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AMD Instinct MI100 vs AMD Radeon RX 540: Comparison

AMD Instinct MI100 and AMD Radeon RX 540 separate most on tdp: AMD Instinct MI100 at 300 W, AMD Radeon RX 540 at 35 W, 757% in favor of AMD Radeon RX 540. Memory Bus Width splits them by another 97%, this time favoring AMD Instinct MI100. They match on gpu brand and board partner.

Pick the AMD Instinct MI100 if that matters to you: 12.5x the memory bandwidth (1,200 GB/s vs 96 GB/s), which feeds the GPU faster at high resolutions. Pick the AMD Radeon RX 540 if that matters to you: 8.6x the TDP (35 W vs 300 W), so it needs a smaller power supply and runs cooler.

Which is better, AMD Instinct MI100 or AMD Radeon RX 540?

On paper, AMD Radeon RX 540 has the edge on tdp, at 35 W vs AMD Instinct MI100 at 300 W.

What is the main difference between AMD Instinct MI100 and AMD Radeon RX 540?

The AMD Instinct MI100 and AMD Radeon RX 540 are built for different jobs. The AMD Instinct MI100 has 12.5x the memory bandwidth (1,200 GB/s vs 96 GB/s), which feeds the GPU faster at high resolutions. The AMD Radeon RX 540 has 8.6x the TDP (35 W vs 300 W), so it needs a smaller power supply and runs cooler.

Specs and benchmarks

  • GPU Brand

    AMD Instinct MI100
    AMD
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    AMD
  • Product Type

    AMD Instinct MI100
    Datacenter Accelerator
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    Laptop GPU
  • Series

    AMD Instinct MI100
    Instinct
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    Legacy
  • Board Partner

    AMD Instinct MI100
    Reference
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    Reference
  • Memory Type

    AMD Instinct MI100
    HBM2
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    GDDR5Best
  • Boost Clock

    AMD Instinct MI100
    1502 MHzBest
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    1219 MHz-19%
  • TDP

    AMD Instinct MI100
    300 W-757%
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    35 WBest
  • Architecture

    AMD Instinct MI100
    CDNA
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    GCN
  • Process Node

    AMD Instinct MI100
    TSMC N7
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    Other
  • Shader Units

    AMD Instinct MI100
    7680
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    512
  • Compute Blocks

    AMD Instinct MI100
    120
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    8
  • Memory Bus Width

    AMD Instinct MI100
    4096 bitBest
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    128 bit-97%
  • Memory Bandwidth

    AMD Instinct MI100
    1200 GB/sBest
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    96 GB/s-92%
  • Launch Date

    AMD Instinct MI100
    11/16/2020
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    4/18/2017
  • Form Factor

    AMD Instinct MI100
    PCIe Add-in Card
    AMD Radeon RX 540
    Notebook

    Which one should you pick?

    Choose AMD Instinct MI100 if you want the higher boost clock (1502 MHz vs 1219 MHz), the higher memory bus width (4096 bit vs 128 bit) and the higher memory bandwidth (1200 GB/s vs 96 GB/s).

    Choose AMD Radeon RX 540 if you want the lower TDP (35 W vs 300 W).

    More comparisons in Graphics Cards