GeForce GTX 650 Ti vs Radeon HD 6850 X2

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 650 Ti

2012Core: 928 MHz
Similar parts
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VS
AMD

Radeon HD 6850 X2

2011Core: 800 MHz
Similar parts
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GeForce GTX 650 Ti vs Radeon HD 6850 X2 Performance Spectrum

About G3D Mark

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

GeForce GTX 650 Ti vs Radeon HD 6850 X2 FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

GeForce GTX 650 Ti vs Radeon HD 6850 X2: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce GTX 650 Ti

2012

Why buy it

  • Costs $201 less on MSRP ($149 MSRP vs $350 MSRP).
  • Delivers 134.1% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 16.9 vs 7.2 G3D/$ ($149 MSRP vs $350 MSRP).
  • Draws 110W instead of 254W, a 144W reduction.
  • Measures 145mm instead of 285mm, a 140mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

  • Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 6850 X2 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
  • 2012 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Radeon HD 6850 X2

2011

Why buy it

  • 16.8% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.

Trade-offs

  • 2011 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 134.9% HIGHER MSRP
    $350 MSRPvs$149 MSRP
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 7.2 vs 16.9 G3D/$ ($350 MSRP vs $149 MSRP).
  • 130.9% higher power demand at 254W vs 110W.
  • 96.6% longer card at 285mm vs 145mm.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Radeon HD 6850 X2 is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 16.8% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and by 0.4% in PassMark G3D (2,534 vs 2,525), so the answer here is pretty clean.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
GeForce GTX 650 Ti is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a 28nm process instead of 40nm and a newer 2012 generation instead of 2011. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
GeForce GTX 650 Ti makes the most sense to buy today. It is $201 cheaper on MSRP at $149 vs $350, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 134.1% (16.9 vs 7.2), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. Radeon HD 6850 X2 still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

GeForce GTX 650 Ti vs Radeon HD 6850 X2 Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 650 Ti

The GeForce GTX 650 Ti is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in October 9 2012. It features the Kepler architecture. The core clock speed is 928 MHz. It has 768 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 110W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 2,525 points. Launch price was $149.

AMD

Radeon HD 6850 X2

The Radeon HD 6850 X2 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in September 19 2011. It features the TeraScale 2 architecture. The core clock speed is 800 MHz. It has 960 ×2 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 254W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 2,534 points.

Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 650 Ti scores 2,525 and the Radeon HD 6850 X2 reaches 2,534 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.4% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti is built on Kepler while the Radeon HD 6850 X2 uses TeraScale 2, both on 28 nm vs 40 nm. Shader units: 768 (GeForce GTX 650 Ti) vs 960 (Radeon HD 6850 X2). Raw compute: 1.425 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 650 Ti) vs 1.536 TFLOPS ×2 (Radeon HD 6850 X2).

FeatureGeForce GTX 650 TiRadeon HD 6850 X2
G3D Mark Score
2,525
2,534
Architecture
Kepler
TeraScale 2
Process Node
28 nm
40 nm
Shading Units
768
960 ×2+25%
Compute (TFLOPS)
1.425 TFLOPS
1.536 TFLOPS ×2+8%
ROPs
16
32 ×2+100%
TMUs
64+33%
48 ×2
L1 Cache
64 KB
192 KB+200%
L2 Cache
256 KB
512 KB+100%

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 650 Ti gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon HD 6850 X2 leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce GTX 650 TiRadeon HD 6850 X2
Upscaling Tech
Upscaling support
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
NVIDIA Reflex
AMD Anti-Lag
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 2 GB of GDDR5. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce GTX 650 Ti and 128-bit on the Radeon HD 6850 X2. L2 Cache: 256 KB (GeForce GTX 650 Ti) vs 512 KB (Radeon HD 6850 X2) — the Radeon HD 6850 X2 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureGeForce GTX 650 TiRadeon HD 6850 X2
VRAM Capacity
2 GB
2 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
86.4 GB/s
Unknown
Bus Width
128-bit
128-bit
L2 Cache
256 KB
512 KB+100%
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 11.0 (GeForce GTX 650 Ti) vs 11.2 (Radeon HD 6850 X2). Maximum simultaneous displays: 3 vs 4.

FeatureGeForce GTX 650 TiRadeon HD 6850 X2
DirectX
11.0
11.2+2%
Max Displays
3
4+33%
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC (1st Gen) (GeForce GTX 650 Ti) vs UVD 2.2 (Radeon HD 6850 X2). Decoder: PureVideo VP5 vs UVD 2.2.

FeatureGeForce GTX 650 TiRadeon HD 6850 X2
Encoder
NVENC (1st Gen)
UVD 2.2
Decoder
PureVideo VP5
UVD 2.2
Codecs
MPEG-2,VC-1,H.264
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 650 Ti draws 110W versus the Radeon HD 6850 X2's 254W — a 79.1% difference. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 400W (GeForce GTX 650 Ti) vs 600W (Radeon HD 6850 X2). Power connectors: 1x 6-pin vs 2x 8-pin. Card length: 145mm vs 285mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots.

FeatureGeForce GTX 650 TiRadeon HD 6850 X2
TDP
110W-57%
254W
Recommended PSU
400W-33%
600W
Power Connector
1x 6-pin
2x 8-pin
Length
145mm
285mm
Height
111mm
Slots
2
2
Temp (Load)
70
Perf/Watt
23.0+130%
10.0
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti came in at $149, while the Radeon HD 6850 X2 launched at $350. On MSRP, GeForce GTX 650 Ti was 57.4% cheaper ($201 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 16.9 (GeForce GTX 650 Ti) vs 7.2 (Radeon HD 6850 X2) — the GeForce GTX 650 Ti offers 134.7% better value. The newer card here is GeForce GTX 650 Ti (2012 vs 2011).

FeatureGeForce GTX 650 TiRadeon HD 6850 X2
MSRP
$149-57%
$350
Performance per Dollar
16.9+135%
7.2
Codename
GK106
Barts
Release
October 9 2012
September 19 2011
Ranking
#633
#630

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