Radeon RX 6850M XT vs HD 7850M

Place in the ranking	726	76
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	6.14	18.85
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Heathrow	Navi 22
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	24 April 2012 (12 years ago)	4 January 2022 (3 years ago)

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	640	2560
Core clock speed	675 MHz	2321 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	2581 MHz
Number of transistors	1,500 million	17,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	40 Watt	165 Watt
Texture fill rate	27.00	413.0
Floating-point processing power	0.864 TFLOPS	13.21 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	64
TMUs	40	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	large	large
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	no data	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	2 GB	12 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	1000 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	64 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

No outputs

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	5.1	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	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 7850M 3.43

RX 6850M XT 43.46
+1167%

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 7850M 1372

RX 6850M XT 17369
+1166%

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.

HD 7850M 2467

RX 6850M XT 42016
+1603%

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	10−12 −1290%	139 +1290%
1440p	6−7 −1350%	87 +1350%
4K	5−6 −1240%	67 +1240%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −717%	95−100 +717%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −1900%	160 +1900%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	10−11 −1010%	110−120 +1010%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −717%	95−100 +717%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −750%	68 +750%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 −1756%	297 +1756%
Forza Horizon 5	5−6 −2180%	110−120 +2180%
Metro Exodus	7−8 −1386%	100−110 +1386%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 −617%	85−90 +617%
Valorant	7−8 −2529%	180−190 +2529%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	10−11 −1010%	110−120 +1010%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −717%	95−100 +717%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −563%	53 +563%
Dota 2	10−12 −1009%	122 +1009%
Far Cry 5	18−20 −132%	44 +132%
Fortnite	20−22 −845%	180−190 +845%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 −1519%	259 +1519%
Forza Horizon 5	5−6 −2180%	110−120 +2180%
Grand Theft Auto V	10−12 −1045%	126 +1045%
Metro Exodus	7−8 −514%	43 +514%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	30−35 −556%	210−220 +556%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 −617%	85−90 +617%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 −1169%	160−170 +1169%
Valorant	7−8 −2529%	180−190 +2529%
World of Tanks	60−65 −350%	270−280 +350%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	10−11 −1010%	110−120 +1010%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −717%	95−100 +717%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −450%	44 +450%
Dota 2	10−12 −764%	95 +764%
Far Cry 5	18−20 −447%	100−110 +447%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 −1319%	227 +1319%
Forza Horizon 5	5−6 −2180%	110−120 +2180%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	30−35 −556%	210−220 +556%
Valorant	7−8 −2529%	180−190 +2529%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	2−3 −4350%	89 +4350%
Grand Theft Auto V	3−4 −2867%	89 +2867%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	24−27 −600%	170−180 +600%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3 −2250%	45−50 +2250%
World of Tanks	24−27 −1048%	280−290 +1048%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	4−5 −1875%	75−80 +1875%
Counter-Strike 2	3−4 −1067%	35−40 +1067%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −600%	28 +600%
Far Cry 5	8−9 −1713%	140−150 +1713%
Forza Horizon 4	4−5 −4050%	166 +4050%
Forza Horizon 5	4−5 −1825%	75−80 +1825%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 −1283%	80−85 +1283%
Valorant	10−12 −1273%	150−160 +1273%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−11 −160%	24−27 +160%
Dota 2	16−18 −519%	99 +519%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 −519%	99 +519%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	10−11 −1400%	150−160 +1400%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3 −1400%	30−33 +1400%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 −519%	99 +519%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	3−4 −1700%	50−55 +1700%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 −160%	24−27 +160%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −550%	13 +550%
Dota 2	16−18 −388%	78 +388%
Far Cry 5	4−5 −1675%	70−75 +1675%
Fortnite	2−3 −3300%	65−70 +3300%
Forza Horizon 4	2−3 −4500%	92 +4500%
Forza Horizon 5	1−2 −4300%	40−45 +4300%
Valorant	3−4 −2633%	80−85 +2633%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2

30−35

+0%

30−35

+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Metro Exodus

95−100

+0%

95−100

+0%

4K
High Preset

Metro Exodus

35−40

+0%

35−40

+0%

This is how HD 7850M and RX 6850M XT compete in popular games:

RX 6850M XT is 1290% faster in 1080p
RX 6850M XT is 1350% faster in 1440p
RX 6850M XT is 1240% faster in 4K

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

in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 6850M XT is 4500% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 6850M XT is ahead in 61 test (95%)
there's a draw in 3 tests (5%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.43	43.46
Recency	24 April 2012	4 January 2022
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	12 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	40 Watt	165 Watt

HD 7850M has 312.5% lower power consumption.

RX 6850M XT, on the other hand, has a 1167.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 9 years, a 500% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 300% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 6850M XT is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7850M in performance tests.

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