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GeForce 9400 GT vs Mobility Radeon HD 5430

CPUCPUGPUGPU
NVIDIA

GeForce 9400 GT

2015Core: 1072 MHzBoost: 1176 MHz
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VS
AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5430

2010Core: 700 MHz
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GeForce 9400 GT vs Mobility Radeon HD 5430 Performance Spectrum

GeForce 9400 GT
1 GB 33
191
+5.5%
brand logoGeForce Go 6800
brand logoGeForce 9300
brand logoGeForce Go 7700
brand logoGeForce 8500 GT
brand logoGeForce GTX 1630
brand logoGeForce GTX 970
brand logoGeForce RTX 4050 Mobile
brand logoGeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU
Mobility Radeon HD 5430
1 GB 50
181
0.0%
brand logoMobility Radeon HD 4250
brand logoRadeon HD 2400
brand logoRadeon HD 4290
brand logoRadeon HD 7340
brand logoRadeon R9 M395
brand logoRadeon RX 6500 XT
brand logoRadeon RX 5700
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 9400 GT vs Mobility Radeon HD 5430: 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 9400 GT

2015

Why buy it

  • ✅Draws 33W instead of 50W, a 17W reduction.
  • ✅More future proof: Maxwell (2014−2017) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

  • ❌2015 hardware with 1 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • ❌
    20.4% HIGHER MSRP
    $59 MSRPvs$49 MSRP
  • ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 3.2 vs 3.7 G3D/$ ($59 MSRP vs $49 MSRP).
  • ❌16700% longer card at 168mm vs 1mm.

Mobility Radeon HD 5430

2010

Why buy it

  • ✅Costs $10 less on MSRP ($49 MSRP vs $59 MSRP).
  • ✅Delivers 14.1% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 3.7 vs 3.2 G3D/$ ($49 MSRP vs $59 MSRP).
  • ✅Measures 1mm instead of 168mm, a 167mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

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.
  • ❌51.5% higher power demand at 50W vs 33W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
GeForce 9400 GT is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 5.5% in PassMark G3D (191 vs 181), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
GeForce 9400 GT 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?
Mobility Radeon HD 5430 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $10 cheaper on MSRP at $49 vs $59, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 14.1% (3.7 vs 3.2), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Mobility Radeon HD 5430 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, GeForce 9400 GT has the stronger long-term case.

GeForce 9400 GT vs Mobility Radeon HD 5430 Technical Specifications

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

NVIDIA

GeForce 9400 GT

The GeForce 9400 GT is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in March 13 2015. It features the Maxwell architecture. The core clock ranges from 1072 MHz to 1176 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 33W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 191 points.

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5430

The Mobility Radeon HD 5430 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: 181 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

In G3D Mark, the GeForce 9400 GT scores 191 versus the Mobility Radeon HD 5430's 181 — the GeForce 9400 GT leads by 5.5%. The GeForce 9400 GT is built on Maxwell while the Mobility Radeon HD 5430 uses TeraScale 2, both on 28 nm vs 40 nm. Shader units: 384 (GeForce 9400 GT) vs 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 5430). Raw compute: 0.9032 TFLOPS (GeForce 9400 GT) vs 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 5430).

FeatureGeForce 9400 GTMobility Radeon HD 5430
G3D Mark Score
191+6%
181
Architecture
Maxwell
TeraScale 2
Process Node
28 nm
40 nm
Shading Units
384
800+108%
Compute (TFLOPS)
0.9032 TFLOPS
1.12 TFLOPS+24%
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 9400 GT gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Mobility Radeon HD 5430 leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce 9400 GTMobility Radeon HD 5430
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)

Both cards ship with 1 GB of GDDR5. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce 9400 GT and 128-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 5430. L2 Cache: 1 MB (GeForce 9400 GT) vs 0.25 MB (Mobility Radeon HD 5430) — the GeForce 9400 GT has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureGeForce 9400 GTMobility Radeon HD 5430
VRAM Capacity
1 GB
1 GB
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: 10.0 (GeForce 9400 GT) vs 11.2 (Mobility Radeon HD 5430). Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 0.

FeatureGeForce 9400 GTMobility Radeon HD 5430
DirectX
10.0
11.2+12%
Max Displays
2
0
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: No (GeForce 9400 GT) vs UVD 2.2 (Mobility Radeon HD 5430). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP2 vs UVD 2.2.

FeatureGeForce 9400 GTMobility Radeon HD 5430
Encoder
No
UVD 2.2
Decoder
PureVideo HD VP2
UVD 2.2
Codecs
MPEG-2,H.264
—
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce 9400 GT draws 33W versus the Mobility Radeon HD 5430's 50W — a 41% difference. The GeForce 9400 GT is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce 9400 GT) vs 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 5430). Power connectors: Legacy vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 168mm vs 1mm, occupying 1 vs 0 slots.

FeatureGeForce 9400 GTMobility Radeon HD 5430
TDP
33W-34%
50W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
Legacy
PCIe-powered
Length
168mm
1mm
Height
111mm
—
Slots
1
0-100%
Temp (Load)
65°C
—
Perf/Watt
5.8+61%
3.6
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the GeForce 9400 GT came in at $59, while the Mobility Radeon HD 5430 launched at $49. On MSRP, Mobility Radeon HD 5430 was 16.9% cheaper ($10 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 3.2 (GeForce 9400 GT) vs 3.7 (Mobility Radeon HD 5430) — the Mobility Radeon HD 5430 offers 15.6% better value. The newer card here is GeForce 9400 GT (2015 vs 2010).

FeatureGeForce 9400 GTMobility Radeon HD 5430
MSRP
$59
$49-17%
Performance per Dollar
3.2
3.7+16%
Codename
GM108
Broadway
Release
March 13 2015
January 7 2010
Ranking
#847
#846
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