Switch 2 GPU vs Radeon HD 7850
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 503 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 2.59 | no data |
| Power efficiency | 5.50 | no data |
| Architecture | GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) | Ampere (2020−2025) |
| GPU code name | Pitcairn | GA10B |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Design | reference | no data |
| Release date | 5 March 2012 (13 years ago) | 5 June 2025 (less than a year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $249 | $449 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.
Performance to price scatter graph
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 | 1024 | 1536 |
| Core clock speed | no data | 561 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1000 MHz | 1400 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 2,800 million | no data |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 8 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 40 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 55.04 | 67.20 |
| Floating-point processing power | 1.761 TFLOPS | 4.301 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 32 | 16 |
| TMUs | 64 | 48 |
| Tensor Cores | no data | 48 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | no data | 12 |
| L1 Cache | 256 KB | 1.5 MB |
| L2 Cache | 512 KB | 4 MB |
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 support | PCIe 2.1 x16 | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | no data |
| Length | 210 mm | 272 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | no data |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x 6-pin | no data |
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 | LPDDR5X |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1200 MHz | 800 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 153.6 GB/s | 102.4 GB/s |
| Resizable BAR | - | + |
Connectivity and outputs
This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.
| Display Connectors | 1x 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 | + | - |
| FreeSync | + | - |
API and SDK support
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 6.8 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 3.0 |
| Vulkan | + | 1.3 |
| CUDA | - | 8.6 |
| DLSS | - | + |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 5 March 2012 | 5 June 2025 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 12 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 8 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 40 Watt |
Switch 2 GPU has an age advantage of 13 years, a 500% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 250% more advanced lithography process, and 225% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between Radeon HD 7850 and Switch 2 GPU. We've got no test results to judge.
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