Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon R5 M255

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 R5 M255 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 R5 M255: 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 $21 less on MSRP ($129 MSRP vs $150 MSRP).
✅Delivers 17.3% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 4.2 vs 3.6 G3D/$ ($129 MSRP vs $150 MSRP).
✅Draws 50W instead of 75W, a 25W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 512 MB vs 4 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 R5 M255

2014

Why buy it

✅700% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (4 GB vs 512 MB).
✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌2014 hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌
16.3% HIGHER MSRP
$150 MSRPvs$129 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 3.6 vs 4.2 G3D/$ ($150 MSRP vs $129 MSRP).
❌50% higher power demand at 75W vs 50W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 0.9% in PassMark G3D (548 vs 543), 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 $21 cheaper on MSRP at $129 vs $150, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 17.3% (4.2 vs 3.6), so the value case lines up with the gaming result.

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon R5 M255 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 R5 M255

The Radeon R5 M255 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 28 2014. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 900 MHz to 925 MHz. It has 640 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 543 points. Launch price was $799.99.

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Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 scores 548 and the Radeon R5 M255 reaches 543 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.9% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon R5 M255 uses GCN 1.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 640 (Radeon R5 M255). Raw compute: 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 1.184 TFLOPS (Radeon R5 M255).

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 M255
G3D Mark Score	548	543
Architecture	TeraScale 2	GCN 1.0
Process Node	40 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	800+25%	640
Compute (TFLOPS)	1.12 TFLOPS	1.184 TFLOPS+6%
ROPs	16	16
TMUs	40	40
L1 Cache	80 KB	160 KB+100%
L2 Cache	256 KB	256 KB
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 M255
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 R5 M255 carries 4 GB. Radeon R5 M255 gives you 700% 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 R5 M255.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 M255
VRAM Capacity	0.5 GB	4 GB+700%
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	Unknown
Bus Width	128-bit	128-bit
L2 Cache	256 KB	256 KB

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Display & API Support

DirectX support: 10.1 (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 12 (Radeon R5 M255). Maximum simultaneous displays: 0 vs 2.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 M255
DirectX	10.1	12+19%
Max Displays	0	2

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Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: UVD (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs VCE 3.0 (Radeon R5 M255). Decoder: UVD vs UVD 4.2.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 M255
Encoder	UVD	VCE 3.0
Decoder	UVD	UVD 4.2
Codecs	—	H.264,MPEG-4,MPEG-2,VC-1

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Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 draws 50W versus the Radeon R5 M255's 75W — a 40% difference. The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 350W (Radeon R5 M255). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs Mobile.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 M255
TDP	50W-33%	75W
Recommended PSU	350W	350W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	Mobile
Length	1mm	—
Slots	0	0
Temp (Load)	—	80°C
Perf/Watt	11.0+53%	7.2

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Value Analysis

At launch, the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 came in at $129, while the Radeon R5 M255 launched at $150. On MSRP, Mobility Radeon HD 3870 was 14% cheaper ($21 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 4.2 (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 3.6 (Radeon R5 M255) — the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 offers 16.7% better value. The newer card here is Radeon R5 M255 (2014 vs 2010).

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 M255
MSRP	$129-14%	$150
Performance per Dollar	4.2+17%	3.6
Codename	Broadway	Venus
Release	January 7 2010	January 28 2014
Ranking	#846	#851

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