Radeon HD 5850 vs RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000)

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Aggregated performance score

RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000)
2020
6.24
+21.4%

RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) outperforms HD 5850 by a significant 21% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in performance ranking545586
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluationno data0.80
ArchitectureVega (2017−2021)Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameVega RenoirCypress
Market segmentLaptopDesktop
Release date7 January 2020 (4 years ago)30 September 2009 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$299
Current priceno data$120 (0.4x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores3841440
Core clock speed400 MHz725 MHz
Boost clock speed1500 MHzno data
Number of transistorsno data2,154 million
Manufacturing process technology7 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)15 Watt151 Watt
Texture fill rateno data52.20
Floating-point performanceno data2,088.0 gflops

Form factor & compatibility

Information on Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) and Radeon HD 5850 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Interfaceno dataPCIe 2.0 x16
Lengthno data241 mm
Widthno data2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsno data2x 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 typeno dataGDDR5
Maximum RAM amountno data1 GB
Memory bus widthno data256 Bit
Memory clock speedno data2000 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data128.0 GB/s
Shared memory+no data

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 Connectorsno data2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
HDMIno data+

API compatibility

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

DirectX12_111.2 (11_0)
Shader Modelno data5.0
OpenGLno data4.4
OpenCLno data1.2
Vulkanno dataN/A

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 6.24
+21.4%
ATI HD 5850 5.14

RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) outperforms HD 5850 by 21% based on our aggregated benchmark results.


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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 4210
+23.8%
ATI HD 5850 3401

RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) outperforms HD 5850 by 24% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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:

900p70−75
+18.6%
59
−18.6%
Full HD20
−185%
57
+185%
1440p28
+33.3%
21−24
−33.3%
4K18
+28.6%
14−16
−28.6%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 11
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 16
+60%
10−11
−60%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Battlefield 5 22
+46.7%
14−16
−46.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 20
+25%
16−18
−25%
Cyberpunk 2077 9
+0%
9−10
+0%
Far Cry 5 15
+36.4%
10−12
−36.4%
Far Cry New Dawn 14
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+23.5%
16−18
−23.5%
Hitman 3 15
+25%
12−14
−25%
Horizon Zero Dawn 11
+10%
10−11
−10%
Red Dead Redemption 2 15
+50%
10−11
−50%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 15
+15.4%
12−14
−15.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14
+100%
7−8
−100%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 13
+30%
10−11
−30%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Battlefield 5 21
+40%
14−16
−40%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7
−129%
16−18
+129%
Cyberpunk 2077 6
−50%
9−10
+50%
Far Cry 5 16
+45.5%
10−12
−45.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+36.4%
10−12
−36.4%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+23.5%
16−18
−23.5%
Hitman 3 14−16
+25%
12−14
−25%
Horizon Zero Dawn 5
−100%
10−11
+100%
Metro Exodus 8
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 13
+0%
12−14
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16
+45.5%
10−12
−45.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
+20%
10−11
−20%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Battlefield 5 19
+26.7%
14−16
−26.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−11
+11.1%
9−10
−11.1%
Far Cry 5 16
+45.5%
10−12
−45.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+36.4%
10−12
−36.4%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+23.5%
16−18
−23.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 11
+0%
10−12
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Hitman 3 10−11
+11.1%
9−10
−11.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+9.1%
10−12
−9.1%
Metro Exodus 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2 0−1
Battlefield 5 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Far Cry 5 10−11
+25%
8−9
−25%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Forza Horizon 4 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2 0−1

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Hitman 3 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Metro Exodus 0−1 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Battlefield 5 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Forza Horizon 4 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2 0−1

This is how RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) and ATI HD 5850 compete in popular games:

  • RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) is 19% faster in 900p
  • ATI HD 5850 is 185% faster in 1080p
  • RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) is 33% faster in 1440p
  • RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) is 29% faster in 4K

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

  • in Battlefield 5, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) is 400% faster than the ATI HD 5850.
  • in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the ATI HD 5850 is 129% faster than the RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000).

All in all, in popular games:

  • RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) is ahead in 51 test (82%)
  • ATI HD 5850 is ahead in 3 tests (5%)
  • there's a draw in 8 tests (13%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 6.24 5.14
Recency 7 January 2020 30 September 2009
Chip lithography 7 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 151 Watt

The Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 5850 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 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.

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AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000)
Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000)
ATI Radeon HD 5850
Radeon HD 5850

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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.


4.1 583 votes

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Questions & comments

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