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ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4850

The ATI Mobilty Radeon HD 4850 from AMD is a DirectX 10.1 upper middle-class notebook graphics adapter. Technically, the GPU is based on the desktop HD 4850 GPU but with a lower clock rate for reduced energy consumption.

The gaming performance of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4850 should be comparable to the desktop HD 4830 and is therefore very good at resolutions below 1080p. The high amount of shaders and the wide 256 bit bus can allow the card to run practically every DirectX 9 game in high resolutions and details. Demanding DirectX 10 games, such as Crysis, can be played with medium to high detail settings. Compared to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M, the HD 4850 should be a bit faster on average.

The newer Mobility HD 5850 is noticeably faster than the Mobility HD 4850 if GDDR5 graphics memory is present. If DDR3 with a smaller 128 Bit memory bus is used instead, then this would bottlebeck the 5850 to performance levels closer to that of the Mobility HD 4850.

The mobile HD 4850 core is based on the RV770 chip and features 800 stream processors (or 160 5-dimensional shader cores). These cores do the graphics work previously done by dedicated shader and pixel pipelines of older GPUs. The stream processors (also called ALUs) are grouped in five-way VLIW units. Each of the five instructions of a VLIW bundle has to be independent from the others, so the overall performance is highly dependent on driver optimizations.

The Mobility Radeon HD 4850 includes UVD 2, Avivo HD software and an onboard soundchip for 7.1 sound output over HDMI or DisplayPort. UVD 2 supports full bitstream decoding of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 streams by the GPU, thus reducing workload from the CPU. In addition to this, the software also supports dual video stream decoding and Picture-in Picture mode for full compliancy to the UVD BD-Live standards. Simply put, the Avivo HD technology is able to handle most video tasks and enables the GPU to decode HD videos.

AMD has claimed a current consumption of about 45-65 Watt for the cards part of the mobile HD 4850 to HD 4870 range. Still, it is unclear if this value represents the core chip alone or the entire MXM board with memory modules. We estimate that the VRAM chips would contribute about 5 Watts total to the overall energy demands of the mobile HD 4850.

Compared to the desktop ATI Radeon HD 4850, the mobile 4850 features a slower core clock and is therefore more similar to the desktop HD 4830 in terms of overall performance.

Mobility Radeon HD 4800 Series

Mobility Radeon HD 4860 compare 640 @ 0.65 GHz128 Bit @ 1000 MHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4850 800 @ 0.5 GHz256 Bit @ 850 MHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4830 compare 640 @ 0.55 GHz128 Bit @ 700 MHz
CodenameM98
ArchitectureTerascale 1
Pipelines800 - unified
Core Speed500 MHz
Memory Speed850 MHz
Memory Bus Width256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR3
Max. Amount of Memory1024 MB
Shared Memoryno
APIDirectX 10.1, Shader 4.1
Transistor Count956 Million
technology55 nm
FeaturesOpenGL 2.0, PCI-E 2.0 x16, Powerplay, DisplayPort support up to 2560x1600, HDMI support up to 1920x1080 (both with 7.1 AC3 Audio), 1x Dual-Link/Single-Link DVI, 1x Single-Link DVI Support (all display ports have to be supported by the laptop manufacturer)
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement09.01.2009
Link to Manufacturer Pageati.amd.com

Benchmarks

3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. total
min: 5000     avg: 5285     median: 5263.5 (2%)     max: 5614 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX
min: 5307     avg: 5382     median: 5347 (3%)     max: 5491 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark 2001SE - 3DMark 2001 - Standard
41976 Points (44%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 03 - 3DMark 03 - Standard
33658 Points (18%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 05 - 3DMark 05 - Standard
min: 12318     avg: 15419     median: 16496 (18%)     max: 17443 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Score Unknown Settings +
3DMark 06
9314 points (12%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
3DMark 06
min: 9322     avg: 9949     median: 9784 (13%)     max: 10965 Points
+ 5 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit)
5682 points (4%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit
56.3 fps (19%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

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 detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Fifa 11

