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GeForce 840A vs Mobility Radeon HD 5870

CPUCPUGPUGPU
NVIDIA

GeForce 840A

2014Core: 1029 MHzBoost: 1124 MHz
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VS
AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5870

2010Core: 700 MHz
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GeForce 840A vs Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Performance Spectrum

GeForce 840A
0.5 GB 33
1,115
+2.5%
brand logoGeForce GTX 280M SLI
brand logoGeForce GT 730A
brand logoGeForce 920A
brand logoGeForce GT 1010
brand logoGeForce MX570
brand logoGeForce GTX 1070 (móvel)
brand logoRTX 2000 Ada Generation Mobile
brand logoGeForce RTX 4060
Mobility Radeon HD 5870
1 GB 50
1,088
0.0%
brand logoRadeon HD 7570
brand logoRadeon HD 6670
brand logoRadeon R7 A8-7670K
brand logoRadeon HD 6770M
brand logoRadeon RX 5500M
brand logoRadeon RX 7600M
brand logoRadeon RX 6700S
brand logoRadeon RX 6700 XT

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 840A vs Mobility Radeon HD 5870: 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 840A

2014

Why buy it

  • ✅Costs $299 less on MSRP ($100 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).
  • ✅Delivers 308.9% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 11.2 vs 2.7 G3D/$ ($100 MSRP vs $399 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.
  • ❌2014 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 5870

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.
  • ❌
    299% HIGHER MSRP
    $399 MSRPvs$100 MSRP
  • ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 2.7 vs 11.2 G3D/$ ($399 MSRP vs $100 MSRP).
  • ❌51.5% higher power demand at 50W vs 33W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
GeForce 840A is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 2.5% in PassMark G3D (1,115 vs 1,088), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
GeForce 840A is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a 28nm process instead of 40nm and a newer 2014 generation instead of 2010. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
GeForce 840A makes the most sense to buy today. It is $299 cheaper on MSRP at $100 vs $399, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 308.9% (11.2 vs 2.7), so the value case lines up with the gaming result.

GeForce 840A vs Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Technical Specifications

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

NVIDIA

GeForce 840A

The GeForce 840A is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in March 17 2014. It features the Maxwell architecture. The core clock ranges from 1029 MHz to 1124 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 33W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,115 points.

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5870

The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 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: 1,088 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The GeForce 840A scores 1,115 and the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 reaches 1,088 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 2.5% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce 840A is built on Maxwell while the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 uses TeraScale 2, both on 28 nm vs 40 nm. Shader units: 384 (GeForce 840A) vs 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 5870). Raw compute: 0.8632 TFLOPS (GeForce 840A) vs 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 5870).

FeatureGeForce 840AMobility Radeon HD 5870
G3D Mark Score
1,115+2%
1,088
Architecture
Maxwell
TeraScale 2
Process Node
28 nm
40 nm
Shading Units
384
800+108%
Compute (TFLOPS)
0.8632 TFLOPS
1.12 TFLOPS+30%
ROPs
8
16+100%
TMUs
16
40+150%
L1 Cache
192 KB+140%
80 KB
L2 Cache
1 MB+300%
0.25 MB
✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce 840A gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce 840AMobility Radeon HD 5870
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 840A has 512 MB of VRAM, while the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 carries 1 GB. Mobility Radeon HD 5870 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 840A and 128-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 5870. L2 Cache: 1 MB (GeForce 840A) vs 0.25 MB (Mobility Radeon HD 5870) — the GeForce 840A has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureGeForce 840AMobility Radeon HD 5870
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: 12 (11_0) (GeForce 840A) vs 11 (5.0) (Mobility Radeon HD 5870). Vulkan: 1.1 vs N/A. OpenGL: 4.5 vs 4.4. Maximum simultaneous displays: 3 vs 0.

FeatureGeForce 840AMobility Radeon HD 5870
DirectX
12 (11_0)+9%
11 (5.0)
Vulkan
1.1
N/A
OpenGL
4.5+2%
4.4
Max Displays
3
0
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC (Maxwell) (GeForce 840A) vs None (Mobility Radeon HD 5870). Decoder: NVDEC (Maxwell) vs UVD 2.2. Supported codecs: H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2 (GeForce 840A) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2 (Mobility Radeon HD 5870).

FeatureGeForce 840AMobility Radeon HD 5870
Encoder
NVENC (Maxwell)
None
Decoder
NVDEC (Maxwell)
UVD 2.2
Codecs
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce 840A draws 33W versus the Mobility Radeon HD 5870's 50W — a 41% difference. The GeForce 840A is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce 840A) vs 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 5870). Power connectors: Legacy vs PCIe-powered. Typical load temperature: 75°C vs 85.

FeatureGeForce 840AMobility Radeon HD 5870
TDP
33W-34%
50W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
Legacy
PCIe-powered
Length
—
0mm
Height
—
0mm
Slots
—
0
Temp (Load)
75°C-12%
85
Perf/Watt
33.8+55%
21.8
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the GeForce 840A came in at $100, while the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 launched at $399. On MSRP, GeForce 840A was 74.9% cheaper ($299 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 11.2 (GeForce 840A) vs 2.7 (Mobility Radeon HD 5870) — the GeForce 840A offers 314.8% better value. The newer card here is GeForce 840A (2014 vs 2010).

FeatureGeForce 840AMobility Radeon HD 5870
MSRP
$100-75%
$399
Performance per Dollar
11.2+315%
2.7
Codename
GM108
Broadway
Release
March 17 2014
January 7 2010
Ranking
#850
#846
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