Mobility Radeon HD 3850 vs Radeon R4

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 R4 FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

Mobility Radeon HD 3850 vs Radeon R4: 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.
❌
50% HIGHER MSRP
$150 MSRPvs$100 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 2.4 vs 3.5 G3D/$ ($150 MSRP vs $100 MSRP).

Radeon R4

2017

Why buy it

✅Costs $50 less on MSRP ($100 MSRP vs $150 MSRP).
✅Delivers 41.8% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 3.5 vs 2.4 G3D/$ ($100 MSRP vs $150 MSRP).
✅More future proof: GCN 4.0 (2016−2020) on 14nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌2017 hardware with 512 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 HD 3850 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 5.8% in PassMark G3D (366 vs 346), 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 3850 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?

Radeon R4 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $50 cheaper on MSRP at $100 vs $150, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 41.8% (3.5 vs 2.4), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Radeon R4 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, Mobility Radeon HD 3850 has the stronger long-term case.

Mobility Radeon HD 3850 vs Radeon R4 Technical Specifications

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

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.

Radeon R4

The Radeon R4 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 20 2017. It features the GCN 4.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1183 MHz to 1124 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 50W. Manufactured using 14 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 346 points. Launch price was $79.

⚡

Graphics Performance

In G3D Mark, the Mobility Radeon HD 3850 scores 366 versus the Radeon R4's 346 — the Mobility Radeon HD 3850 leads by 5.8%. The Mobility Radeon HD 3850 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon R4 uses GCN 4.0, both on 40 nm vs 14 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 3850) vs 384 (Radeon R4). Raw compute: 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 3850) vs 0.9085 TFLOPS (Radeon R4).

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3850	Radeon R4
G3D Mark Score	366+6%	346
Architecture	TeraScale 2	GCN 4.0
Process Node	40 nm	14 nm
Shading Units	800+108%	384
Compute (TFLOPS)	1.12 TFLOPS+23%	0.9085 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	16
TMUs	40+67%	24
L1 Cache	80 KB	96 KB+20%
L2 Cache	256 KB	512 KB+100%
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3850	Radeon R4
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 R4. L2 Cache: 256 KB (Mobility Radeon HD 3850) vs 512 KB (Radeon R4) — the Radeon R4 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3850	Radeon R4
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 R4's 50W — a 0% difference. The Radeon R4 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 3850) vs 350W (Radeon R4). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs None.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3850	Radeon R4
TDP	50W	50W
Recommended PSU	350W	350W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	None
Perf/Watt	7.3+6%	6.9

💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the Mobility Radeon HD 3850 came in at $150, while the Radeon R4 launched at $100. On MSRP, Radeon R4 was 33.3% cheaper ($50 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 2.4 (Mobility Radeon HD 3850) vs 3.5 (Radeon R4) — the Radeon R4 offers 45.8% better value. The newer card here is Radeon R4 (2017 vs 2010).

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3850	Radeon R4
MSRP	$150	$100-33%
Performance per Dollar	2.4	3.5+46%
Codename	Broadway	Lexa
Release	January 7 2010	April 20 2017
Ranking	#846	#773

Search Mobility Radeon HD 3850 on Amazon

Search Radeon R4 on Amazon

Affiliate Disclosure

ChipVERSUS is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. We may earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through our links. This comes at no additional cost to you and helps support our work in providing comprehensive PC building guides and tools.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.