Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) vs ATI HD 5850

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 5850 and Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop), covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 5850
2009
1 GB GDDR5, 151 Watt
5.15
+69.4%

ATI HD 5850 outperforms R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) by an impressive 69% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking619769
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.64no data
Power efficiency2.38no data
ArchitectureTeraScale 2 (2009−2015)GCN (2012−2015)
GPU code nameCypressKaveri Spectre
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date30 September 2009 (15 years ago)14 January 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$299 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 cores1440512
Core clock speed725 MHz720 MHz
Number of transistors2,154 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology40 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)151 Wattno data
Texture fill rate52.20no data
Floating-point processing power2.088 TFLOPSno data
ROPs32no data
TMUs72no data

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 x16no data
Length241 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors2x 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 typeGDDR5no data
Maximum RAM amount1 GBno data
Memory bus width256 Bitno data
Memory clock speed1000 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth128.0 GB/sno data
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 HDMI, 1x DisplayPortno data
HDMI+-

API compatibility

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

DirectX11.2 (11_0)12 (FL 12_0)
Shader Model5.0no data
OpenGL4.4no data
OpenCL1.2no data
VulkanN/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 5850 5.15
+69.4%
R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) 3.04

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.

ATI HD 5850 3401
+47.7%
R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) 2302

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
+96.7%
30−35
−96.7%
Full HD56
+211%
18
−211%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.34no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+55.6%
9−10
−55.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Battlefield 5 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%
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
+106%
16−18
−106%
Hitman 3 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+43.5%
21−24
−43.5%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+200%
4−5
−200%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+100%
7−8
−100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+38.5%
12−14
−38.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+20.5%
35−40
−20.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+55.6%
9−10
−55.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Battlefield 5 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%
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
+106%
16−18
−106%
Hitman 3 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+43.5%
21−24
−43.5%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+200%
4−5
−200%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+100%
7−8
−100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+38.5%
12−14
−38.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
−50%
27
+50%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+20.5%
35−40
−20.5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+55.6%
9−10
−55.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%
Far Cry 5 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+106%
16−18
−106%
Hitman 3 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+43.5%
21−24
−43.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+38.5%
12−14
−38.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+200%
6
−200%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+20.5%
35−40
−20.5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+100%
7−8
−100%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 10−11
+100%
5−6
−100%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%

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
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+71.4%
7−8
−71.4%
Hitman 3 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+50%
8−9
−50%
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
+50%
6−7
−50%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 4−5
+300%
1−2
−300%
Far Cry New Dawn 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
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
+50%
2−3
−50%
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
+300%
1−2
−300%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%

This is how ATI HD 5850 and R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) compete in popular games:

  • ATI HD 5850 is 97% faster in 900p
  • ATI HD 5850 is 211% faster in 1080p

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

  • in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the ATI HD 5850 is 400% faster.
  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) is 50% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • ATI HD 5850 is ahead in 59 tests (95%)
  • R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) is ahead in 1 test (2%)
  • there's a draw in 2 tests (3%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.15 3.04
Recency 30 September 2009 14 January 2014
Chip lithography 40 nm 28 nm

ATI HD 5850 has a 69.4% higher aggregate performance score.

R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop), on the other hand, has an age advantage of 4 years, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon HD 5850 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) 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
AMD Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop)
Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop)

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.


3.5 253 votes

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3.2 14 votes

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Questions & comments

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