Radeon HD 4850 vs HD 6790

Place in performance ranking	649	777
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.34	0.17
Architecture	Terascale 2 (2009−2015)	Terascale 1 (2008−2010)
GPU code name	Barts	RV770
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	4 April 2011 (13 years ago)	25 June 2008 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$149	$199
Current price	$184 (1.2x MSRP)	$138 (0.7x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6790 has 100% better value for money than ATI HD 4850.

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. 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 performance	1,344.0 gflops	1,000.0 gflops

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	+	no data

API compatibility

List of supported graphics 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 performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 4.18
+57.7%

ATI HD 4850 2.65

HD 6790 outperforms HD 4850 by 58% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

HD 6790 1616
+57.5%

ATI HD 4850 1026

HD 6790 outperforms HD 4850 by 58% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

HD 6790 13637
+52%

ATI HD 4850 8972

HD 6790 outperforms HD 4850 by 52% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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 +85.7%	28 −85.7%
Full HD	56 +43.6%	39 −43.6%
1200p	27−30 +42.1%	19 −42.1%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

7−8
+40%

5−6

−40%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Battlefield 5	10−11 +150%	4−5 −150%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +40%	10−11 −40%
Far Cry New Dawn	9−10 +125%	4−5 −125%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 +50%	10−11 −50%
Hitman 3	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +26.7%	14−16 −26.7%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−12 +83.3%	6−7 −83.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +25%	12−14 −25%
Watch Dogs: Legion	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Battlefield 5	10−11 +150%	4−5 −150%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +40%	10−11 −40%
Far Cry New Dawn	9−10 +125%	4−5 −125%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 +50%	10−11 −50%
Hitman 3	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +26.7%	14−16 −26.7%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−12 +83.3%	6−7 −83.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +25%	12−14 −25%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Watch Dogs: Legion	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +40%	10−11 −40%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 +50%	10−11 −50%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +26.7%	14−16 −26.7%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Watch Dogs: Legion	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−12
+83.3%

6−7

−83.3%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 +100%	4−5 −100%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 +100%	3−4 −100%
Hitman 3	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 +20%	5−6 −20%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Far Cry 5	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Forza Horizon 4	7−8 +75%	4−5 −75%
Horizon Zero Dawn	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Metro Exodus	0−1	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 +100%	2−3 −100%
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%

4K
High Preset

Far Cry 5	12−14 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	1−2	0−1
Hitman 3	0−1	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	1−2	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	3−4	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Metro Exodus	6−7 +20%	5−6 −20%
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

5−6
+25%

4−5

−25%

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

HD 6790 is 86% faster in 900p
HD 6790 is 44% faster in 1080p
HD 6790 is 42% faster in 1200p

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

in Metro Exodus, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the HD 6790 is 300% faster than the ATI HD 4850.

All in all, in popular games:

HD 6790 is ahead in 54 tests (96%)
there's a draw in 2 tests (4%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	4.18	2.65
Recency	4 April 2011	25 June 2008
Cost	$149	$199
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	512 MB
Chip lithography	40 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	110 Watt