Radeon HD 7850 vs R9 390

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 390 and Radeon HD 7850, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 390
2015
0 MB GDDR5, 275 Watt
23.11
+130%

R9 390 outperforms HD 7850 by a whopping 130% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking243451
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation11.782.94
Power efficiency5.765.30
ArchitectureGCN 2.0 (2013−2017)GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code nameGrenadaPitcairn
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferencereference
Release date18 June 2015 (9 years ago)5 March 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$329 $249

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 390 has 301% better value for money than HD 7850.

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 cores25601024
Boost clock speed1000 MHz1000 MHz
Number of transistors6,200 million2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)275 Watt130 Watt
Texture fill rate160.055.04
Floating-point processing power5.12 TFLOPS1.761 TFLOPS
ROPs6432
TMUs16064

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).

Bus supportPCIe 3.0PCIe 2.1 x16
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length275 mm210 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin, 1 x 8-pin1x 6-pin
Bridgeless CrossFire+-

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
High bandwidth memory (HBM)-no data
Maximum RAM amount0 MB2 GB
Memory bus width512 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1000 MHz1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth384 GB/s153.6 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 DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity++
Number of Eyefinity displays6no data
HDMI++
DisplayPort support+-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire++
FreeSync++
PowerTune+-
TrueAudio+-
VCE+-
DDMA audio+no data

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212
Shader Model6.35.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.01.2
Vulkan++
Mantle+-

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.

R9 390 23.11
+130%
HD 7850 10.05

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.

R9 390 8904
+130%
HD 7850 3871

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.

R9 390 12730
+144%
HD 7850 5210

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

R9 390 1520
+140%
HD 7850 634

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 23.11 10.05
Recency 18 June 2015 5 March 2012
Power consumption (TDP) 275 Watt 130 Watt

R9 390 has a 130% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 3 years.

HD 7850, on the other hand, has 111.5% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R9 390 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7850 in performance tests.


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

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon R9 390
Radeon R9 390
AMD Radeon HD 7850
Radeon HD 7850

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.


4.2 567 votes

Rate Radeon R9 390 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
4.1 830 votes

Rate Radeon HD 7850 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.