Mobility Radeon HD 3430 vs Radeon HD 3000

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 3430

2009Core: 550 MHz
VS
AMD

Radeon HD 3000

2011Core: 750 MHz

Mobility Radeon HD 3430 vs Radeon HD 3000 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.

Mobility Radeon HD 3430 vs Radeon HD 3000: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

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

Mobility Radeon HD 3430

2009

Why buy it

  • βœ…Costs $1 less on MSRP ($49 MSRP vs $50 MSRP).
  • βœ…Draws 30W instead of 186W, a 156W reduction.

Trade-offs

  • ❌Less VRAM, with 256 MB vs 512 MB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
  • ❌2009 hardware with 256 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Radeon HD 3000

2011

Why buy it

  • βœ…100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (512 MB vs 256 MB).
  • βœ…More future proof: TeraScale 3 (2010βˆ’2013) on 40nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

  • ❌2011 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • ❌
    2% HIGHER MSRP
    $50 MSRPvs$49 MSRP
  • ❌520% higher power demand at 186W vs 30W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Mobility Radeon HD 3430 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 2.1% in PassMark G3D (98 vs 96), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
Mobility Radeon HD 3430 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond because it comes out ahead on the available hardware-headroom signals for this matchup.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
Mobility Radeon HD 3430 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $1 cheaper on MSRP at $49 vs $50, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 4.2% (2.0 vs 1.9), so the value case lines up with the gaming result.

Mobility Radeon HD 3430 vs Radeon HD 3000 Technical Specifications

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

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 3430

The Mobility Radeon HD 3430 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: 98 points.

AMD

Radeon HD 3000

The Radeon HD 3000 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in December 1 2011. It features the TeraScale 3 architecture. The core clock speed is 750 MHz. It has 1280 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 186W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 96 points. Launch price was $180.

⚑

Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 3430 scores 98 and the Radeon HD 3000 reaches 96 in the G3D Mark benchmark β€” just a 2.1% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 3430 is built on TeraScale while the Radeon HD 3000 uses TeraScale 3, both on 55 nm vs 40 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 3430) vs 1,280 (Radeon HD 3000). Raw compute: 0.88 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 3430) vs 1.92 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 3000).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3430Radeon HD 3000
G3D Mark Score
98+2%
96
Architecture
TeraScale
TeraScale 3
Process Node
55 nm
40 nm
Shading Units
800
1280+60%
Compute (TFLOPS)
0.88 TFLOPS
1.92 TFLOPS+118%
ROPs
16
32+100%
TMUs
40
80+100%
L1 Cache
160 KB
320 KB+100%
L2 Cache
256 KB
512 KB+100%
Frame Generation
FSR upscaling
FSR upscaling
✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3430Radeon HD 3000
Upscaling Tech
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
AMD Anti-Lag
AMD Anti-Lag
πŸ’Ύ

Video Memory (VRAM)

The Mobility Radeon HD 3430 has 256 MB of VRAM, while the Radeon HD 3000 carries 512 MB. Radeon HD 3000 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 Mobility Radeon HD 3430 and 128-bit on the Radeon HD 3000. L2 Cache: 256 KB (Mobility Radeon HD 3430) vs 512 KB (Radeon HD 3000) β€” the Radeon HD 3000 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3430Radeon HD 3000
VRAM Capacity
0.25 GB
0.5 GB+100%
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
Unknown
Bus Width
64-bit
128-bit+100%
L2 Cache
256 KB
512 KB+100%
πŸ–₯️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 10.1 (Mobility Radeon HD 3430) vs 10.0 (Radeon HD 3000). Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 2.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3430Radeon HD 3000
DirectX
10.1
10.0
Max Displays
2
2
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: Avivo HD (Mobility Radeon HD 3430) vs UVD (Radeon HD 3000). Decoder: UVD vs UVD.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3430Radeon HD 3000
Encoder
Avivo HD
UVD
Decoder
UVD
UVD
Codecs
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2
β€”
πŸ”Œ

Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 3430 draws 30W versus the Radeon HD 3000's 186W β€” a 144.4% difference. The Mobility Radeon HD 3430 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 3430) vs 350W (Radeon HD 3000). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs 1x 6-pin.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3430Radeon HD 3000
TDP
30W-84%
186W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
1x 6-pin
Length
β€”
1mm
Slots
1
0-100%
Perf/Watt
3.3+560%
0.5
πŸ’°

Value Analysis

At launch, the Mobility Radeon HD 3430 came in at $49, while the Radeon HD 3000 launched at $50. On MSRP, Mobility Radeon HD 3430 was 2% cheaper ($1 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 2.0 (Mobility Radeon HD 3430) vs 1.9 (Radeon HD 3000) β€” the Mobility Radeon HD 3430 offers 5.3% better value. The newer card here is Radeon HD 3000 (2011 vs 2009).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3430Radeon HD 3000
MSRP
$49-2%
$50
Performance per Dollar
2.0+5%
1.9
Codename
M98
Cayman
Release
January 9 2009
December 1 2011
Ranking
#927
#598

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