ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 vs ATI HD 4850

Place in the ranking	809	730
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.26	0.15
Power efficiency	1.69	0.83
Architecture	TeraScale (2005−2013)	TeraScale (2005−2013)
GPU code name	RV770	R700
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	25 June 2008 (16 years ago)	12 August 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	$550

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

ATI HD 4850 has 73% better value for money than ATI HD 4870 X2.

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	800	800
Core clock speed	625 MHz	700 MHz
Number of transistors	956 million	956 million
Manufacturing process technology	55 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	110 Watt	286 Watt
Texture fill rate	25.00	28.00
Floating-point processing power	1 TFLOPS	1.12 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	16
TMUs	40	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).

Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	246 mm	267 mm
Width	1-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-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 type	GDDR3	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	512 MB	1 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	993 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	63.55 GB/s	115.2 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 Connectors

2x DVI, 1x S-Video

API compatibility

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

DirectX	10.1 (10_1)	10.1 (10_1)
Shader Model	4.1	4.1
OpenGL	3.3	3.3
OpenCL	1.1	1.1
Vulkan	N/A	N/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

ATI HD 4870 X2 3.39
+27.4%

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

ATI HD 4870 X2 1309
+27.6%

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:

900p	29 −20.7%	35−40 +20.7%
Full HD	40 −25%	50−55 +25%
1200p	19 −26.3%	24−27 +26.3%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

4.98

11.00

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

5−6

−20%

6−7
+20%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	0−1	0−1
Battlefield 5	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%
Far Cry 5	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%
Far Cry New Dawn	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 −23.1%	16−18 +23.1%
Hitman 3	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −14.3%	24−27 +14.3%
Metro Exodus	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 −16.7%	7−8 +16.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−12 −27.3%	14−16 +27.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −18.4%	45−50 +18.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	0−1	0−1
Battlefield 5	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%
Far Cry 5	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%
Far Cry New Dawn	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 −23.1%	16−18 +23.1%
Hitman 3	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −14.3%	24−27 +14.3%
Metro Exodus	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 −16.7%	7−8 +16.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−12 −27.3%	14−16 +27.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 −23.1%	16−18 +23.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −18.4%	45−50 +18.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	0−1	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%
Far Cry 5	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 −23.1%	16−18 +23.1%
Hitman 3	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −14.3%	24−27 +14.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−12 −27.3%	14−16 +27.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 −23.1%	16−18 +23.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −18.4%	45−50 +18.4%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

6−7

−16.7%

7−8
+16.7%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Far Cry New Dawn	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry 5	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Hitman 3	8−9 −25%	10−11 +25%
Horizon Zero Dawn	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	16−18 −12.5%	18−20 +12.5%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

6−7

−16.7%

7−8
+16.7%

4K
High Preset

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

4K
Ultra Preset

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

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

4−5

−25%

5−6
+25%

This is how ATI HD 4850 and ATI HD 4870 X2 compete in popular games:

ATI HD 4870 X2 is 21% faster in 900p
ATI HD 4870 X2 is 25% faster in 1080p
ATI HD 4870 X2 is 26% faster in 1200p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	2.66	3.39
Recency	25 June 2008	12 August 2008
Maximum RAM amount	512 MB	1 GB
Power consumption (TDP)	110 Watt	286 Watt

ATI HD 4850 has 160% lower power consumption.

ATI HD 4870 X2, on the other hand, has a 27.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 month, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

The Radeon HD 4870 X2 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 4850 in performance tests.

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