GeForce GTX 260 vs ATI Radeon HD 5850

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 5850 and GeForce GTX 260, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 5850
2009
1 GB GDDR5, 151 Watt
5.15
+63%

ATI HD 5850 outperforms GTX 260 by an impressive 63% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking614744
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.590.14
Power efficiency2.461.25
ArchitectureTeraScale 2 (2009−2015)Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)
GPU code nameCypressGT200
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date30 September 2009 (15 years ago)16 June 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$299 $449

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

ATI HD 5850 has 321% better value for money than GTX 260.

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 cores1440192
Core clock speed725 MHz576 MHz
Number of transistors2,154 million1,400 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)151 Watt182 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data105 °C
Texture fill rate52.2036.86
Floating-point processing power2.088 TFLOPS0.4769 TFLOPS
ROPs3228
TMUs7264

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 2.0 x16
Length241 mm267 mm
Heightno data4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin2x 6-pin
SLI options-+

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 typeGDDR5GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount1 GB896 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit448 Bit
Memory clock speed1000 MHz999 MHz
Memory bandwidth128.0 GB/s111.9 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 HDMI, 1x DisplayPortDual Link DVIHDTV
Multi monitor supportno data+
HDMI++
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataS/PDIF

API compatibility

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

DirectX11.2 (11_0)11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model5.04.0
OpenGL4.42.1
OpenCL1.21.1
VulkanN/AN/A
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.

ATI HD 5850 5.15
+63%
GTX 260 3.16

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 5850 1988
+63.2%
GTX 260 1218

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:

900p59
+68.6%
35−40
−68.6%
Full HD55
+83.3%
30−35
−83.3%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Battlefield 5 12−14
+85.7%
7−8
−85.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Far Cry 5 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+83.3%
18−20
−83.3%
Hitman 3 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+83.3%
18−20
−83.3%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+71.4%
7−8
−71.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+80%
10−11
−80%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+74.1%
27−30
−74.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Battlefield 5 12−14
+85.7%
7−8
−85.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Far Cry 5 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+83.3%
18−20
−83.3%
Hitman 3 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+83.3%
18−20
−83.3%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+71.4%
7−8
−71.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+80%
10−11
−80%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+80%
10−11
−80%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+74.1%
27−30
−74.1%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Far Cry 5 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+83.3%
18−20
−83.3%
Hitman 3 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+83.3%
18−20
−83.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+80%
10−11
−80%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+80%
10−11
−80%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+74.1%
27−30
−74.1%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 10−11
+66.7%
6−7
−66.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+71.4%
7−8
−71.4%
Hitman 3 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+71.4%
7−8
−71.4%
Metro Exodus 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
+77.8%
18−20
−77.8%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Far Cry New Dawn 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Hitman 3 1−2 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Metro Exodus 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 1−2 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%

This is how ATI HD 5850 and GTX 260 compete in popular games:

  • ATI HD 5850 is 69% faster in 900p
  • ATI HD 5850 is 83% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.15 3.16
Recency 30 September 2009 16 June 2008
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 896 MB
Chip lithography 40 nm 65 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 151 Watt 182 Watt

ATI HD 5850 has a 63% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 14.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 62.5% more advanced lithography process, and 20.5% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 5850 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 260 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 5850
Radeon HD 5850
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
GeForce GTX 260

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.


3.5 249 votes

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Questions & comments

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