GeForce 7900 GS vs ATI Radeon HD 4850

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 4850 and GeForce 7900 GS, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 4850
2008
512 MB GDDR3, 110 Watt
2.66
+303%

ATI HD 4850 outperforms 7900 GS by a whopping 303% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking8071184
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.21no data
Power efficiency1.670.93
ArchitectureTeraScale (2005−2013)Curie (2003−2013)
GPU code nameRV770G71
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date25 June 2008 (16 years ago)1 May 2006 (18 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$199 $259

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

ATI HD 4850 and 7900 GS have a nearly equal value for money.

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 cores800no data
Core clock speed625 MHz450 MHz
Number of transistors956 million278 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm90 nm
Power consumption (TDP)110 Watt49 Watt
Texture fill rate25.009.000
Floating-point processing power1 TFLOPSno data
ROPs1616
TMUs4020

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).

InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 1.0 x16
Length246 mm198 mm
Width1-slot1-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin1x 6-pin

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 typeGDDR3GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount512 MB256 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed993 MHz660 MHz
Memory bandwidth63.55 GB/s42.24 GB/s

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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x S-Video2x DVI, 1x S-Video

API compatibility

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

DirectX10.1 (10_1)9.0c (9_3)
Shader Model4.13.0
OpenGL3.32.1
OpenCL1.1N/A
VulkanN/AN/A

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.

ATI HD 4850 2.66
+303%
7900 GS 0.66

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

ATI HD 4850 1026
+306%
7900 GS 253

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:

900p29
+314%
7−8
−314%
Full HD40
+344%
9−10
−344%
1200p19
+375%
4−5
−375%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.9828.78

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
+350%
2−3
−350%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 0−1
Battlefield 5 4−5 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+333%
3−4
−333%
Hitman 3 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+320%
5−6
−320%
Metro Exodus 2−3 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+322%
9−10
−322%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
+350%
2−3
−350%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 0−1
Battlefield 5 4−5 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+333%
3−4
−333%
Hitman 3 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+320%
5−6
−320%
Metro Exodus 2−3 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+333%
3−4
−333%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+322%
9−10
−322%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
+350%
2−3
−350%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+333%
3−4
−333%
Hitman 3 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+320%
5−6
−320%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+333%
3−4
−333%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+322%
9−10
−322%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 4−5 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 4−5 0−1

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2−3 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 3−4 0−1
Hitman 3 8−9
+700%
1−2
−700%
Horizon Zero Dawn 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 16−18
+433%
3−4
−433%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 1−2 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 1−2 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3 0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 1−2 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 0−1 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5 0−1

This is how ATI HD 4850 and 7900 GS compete in popular games:

  • ATI HD 4850 is 314% faster in 900p
  • ATI HD 4850 is 344% faster in 1080p
  • ATI HD 4850 is 375% faster in 1200p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 2.66 0.66
Recency 25 June 2008 1 May 2006
Maximum RAM amount 512 MB 256 MB
Chip lithography 55 nm 90 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 110 Watt 49 Watt

ATI HD 4850 has a 303% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 63.6% more advanced lithography process.

7900 GS, on the other hand, has 124.5% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 4850 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 7900 GS in performance tests.


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

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ATI Radeon HD 4850
Radeon HD 4850
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
GeForce 7900 GS

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.


3.9 265 votes

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3.2 41 vote

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Questions & comments

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