Radeon 7850: characteristics, testing, reviews

In the focus of the article - the budget video card Radeon 7850 from the company AMD. The novelty is interesting because the manufacturer positions it as the most powerful device in the inexpensive price segment, but the potential of the video adapter allows to compete with the weak video accelerators of the High-End niche. This is a transitional model, trying to enter simultaneously into two categories. The reader will have to learn the technical characteristics of the video card, see testing and comparison with similar devices, and, thanks to reviews in the media, understand whether to pay attention to this card when buying.

Market positioning

During the announcement of the device manufacturer unambiguously hinted that the video card Radeon HD 7850 is designed for fans to play in their interesting games. About any high performance at the maximum settings of speech does not go - this buyer should know before buying the device. Only medium and minimum settings with full guarantee of the performance of your favorite toys.

The video adapter under consideration, according to manufacturers, should become a full-fledged competitor in the market for a similar device GeForce GTX 560 Ti and as close as possible to the performance of the legendary chip from Nvidia - GTX 570. Here the buyer can not doubt, AMD managed not only to achieve its goals, but Surpass them.

About Performance

But the technical characteristics of the video card AMD Radeon HD 7850 is quite attractive, both for the budget class. Here the manufacturer has something to surprise even the fans of Nvidia:

• The number of stream processors is 1024 pieces (for comparison: the GTX 570 has only 480);
• The number of transistors in the core is 2.8 billion;
• Memory chips in total are 2 GB;
• The bus width is 256 bits (the competitor GTX 570 has a 320-bit bus);
• The nominal core frequency is 860 MHz (versus 732 MHz for the competitor), there is still overclocking potential, but we are talking about the basic settings;
• The memory runs at 1200 MHz (GTX 570 has 1425 MHz);
• Power consumption - only 130 W, which is much less than the competitor (GTX 570 consumes 219 watts).

Will please owners of a video adapter from AMD and the price - it is almost 100 conventional units less than the cost of a competitor from Nvidia.

Who is in charge here?

Unambiguously, potential buyers are interested in comparing two budget employees from AMD Nvidia, because a lot of disputes always decide the testing and the final result. In synthetic tests on the standard resolution (FullHD), the indisputable leadership belongs to the GTX 570 chipset, but the Radeon HD 7850 is pretty close to the leader, leaving behind the second competitor GTX 560 Ti. But in games the novelty from AMD has a chance to outshine its performance by the opponent.

So, a loss of several frames per second is fixed in the tests Metro 2033, Aliens vs. Predator, Crysis 2 and GTA IV. But fans of the games DiRT 3 and World of Warcraft, who are used to playing at higher resolutions, will be delighted, because a cheaper chip could finally outperform its competitor. Let and 1 frame per second, but this is a decent result. It should also be noted that testing video adapters is not always accurate, because for comparison devices from different brands are involved. Some prefer to disperse their products, while others use only regular characteristics.

First meeting

The Radeon 7850 video card in the factory version has a presentable appearance. The printed circuit board is completely enclosed by a protective casing, which has a standard "combat" coloring of the manufacturer (red with black color). Located at the back of the video card is a turbocharged red cooler that adds sophistication to the device. Judging by the feedback of the owners, in this performance the video adapter falls only on the European and American market, and consumers of Russia, unfortunately, will have to contemplate a less representative copy.

The protective cover hides under itself a professional cooling system. After all, there is not just a radiator made from several sections, but a full-fledged aluminum plate, which has heat-releasing lining in places of contact with chips. The base of contact with the graphic core is made of copper. In general, such an approach of the manufacturer will appeal to many buyers.

A serious player in the market

If we are not talking about expensive video cards on the Russian market, then the Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 video adapter is in sight. It's worth noting that the manufacturer has always pleased its fans with a rich bundle, and this copy was no exception. In the box, the user will find, in addition to the video card, driver disks, complete instructions and a variety of various cables for editing and connecting video display devices.

The standard cooling system from the company Sapphire has two huge coolers that are installed on aluminum radiators. The owner will be pleased with the additional heat removal system, which consists of several copper tubes surrounding the radiators and boiling down on the copper core, which is in contact with the graphic core.

The manufacturer performed factory overclocking, increasing the speed of the chipset to 920 MHz, and the memory - up to 1250 MHz. In tests of a special performance gain, the user will not see what looks rather strange, given the overclocking. However, using the proprietary utility and the hand-held frequency settings of the Radeon 7850, the owner has all the chances to speed up the product. The core is perfectly capable of overclocking up to 1068 MHz, and the memory will work stably at 1320 MHz.

Best buy

A decent factory overclock, in comparison with Sapphire Radeon HD 7850, boasts a product from ASUS. In general, a rather strange situation at first glance. The video adapter with overclocked graphics core up to 1000 MHz and a memory bus of 1250 MHz shows excellent results in the testing process. And if we compare them with the previous brand, the growth is obvious. Understand the situation was not a problem - ASUS technology completely changed the power supply system of the printed circuit board, making in the scheme its own development (Super Alloy Power, Digi +). This little intervention allowed to increase the performance of the video card.

With the cooling system, the manufacturer did not become tricky - a proprietary two-section radiator with two fans and three copper tubes, which converge on the contact with the core, perfectly handle the cooling. As a result of testing, as noted in the reviews, many owners managed to achieve a decent overclocking: 1170 MHz for the core and 1450 MHz for memory. Excellent performance for a representative of the budget class.

