GeForce GT 520 vs ATI Radeon HD 3850

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 3850 and GeForce GT 520, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 3850
2007
1 GB GDDR3, 75 Watt
1.02
+25.9%

ATI HD 3850 outperforms GT 520 by a significant 26% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking11041145
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.040.01
Power efficiency0.931.91
ArchitectureTeraScale (2005−2013)Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code nameRV670GF119
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date19 November 2007 (17 years ago)13 April 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$179 $59

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

ATI HD 3850 has 300% better value for money than GT 520.

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 cores32048
Core clock speed668 MHz810 MHz
Number of transistors666 million292 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)75 Watt29 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data102 °C
Texture fill rate10.696.480
Floating-point processing power0.4275 TFLOPS0.1555 TFLOPS
ROPs164
TMUs168

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 supportno data16x PCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length208 mm145 mm
Heightno data2.7" (6.9 cm)
Width1-slot1-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pinNone

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 typeGDDR3DDR3
Maximum RAM amount1 GB1 GB (DDR3)
Memory bus width256 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speed830 MHz900 MHz (DDR3)
Memory bandwidth53.12 GB/s14.4 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 S-VideoDual Link DVI-IHDMIVGA (optional)
Multi monitor supportno data+
HDMI-+
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataInternal

API compatibility

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

DirectX10.1 (10_1)12 (11_0)
Shader Model4.15.1
OpenGL3.34.2
OpenCLN/A1.1
VulkanN/AN/A
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.

ATI HD 3850 1.02
+25.9%
GT 520 0.81

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 3850 392
+26%
GT 520 311

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 1.02 0.81
Recency 19 November 2007 13 April 2011
Chip lithography 55 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 75 Watt 29 Watt

ATI HD 3850 has a 25.9% higher aggregate performance score.

GT 520, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 years, a 37.5% more advanced lithography process, and 158.6% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 3850 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 520 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

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ATI Radeon HD 3850
Radeon HD 3850
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520
GeForce GT 520

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.


3.4 206 votes

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3.1 770 votes

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Questions & comments

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