Radeon HD 7850 Review of Performance and Features
The Radeon HD 7850 is a mid-range graphics card released by AMD in 2012. Value and performance were its major selling points, and the HD 7850 was the ideal choice for a gamer and PC enthusiast in terms of price-to-performance. Here, within this review, we will be discussing every detail of the Radeon HD 7850, starting from build quality and design up to our performance testing. If you are a retro gamer who wishes for that last look before parting with the dough or just need to understand why the card is relevant now, this review will provide the complete lowdown on what the HD 7850 can do.
Introduction to the Radeon HD 7850
At launch, the Radeon HD 7850 was for users who required decent 1080p gaming at affordable prices. The card was built on AMD’s Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture, an upgrade from earlier versions. The architecture introduced efficiency, performance, and GPU management in general, particularly with multi-threaded programs.
Key Specifications:
| GPU Architecture | GCN (Graphics Core Next) |
| Core Clock | 860 MHz |
| Memory | 2GB GDDR5 |
| Memory Speed | 4800 MHz |
| Bus Interface | 256-bit |
| TDP | 175W |
| Outputs | HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort |
Design and Build Quality
Radeon HD 7850 was designed to be basic and small. It was a single-slot card; hence, it was simple to install in most cases. It came with a dual-fan cooler, and this performed a great job of keeping temperatures low even under load. The fans would reduce speed at idle but increase speed to avoid the card from getting too hot when loaded.
The build quality was excellent, with a metal backplate on all the models for added ruggedness. It sported a 6-pin power input, which, relative to budget cards at that time, made it immensely power-hungry.
Performance Benchmarks
Performance in the Radeon HD 7850 was one of the biggest selling points. See how it performed in synthetic testing as well as in real-world usage.
Synthetic Benchmarks
In synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark 11 and Unigine Heave, the Radeon HD 7850 performed well. With performance similar to other cards in its category, it was particularly wonderful for mid-range gaming machines. In 3DMark 11, the HD 7850 beat earlier generations of cards like the HD 6850 and even beat the NVIDIA GTX 660 in some scenarios.
Gaming Benchmarks
In gaming, the HD 7850 was able to play most of the games that are available at present at 1080p resolution with high settings. Below is a rundown of how it fared in some of the top-selling games:
Battlefield 3: The HD 7850 was able to play game performance at 1080p with High settings at a steady 60+ FPS.
Crysis 3: At its high-end graphics price, Crysis 3 was played at Medium settings with a good 40-50 FPS, and it was worth it.
Far Cry 3: On Ultra settings on 1080p, the HD 7850 fared decently well with Far Cry 3, running 50-60 FPS on average in most.
The card performed wonderfully in 1080p gaming, and although it wasn’t powerful enough to handle the higher resolutions of 1440p or 4K, it was more than adequate for the average players of the era.
Overclocking Performance
Overclocking the Radeon HD 7850 proved its capability of further increased performance. With a stable overclock of approximately 1000 MHz for the core clock, the card proved the capabilities of staggering game performance increase overall, delivering 10-15% additional frames per second. This was good news for enthusiasts who wanted to squeeze some more performance out of the card without any additional charge.
Power Consumption and Efficiency
One area where the Radeon HD 7850 stood above the rest was in terms of power efficiency. With a normal power consumption of approximately 175W, the HD 7850 was more power-efficient than other high-performing cards like the GTX 660, which consumed more power because it had a higher TDP rating. The 28nm design of the card also made it power-efficient, i.e., it could handle heavy loads without leading to heavy power consumption and heat generation.
It drew more power at full loading but not so much as to be unacceptable and so ideal for those who prioritize delivering quite good gaming performance at minimal electricity draw.
Thermal Performance
HD 7850’s thermal efficiency was general for the most part. The card would go up to around 70°C when fully loaded during extended gaming, which is acceptable for most GPUs. The dual fan constituting the cooling mechanism worked effectively enough to cool the GPU for hours of gaming.
Even though the fans would rotate faster during the load, they were not very noisy. The customers could expect a nice balance of quiet and cooling, and therefore, it was suitable for silent gaming machines.
