GeForce 730A vs Mobility Radeon HD 5850

NVIDIA

GeForce 730A

2015Core: 928 MHzBoost: 941 MHz
Similar parts
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VS
AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5850

2010Core: 700 MHz
Similar parts
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GeForce 730A vs Mobility Radeon HD 5850 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.

GeForce 730A vs Mobility Radeon HD 5850: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

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

GeForce 730A

2015

Why buy it

  • Costs $239 less on MSRP ($60 MSRP vs $299 MSRP).
  • Delivers 399% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 12.7 vs 2.6 G3D/$ ($60 MSRP vs $299 MSRP).
  • Draws 33W instead of 50W, a 17W reduction.

Trade-offs

  • Less VRAM, with 512 MB vs 1 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
  • 2015 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Mobility Radeon HD 5850

2010

Why buy it

  • 100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (1 GB vs 512 MB).

Trade-offs

  • 2010 hardware with 1 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 398.3% HIGHER MSRP
    $299 MSRPvs$60 MSRP
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 2.6 vs 12.7 G3D/$ ($299 MSRP vs $60 MSRP).
  • 51.5% higher power demand at 50W vs 33W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
GeForce 730A is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 0.1% in PassMark G3D (764 vs 763), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
GeForce 730A is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a 28nm process instead of 40nm and a newer 2015 generation instead of 2010. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
GeForce 730A makes the most sense to buy today. It is $239 cheaper on MSRP at $60 vs $299, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 399% (12.7 vs 2.6), so the value case lines up with the gaming result.

GeForce 730A vs Mobility Radeon HD 5850 Technical Specifications

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

NVIDIA

GeForce 730A

The GeForce 730A is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in March 13 2015. It features the Maxwell architecture. The core clock ranges from 928 MHz to 941 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 33W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 764 points.

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5850

The Mobility Radeon HD 5850 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 7 2010. It features the TeraScale 2 architecture. The core clock speed is 700 MHz. It has 800 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 50W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 763 points.

Graphics Performance

The GeForce 730A scores 764 and the Mobility Radeon HD 5850 reaches 763 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.1% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce 730A is built on Maxwell while the Mobility Radeon HD 5850 uses TeraScale 2, both on 28 nm vs 40 nm. Shader units: 384 (GeForce 730A) vs 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 5850). Raw compute: 0.7227 TFLOPS (GeForce 730A) vs 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 5850).

FeatureGeForce 730AMobility Radeon HD 5850
G3D Mark Score
764
763
Architecture
Maxwell
TeraScale 2
Process Node
28 nm
40 nm
Shading Units
384
800+108%
Compute (TFLOPS)
0.7227 TFLOPS
1.12 TFLOPS+55%
ROPs
8
16+100%
TMUs
24
40+67%
L1 Cache
192 KB+140%
80 KB
L2 Cache
1 MB+300%
0.25 MB

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce 730A gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Mobility Radeon HD 5850 leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce 730AMobility Radeon HD 5850
Upscaling Tech
Upscaling support
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
NVIDIA Reflex
AMD Anti-Lag
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

The GeForce 730A has 512 MB of VRAM, while the Mobility Radeon HD 5850 carries 1 GB. Mobility Radeon HD 5850 gives you 100% more memory capacity, which matters more once you move into heavier textures, mods, or higher resolutions. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce 730A and 128-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 5850. L2 Cache: 1 MB (GeForce 730A) vs 0.25 MB (Mobility Radeon HD 5850) — the GeForce 730A has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureGeForce 730AMobility Radeon HD 5850
VRAM Capacity
0.5 GB
1 GB+100%
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
Unknown
Bus Width
128-bit
128-bit
L2 Cache
1 MB+300%
0.25 MB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 11.0 (GeForce 730A) vs 11.0 (Mobility Radeon HD 5850). Vulkan: 1.1 vs No. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.4. Maximum simultaneous displays: 3 vs 6.

FeatureGeForce 730AMobility Radeon HD 5850
DirectX
11.0
11.0
Vulkan
1.1
No
OpenGL
4.6+5%
4.4
Max Displays
3
6+100%
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 1 (GeForce 730A) vs UVD 2.3 (Mobility Radeon HD 5850). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP5 vs UVD 2.3. Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1,MPEG-4 (GeForce 730A) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2 (Mobility Radeon HD 5850).

FeatureGeForce 730AMobility Radeon HD 5850
Encoder
NVENC 1
UVD 2.3
Decoder
PureVideo HD VP5
UVD 2.3
Codecs
MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1,MPEG-4
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce 730A draws 33W versus the Mobility Radeon HD 5850's 50W — a 41% difference. The GeForce 730A is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce 730A) vs 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 5850). Power connectors: Legacy vs PCIe-powered. Typical load temperature: 75°C vs 85°C.

FeatureGeForce 730AMobility Radeon HD 5850
TDP
33W-34%
50W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
Legacy
PCIe-powered
Length
145mm
Height
69mm
Slots
1
Temp (Load)
75°C-12%
85°C
Perf/Watt
23.2+52%
15.3
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the GeForce 730A came in at $60, while the Mobility Radeon HD 5850 launched at $299. On MSRP, GeForce 730A was 79.9% cheaper ($239 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 12.7 (GeForce 730A) vs 2.6 (Mobility Radeon HD 5850) — the GeForce 730A offers 388.5% better value. The newer card here is GeForce 730A (2015 vs 2010).

FeatureGeForce 730AMobility Radeon HD 5850
MSRP
$60-80%
$299
Performance per Dollar
12.7+388%
2.6
Codename
GM108
Broadway
Release
March 13 2015
January 7 2010
Ranking
#810
#846

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