The favorite of the audience

The well-known manufacturer HIS has also pleased its fans by presenting its own vision of the video card based on the Radeon HD 7850. The characteristics of the device will suit everyone. Factory overclocking touched both the graphics core (1000 MHz) and the memory bus (1250 MHz). It is worth noting that the manufacturer has installed ultra-fast Hynix memory chips, for which overclocking over 1250 MHz is undesirable, which is reported to the future owner in the instruction manual.

The user's attention will be attracted by the cooling system IceQ X, which, in addition to its beautiful appearance, copes with the original task - cooling. To say that the cooler works quietly, the language will not turn, since the system is really noiseless, even in peak loads. The entire printed circuit board is fully in contact with the radiators of the cooling system. Four copper tubes, painted in metallic color, are removed from the aluminum plates on the contact area with the graphic core. The fan air flow produces cooling of the copper pad.

Beauty requires sacrifice

It is interesting to modding the video adapter Radeon HD 7850 2Gb approached manufacturer XFX. In addition to high performance, the device has a proprietary cooling system that has a presentable appearance compared to competitors. The aluminum protective cover completely conceals the printed circuit board. There are two huge coolers on the top, the color of which matches the video adapter. Many owners in their reviews note that this cooling system is installed on the older model of the game class Radeon HD 7870. This approach of the manufacturer clearly hints to fans of overclocking that the novelty will easily cope with overheating.

In the basic version, the video adapter has a factory overclock on the core of 1080 MHz and memory of 1250 MHz. The potential for overclocking is, but it is not necessary to hurry with it. The Radeon 7850 video card perfectly demonstrates itself both in testing and in resource-intensive dynamic games without user intervention. There is also a negative from the owners of this device. The manufacturer sealed all the screws on the cooling system, so to preserve the warranty, it is better to clean the radiator with a vacuum cleaner.

Noiselessness first of all

For many future owners of the Radeon 7850 video card, the characteristics of noiselessness stand in the first place. The manufacturer PowerColor offers its customers a solution with a passive cooling system. As expected, the PCB is fully in contact with the solid aluminum radiator block, which has a copper base at the point of contact with the graphic core. For better heat transfer in the cooling system, copper tubes are present, which literally pierce the aluminum grids and are reduced to the contact pad.

However, for a noiselessness, you will have to pay a weak potential for overclocking. The manufacturer increased the nominal frequency of the graphics accelerator to 950 MHz, leaving the memory bus speed untouched (1200 MHz). As a result, the owner gets a really noiseless device that will adequately cope with many toys at nominal settings.

Alternative for fans

No need to think that PowerColor forgot about the overclockers. The manufacturer presents a full version of the device based on the Radeon 7850 2Gb with the V2 label. The manufacturer clearly hints to users that the market has two devices: the first and second versions. The cooling system at the plant can be done. The same aluminum radiator, pierced by copper tubes, strongly resembles the previous device. That's just on top of the cooling system, the user will find a plastic case with one massive cooler. In general, it's very difficult to call the mechanism a cooler - it's a huge fan, whose blades completely cover the width of the printed circuit board.

With overclocking, the device is doing great. The core is perfectly overclocked to 1080 MHz, and the memory bus stays stable at 1250 MHz. The temperature of the Radeon 7850 chip in peak loads does not exceed 80 degrees Celsius. But to a huge fan, judging by the reviews, many owners have a lot of questions. 65 decibels - this is exactly bust. Even through the closed headphones, the terrible rumbling of the cooler's work breaks through. Quite a strange alternative to a silent device from PowerColor.

Kid with a character

Quite an interesting approach for the brand VTX3D. The Radeon HD 7850 is presented in a military coloring identical to the factory video adapter from the AMD factory. The same black casing with red inserts, the beauty of which adds a bright red cooler. Unlike the basic version, the cooling system was significantly shortened by the manufacturer VTX3D. This solution allows you to install video accelerators in any case: you can not be afraid that the edge of the video card will block the basket with hard drives.

As for performance, then the manufacturer did not begin to overclock anything, giving this opportunity to the user. Potential for the video adapter is. The cooling system easily copes with the removal of heat from the graphics core, which operates at a frequency of 1050 MHz. But the memory can not be adequately overclocked - after exceeding the frequency of 1250 MHz the stability of the work is disrupted. It's all about the Hynix memory chips, which are recommended for use at nominal frequencies of 1200 MHz.

Consumer market

The reader will note that in the review there are no devices from the famous MSI and Gigabyte companies, because the Radeon HD 7850 2Gb chipset should have definitely attracted their attention. Products on the market of video cards from these manufacturers are there, but the interest to them in amateurs of testing was lost at the first acquaintance. Yes, the devices have a proprietary cooling system, the price of new products is quite competitive in the market, but this is the end of the list of advantages. The leaders of the computer market did nothing to somehow improve the performance of the graphics adapter.

There are questions for users and for the overclocking potential of video cards. With a slight increase in the clock frequency of the graphics core, the temperature of the chip rises sharply. The firm system of cooling devices Gigabyte and MSI cope with the heat sink is bad. As a result, in the feedback of users, you can find a lot of negative about the devices of these manufacturers.

Finally

If you focus on the price when buying a video adapter, then the Sapphire Radeon 7850 device is simply not to be found. Low cost, excellent performance and good overclocking potential are the main criteria of the most famous brand in the world. However, if performance is a priority, then it's better to look at the products of ASUS, XFX and HIS. Noiseless device is better to buy under the logo of PowerColor. Passive cooling system will appeal to all fans of games at night.