Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon HD 3870

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 3870 vs Radeon HD 3870 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 3870 vs Radeon HD 3870: 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 3870

2010

Why buy it

✅Costs $90 less on MSRP ($129 MSRP vs $219 MSRP).
✅Delivers 68.5% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 4.2 vs 2.5 G3D/$ ($129 MSRP vs $219 MSRP).
✅Draws 50W instead of 200W, a 150W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 512 MB vs 1 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌2010 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Radeon HD 3870

2012

Why buy it

✅100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (1 GB vs 512 MB).
✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌2012 hardware with 1 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌
69.8% HIGHER MSRP
$219 MSRPvs$129 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 2.5 vs 4.2 G3D/$ ($219 MSRP vs $129 MSRP).
❌300% higher power demand at 200W vs 50W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon HD 3870 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 0.7% in PassMark G3D (552 vs 548), 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 3870 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 3870 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $90 cheaper on MSRP at $129 vs $219, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 68.5% (4.2 vs 2.5), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. Radeon HD 3870 still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon HD 3870 Technical Specifications

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

Mobility Radeon HD 3870

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 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: 548 points.

Radeon HD 3870

The Radeon HD 3870 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in March 5 2012. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 1000 MHz. It has 1280 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 200W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 552 points. Launch price was $349.

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Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 scores 548 and the Radeon HD 3870 reaches 552 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.7% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon HD 3870 uses GCN 1.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 1,280 (Radeon HD 3870). Raw compute: 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 2.56 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 3870).

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon HD 3870
G3D Mark Score	548	552
Architecture	TeraScale 2	GCN 1.0
Process Node	40 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	800	1280+60%
Compute (TFLOPS)	1.12 TFLOPS	2.56 TFLOPS+129%
ROPs	16	32+100%
TMUs	40	80+100%
L1 Cache	80 KB	320 KB+300%
L2 Cache	256 KB	512 KB+100%
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon HD 3870
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

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Video Memory (VRAM)

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 has 512 MB of VRAM, while the Radeon HD 3870 carries 1 GB. Radeon HD 3870 gives you 100% more memory capacity, which matters more once you move into heavier textures, mods, or higher resolutions. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 and 128-bit on the Radeon HD 3870. L2 Cache: 256 KB (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 512 KB (Radeon HD 3870) — the Radeon HD 3870 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon HD 3870
VRAM Capacity	0.5 GB	1 GB+100%
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	Unknown
Bus Width	128-bit	128-bit
L2 Cache	256 KB	512 KB+100%

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Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 draws 50W versus the Radeon HD 3870's 200W — a 120% difference. The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 300W (Radeon HD 3870). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs 1x 6-pin.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon HD 3870
TDP	50W-75%	200W
Recommended PSU	350W	300W-14%
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	1x 6-pin
Length	1mm	—
Slots	0	—
Perf/Watt	11.0+293%	2.8

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Value Analysis

At launch, the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 came in at $129, while the Radeon HD 3870 launched at $219. On MSRP, Mobility Radeon HD 3870 was 41.1% cheaper ($90 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 4.2 (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 2.5 (Radeon HD 3870) — the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 offers 68% better value. The newer card here is Radeon HD 3870 (2012 vs 2010).

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon HD 3870
MSRP	$129-41%	$219
Performance per Dollar	4.2+68%	2.5
Codename	Broadway	Pitcairn
Release	January 7 2010	March 5 2012
Ranking	#846	#460

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