Radeon RX 6850M XT vs HD 6850

Place in the ranking	628	77
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.04	no data
Power efficiency	2.78	18.89
Architecture	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Barts	Navi 22
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	21 October 2010 (14 years ago)	4 January 2022 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$179	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

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 cores	960	2560
Core clock speed	no data	2321 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	2581 MHz
Number of transistors	1,700 million	17,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	127 Watt	165 Watt
Texture fill rate	37.20	413.0
Floating-point processing power	1.488 TFLOPS	13.21 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	64
TMUs	48	160
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	40

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 size	no data	large
Bus support	AGP	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	198 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	None

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	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	12 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	128.0 GB/s	384.0 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 Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort	No outputs
Eyefinity	+	-
HDMI	+	-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 11	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	5.0	6.5
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.1
Vulkan	-	1.3

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.

HD 6850 5.11

RX 6850M XT 45.17
+784%

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 1963

RX 6850M XT 17369
+785%

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 6850M XT 33901
+1278%

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 HD	14−16 −893%	139 +893%
1440p	9−10 −867%	87 +867%
4K	7−8 −857%	67 +857%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	12.79	no data
1440p	19.89	no data
4K	25.57	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	160 +0%	160 +0%
Elden Ring	89 +0%	89 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	68 +0%	68 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	297 +0%	297 +0%
Metro Exodus	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Valorant	180−190 +0%	180−190 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	53 +0%	53 +0%
Dota 2	122 +0%	122 +0%
Elden Ring	160−170 +0%	160−170 +0%
Far Cry 5	44 +0%	44 +0%
Fortnite	180−190 +0%	180−190 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	259 +0%	259 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	126 +0%	126 +0%
Metro Exodus	43 +0%	43 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	210−220 +0%	210−220 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	160−170 +0%	160−170 +0%
Valorant	180−190 +0%	180−190 +0%
World of Tanks	270−280 +0%	270−280 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	44 +0%	44 +0%
Dota 2	95 +0%	95 +0%
Far Cry 5	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	227 +0%	227 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	210−220 +0%	210−220 +0%
Valorant	180−190 +0%	180−190 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	89 +0%	89 +0%
Elden Ring	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	89 +0%	89 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	170−180 +0%	170−180 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
World of Tanks	280−290 +0%	280−290 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	28 +0%	28 +0%
Far Cry 5	140−150 +0%	140−150 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	166 +0%	166 +0%
Metro Exodus	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Valorant	150−160 +0%	150−160 +0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Dota 2	99 +0%	99 +0%
Elden Ring	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	99 +0%	99 +0%
Metro Exodus	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	150−160 +0%	150−160 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	99 +0%	99 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	13 +0%	13 +0%
Dota 2	78 +0%	78 +0%
Far Cry 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Fortnite	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	92 +0%	92 +0%
Valorant	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%

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

RX 6850M XT is 893% faster in 1080p
RX 6850M XT is 867% faster in 1440p
RX 6850M XT is 857% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	5.11	45.17
Recency	21 October 2010	4 January 2022
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	12 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	127 Watt	165 Watt

HD 6850 has 29.9% lower power consumption.

RX 6850M XT, on the other hand, has a 784% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 years, a 1100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 471.4% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 6850M XT 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 6850M XT is a notebook one.

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