Mobility Radeon HD 3850 vs Radeon 3015e

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 3850

2010Core: 700 MHz
Similar parts
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VS
AMD

Radeon 3015e

2019Core: 1082 MHzBoost: 1218 MHz
Similar parts
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Mobility Radeon HD 3850 vs Radeon 3015e 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 3850 vs Radeon 3015e: 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 3850

2010

Why buy it

  • Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

  • 2010 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 206.1% HIGHER MSRP
    $150 MSRPvs$49 MSRP
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 2.4 vs 7.2 G3D/$ ($150 MSRP vs $49 MSRP).

Radeon 3015e

2019

Why buy it

  • Costs $101 less on MSRP ($49 MSRP vs $150 MSRP).
  • Delivers 193.6% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 7.2 vs 2.4 G3D/$ ($49 MSRP vs $150 MSRP).
  • Mobility Radeon HD 3850 is already obsolete for modern gaming, so Radeon 3015e is the less risky modern option long term.

Trade-offs

  • 2019 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM already sits in legacy territory for modern games.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Mobility Radeon HD 3850 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 4.3% in PassMark G3D (366 vs 351), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
Radeon 3015e is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a 14nm process instead of 40nm and a newer 2019 generation instead of 2010. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
Radeon 3015e makes the most sense to buy today. It is $101 cheaper on MSRP at $49 vs $150, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 193.6% (7.2 vs 2.4), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. Mobility Radeon HD 3850 still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

Mobility Radeon HD 3850 vs Radeon 3015e Technical Specifications

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

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 3850

The Mobility Radeon HD 3850 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: 366 points.

AMD

Radeon 3015e

The Radeon 3015e is manufactured by AMD. It was released in May 13 2019. It features the GCN 4.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1082 MHz to 1218 MHz. It has 512 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 50W. Manufactured using 14 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 351 points.

Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 3850 scores 366 and the Radeon 3015e reaches 351 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 4.3% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 3850 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon 3015e uses GCN 4.0, both on 40 nm vs 14 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 3850) vs 512 (Radeon 3015e). Raw compute: 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 3850) vs 1.247 TFLOPS (Radeon 3015e).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3850Radeon 3015e
G3D Mark Score
366+4%
351
Architecture
TeraScale 2
GCN 4.0
Process Node
40 nm
14 nm
Shading Units
800+56%
512
Compute (TFLOPS)
1.12 TFLOPS
1.247 TFLOPS+11%
ROPs
16
16
TMUs
40+25%
32
L1 Cache
80 KB
128 KB+60%
L2 Cache
256 KB
512 KB+100%
Frame Generation
FSR upscaling
FSR upscaling

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3850Radeon 3015e
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
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 512 MB of GDDR5. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 3850 and 64-bit on the Radeon 3015e. L2 Cache: 256 KB (Mobility Radeon HD 3850) vs 512 KB (Radeon 3015e) — the Radeon 3015e has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3850Radeon 3015e
VRAM Capacity
0.5 GB
0.5 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Bus Width
128-bit+100%
64-bit
L2 Cache
256 KB
512 KB+100%
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 3850 draws 50W versus the Radeon 3015e's 50W — a 0% difference. The Radeon 3015e is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 3850) vs 350W (Radeon 3015e). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3850Radeon 3015e
TDP
50W
50W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
PCIe-powered
Perf/Watt
7.3+4%
7.0
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the Mobility Radeon HD 3850 came in at $150, while the Radeon 3015e launched at $49. On MSRP, Radeon 3015e was 67.3% cheaper ($101 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 2.4 (Mobility Radeon HD 3850) vs 7.2 (Radeon 3015e) — the Radeon 3015e offers 200% better value. The newer card here is Radeon 3015e (2019 vs 2010).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3850Radeon 3015e
MSRP
$150
$49-67%
Performance per Dollar
2.4
7.2+200%
Codename
Broadway
Polaris 23
Release
January 7 2010
May 13 2019
Ranking
#846
#757

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