Fifa 11

2010
low 800x600
430  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
180  fps    + Compare
high 1360x768
111  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
78  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Mafia 2

Mafia 2

2010
low 800x600
63  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
53.8  fps    + Compare
high 1360x768
45.7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
29.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
StarCraft 2

StarCraft 2

2010
low 1024x768
254  fps    + Compare
med. 1360x768
73  fps    + Compare
high 1360x768
50  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
30  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

2010
low 1024x768
133  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
70  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
47  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
25  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
CoD Modern Warfare 2

CoD Modern Warfare 2

2009
ultra 1920x1080
40  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Risen

Risen

2009
high 1366x768
37  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Need for Speed Shift

Need for Speed Shift

2009
high 1366x768
47  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Anno 1404

Anno 1404

2009
ultra 1280x1024
42  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Sims 3

Sims 3

2009
low 800x600
251.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
173.7  fps    + Compare
high 1280x1024
97.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
F.E.A.R. 2

F.E.A.R. 2

2009
low 800x600
193.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
119.1  fps    + Compare
high 1280x1024
86.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto

GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto

2008
low 800x600
61.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
47.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead

2008
high 1024x768
115  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2

2008
low 640x480
75 80.3 ~ 78 fps    + Compare
high 1024x768
45 50.1 ~ 48 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Crysis Warhead

Crysis Warhead

2008
low 800x600
50  fps    + Compare
ultra 1024x768
16  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Racedriver: GRID

Racedriver: GRID

2008
low 800x600
107.7  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
68  fps    + Compare
high 1280x1024
62.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Trackmania Nations Forever

Trackmania Nations Forever

2008
high 1024x768
85.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
40.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

2007
low 800x600
133 197.6 ~ 165 fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
100.2  fps    + Compare
high 1280x1024
64.5 68 ~ 66 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Supreme Commander - FA Bench

Supreme Commander - FA Bench

2007
med. 1024x768
57.2  fps    + Compare
high 1024x768
47 52.6 ~ 50 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Crysis - GPU Benchmark

Crysis - GPU Benchmark

2007
low 1024x768
99.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
60.7  fps    + Compare
high 1024x768
44.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Crysis - CPU Benchmark

Crysis - CPU Benchmark

2007
low 1024x768
113.4 130.5 ~ 122 fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
57.6  fps    + Compare
high 1024x768
38.9 43.8 ~ 41 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
World in Conflict - Benchmark

World in Conflict - Benchmark

2007
med. 1024x768
55 76 ~ 66 fps    + Compare
high 1024x768
34 46 ~ 40 fps    + Compare
» With most tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Call of Juarez Benchmark

Call of Juarez Benchmark

2006
high 1024x768
43  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
F.E.A.R.

F.E.A.R.

2005
low 640x480
461  fps    + Compare
high 1024x768
141  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft

2005
med. 1024x768
190  fps    + Compare
high 1280x1024
43  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Counter-Strike Source

Counter-Strike Source

2004
high 1024x768
198  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Doom 3

Doom 3

2004
low 640x480
186.3  fps    + Compare
ultra 1024x768
182.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo

Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo

1999
high 1024x768
579  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
lowmed.highultraQHD4K
Fifa 1143018011178
Mafia 26353.845.729.5
StarCraft 2254735030
Battlefield: Bad Company 2133704725
CoD Modern Warfare 240
Risen37
Need for Speed Shift47
Anno 140442
Sims 3251.2173.797.5
F.E.A.R. 2193.6119.186.1
GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto61.647.07
Left 4 Dead115
Far Cry 27848
Crysis Warhead5016
Racedriver: GRID107.76862.1
Trackmania Nations Forever85.440.6
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare165100.266
Supreme Commander - FA Bench57.250
Crysis - GPU Benchmark99.460.744.76
Crysis - CPU Benchmark12257.641
World in Conflict - Benchmark6640
Call of Juarez Benchmark43
F.E.A.R.461141
World of Warcraft19043
Counter-Strike Source198
Doom 3186.3182.5
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo579
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps
1
5
9
4
7
3
12
7
3		3
4
1
1





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