GeForce 940M vs Radeon HD 6850

Place in the ranking	623	784
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.96	no data
Power efficiency	2.79	6.17
Architecture	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)	Maxwell (2014−2017)
GPU code name	Barts	GM108
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	21 October 2010 (14 years ago)	13 March 2015 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$179	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 cores	960	384
Core clock speed	no data	1072 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1176 MHz
Number of transistors	1,700 million	1,870 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	127 Watt	75 Watt
Texture fill rate	37.20	28.22
Floating-point processing power	1.488 TFLOPS	0.9032 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	8
TMUs	48	24

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 size	no data	medium sized
Bus support	AGP	PCI Express 3.0
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x8
Length	198 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	no 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 type	GDDR5	DDR3
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	128.0 GB/s	14.4 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, 2x mini-DisplayPort	No outputs
Eyefinity	+	-
HDMI	+	-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

CrossFire	+	-
GPU Boost	no data	2.0
Optimus	-	+
GameWorks	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 11	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	5.0	5.1
OpenGL	4.4	4.5
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	-	1.1.126
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.

HD 6850 5.09
+74.3%

GeForce 940M 2.92

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 6850 1965
+74.7%

GeForce 940M 1125

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

HD 6850 2460
+51.7%

GeForce 940M 1622

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:

Full HD	30−35 +66.7%	18 −66.7%
4K	50−55 +72.4%	29 −72.4%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	5.97	no data
4K	3.58	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

6−7

+0%

6−7

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Battlefield 5	15 +0%	15 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10 +0%	10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Far Cry 5	12 +0%	12 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	15 +0%	15 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	41 +0%	41 +0%
Hitman 3	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Metro Exodus	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14 +0%	14 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21 +0%	21 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Battlefield 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Far Cry 5	10 +0%	10 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	34 +0%	34 +0%
Hitman 3	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Metro Exodus	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24 +0%	24 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Far Cry 5	8 +0%	8 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Hitman 3	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6 +0%	6 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +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 +0%	16−18 +0%

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	2−3 +0%	2−3 +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%
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

4−5

+0%

4−5

+0%

This is how HD 6850 and GeForce 940M compete in popular games:

HD 6850 is 67% faster in 1080p
HD 6850 is 72% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 61 test (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	5.09	2.92
Recency	21 October 2010	13 March 2015
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	127 Watt	75 Watt

HD 6850 has a 74.3% higher aggregate performance score.

GeForce 940M, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 4 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 69.3% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 6850 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 940M in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 6850 is a desktop card while GeForce 940M is a notebook one.

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