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GeForce FX 5900 vs MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700

CPUCPUGPUGPU
NVIDIA

GeForce FX 5900

2011Core: 607 MHz
Similar parts
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VS
AMD

MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700

2010Core: 700 MHz
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Buy on Amazon

GeForce FX 5900 vs MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 Performance Spectrum

GeForce FX 5900
0.125 GB 365
35
0.0%
brand logoGeForce Go 6150
brand logoGeForce 6150
brand logoGeForce FX 5700LE
brand logoGeForce 6100
brand logoGeForce GTX 1050 Mobile 3 GB
brand logoGeForce GTX 780 Ti
brand logoGeForce RTX 4050 Mobile
brand logoGeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU
MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700
0.125 GB 50
39
+11.4%
brand logoMOBILITY RADEON 7500
brand logoMOBILITY RADEON 7000 IGP
brand logoMOBILITY RADEON 9550
brand logoMOBILITY RADEON X300
brand logoRadeon HD 7950 / R9 280
brand logoRadeon R9 Fury
brand logoRadeon RX 5700
brand logoRadeon RX 6700

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 FX 5900 vs MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700: 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 FX 5900

2011

Why buy it

  • ✅More future proof: Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014) on 40nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

  • ❌Lower PassMark G3D performance (35 vs 39).
  • ❌2011 hardware with 128 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • ❌
    714.3% HIGHER MSRP
    $399 MSRPvs$49 MSRP
  • ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0.1 vs 0.8 G3D/$ ($399 MSRP vs $49 MSRP).
  • ❌630% higher power demand at 365W vs 50W.

MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700

2010

Why buy it

  • ✅+11.4% higher PassMark G3D performance.
  • ✅Costs $350 less on MSRP ($49 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).
  • ✅Delivers 807.3% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 0.8 vs 0.1 G3D/$ ($49 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).
  • ✅Draws 50W instead of 365W, a 315W reduction.
  • ✅Measures 1mm instead of 218mm, a 217mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

  • ❌2010 hardware with 128 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 11.4% in PassMark G3D (39 vs 35), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
GeForce FX 5900 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a newer 2011 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 9600/9700 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $350 cheaper on MSRP at $49 vs $399, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 807.3% (0.8 vs 0.1), so the value case lines up with the gaming result. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, GeForce FX 5900 has the stronger long-term case.

GeForce FX 5900 vs MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 Technical Specifications

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

NVIDIA

GeForce FX 5900

The GeForce FX 5900 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in March 24 2011. It features the Rankine architecture. The core clock speed is 607 MHz. It has 1024 ×2 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 365W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 35 points. Launch price was $699.

AMD

MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700

The MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 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: 39 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

In G3D Mark, the GeForce FX 5900 scores 35 versus the MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700's 39 — the MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 leads by 11.4%. The GeForce FX 5900 is built on Rankine while the MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 uses TeraScale 2, both on a 40 nm process. Shader units: 1,024 (GeForce FX 5900) vs 800 (MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700). Raw compute: 1.244 TFLOPS ×2 (GeForce FX 5900) vs 1.12 TFLOPS (MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700).

FeatureGeForce FX 5900MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700
G3D Mark Score
35
39+11%
Architecture
Rankine
TeraScale 2
Process Node
40 nm
40 nm
Shading Units
1024 ×2+28%
800
Compute (TFLOPS)
1.244 TFLOPS ×2+11%
1.12 TFLOPS
ROPs
48 ×2+200%
16
TMUs
64 ×2+60%
40
L1 Cache
1 MB+1150%
0.08 MB
L2 Cache
768 KB+200%
256 KB
✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce FX 5900 gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce FX 5900MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700
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 128 MB of GDDR5. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce FX 5900 and 128-bit on the MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700. L2 Cache: 768 KB (GeForce FX 5900) vs 256 KB (MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700) — the GeForce FX 5900 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureGeForce FX 5900MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700
VRAM Capacity
0.125 GB
0.125 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
Unknown
Bus Width
128-bit
128-bit
L2 Cache
768 KB+200%
256 KB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 9.0a (GeForce FX 5900) vs 9.0 (MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700). Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 0.

FeatureGeForce FX 5900MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700
DirectX
9.0a
9.0
Max Displays
2
0
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce FX 5900 draws 365W versus the MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700's 50W — a 151.8% difference. The MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce FX 5900) vs 350W (MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700). Power connectors: Legacy vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 218mm vs 1mm, occupying 1 vs 0 slots.

FeatureGeForce FX 5900MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700
TDP
365W
50W-86%
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
Legacy
PCIe-powered
Length
218mm
1mm
Slots
1
0-100%
Perf/Watt
0.1
0.8+700%
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the GeForce FX 5900 came in at $399, while the MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 launched at $49. On MSRP, MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 was 87.7% cheaper ($350 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 0.1 (GeForce FX 5900) vs 0.8 (MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700) — the MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 offers 700% better value. The newer card here is GeForce FX 5900 (2011 vs 2010).

FeatureGeForce FX 5900MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700
MSRP
$399
$49-88%
Performance per Dollar
0.1
0.8+700%
Codename
GF110
Broadway
Release
March 24 2011
January 7 2010
Ranking
#555
#846
Search GeForce FX 5900 on AmazonSearch MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 on Amazon

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