GeForce GTX 980 vs Radeon HD 7850

When choosing between GeForce GTX 980 and Radeon HD 7850, it is worth examining the specifications of the models in detail. Do they meet the recommended requirements of modern games and software? Storage capacity, form factor, TDP, available ports, warranty and manufacturer support are all important. For example, the size of a PC case can limit the maximum thickness and length of the card. Often, instead of the factory overclocked card and RGB backlight, it is better to choose a reference model with a more efficient GPU. And make sure that your current power supply unit has the correct connection pins (using adapters is not recommended). This GPUs compare tool is meant to help you to choose the best graphics card for your build. Let's find out the difference between GeForce GTX 980 and Radeon HD 7850.

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 980 Radeon HD 7850
Power consumption (TDP) 165 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
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  • Radeon HD 7850 has 36% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 980.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • GeForce GTX 980 has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7850.
  • Both cards are used in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 980 is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon HD 7850 - with GCN 1.0.
  • GeForce GTX 980 and Radeon HD 7850 are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Radeon HD 7850 is 200 mm longer, than GeForce GTX 980.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7850 is 1193 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 980.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 55−60 18−20
ultra / 1080p 35−40 10−12
QHD / 1440p 30−35 5−6
4K / 2160p 18−20 4−5
low / 720p 80−85 35−40
medium / 1080p 65−70 24−27
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 980 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 188% more, than Radeon HD 7850.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 980 Radeon HD 7850
Architecture Maxwell GCN 1.0
Code name GM204 Pitcairn
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 19 September 2014 5 March 2012
Pipelines 2048 1024
Boost Clock 1216 MHz 1000 MHz
Transistor count 5,200 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 144 billion/sec 55.04
Floating-point performance 4,981 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 4.5 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.126
CUDA +
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.54 kh/s
FreeSync +
CUDA cores 2048
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) 579 Mh/s 249 Mh/s
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
Decred / DCR (Decred) 1.74 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 20.28 Mh/s 12.5 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 312.12 Sol/s
GameStream +
GeForce ShadowPlay +
GPU Boost 2.0
GameWorks +
BatteryBoost +
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