FirePro W2100 vs Mobility Radeon HD 4850

FirePro W2100

2014Core: 630 MHzBoost: 680 MHz
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VS
AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 4850

2009Core: 550 MHz
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FirePro W2100 vs Mobility Radeon HD 4850 Performance Spectrum

About G3D Mark

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

FirePro W2100 vs Mobility Radeon HD 4850: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

FirePro W2100

2014

Why buy it

  • Costs $60 less on MSRP ($139 MSRP vs $199 MSRP).
  • Delivers 40.7% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 6.1 vs 4.4 G3D/$ ($139 MSRP vs $199 MSRP).
  • 100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (2 GB vs 1 GB).
  • Draws 26W instead of 30W, a 4W reduction.

Trade-offs

  • 2014 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Mobility Radeon HD 4850

2009

Why buy it

  • Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

  • Less VRAM, with 1 GB vs 2 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
  • 2009 hardware with 1 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 43.2% HIGHER MSRP
    $199 MSRPvs$139 MSRP
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 4.4 vs 6.1 G3D/$ ($199 MSRP vs $139 MSRP).
  • 15.4% higher power demand at 30W vs 26W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Mobility Radeon HD 4850 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 1.8% in PassMark G3D (866 vs 851), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
FirePro W2100 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: 2 GB vs 1 GB of VRAM, a 28nm process instead of 55nm, and a newer 2014 generation instead of 2009. That gives it more room for heavier textures and higher settings over time.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
FirePro W2100 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $60 cheaper on MSRP at $139 vs $199, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 40.7% (6.1 vs 4.4), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. Mobility Radeon HD 4850 still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

FirePro W2100 vs Mobility Radeon HD 4850 Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

AMD

FirePro W2100

The FirePro W2100 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in August 12 2014. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 630 MHz to 680 MHz. It has 320 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 26W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 851 points.

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 4850

The Mobility Radeon HD 4850 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 9 2009. It features the TeraScale architecture. The core clock speed is 550 MHz. It has 800 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 30W. Manufactured using 55 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 866 points.

Graphics Performance

The FirePro W2100 scores 851 and the Mobility Radeon HD 4850 reaches 866 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.8% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The FirePro W2100 is built on GCN 1.0 while the Mobility Radeon HD 4850 uses TeraScale, both on 28 nm vs 55 nm. Shader units: 320 (FirePro W2100) vs 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 4850). Raw compute: 0.4352 TFLOPS (FirePro W2100) vs 0.88 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 4850).

FeatureFirePro W2100Mobility Radeon HD 4850
G3D Mark Score
851
866+2%
Architecture
GCN 1.0
TeraScale
Process Node
28 nm
55 nm
Shading Units
320
800+150%
Compute (TFLOPS)
0.4352 TFLOPS
0.88 TFLOPS+102%
ROPs
8
16+100%
TMUs
20
40+100%
L1 Cache
80 KB
160 KB+100%
L2 Cache
256 KB
256 KB

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

FeatureFirePro W2100Mobility Radeon HD 4850
Upscaling Tech
Upscaling support
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
Standard
AMD Anti-Lag
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

The FirePro W2100 has 2 GB of VRAM, while the Mobility Radeon HD 4850 carries 1 GB. FirePro W2100 gives you 100% more memory capacity, which matters more once you move into heavier textures, mods, or higher resolutions. Memory bus width is 64-bit on the FirePro W2100 and 64-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 4850.

FeatureFirePro W2100Mobility Radeon HD 4850
VRAM Capacity
2 GB+100%
1 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Bus Width
64-bit
64-bit
L2 Cache
256 KB
256 KB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12 (FirePro W2100) vs 10.1 (Mobility Radeon HD 4850). Vulkan: 1.2 vs N/A. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 3.3. Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 2.

FeatureFirePro W2100Mobility Radeon HD 4850
DirectX
12+19%
10.1
Vulkan
1.2
N/A
OpenGL
4.6+39%
3.3
Max Displays
2
2
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: VCE 1.0 (FirePro W2100) vs None (Mobility Radeon HD 4850). Decoder: UVD 4.0 vs UVD 2. Supported codecs: H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 Part 2,MVC (FirePro W2100) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2 (Mobility Radeon HD 4850).

FeatureFirePro W2100Mobility Radeon HD 4850
Encoder
VCE 1.0
None
Decoder
UVD 4.0
UVD 2
Codecs
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 Part 2,MVC
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The FirePro W2100 draws 26W versus the Mobility Radeon HD 4850's 30W — a 14.3% difference. The FirePro W2100 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (FirePro W2100) vs 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 4850). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 168mm vs 0mm, occupying 1 vs 0 slots. Typical load temperature: 65°C vs 95.

FeatureFirePro W2100Mobility Radeon HD 4850
TDP
26W-13%
30W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
PCIe-powered
Length
168mm
0mm
Height
69mm
0mm
Slots
1
0-100%
Temp (Load)
65°C-32%
95
Perf/Watt
32.7+13%
28.9
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the FirePro W2100 came in at $139, while the Mobility Radeon HD 4850 launched at $199. On MSRP, FirePro W2100 was 30.2% cheaper ($60 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 6.1 (FirePro W2100) vs 4.4 (Mobility Radeon HD 4850) — the FirePro W2100 offers 38.6% better value. The newer card here is FirePro W2100 (2014 vs 2009).

FeatureFirePro W2100Mobility Radeon HD 4850
MSRP
$139-30%
$199
Performance per Dollar
6.1+39%
4.4
Codename
Oland
M98
Release
August 12 2014
January 9 2009
Ranking
#910
#927

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