Mobility Radeon HD 4850 vs Radeon HD 8500M/8700M

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 4850 vs Radeon HD 8500M/8700M 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 4850 vs Radeon HD 8500M/8700M: 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 4850

2009

Why buy it

✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 4.4 vs 0 G3D/$ ($199 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).
✅100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (1 GB vs 512 MB).
✅Draws 30W instead of 50W, a 20W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌2009 hardware with 1 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Radeon HD 8500M/8700M

2013

Why buy it

✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 512 MB vs 1 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌2013 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 4.4 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $199 MSRP).
❌66.7% higher power demand at 50W vs 30W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Mobility Radeon HD 4850 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 1.5% in PassMark G3D (866 vs 853), 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 4850 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: 1 GB vs 512 MB of VRAM. That gives it more room for heavier textures and higher settings over time.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

Mobility Radeon HD 4850 makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup.

Mobility Radeon HD 4850 vs Radeon HD 8500M/8700M Technical Specifications

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

Mobility Radeon HD 4850

The Mobility Radeon HD 4850 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 9 2009. It features the TeraScale architecture. The core clock speed is 550 MHz. It has 800 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 30W. Manufactured using 55 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 866 points.

Radeon HD 8500M/8700M

The Radeon HD 8500M/8700M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 1 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 725 MHz to 775 MHz. It has 640 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 50W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 853 points.

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Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 4850 scores 866 and the Radeon HD 8500M/8700M reaches 853 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.5% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 4850 is built on TeraScale while the Radeon HD 8500M/8700M uses GCN 1.0, both on 55 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 4850) vs 640 (Radeon HD 8500M/8700M). Raw compute: 0.88 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 4850) vs 0.992 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 8500M/8700M).

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8500M/8700M
G3D Mark Score	866+2%	853
Architecture	TeraScale	GCN 1.0
Process Node	55 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	800+25%	640
Compute (TFLOPS)	0.88 TFLOPS	0.992 TFLOPS+13%
ROPs	16	16
TMUs	40	40
L1 Cache	160 KB	160 KB
L2 Cache	256 KB	256 KB
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8500M/8700M
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 4850 has 1 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon HD 8500M/8700M carries 512 MB. Mobility Radeon HD 4850 gives you 100% more memory capacity, which matters more once you move into heavier textures, mods, or higher resolutions. Memory bus width is 64-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 4850 and System on the Radeon HD 8500M/8700M.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8500M/8700M
VRAM Capacity	1 GB+100%	0.5 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	Shared
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	System
Bus Width	64-bit	System
L2 Cache	256 KB	256 KB

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Display & API Support

DirectX support: 10.1 (Mobility Radeon HD 4850) vs 12 (Radeon HD 8500M/8700M). Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 0.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8500M/8700M
DirectX	10.1	12+19%
Max Displays	2	0

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Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: None (Mobility Radeon HD 4850) vs VCE 1.0 (Radeon HD 8500M/8700M). Decoder: UVD 2 vs UVD 3.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8500M/8700M
Encoder	None	VCE 1.0
Decoder	UVD 2	UVD 3
Codecs	H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2	—

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Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 4850 draws 30W versus the Radeon HD 8500M/8700M's 50W — a 50% difference. The Mobility Radeon HD 4850 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 4850) vs 350W (Radeon HD 8500M/8700M). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs 1x 6-pin. Card length: 0mm vs 1mm, occupying 0 vs 0 slots.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8500M/8700M
TDP	30W-40%	50W
Recommended PSU	350W	350W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	1x 6-pin
Length	0mm	1mm
Height	0mm	—
Slots	0	0
Temp (Load)	95	—
Perf/Watt	28.9+69%	17.1

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Value Analysis

The newer card here is Radeon HD 8500M/8700M (2013 vs 2009).

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 4850	Radeon HD 8500M/8700M
MSRP	$199	—
Codename	M98	Venus
Release	January 9 2009	April 1 2013
Ranking	#927	#745

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