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AMD Radeon 520

The Radeon 520 is a dedicated entry-level graphics card for laptops that was released in 2017. AMD reveals that the chip features five compute units based on the GCN architecture and 2 GB GDDR5 64-bit graphics memory. The new chip is not based on the Polaris architecture from 2016, but the old one that was introduced with the Radeon R5 M230 in 2014 and later used in the M330 and M430 / M440 / M445.

Due to the higher clock speed of up to 1030 MHz, the Radeon 520 should be slightly faster than the old Radeon R7 M445 (920 MHz, 320 shader units, GDDR5). However, the performance should be comparable, which means that demanding games like Dishonored 2, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare or XCOM 2 should not run smoothly. Less demanding games like Overwatch, Fifa 17 (with a fast CPU) or Farming Simulator 17, would run well, but using low to medium detail settings. For detailed game benchmarks, visit the pages of the previous linked card. If only DDR3 is used, the performance should be on par with the Radeon R7 M440 (1021 MHz, 320 shader units, DDR3).

ManufacturerAMD
Radeon 500 Series
Radeon 530 (compare) 384 @ 1024 MHz64 Bit @ 2250 MHz
Radeon 520 320 @ 1030 MHz64 Bit @ 2250 MHz
ArchitectureGCN 1.0
Pipelines320 - unified
Core Speed1030 MHz
Memory Speed2250 MHz
Memory Bus Width64 Bit
Memory TypeDDR3/GDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory2048 MB
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 12, Shader 5.0
technology28 nm
FeaturesDirectX 12, Mantle, OpenGL, OpenCL 1.2, Vulkan
Date of Announcement21.03.2017
Link to Manufacturer Pagehttp://www.amd.com/en/products/graphics/...

Benchmarks

3DMark - Time Spy Score 2560x1440
min: 383     avg: 454.5     median: 454 (3%)     max: 526 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Time Spy Graphics 2560x1440
min: 335     avg: 397     median: 397 (3%)     max: 459 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score 1280x720 offscreen
77543 Points (15%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Ice Storm Extreme Graphics 1920x1080
34545 Points (5%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Cloud Gate Standard Score 1280x720
min: 5509     avg: 7240     median: 7240 (12%)     max: 8971 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Cloud Gate Standard Graphics 1280x720
min: 6156     avg: 8412.5     median: 8412 (5%)     max: 10669 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Fire Strike Score 1920x1080
min: 954     avg: 1232.5     median: 1232 (5%)     max: 1511 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Fire Strike Graphics 1920x1080
min: 1022     avg: 1319     median: 1319 (3%)     max: 1616 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Ice Storm Standard Graphics 1280x720
49247 Points (7%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - Performance 1280x720
min: 2055     avg: 2232     median: 2232 (6%)     max: 2409 points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - Performance GPU 1280x720
min: 1877     avg: 2016.5     median: 2016 (4%)     max: 2156 points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark Vantage
P Result 1280x1024 +
P GPU no PhysX 1280x1024 +
3DMark 05 - Standard 1024x768
11294 Points (21%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 06 Standard 1280x1024 +
Unigine Valley 1.0 - Extreme HD DirectX 1920x1080
4.1 fps (3%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Unigine Heaven 3.0 - DX 11, Normal Tessellation, High Shaders 1920x1080
12 fps (4%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Unigine Heaven 3.0 - OpenGL, Normal Tessellation, High Shaders 1920x1080
9.2 fps (5%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Unigine Heaven 2.1 - high, Tesselation (normal), DirectX11 1280x1024
16.6 fps (7%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit +
Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64Bit +
Cinebench R15
OpenGL 64Bit +
Ref. Match 64Bit +
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 1920x1080 +
T-Rex HD Onscreen C24Z16 +
GFXBench 3.0 - Manhattan Offscreen OGL off screen
52.9 fps (10%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
GFXBench 3.0 - Manhattan Onscreen OGL on screen
44.7 fps (12%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
GFXBench - Car Chase Offscreen off screen
25.6 fps (6%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
GFXBench - Car Chase Onscreen on screen
23.8 fps (14%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - Room GPUs-only
184 Samples/s (3%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - Sala GPUs-only
325 Samples/s (3%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
ComputeMark v2.1 - Normal, Score 1024x600
929 Points (3%)
+ 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.

Destiny 2

Destiny 2

2017
low 1280x720
17.8  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
9.4  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
ELEX

ELEX

2017
low 1280x720
17.3  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
8.1  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
6.6  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

2017
low 1280x720
22  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
10  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
7  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
FIFA 18

FIFA 18

2017
low 1280x720
102.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
44  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
35.7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
32.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
F1 2017

F1 2017

2017
low 1280x720
34  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
15  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
13  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2

2017
low 1280x720
95  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
87.3  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
38.3  fps    + Compare