Radeon HD 5850 vs Radeon R9 350

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 5850 vs Radeon R9 350 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 5850 vs Radeon R9 350: 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 5850

2009

Why buy it

✅Draws 151W instead of 300W, a 149W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon R9 350 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2009 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌
202% HIGHER MSRP
$299 MSRPvs$99 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 6.5 vs 20.2 G3D/$ ($299 MSRP vs $99 MSRP).

Radeon R9 350

2015

Why buy it

✅24.0% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Costs $200 less on MSRP ($99 MSRP vs $299 MSRP).
✅Delivers 208.7% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 20.2 vs 6.5 G3D/$ ($99 MSRP vs $299 MSRP).

Trade-offs

❌2015 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌98.7% higher power demand at 300W vs 151W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon R9 350 is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 24.0% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and by 2.2% in PassMark G3D (1,998 vs 1,955), so the answer here is pretty clean.

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

Radeon HD 5850 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 R9 350 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $200 cheaper on MSRP at $99 vs $299, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 208.7% (20.2 vs 6.5), so the value case lines up with the gaming result. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Radeon R9 350 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, Radeon HD 5850 has the stronger long-term case.

Radeon HD 5850 vs Radeon R9 350 Technical Specifications

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

Radeon HD 5850

The Radeon HD 5850 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in September 30 2009. It features the TeraScale 2 architecture. The core clock speed is 725 MHz. It has 1440 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 151W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,955 points. Launch price was $299.

Radeon R9 350

The Radeon R9 350 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in June 18 2015. It features the GCN 2.0 architecture. The boost clock speed is 1000 MHz. It has 2560 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 300W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,998 points. Launch price was $329.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The Radeon HD 5850 scores 1,955 and the Radeon R9 350 reaches 1,998 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 2.2% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon HD 5850 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon R9 350 uses GCN 2.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 1,440 (Radeon HD 5850) vs 2,560 (Radeon R9 350). Raw compute: 2.088 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 5850) vs 5.12 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 350).

Feature	Radeon HD 5850	Radeon R9 350
G3D Mark Score	1,955	1,998+2%
Architecture	TeraScale 2	GCN 2.0
Process Node	40 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	1440	2560+78%
Compute (TFLOPS)	2.088 TFLOPS	5.12 TFLOPS+145%
ROPs	32	64+100%
TMUs	72	160+122%
L1 Cache	144 KB	640 KB+344%
L2 Cache	0.5 MB	1 MB+100%
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Radeon HD 5850	Radeon R9 350
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 GDDR5. Memory bus width is 256-bit on the Radeon HD 5850 and 128-bit on the Radeon R9 350. L2 Cache: 0.5 MB (Radeon HD 5850) vs 1 MB (Radeon R9 350) — the Radeon R9 350 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Radeon HD 5850	Radeon R9 350
VRAM Capacity	2 GB	2 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	128 GB/s	Unknown
Bus Width	256-bit+100%	128-bit
L2 Cache	0.5 MB	1 MB+100%

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon HD 5850 draws 151W versus the Radeon R9 350's 300W — a 66.1% difference. The Radeon HD 5850 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (Radeon HD 5850) vs 300W (Radeon R9 350). Power connectors: 2x 6-pin vs None.

Feature	Radeon HD 5850	Radeon R9 350
TDP	151W-50%	300W
Recommended PSU	500W	300W-40%
Power Connector	2x 6-pin	None
Length	—	168mm
Slots	—	1
Perf/Watt	12.9+93%	6.7

💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the Radeon HD 5850 came in at $299, while the Radeon R9 350 launched at $99. On MSRP, Radeon R9 350 was 66.9% cheaper ($200 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 6.5 (Radeon HD 5850) vs 20.2 (Radeon R9 350) — the Radeon R9 350 offers 210.8% better value. The newer card here is Radeon R9 350 (2015 vs 2009).

Feature	Radeon HD 5850	Radeon R9 350
MSRP	$299	$99-67%
Performance per Dollar	6.5	20.2+211%
Codename	Cypress	Grenada
Release	September 30 2009	June 18 2015
Ranking	#682	#296

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