ATI Radeon HD 4850 vs HD 6790

Place in the ranking	692	813
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.82	0.26
Power efficiency	1.90	1.67
Architecture	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)	TeraScale (2005−2013)
GPU code name	Barts	RV770
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	4 April 2011 (13 years ago)	25 June 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$149	$199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6790 has 215% better value for money than ATI HD 4850.

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	840 MHz	625 MHz
Number of transistors	1,700 million	956 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	110 Watt
Texture fill rate	33.60	25.00
Floating-point processing power	1.344 TFLOPS	1 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	198 mm	246 mm
Width	2-slot	1-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	1x 6-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	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	512 MB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1050 MHz	993 MHz
Memory bandwidth	134.4 GB/s	63.55 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 HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x S-Video
HDMI	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11.2 (11_0)	10.1 (10_1)
Shader Model	5.0	4.1
OpenGL	4.4	3.3
OpenCL	1.2	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.

HD 6790 4.13
+54.7%

ATI HD 4850 2.67

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.

HD 6790 1589
+54.9%

ATI HD 4850 1026

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.

HD 6790 13637
+52%

ATI HD 4850 8972

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	52 +79.3%	29 −79.3%
Full HD	59 +51.3%	39 −51.3%
1200p	27−30 +42.1%	19 −42.1%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

2.53
+102%

5.10

−102%

HD 6790 has 102% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +20%	10−11 −20%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Elden Ring	9−10 +80%	5−6 −80%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +100%	6−7 −100%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +20%	10−11 −20%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 +38.5%	12−14 −38.5%
Metro Exodus	9−10 +125%	4−5 −125%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +30%	10−11 −30%
Valorant	7−8 +75%	4−5 −75%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +100%	6−7 −100%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +20%	10−11 −20%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Dota 2	12−14 +85.7%	7−8 −85.7%
Elden Ring	9−10 +80%	5−6 −80%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +31.3%	16−18 −31.3%
Fortnite	24−27 +71.4%	14−16 −71.4%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 +38.5%	12−14 −38.5%
Grand Theft Auto V	12−14 +85.7%	7−8 −85.7%
Metro Exodus	9−10 +125%	4−5 −125%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 +44%	24−27 −44%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +30%	10−11 −30%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 +40%	10−11 −40%
Valorant	7−8 +75%	4−5 −75%
World of Tanks	70−75 +42.9%	45−50 −42.9%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +100%	6−7 −100%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +20%	10−11 −20%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Dota 2	12−14 +85.7%	7−8 −85.7%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +31.3%	16−18 −31.3%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 +38.5%	12−14 −38.5%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 +44%	24−27 −44%
Valorant	7−8 +75%	4−5 −75%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Elden Ring	4−5 +100%	2−3 −100%
Grand Theft Auto V	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	27−30 +52.6%	18−20 −52.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
World of Tanks	27−30 +61.1%	18−20 −61.1%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
Counter-Strike 2	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Far Cry 5	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Forza Horizon 4	4−5 +100%	2−3 −100%
Metro Exodus	1−2	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	5−6 +25%	4−5 −25%
Valorant	12−14 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%

4K
High Preset

Dota 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Elden Ring	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 +6.7%	14−16 −6.7%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	12−14 +71.4%	7−8 −71.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +6.7%	14−16 −6.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Dota 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Far Cry 5	4−5 +100%	2−3 −100%
Fortnite	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Forza Horizon 4	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Valorant	4−5 +100%	2−3 −100%

This is how HD 6790 and ATI HD 4850 compete in popular games:

HD 6790 is 79% faster in 900p
HD 6790 is 51% faster in 1080p
HD 6790 is 42% faster in 1200p

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

in Grand Theft Auto V, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 6790 is 200% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

HD 6790 is ahead in 49 tests (92%)
there's a draw in 4 tests (8%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	4.13	2.67
Recency	4 April 2011	25 June 2008
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	512 MB
Chip lithography	40 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	110 Watt

HD 6790 has a 54.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 37.5% more advanced lithography process.

ATI HD 4850, on the other hand, has 36.4% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 6790 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.