Radeon RX 7900 XT vs ATI HD 5850

Place in the ranking	626	13
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.65	37.79
Power efficiency	2.36	17.26
Architecture	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)	RDNA 3.0 (2022−2024)
GPU code name	Cypress	Navi 31
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	30 September 2009 (15 years ago)	3 November 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$299	$899

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 7900 XT has 5714% better value for money than ATI HD 5850.

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	1440	5376
Core clock speed	725 MHz	1387 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	2394 MHz
Number of transistors	2,154 million	57,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	151 Watt	300 Watt
Texture fill rate	52.20	804.4
Floating-point processing power	2.088 TFLOPS	51.48 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	192
TMUs	72	336
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	84

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 4.0 x16
Length	241 mm	276 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	2x 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	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	20 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	320 Bit
Memory clock speed	1000 MHz	2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	128.0 GB/s	800.0 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 Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C
HDMI	+	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11.2 (11_0)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	5.0	6.7
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.2
Vulkan	N/A	1.3

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 5.17

RX 7900 XT 75.23
+1355%

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

RX 7900 XT 28912
+1354%

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

RX 7900 XT 75896
+2132%

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 5850 13267

RX 7900 XT 142489
+974%

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	59 −1341%	850−900 +1341%
Full HD	55 −273%	205 +273%
1440p	9−10 −1389%	134 +1389%
4K	6−7 −1367%	88 +1367%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	5.44 −24%	4.39 +24%
1440p	33.22 −395%	6.71 +395%
4K	49.83 −388%	10.22 +388%

RX 7900 XT has 24% lower cost per frame in 1080p
RX 7900 XT has 395% lower cost per frame in 1440p
RX 7900 XT has 388% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −1262%	170−180 +1262%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −2055%	237 +2055%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18 −631%	110−120 +631%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −1362%	190 +1362%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −864%	106 +864%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 −2536%	580 +2536%
Forza Horizon 5	10−11 −1880%	190−200 +1880%
Metro Exodus	12−14 −1258%	163 +1258%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 −763%	130−140 +763%
Valorant	14−16 −2607%	400−450 +2607%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18 −631%	110−120 +631%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −1331%	186 +1331%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −764%	95 +764%
Dota 2	16−18 −965%	181 +965%
Far Cry 5	24−27 −340%	110 +340%
Fortnite	30−33 −903%	300−350 +903%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 −2136%	492 +2136%
Forza Horizon 5	10−11 −1880%	190−200 +1880%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 −918%	173 +918%
Metro Exodus	12−14 −1242%	161 +1242%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	40−45 −389%	210−220 +389%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 −763%	130−140 +763%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 −924%	170−180 +924%
Valorant	14−16 −2607%	400−450 +2607%
World of Tanks	80−85 −232%	270−280 +232%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18 −631%	110−120 +631%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −1192%	168 +1192%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −709%	89 +709%
Dota 2	16−18 −982%	184 +982%
Far Cry 5	24−27 −464%	140−150 +464%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 −1827%	424 +1827%
Forza Horizon 5	10−11 −1880%	190−200 +1880%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	40−45 −389%	210−220 +389%
Valorant	14−16 −2607%	400−450 +2607%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	5−6 −3080%	159 +3080%
Grand Theft Auto V	5−6 −3080%	159 +3080%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	30−35 −430%	170−180 +430%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 −2225%	90−95 +2225%
World of Tanks	35−40 −1295%	500−550 +1295%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 −988%	85−90 +988%
Counter-Strike 2	4−5 −1275%	55−60 +1275%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −1120%	61 +1120%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −1355%	160−170 +1355%
Forza Horizon 4	8−9 −3963%	325 +3963%
Forza Horizon 5	7−8 −2029%	140−150 +2029%
Metro Exodus	4−5 −3425%	141 +3425%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	8−9 −2050%	170−180 +2050%
Valorant	14−16 −2364%	300−350 +2364%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −364%	50−55 +364%
Dota 2	16−18 −929%	175 +929%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 −994%	175 +994%
Metro Exodus	1−2 −8600%	87 +8600%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	14−16 −1293%	200−210 +1293%
Red Dead Redemption 2	3−4 −2033%	60−65 +2033%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 −994%	175 +994%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	4−5 −2175%	90−95 +2175%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −173%	30 +173%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −1400%	30 +1400%
Dota 2	16−18 −800%	153 +800%
Far Cry 5	6−7 −1650%	100−110 +1650%
Fortnite	4−5 −2300%	95−100 +2300%
Forza Horizon 4	5−6 −3360%	173 +3360%
Forza Horizon 5	3−4 −3033%	90−95 +3033%
Valorant	5−6 −3920%	200−210 +3920%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2

30−35

+0%

30−35

+0%

This is how ATI HD 5850 and RX 7900 XT compete in popular games:

RX 7900 XT is 1341% faster in 900p
RX 7900 XT is 273% faster in 1080p
RX 7900 XT is 1389% faster in 1440p
RX 7900 XT is 1367% faster in 4K

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

in Metro Exodus, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RX 7900 XT is 8600% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 7900 XT is ahead in 63 tests (98%)
there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	5.17	75.23
Recency	30 September 2009	3 November 2022
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	20 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	151 Watt	300 Watt

ATI HD 5850 has 98.7% lower power consumption.

RX 7900 XT, on the other hand, has a 1355.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 13 years, a 1900% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 700% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 7900 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 5850 in performance tests.

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