Radeon HD 7850M vs Maxwell GPU Surface Book

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Maxwell GPU Surface Book and Radeon HD 7850M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

Maxwell GPU Surface Book
2015
1 GB GDDR5
3.69
+3.7%

Maxwell GPU Surface Book outperforms HD 7850M by a minimal 4% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking712722
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiencyno data6.10
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2017)GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code nameSurface BookHeathrow
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date1 October 2015 (9 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 cores384640
Core clock speed954 MHz675 MHz
Boost clock speed993 MHzno data
Number of transistorsno data1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)no data40 Watt
Texture fill rateno data27.00
Floating-point processing powerno data0.864 TFLOPS
ROPsno data16
TMUsno data40

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 sizeno datalarge
Interfaceno dataPCIe 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB2 GB
Memory bus width64 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed5012 MHz1000 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data64 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 Connectorsno dataNo outputs

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

Optimus+-

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (FL 11_0)12 (11_1)
Shader Modelno data5.1
OpenGLno data4.6
OpenCLno data1.2
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.

Maxwell GPU Surface Book 3.69
+3.7%
HD 7850M 3.56

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Maxwell GPU Surface Book 2577
+4.5%
HD 7850M 2467

Gaming performance

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

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD24
+14.3%
21−24
−14.3%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Battlefield 5 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+5%
20−22
−5%
Hitman 3 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+4%
24−27
−4%
Metro Exodus 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
+2.4%
40−45
−2.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Battlefield 5 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+5%
20−22
−5%
Hitman 3 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+4%
24−27
−4%
Metro Exodus 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
+2.4%
40−45
−2.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+5%
20−22
−5%
Hitman 3 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+4%
24−27
−4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
+2.4%
40−45
−2.4%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Hitman 3 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
+4.5%
21−24
−4.5%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%

This is how Maxwell GPU Surface Book and HD 7850M compete in popular games:

  • Maxwell GPU Surface Book is 14% faster in 1080p

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

  • in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the Maxwell GPU Surface Book is 100% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Maxwell GPU Surface Book is ahead in 21 test (33%)
  • there's a draw in 42 tests (67%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.69 3.56
Recency 1 October 2015 24 April 2012
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB

Maxwell GPU Surface Book has a 3.7% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 3 years.

HD 7850M, on the other hand, has a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Maxwell GPU Surface Book and Radeon HD 7850M.


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

Vote for your favorite

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NVIDIA Maxwell GPU Surface Book
Maxwell GPU Surface Book
AMD Radeon HD 7850M
Radeon HD 7850M

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.2 6 votes

Rate Maxwell GPU Surface Book on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.1 18 votes

Rate Radeon HD 7850M on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.