Radeon RX 540 vs HD 6850

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 6850 with Radeon RX 540, including specs and performance data.

HD 6850
2010
1 GB GDDR5, 127 Watt
5.07

RX 540 outperforms HD 6850 by a considerable 42% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking635549
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation1.05no data
Power efficiency2.759.95
ArchitectureTeraScale 2 (2009−2015)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameBartsLexa
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date21 October 2010 (14 years ago)11 November 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$179 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

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 cores960512
Core clock speedno data1124 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1219 MHz
Number of transistors1,700 million2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)127 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rate37.2039.01
Floating-point processing power1.488 TFLOPS1.248 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs4832

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 sizeno datalarge
Bus supportAGPno data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x8
Length198 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speedno data1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth128.0 GB/s96 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortNo outputs
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire+-
FreeSync-+

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1112 (12_0)
Shader Model5.06.4
OpenGL4.44.6
OpenCL1.22.0
Vulkan-1.2.131

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.

HD 6850 5.07
RX 540 7.21
+42.2%

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 1962
RX 540 2788
+42.1%

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
RX 540 3686
+49.8%

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 HD16−18
−50%
24
+50%

Cost per frame, $

1080p11.19no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Battlefield 5 31
+0%
31
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Far Cry 5 19
+0%
19
+0%
Fortnite 46
+0%
46
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 23
+0%
23
+0%
Valorant 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Battlefield 5 29
+0%
29
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Dota 2 47
+0%
47
+0%
Far Cry 5 21
+0%
21
+0%
Fortnite 34
+0%
34
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 11
+0%
11
+0%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 20
+0%
20
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 11
+0%
11
+0%
Valorant 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 21
+0%
21
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Dota 2 38
+0%
38
+0%
Far Cry 5 17
+0%
17
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 19
+0%
19
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7
+0%
7
+0%
Valorant 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 22
+0%
22
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Metro Exodus 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Valorant 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Far Cry 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Metro Exodus 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Valorant 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Dota 2 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%

This is how HD 6850 and RX 540 compete in popular games:

  • RX 540 is 50% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 67 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.07 7.21
Recency 21 October 2010 11 November 2017
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 40 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 127 Watt 50 Watt

RX 540 has a 42.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 185.7% more advanced lithography process, and 154% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 540 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6850 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 6850 is a desktop card while Radeon RX 540 is a notebook one.

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AMD Radeon HD 6850
Radeon HD 6850
AMD Radeon RX 540
Radeon RX 540

Other comparisons

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.


4 577 votes

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3.7 158 votes

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Questions & comments

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