Radeon RX 590 vs HD 5850

Place in performance ranking	588	207
Place by popularity	not in top-100	88
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.81	31.81
Architecture	Terascale 2 (2009−2015)	Polaris (2016−2019)
GPU code name	Cypress	Polaris 30
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	30 September 2009 (14 years ago)	15 November 2018 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$299	$279
Current price	$120 (0.4x MSRP)	$133 (0.5x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 590 has 3827% better value for money than ATI HD 5850.

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	1440	2304
Core clock speed	725 MHz	1469 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1545 MHz
Number of transistors	2,154 million	5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	151 Watt	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	52.20	222.5
Floating-point performance	2,088.0 gflops	no data

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 3.0 x16
Length	241 mm	241 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	1x 8-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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2000 MHz	8000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	128.0 GB/s	256.0 GB/s
Shared memory	no data	-

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	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	+	+

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync

no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11.2 (11_0)	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	5.0	6.4
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.0
Vulkan	N/A	1.2.131

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.

ATI HD 5850 5.15

RX 590 24.37
+373%

RX 590 outperforms HD 5850 by 373% based on our aggregate 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%

ATI HD 5850 1988

RX 590 9413
+373%

RX 590 outperforms HD 5850 by 373% in Passmark.

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

ATI HD 5850 3401

RX 590 23363
+587%

RX 590 outperforms HD 5850 by 587% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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%

ATI HD 5850 13267

RX 590 48454
+265%

RX 590 outperforms HD 5850 by 265% 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	59 −358%	270−280 +358%
Full HD	58 −74.1%	101 +74.1%
1440p	12−14 −375%	57 +375%
4K	7−8 −429%	37 +429%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

9−10

−344%

40−45
+344%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−11 −550%	65 +550%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 −1620%	86 +1620%
Battlefield 5	12−14 −946%	136 +946%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−12 −527%	69 +527%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 −344%	40−45 +344%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −718%	90 +718%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 −543%	90 +543%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 −400%	120 +400%
Hitman 3	10−11 −390%	45−50 +390%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −508%	158 +508%
Metro Exodus	10−11 −1140%	124 +1140%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 −550%	91 +550%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18−20 −661%	137 +661%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 −213%	72 +213%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−11 −440%	54 +440%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 −1360%	73 +1360%
Battlefield 5	12−14 −838%	122 +838%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−12 −482%	64 +482%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 −344%	40−45 +344%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −573%	74 +573%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 −407%	71 +407%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 −979%	259 +979%
Hitman 3	10−11 −390%	45−50 +390%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −1004%	287 +1004%
Metro Exodus	10−11 −800%	90 +800%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 −443%	76 +443%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18−20 −533%	114 +533%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 −700%	88 +700%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 −1035%	261 +1035%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−11 −290%	39 +290%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 −1140%	62 +1140%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−12 −318%	46 +318%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 −344%	40−45 +344%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −400%	55 +400%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 −279%	91 +279%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −269%	96 +269%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18−20 −456%	100 +456%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 −364%	51 +364%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 −52.2%	35 +52.2%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16

−357%

64
+357%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	10−11 −360%	45−50 +360%
Far Cry New Dawn	7−8 −871%	68 +871%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 −400%	24−27 +400%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 −600%	49 +600%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −650%	14−16 +650%
Far Cry 5	8−9 −425%	40−45 +425%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 −433%	45−50 +433%
Hitman 3	9−10 −222%	27−30 +222%
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 −500%	72 +500%
Metro Exodus	3−4 −1833%	58 +1833%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 −650%	30−33 +650%
Watch Dogs: Legion	2−3 −1150%	25 +1150%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

9−10

−378%

43
+378%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	4−5 −875%	39 +875%
Far Cry New Dawn	3−4 −767%	26 +767%
Hitman 3	1−2 −1800%	18−20 +1800%
Horizon Zero Dawn	5−6 −460%	27−30 +460%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	1−2 −2300%	24 +2300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	1−2 −3100%	32 +3100%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 −533%	19 +533%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 −2000%	42 +2000%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 −900%	20 +900%
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	6−7
Far Cry 5	3−4 −467%	17 +467%
Forza Horizon 4	4−5 −1050%	46 +1050%
Horizon Zero Dawn	5−6 −700%	40 +700%
Metro Exodus	6−7 −417%	31 +417%
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2 −1200%	13 +1200%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

6−7

−400%

30
+400%

This is how ATI HD 5850 and RX 590 compete in popular games:

RX 590 is 358% faster in 900p
RX 590 is 74% faster in 1080p
RX 590 is 375% faster in 1440p
RX 590 is 429% faster in 4K

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

in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RX 590 is 3100% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RX 590 surpassed ATI HD 5850 in all 69 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	5.15	24.37
Recency	30 September 2009	15 November 2018
Cost	$299	$279
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	8 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	151 Watt	175 Watt