Radeon HD 4850 vs Radeon HD 8850M

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.

Radeon HD 4850 vs Radeon HD 8850M 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.

Radeon HD 4850 vs Radeon HD 8850M: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

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

Radeon HD 4850

2008

Why buy it

✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 4.8 vs 0 G3D/$ ($199 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 8850M across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2008 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌120% higher power demand at 110W vs 50W.

Radeon HD 8850M

2013

Why buy it

✅0.7% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Draws 50W instead of 110W, a 60W reduction.
✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌2013 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 4.8 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $199 MSRP).

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon HD 8850M is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 0.7% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and by 2.9% in PassMark G3D (973 vs 946), so the answer here is pretty clean.

Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?

Radeon HD 4850 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond because it comes out ahead on the available hardware-headroom signals for this matchup.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

Radeon HD 4850 makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup. Radeon HD 8850M still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

Radeon HD 4850 vs Radeon HD 8850M Technical Specifications

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

Radeon HD 4850

The Radeon HD 4850 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in June 25 2008. It features the TeraScale architecture. The core clock speed is 625 MHz. It has 800 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 110W. Manufactured using 55 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 946 points. Launch price was $199.

Radeon HD 8850M

The Radeon HD 8850M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 1 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 575 MHz to 625 MHz. It has 640 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 50W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 973 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The Radeon HD 4850 scores 946 and the Radeon HD 8850M reaches 973 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 2.9% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon HD 4850 is built on TeraScale while the Radeon HD 8850M uses GCN 1.0, both on 55 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 800 (Radeon HD 4850) vs 640 (Radeon HD 8850M). Raw compute: 1 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 4850) vs 0.8 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 8850M).

Feature	Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8850M
G3D Mark Score	946	973+3%
Architecture	TeraScale	GCN 1.0
Process Node	55 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	800+25%	640
Compute (TFLOPS)	1 TFLOPS+25%	0.8 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	16
TMUs	40	40
L1 Cache	160 KB	160 KB
L2 Cache	256 KB	256 KB
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8850M
Upscaling Tech	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	AMD Anti-Lag	AMD Anti-Lag

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 2 GB of video memory. Memory bus width is 64-bit on the Radeon HD 4850 and System on the Radeon HD 8850M.

Feature	Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8850M
VRAM Capacity	2 GB	2 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	Shared
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	System
Bus Width	64-bit	System
L2 Cache	256 KB	256 KB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 10.1 (Radeon HD 4850) vs 12 (11_1) (Radeon HD 8850M). Vulkan: N/A vs 1.2. OpenGL: 3.3 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 6.

Feature	Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8850M
DirectX	10.1	12 (11_1)+19%
Vulkan	N/A	1.2
OpenGL	3.3	4.6+39%
Max Displays	2	6+200%

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: None (Radeon HD 4850) vs UVD3 (Radeon HD 8850M). Decoder: UVD 2.2 vs UVD 3.0. Supported codecs: MPEG-2,VC-1,H.264 (Radeon HD 4850) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,DivX (Radeon HD 8850M).

Feature	Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8850M
Encoder	None	UVD3
Decoder	UVD 2.2	UVD 3.0
Codecs	MPEG-2,VC-1,H.264	H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,DivX

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon HD 4850 draws 110W versus the Radeon HD 8850M's 50W — a 75% difference. The Radeon HD 8850M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 450W (Radeon HD 4850) vs 350W (Radeon HD 8850M). Power connectors: 1x 6-pin vs 1x 6-pin. Typical load temperature: 95 vs 75°C.

Feature	Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8850M
TDP	110W	50W-55%
Recommended PSU	450W	350W-22%
Power Connector	1x 6-pin	1x 6-pin
Length	246mm	—
Height	111mm	—
Slots	1	0-100%
Temp (Load)	95	75°C-21%
Perf/Watt	8.6	19.5+127%

💰

Value Analysis

The newer card here is Radeon HD 8850M (2013 vs 2008).

Feature	Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8850M
MSRP	$199	—
Codename	RV770	Venus
Release	June 25 2008	April 1 2013
Ranking	#876	#894

Search Radeon HD 4850 on Amazon

Search Radeon HD 8850M on Amazon

Affiliate Disclosure

ChipVERSUS is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. We may earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through our links. This comes at no additional cost to you and helps support our work in providing comprehensive PC building guides and tools.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.