Features and Technology
The Radeon HD 7850 did have certain features that were present during that time that were worth noting:
Graphics Core Next (GCN) Architecture: It was AMD’s new GPU architecture that debuted with more computation-friendly calculations, improved multi-threading performance, and improved DirectX 11 support. It also laid the foundation for future generations of AMD GPUs.
AMD Eyefinity: In multi-monitor configurations, HD 7850 came with Eyefinity support. This enabled the connection of multiple monitors to a single video card and increased the gaming, video editing, and multi-tasking immersion factor.
AMD Crossfire: Crossfire support enabled users to dual two HD 7850 cards together in multi-GPU configurations. It was an excellent feature for any user who required additional performance, particularly for heavy gaming or heavy usage.
Performance Tessellation: GCN architecture addressed tessellation extremely well, and there was more geometry detail when gaming with titles such as Battlefield 3 and Crysis 3. HD 7850 never had an issue with maintaining good frame rates, even with intense tessellation for action.
Driver and Software Support
At launch, AMD Catalyst drivers were incredibly stable and fast. AMD continued to release driver updates throughout time, fine-tuning the HD 7850 for newer games and overall performance. One of the best software benefits was likely AMD OverDrive, where individuals could easily adjust the clock speeds and voltages of the card to make things perform better or reduce temperatures.
The capability of the Radeon HD 7850 to run future versions of Windows as well as regular driver updates made it a good choice for all even years henceforth.
Price-to-Performance Ratio
At launch, the Radeon HD 7850 cost approximately $250, where it was positioned as a mid-range gaming card. As far as the performance was concerned, and particularly 1080p gaming, it was an amazing money-to-performance offer. Against other offerings at launch, like the GTX 660, the HD 7850 beat them in some games and generally was priced lower.
It is not part of today’s GPU scene, however. Its cost plummeted, especially on the used market, but it still has amazing value if you are on the hunt for a cheap GPU for casual gaming or older games.
Comparisons to Competitors
Radeon HD 7870 vs HD 7850
The HD 7870 was the more specced variant of the HD 7850, with increased clock speeds and processing. The HD 7870 had 2GB of GDDR5 RAM, but the performance difference was evident, especially while playing more resource-intensive games.
NVIDIA GTX 660 vs Radeon HD 7850
The NVIDIA GTX 660 was equivalent to the HD 7850. Both cards ran about equally but tended to be a bit more value for money on average, particularly in terms of cost-per-performance. When talking about comparisons between benchmarks in games, the HD 7850 beat out the GTX 660 in titles such as Far Cry 3 but lagged behind those such as Metro: Last Light.
Radeon HD 7850 vs GTX 750 Ti
Comparatively to the GTX 750 Ti, the HD 7850 was previously more powerful in most cases, except a few. Even with the fact that the GTX 750 Ti was power-efficient because it was using the 28nm architecture, the HD 7850 otherwise delivered better results in more resolutions as well as extra performance in the majority of the games available now.
Conclusion
The Radeon HD 7850 was an excellent card in its time, and it provided excellent 1080p gaming at an extremely cheap price. Its adoption of Graphics Core Next technology, Eyefinity support, Crossfire support, and lack of overclocking ability made it an excellent option for those interested in overlocking their system at a massive expense.
While it cannot run today’s AAA games with high levels of detail, it is nevertheless a budget gamer card or an excellent second system build. For the die-hard enthusiasts, the HD 7850 brings to mind the good old days when mid-range GPU cards were a good value for money.
FAQs About Radeon HD 7850
Is the Radeon HD 7850 still a good gaming option?
Yes, it can handle 1080p gaming for most games, but you will have to adjust the settings a bit, particularly for new high-end games.
Can it handle VR gaming?
But it cannot handle VR gaming because it lacks performance and V RAM.
How does the Radeon HD 7850 compare to new graphics cards?
It appears to do reasonably well against low-cost GPUs but is far behind mid and high-range contemporary graphics processing units.
Is this energy efficient?
Yes, it is, as its TDP stands at 130W, which places it in the category of a fairly cool devouring graphics card compared to the majority of other cards falling under this category.
Can I overclock the Radeon HD 7850?
Yes, it does, but it also has a very good stock frequency, and this comes with very good overclocking potential, which is why the card has high performance.
Read More About: Codes Etruesports
