GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon HD 7850

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 970 and Radeon HD 7850, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the GeForce GTX 970 stacks up against Radeon HD 7850, check out specs charts below.

GeForce GTX 970 Check Price

Radeon HD 7850 Check Price

Main Specs

	GeForce GTX 970	Radeon HD 7850
Power consumption (TDP)	148 Watt	225 Watt
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pins	1x 6-pin
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Display Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Recommended system power (PSU)	500 Watt
	Check Price	Check Price

Radeon HD 7850 has 52% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 970.
Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
GeForce GTX 970 has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7850.
Both cards are used in Desktops.
GeForce GTX 970 is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon HD 7850 - with GCN 1.0.
GeForce GTX 970 and Radeon HD 7850 are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
Radeon HD 7850 is 200 mm longer, than GeForce GTX 970.
Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7850 is 1193 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 970.

Game benchmarks


high / 1080p	50−55	18−20
ultra / 1080p	30−35	10−12
QHD / 1440p	27−30	5−6
4K / 2160p	14−16	4−5
low / 720p	75−80	35−40
medium / 1080p	60−65	24−27
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 158% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
high / 1080p	75−80	30−33
ultra / 1080p	70−75	24−27
QHD / 1440p	50−55	10−11
4K / 2160p	27−30	7−8
low / 720p	130−140	60−65
medium / 1080p	85−90	30−35
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Battlefield 5 is 167% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
low / 768p	45−50	50−55
QHD / 1440p	45−50	0−1
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7850 in Call of Duty: Warzone is 10% more, than GeForce GTX 970.
low / 768p	250−260	220−230
medium / 768p	230−240	190−200
ultra / 1080p	−	110−120
QHD / 1440p	150−160	80−85
4K / 2160p	100−110	40−45
high / 768p	220−230	160−170
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 37% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
low / 768p	70−75	60−65
ultra / 1080p	−	45−50
medium / 1080p	50−55	55−60
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Cyberpunk 2077 is 3% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
low / 768p	120−130	110−120
medium / 768p	110−120	100−110
ultra / 1080p	110−120	75−80
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Dota 2 is 19% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
high / 1080p	60−65	21−24
ultra / 1080p	60−65	21−24
QHD / 1440p	40−45	18−20
4K / 2160p	21−24	7−8
low / 720p	100−110	50−55
medium / 1080p	65−70	24−27
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Far Cry 5 is 150% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
high / 1080p	90−95	30−35
ultra / 1080p	70−75	21−24
QHD / 1440p	45−50	14−16
4K / 2160p	21−24	−
low / 720p	220−230	110−120
medium / 1080p	140−150	65−70
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Fortnite is 132% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
high / 1080p	85−90	30−35
ultra / 1080p	65−70	24−27
QHD / 1440p	45−50	12−14
4K / 2160p	30−35	12−14
low / 720p	130−140	65−70
medium / 1080p	90−95	35−40
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Forza Horizon 4 is 148% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
low / 768p	160−170	100−105
medium / 768p	150−160	90−95
high / 1080p	95−100	35−40
ultra / 1080p	45−50	14−16
QHD / 1440p	40−45	6−7
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Grand Theft Auto V is 102% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
high / 1080p	35−40	12−14
ultra / 1080p	30−35	9−10
QHD / 1440p	24−27	−
4K / 2160p	14−16	2−3
low / 720p	95−100	35−40
medium / 1080p	50−55	16−18
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Metro Exodus is 213% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
low / 768p	120−130	110−120
medium / 1080p	−	110−120
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Minecraft is 8% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
high / 1080p	75−80	−
ultra / 1080p	55−60	14−16
4K / 2160p	18−20	−
low / 720p	120−130	65−70
medium / 1080p	85−90	18−20
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 172% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
high / 1080p	35−40	14−16
ultra / 1080p	24−27	10−11
QHD / 1440p	16−18	1−2
4K / 2160p	10−12	0−1
low / 720p	90−95	35−40
medium / 1080p	55−60	20−22
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 170% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
low / 768p	180−190	70−75
medium / 768p	120−130	40−45
high / 1080p	70−75	24−27
ultra / 1080p	40−45	12−14
4K / 2160p	24−27	7−8
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 181% more, than Radeon HD 7850.
low / 768p	120−130	90−95
medium / 768p	−	60−65
ultra / 1080p	65−70	40−45
high / 768p	−	55−60
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in World of Tanks is 43% more, than Radeon HD 7850.

Full Specs

	GeForce GTX 970	Radeon HD 7850
Architecture	Maxwell	GCN 1.0
Code name	GM204	Pitcairn
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	19 September 2014	5 March 2012
Pipelines	1664	1024
Core clock speed	1050 MHz
Boost Clock	1178 MHz	1000 MHz
Transistor count	5,200 million	2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Texture fill rate	109 billion/sec	55.04
Floating-point performance	3,920 gflops	1,761 gflops
Length	10.5" (26.7 cm)	210 mm
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	7.0 GB/s	1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth	224 GB/s	153.6 GB/s
Shared memory	-
G-SYNC support	+
DirectX	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	1.1.126
CUDA	+
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight)	0.48 kh/s
FreeSync		+
CUDA cores	1664
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	PCIe 2.1 x16
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)
SLI options	+
Multi monitor support	4 displays
HDMI		+
HDCP	+
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI	Internal
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)	478 Mh/s	249 Mh/s
Eyefinity		+
Design		reference
CrossFire		+
Decred / DCR (Decred)	1.51 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)	22.21 Mh/s	12.5 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash)	291.61 Sol/s
GameStream	+
GeForce ShadowPlay	+
GPU Boost	2.0
GameWorks	+
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GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon HD 7850

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

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