs, this card is exclusively a server component, if your workload does not involve virtualized graphics, this is not the card for you.
Power and Cooling
The GRID K540Q carries a 225 W TDP, which is moderate for a dual-slot card of its era. NVIDIA's suggested power supply rating is 550 W for a system using this card. The dual-slot cooler design means the card occupies two expansion slots in a chassis, and the 267 mm length (10.5 inches) requires a chassis with sufficient depth. The data does not specify the auxiliary power connector configuration, so system integrators must verify the specific board's connector layout before installation.
The 28 nm process node from TSMC helps keep power draw in check; the 3,540 million transistors operating at a 225 W TDP yield a reasonable efficiency profile for 2014. The PCIe 3.0 x16 bus interface provides the data pathway between the card and the host system, and the card draws power through the slot plus any required auxiliary connectors. In a server environment, the 225 W TDP means each card contributes significantly to the overall thermal load of the chassis, so proper airflow is essential. The end-of-life production status means replacement units may be difficult to source, and cooling solutions are no longer manufactured specifically for this card.
How It Compares
The nearestRivals data for the GRID K540Q is empty, the database lists no direct rival cards with score deltas for comparison. This is typical for a niche virtualization product, as it did not compete directly with consumer gaming GPUs. The only comparative data point available is the 50th percentile ranking among all GPUs in the database. This median placement indicates that the card performs on par with the midpoint of the entire GPU catalog. It outperforms the bottom half of all GPUs, which includes many older integrated graphics solutions and low-end discrete cards. It trails the top half, which includes all modern gaming and compute accelerators.
Without named rivals, the comparison must be framed in terms of capability. The 2.289 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 160.0 GB/s bandwidth place it in the same performance neighborhood as mid-range desktop GPUs from its era, but the lack of display outputs and the virtualization-focused firmware make it a different class of product entirely. The 4 GB memory capacity is generous for a 2014 server card, but the 256-bit bus and 160 GB/s bandwidth limit its ability to feed the 1,536 shading units at high resolutions. In a VDI context, this card competes against other server-side virtualization GPUs from the same generation, but the database does not provide specific rival scores for a direct comparison.
Memory Subsystem
The memory subsystem of the GRID K540Q consists of 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, running at 1250 MHz with a 5 Gbps effective data rate. The total bandwidth is 160.0 GB/s. This configuration is well-suited for virtualization workloads where multiple sessions share the frame buffer. The 4 GB capacity is the most important figure, it determines how many virtual desktops can have their graphics state resident in memory simultaneously. For virtual desktops at moderate display resolutions with typical texture usage, 4 GB can host a handful of sessions before memory pressure becomes a factor.
The 256-bit bus width provides a balanced memory interface; wider buses were reserved for higher-end cards with more memory and higher bandwidth. The 160.0 GB/s bandwidth is the throughput ceiling for texture reads, vertex data, and framebuffer operations. At moderate display resolutions, this bandwidth is sufficient for most productivity workloads. At higher display resolutions, the bandwidth becomes a limiting factor, and virtual sessions at those resolutions would experience reduced performance. The pixel rate of 23.84 GPixel/s, driven by the 32 ROPs, is well-matched to the 160 GB/s bandwidth, neither the ROPs nor the memory are dramatically over- or under-provisioned relative to each other.
FAQ
Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GRID K540Q?
A: The launch MSRP was 3,599 USD.
Q: Does this card have display outputs?
A: No. The data lists "No outputs" for display outputs, meaning the card cannot connect to a monitor directly and is intended for server-side virtualization.
Q: What are the power requirements?
A: The TDP is 225 W, and the suggested power supply is 550 W. The card is dual-slot and 267 mm (10.5 inches) long.
Q: What APIs does the card support?
A: It supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175.
Q: What is the memory configuration?
A: 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, running at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective), providing 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth.
Q: When was it released and is it still in production?
A: It was released on 2014-07-01 and is now marked end-of-life.
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