ATI Radeon HD 5850 vs RX 550 Mobile

Place in the ranking	559	625
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	4.47	0.65
Power efficiency	9.64	2.36
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	Lexa	Cypress
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	2 July 2017 (7 years ago)	30 September 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$79.99	$299

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 550 Mobile has 588% better value for money than ATI HD 5850.

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	1440
Core clock speed	1100 MHz	725 MHz
Boost clock speed	1287 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,200 million	2,154 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	151 Watt
Texture fill rate	51.48	52.20
Floating-point processing power	1.647 TFLOPS	2.088 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	32
TMUs	40	72

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	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x8	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	no data	241 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	2x 6-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	2 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1500 MHz	1000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	96 GB/s	128.0 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	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
HDMI	-	+

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync

API compatibility

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

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

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.

RX 550 Mobile 6.99
+35.2%

ATI HD 5850 5.17

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.

RX 550 Mobile 4559
+34%

ATI HD 5850 3401

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	75−80 +27.1%	59 −27.1%
Full HD	15 −267%	55 +267%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

5.33

+1.9%

5.44
−1.9%

RX 550 Mobile and ATI HD 5850 have nearly equal cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	12 +9.1%	10−12 −9.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	10 −10%	10−12 +10%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +37.5%	16−18 −37.5%
Counter-Strike 2	7 −57.1%	10−12 +57.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +27.3%	10−12 −27.3%
Forza Horizon 4	28 +27.3%	21−24 −27.3%
Forza Horizon 5	13 +30%	10−11 −30%
Metro Exodus	18−20 +50%	12−14 −50%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +25%	16−18 −25%
Valorant	24−27 +60%	14−16 −60%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +37.5%	16−18 −37.5%
Counter-Strike 2	4 −175%	10−12 +175%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +27.3%	10−12 −27.3%
Dota 2	27 +58.8%	16−18 −58.8%
Far Cry 5	29 +16%	24−27 −16%
Fortnite	40−45 +36.7%	30−33 −36.7%
Forza Horizon 4	24 +9.1%	21−24 −9.1%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 +60%	10−11 −60%
Grand Theft Auto V	18 +5.9%	16−18 −5.9%
Metro Exodus	18−20 +50%	12−14 −50%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	55−60 +29.5%	40−45 −29.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +25%	16−18 −25%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +29.4%	16−18 −29.4%
Valorant	24−27 +60%	14−16 −60%
World of Tanks	100−110 +28.6%	80−85 −28.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +37.5%	16−18 −37.5%
Counter-Strike 2	3 −267%	10−12 +267%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +27.3%	10−12 −27.3%
Dota 2	43 +153%	16−18 −153%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +24%	24−27 −24%
Forza Horizon 4	16 −37.5%	21−24 +37.5%
Forza Horizon 5	8 −25%	10−11 +25%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	55−60 +29.5%	40−45 −29.5%
Valorant	24−27 +60%	14−16 −60%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	8−9 +60%	5−6 −60%
Grand Theft Auto V	8−9 +60%	5−6 −60%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 +18.2%	30−35 −18.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
World of Tanks	50−55 +35.1%	35−40 −35.1%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +50%	8−9 −50%
Counter-Strike 2	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +20%	5−6 −20%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +27.3%	10−12 −27.3%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 +75%	8−9 −75%
Forza Horizon 5	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Metro Exodus	10−11 +150%	4−5 −150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%
Valorant	18−20 +28.6%	14−16 −28.6%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	1−2	0−1
Dota 2	18−20 +5.9%	16−18 −5.9%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 +6.3%	16−18 −6.3%
Metro Exodus	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	20−22 +33.3%	14−16 −33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +12.5%	16−18 −12.5%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Counter-Strike 2	1−2	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Dota 2	18−20 +5.9%	16−18 −5.9%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Fortnite	7−8 +75%	4−5 −75%
Forza Horizon 4	8−9 +60%	5−6 −60%
Forza Horizon 5	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Valorant	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%

This is how RX 550 Mobile and ATI HD 5850 compete in popular games:

RX 550 Mobile is 27% faster in 900p
ATI HD 5850 is 267% faster in 1080p

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

in Metro Exodus, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RX 550 Mobile is 200% faster.
in Counter-Strike 2, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the ATI HD 5850 is 267% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 550 Mobile is ahead in 54 tests (87%)
ATI HD 5850 is ahead in 6 tests (10%)
there's a draw in 2 tests (3%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	6.99	5.17
Recency	2 July 2017	30 September 2009
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	50 Watt	151 Watt

RX 550 Mobile has a 35.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 185.7% more advanced lithography process, and 202% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 550 Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 5850 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon RX 550 Mobile is a notebook card while Radeon HD 5850 is a desktop one.

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