Radeon HD 8850M vs ATI HD 4850

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 4850 with Radeon HD 8850M, including specs and performance data.

ATI HD 4850
2008
512 MB GDDR3, 110 Watt
2.66
+5.1%

ATI HD 4850 outperforms HD 8850M by a small 5% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking812830
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.26no data
Power efficiency1.66no data
ArchitectureTeraScale (2005−2013)GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code nameRV770Venus
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date25 June 2008 (16 years ago)1 April 2013 (11 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$199 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores800640
Core clock speed625 MHz575 MHz
Boost clock speedno data625 MHz
Number of transistors956 million1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)110 Wattno data
Texture fill rate25.0025.00
Floating-point processing power1 TFLOPS0.8 TFLOPS
ROPs1616
TMUs4040

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
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length246 mmno data
Width1-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pinno data

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 typeGDDR3DDR3
Maximum RAM amount512 MB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed993 MHz1000 MHz
Memory bandwidth63.55 GB/s32 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x S-VideoNo outputs

API compatibility

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

DirectX10.1 (10_1)12 (11_1)
Shader Model4.15.1
OpenGL3.34.6
OpenCL1.11.2
VulkanN/A1.2.131

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
+5.1%
HD 8850M 2.53

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
+5.4%
HD 8850M 973

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.

ATI HD 4850 8972
+9.1%
HD 8850M 8223

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

ATI HD 4850 11272
HD 8850M 11387
+1%

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
+7.4%
27−30
−7.4%
Full HD40
+73.9%
23
−73.9%
1200p19
+5.6%
18−20
−5.6%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.98no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 0−1
Battlefield 5 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Hitman 3 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+5%
20−22
−5%
Metro Exodus 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+2.7%
35−40
−2.7%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 0−1
Battlefield 5 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Hitman 3 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+5%
20−22
−5%
Metro Exodus 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+2.7%
35−40
−2.7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Hitman 3 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+5%
20−22
−5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+2.7%
35−40
−2.7%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%

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
+0%
8−9
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 16−18
+6.7%
14−16
−6.7%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

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
+0%
4−5
+0%

This is how ATI HD 4850 and HD 8850M compete in popular games:

  • ATI HD 4850 is 7% faster in 900p
  • ATI HD 4850 is 74% faster in 1080p
  • ATI HD 4850 is 6% faster in 1200p

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

  • in Battlefield 5, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the ATI HD 4850 is 33% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • ATI HD 4850 is ahead in 21 test (37%)
  • there's a draw in 36 tests (63%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 2.66 2.53
Recency 25 June 2008 1 April 2013
Maximum RAM amount 512 MB 2 GB
Chip lithography 55 nm 28 nm

ATI HD 4850 has a 5.1% higher aggregate performance score.

HD 8850M, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 4 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 96.4% more advanced lithography process.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon HD 4850 and Radeon HD 8850M.

Be aware that Radeon HD 4850 is a desktop card while Radeon HD 8850M is a notebook one.


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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ATI Radeon HD 4850
Radeon HD 4850
AMD Radeon HD 8850M
Radeon HD 8850M

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.


3.9 266 votes

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3.4 33 votes

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Questions & comments

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