GeForce GTX 260M SLI vs Radeon HD 5850

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 260M SLI and Radeon HD 5850 you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people GeForce GTX 260M SLI will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 5850 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

GeForce GTX 260M SLI is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 260M SLI is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with GeForce GTX 260M SLI here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 260M SLI Radeon HD 5850
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 151 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 5850 has 0% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 260M SLI.
  • GeForce GTX 260M SLI has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 5850.
  • GeForce GTX 260M SLI is used in Laptops, and Radeon HD 5850 - in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 260M SLI is build with G9x architecture, and Radeon HD 5850 - with Terascale 2.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 5850 is 175 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 260M SLI.
  • GeForce GTX 260M SLI is manufactured by 55 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 5850 - by 40 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 5850 is 1050 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 260M SLI.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 8−9 9−10
ultra / 1080p 5−6 5−6
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 20−22 21−24
medium / 1080p 10−12 12−14
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5850 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 9% more, than GeForce GTX 260M SLI.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 260M SLI Radeon HD 5850
Architecture G9x Terascale 2
Code name NB9E-GTX Cypress
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 2 March 2009 30 September 2009
Pipelines 224 1440
Core clock speed 550 MHz 725 MHz
Transistor count 1508 Million 2,154 million
Manufacturing process technology 55 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 52.20
Floating-point performance 2,088.0 gflops
Length 241 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 950 MHz 2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 128.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX DirectX 10, Shader 4.0 11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.0
OpenGL 4.4
OpenCL 1.2
Vulkan N/A
CUDA +
Laptop size large
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