Radeon HD 7850M vs GeForce GTX 280M SLI

Place in the ranking	730	724
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	1.58	6.14
Architecture	G9x (2007−2010)	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code name	N10E-GTX	Heathrow
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	2 March 2009 (15 years ago)	24 April 2012 (12 years ago)

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	256	640
Core clock speed	585 MHz	675 MHz
Number of transistors	1508 Million	1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology	55 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	40 Watt
Texture fill rate	no data	27.00
Floating-point processing power	no data	0.864 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	16
TMUs	no data	40

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop size	large	large
Interface	no data	PCIe 3.0 x16

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR3	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	950 MHz	1000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	64 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors

no data

No outputs

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	10	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	no data	5.1
OpenGL	no data	4.6
OpenCL	no data	1.2
Vulkan	-	1.2.131
CUDA	+	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 280M SLI 3.45

HD 7850M 3.57
+3.5%

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 280M SLI 9435

HD 7850M 12254
+29.9%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Elden Ring	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Metro Exodus	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Valorant	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Dota 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Elden Ring	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Fortnite	18−20 −5.3%	20−22 +5.3%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	10−11 −10%	10−12 +10%
Metro Exodus	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	30−35 −3.2%	30−35 +3.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 −8.3%	12−14 +8.3%
Valorant	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
World of Tanks	60−65 −3.3%	60−65 +3.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Dota 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	30−35 −3.2%	30−35 +3.2%
Valorant	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Elden Ring	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	24−27 −4.2%	24−27 +4.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
World of Tanks	24−27 −4.2%	24−27 +4.2%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	2−3 −50%	3−4 +50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Valorant	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%

4K
High Preset

Dota 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Elden Ring	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Dota 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Far Cry 5	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Fortnite	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Valorant	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Forza Horizon 4, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7850M is 50% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

HD 7850M is ahead in 19 tests (32%)
there's a draw in 40 tests (68%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.45	3.57
Recency	2 March 2009	24 April 2012
Chip lithography	55 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	40 Watt

HD 7850M has a 3.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 96.4% more advanced lithography process, and 275% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between GeForce GTX 280M SLI and Radeon HD 7850M.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.