AMD Radeon HD 8850M

The AMD Radeon HD 8850M is a 28nm DirectX 11 graphics card based on the GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture. Built primarily for medium-sized laptops, the card is positioned in the performance category as of 2013. Compared to the similar Radeon HD 7850M, the 8850M offers slightly different clock speeds.
The design of the Radeon 8800M series has its roots to the Cape Verde chip as found, for example, on the desktop Radeon HD 7770 with 640 1D shader cores and 40 texture units. However the core clock of the 8850M is only 575-725 MHz (or up to 625-775 MHz with Boost) versus the 1000 MHz of the desktop HD 7770. As a result, general performance of the HD 8850M should be similar to the desktop HD 7750.
Equipped with GDDR5 memory, the HD 8850M competes with the Nvidia GTX 660M. The DDR3 version of the HD 8850M is expected to be a bit slower, although it could offer higher clock rates. Many games of 2013 can be played fluently in medium or high detail and resolution settings.
The 640 shader cores can be used with OpenCL 1.2 for general-purpose calculations.
Features of the 8850M include video decoding via UVD3 for decoding MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and Flash directly from the AMD GPU. Multi-View Codec (MVC) and MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, xVid) HD videos are now compatible as well.
The 8800M series also supports automatic graphics switching between the integrated GPU and discrete GPU. Called Enduro, the technology supersedes AMD's Dynamic Switchable Graphics and is similar to Nvidia's Optimus. Furthermore, the 8850M can directly support up to 6 connected monitors using Eyefinity Technology if Enduro is disabled.
Other features of the 8800M series include ZeroCore for reducing power consumption when the display is turned off and Power Gating to power down areas of the chip that are not used. PowerTune allows automatic overclocking and underclocking of the graphics card as long as the GPU is within its TDP limit. For example, the chip may be underclocked when running FurMark and OCCT, but will overclock in certain games like Lost Planet, Crysis or Resident Evil 5.
The integrated HD audio processor is able to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g., for Blu-Ray videos). Additionally, it now allows audio to output simultaneously and in parallel to multiple devices with the new Discrete Digital Multipoint Audio (DDMA) feature.
Power consumption of the 8850M should be below that of the 8870M, corresponding to the core clock. Therefore, the 8850M is suited for medium-sized laptops and DTRs.
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| Manufacturer | AMD |
| Radeon HD 8800M Series | Radeon HD 8870M | 640 @ 725 MHz | 128 Bit @ 4500 MHz | | Radeon HD 8850M | 640 @ 575 - 725 (Boost) MHz | 128 Bit @ 4500 MHz | Radeon HD 8830M | 640 @ 575 MHz | 128 Bit @ 2000 MHz |
|
| Architecture | GCN |
| Pipelines | 640 - unified |
| Core Speed * | 575 - 725 (Boost) MHz |
| Memory Speed * | 4500 MHz |
| Memory Bus Width | 128 Bit |
| Memory Type | GDDR5, DDR3 |
| Max. Amount of Memory | 2048 MB |
| Shared Memory | no
|
| DirectX | DirectX 11.1, Shader 5.1 |
| Transistors | 1500 Million |
| technology | 28 nm |
| Features | OpenCL 1.2 |
| Notebook Size | large |
| Date of Announcement | 18.12.2012 |
* The specified clock rates are only guidelines for the manufacturer and can be altered by them.
Benchmarks
Cinebench R15 - Ref. Match 64Bit
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 98 |
...
Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5 0%
...
Cinebench R15 - OpenGL 64Bit
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 46.93 |
3DMark (2013) - Fire Strike Standard Graphics 1920x1080
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 1845 |
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 1828 |
| Inspiron 15R-5537 | 4500U | 8192 MB | 625 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5-Speicher atiumdag 13.151.0.0 | 1864 |
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GeForce GTS 450 -16%
GeForce GTX 460 768MB 13%
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3DMark (2013) - Cloud Gate Standard Graphics 1280x720
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 11387 |
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 12780 |
| Inspiron 15R-5537 | 4500U | 8192 MB | 625 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5-Speicher atiumdag 13.151.0.0 | 11312 |
3DMark (2013) - Ice Storm Standard Graphics 1280x720
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 43556 |
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 77170 |
| Inspiron 15R-5537 | 4500U | 8192 MB | 625 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5-Speicher atiumdag 13.151.0.0 | 44037 |
3DMark 11 - Performance GPU 1280x720
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 2453 |
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 2340 |
| Inspiron 15R-5537 | 4500U | 8192 MB | 625 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5-Speicher atiumdag 13.151.0.0 | 2349 |
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GeForce GTX 550 Ti -5%
Radeon HD 5770 1%
...
3DMark 11 - Performance 1280x720
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 2589 |
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 2507 |
| Inspiron 15R-5537 | 4500U | 8192 MB | 625 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5-Speicher atiumdag 13.151.0.0 | 2444 |
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GeForce GTX 550 Ti -2%
Radeon HD 5770 8%
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3DMark Vantage - P GPU no PhysX 1280x1024
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 8706 |
| Inspiron 15R-5537 | 4500U | 8192 MB | 625 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5-Speicher atiumdag 13.151.0.0 | 8370 |
3DMark Vantage - P Result no PhysX 1280x1024
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 8636 |
| Inspiron 15R-5537 | 4500U | 8192 MB | 625 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5-Speicher atiumdag 13.151.0.0 | 7809 |
3DMark 06| Standard 1280x1024 |
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 12458 |
| Inspiron 15R-5537 | 4500U | 8192 MB | 625 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5-Speicher atiumdag 13.151.0.0 | 8105 |
PCMark Vantage - Gaming Score 1024x768
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 4305 |
SPECviewperf 11 - Siemens NX 1920x1080
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 9.29 |
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Radeon HD 5770 -9%
Radeon HD 5850 7%
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SPECviewperf 11 - Tcvis 1920x1080
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 3.1 |
SPECviewperf 11 - SolidWorks 1920x1080
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 13.29 |
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GeForce GTX 580 14%
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SPECviewperf 11 - Pro/ENGINEER 1920x1080
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 3.18 |
SPECviewperf 11 - Maya 1920x1080
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 6.63 |
SPECviewperf 11 - Lightwave 1920x1080
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 15.34 |
SPECviewperf 11 - Ensight 1920x1080
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 19.99 |
SPECviewperf 11 - Catia 1920x1080
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 5.55 |
Cinebench R11.5 - OpenGL 64Bit
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 43.3 |
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 57.2 |
| Inspiron 15R-5537 | 4500U | 8192 MB | 625 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5-Speicher atiumdag 13.151.0.0 | 45.11 |
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Radeon HD 5850 4%
Radeon HD 5670 10%
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Cinebench R10 - Shading 32Bit
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 6106 |
| Inspiron 15 3537 | 4500U | 8096 MB | | 2048MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400 12.100.14.7000 | 6957 |
| Inspiron 15R-5537 | 4500U | 8192 MB | 625 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5-Speicher atiumdag 13.151.0.0 | 7082 |
Windows 7 Experience Index - Gaming graphics
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 6.4 |
Windows 7 Experience Index - Graphics
| Latitude 3540 | 4200U | 6144 MB | 575-725 / 1000MHz | 2048MB GDDR5 Catalyst 13.9 | 6.4 |
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Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5 2%
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- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card

- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
Game Benchmarks
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailled information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.
2014
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
2014
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2014
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2013
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
2013
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Radeon HD 7770 -12%
...
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Radeon HD 7770 -28%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
2013
78.7 [X] Inspiron 15R-5537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M (625 MHz), 2048 MB (1000 MHz) GDDR5-Speicher, atiumdag 13.151.0.0
8 GB RAM
144.3 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
~ 112 fps
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50.6 [X] Inspiron 15R-5537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M (625 MHz), 2048 MB (1000 MHz) GDDR5-Speicher, atiumdag 13.151.0.0
8 GB RAM
55.5 [X] Latitude 3540Intel Core i5 4200U 1.6GHz
Radeon HD 8850M (575-725 MHz), 2048 MB (1000 MHz) GDDR5, Catalyst 13.9
6 GB RAM
96.9 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
~ 68 fps
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
2013
...
GeForce GTS 450 -3%
...
...
GeForce GTS 450 -11%
...
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2013
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2013
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
2013
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GeForce GTS 450 33%
Radeon HD 7770 48%
...
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GeForce GTS 450 27%
Radeon HD 7770 48%
...
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GeForce GTS 450 14%
Radeon HD 7770 43%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
2012
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Radeon R6 M255DX -8%
...
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Radeon R6 M255DX -2%
...
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
2012
...
GeForce GTS 450 15%
...
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GeForce GTS 450 22%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2012
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2012
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
2012
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GeForce GTS 450 10%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
2012
47.3 [X] Latitude 3540Intel Core i5 4200U 1.6GHz
Radeon HD 8850M (575-725 MHz), 2048 MB (1000 MHz) GDDR5, Catalyst 13.9
6 GB RAM
63.5 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
~ 55 fps
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35.9 [X] Latitude 3540Intel Core i5 4200U 1.6GHz
Radeon HD 8850M (575-725 MHz), 2048 MB (1000 MHz) GDDR5, Catalyst 13.9
6 GB RAM
36.6 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
~ 36 fps
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GeForce GTS 450 1%
Radeon HD 7770 48%
...
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2012
70 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
fps
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Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5 6%
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46.7 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
fps
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31.9 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
fps
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
2012
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

2011
128.9 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
142.9 [X] Inspiron 15R-5537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M (625 MHz), 2048 MB (1000 MHz) GDDR5-Speicher, atiumdag 13.151.0.0
8 GB RAM
~ 136 fps
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59.6 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
74.5 [X] Inspiron 15R-5537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M (625 MHz), 2048 MB (1000 MHz) GDDR5-Speicher, atiumdag 13.151.0.0
8 GB RAM
~ 67 fps
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43.5 [X] Latitude 3540Intel Core i5 4200U 1.6GHz
Radeon HD 8850M (575-725 MHz), 2048 MB (1000 MHz) GDDR5, Catalyst 13.9
6 GB RAM
45 [X] Inspiron 15R-5537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M (625 MHz), 2048 MB (1000 MHz) GDDR5-Speicher, atiumdag 13.151.0.0
8 GB RAM
51.7 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
~ 47 fps
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GeForce GTS 450 -9%
...
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2011
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GeForce GTS 450 12%
...
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GeForce GTS 450 -7%
...
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2011
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GeForce GTS 450 24%
...
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GeForce GTS 450 6%
Radeon HD 7770 34%
...
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GeForce GTS 450 -2%
GeForce GTX 460 768MB 12%
Radeon HD 7770 27%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2011
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GeForce GTS 450 11%
...
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GeForce GTS 450 -5%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
2010
123.5 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
fps
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87 [X] Inspiron 15 3537Intel Core i7 4500U 1.8GHz
Radeon HD 8850M, 2048 MB DDR3, dodatkowo Intel HD Graphics 4400, 12.100.14.7000
7.9 GB RAM
fps
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Radeon HD 7770 -7%
Radeon HD 5850 -5%
Radeon HD 5770 0%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List