Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon R5 M335

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 3870

2010Core: 700 MHz
VS
AMD

Radeon R5 M335

2016Core: 780 MHzBoost: 1030 MHz

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon R5 M335 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 3870 vs Radeon R5 M335: 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

  • βœ…Costs $21 less on MSRP ($129 MSRP vs $150 MSRP).
  • βœ…Delivers 16.1% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 4.2 vs 3.7 G3D/$ ($129 MSRP vs $150 MSRP).
  • βœ…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 M335

2016

Why buy it

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

Trade-offs

  • ❌2016 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$129 MSRP
  • ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 3.7 vs 4.2 G3D/$ ($150 MSRP vs $129 MSRP).
  • ❌50% higher power demand at 75W vs 50W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Radeon R5 M335 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 0.2% in PassMark G3D (549 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 $21 cheaper on MSRP at $129 vs $150, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 16.1% (4.2 vs 3.7), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. Radeon R5 M335 still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon R5 M335 Technical Specifications

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

AMD

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.

AMD

Radeon R5 M335

The Radeon R5 M335 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in May 15 2016. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 780 MHz to 1030 MHz. It has 320 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 549 points.

⚑

Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 scores 548 and the Radeon R5 M335 reaches 549 in the G3D Mark benchmark β€” just a 0.2% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon R5 M335 uses GCN 1.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 320 (Radeon R5 M335). Raw compute: 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 0.6592 TFLOPS (Radeon R5 M335).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3870Radeon R5 M335
G3D Mark Score
548
549
Architecture
TeraScale 2
GCN 1.0
Process Node
40 nm
28 nm
Shading Units
800+150%
320
Compute (TFLOPS)
1.12 TFLOPS+70%
0.6592 TFLOPS
ROPs
16+100%
8
TMUs
40+100%
20
L1 Cache
80 KB
80 KB
L2 Cache
256 KB+100%
128 KB
Frame Generation
FSR upscaling
FSR upscaling
✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3870Radeon R5 M335
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 3870 has 512 MB of VRAM, while the Radeon R5 M335 carries 4 GB. Radeon R5 M335 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 M335. L2 Cache: 256 KB (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 128 KB (Radeon R5 M335) β€” the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3870Radeon R5 M335
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+100%
128 KB
πŸ”Œ

Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 draws 50W versus the Radeon R5 M335's 75W β€” a 40% difference. The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 350W (Radeon R5 M335). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs Mobile.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3870Radeon R5 M335
TDP
50W-33%
75W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
Mobile
Length
1mm
β€”
Slots
0
β€”
Perf/Watt
11.0+51%
7.3
πŸ’°

Value Analysis

At launch, the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 came in at $129, while the Radeon R5 M335 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 3.7 (Radeon R5 M335) β€” the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 offers 13.5% better value. The newer card here is Radeon R5 M335 (2016 vs 2010).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 3870Radeon R5 M335
MSRP
$129-14%
$150
Performance per Dollar
4.2+14%
3.7
Codename
Broadway
Jet
Release
January 7 2010
May 15 2016
Ranking
#846
#922

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.