Mobility Radeon HD 5650 vs Radeon HD 8500M

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5650

2010Core: 700 MHz
Similar parts
·······
VS
AMD

Radeon HD 8500M

2012Core: 675 MHz
Similar parts
·······

Mobility Radeon HD 5650 vs Radeon HD 8500M 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 5650 vs Radeon HD 8500M: 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 5650

2010

Why buy it

  • Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 2.9 vs 0 G3D/$ ($150 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).
  • 100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (1 GB vs 512 MB).

Trade-offs

  • 2010 hardware with 1 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 25% higher power demand at 50W vs 40W.

Radeon HD 8500M

2012

Why buy it

  • Draws 40W instead of 50W, a 10W reduction.
  • 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.
  • 2012 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 2.9 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $150 MSRP).

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Radeon HD 8500M is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 1.4% in PassMark G3D (447 vs 441), 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 5650 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 5650 makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup. Radeon HD 8500M still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

Mobility Radeon HD 5650 vs Radeon HD 8500M Technical Specifications

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

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5650

The Mobility Radeon HD 5650 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: 441 points.

AMD

Radeon HD 8500M

The Radeon HD 8500M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 24 2012. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 675 MHz. It has 640 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 40W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 447 points.

Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 5650 scores 441 and the Radeon HD 8500M reaches 447 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.4% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 5650 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon HD 8500M uses GCN 1.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 5650) vs 640 (Radeon HD 8500M). Raw compute: 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 5650) vs 0.864 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 8500M).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5650Radeon HD 8500M
G3D Mark Score
441
447+1%
Architecture
TeraScale 2
GCN 1.0
Process Node
40 nm
28 nm
Shading Units
800+25%
640
Compute (TFLOPS)
1.12 TFLOPS+30%
0.864 TFLOPS
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

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5650Radeon HD 8500M
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)

The Mobility Radeon HD 5650 has 1 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon HD 8500M carries 512 MB. Mobility Radeon HD 5650 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 5650 and System on the Radeon HD 8500M.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5650Radeon HD 8500M
VRAM Capacity
1 GB+100%
0.5 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
Shared
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
System
Bus Width
128-bit
System
L2 Cache
256 KB
256 KB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 11.0 (Mobility Radeon HD 5650) vs 11.1 (11_0) (Radeon HD 8500M). Vulkan: No vs 1.0. OpenGL: 4.4 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 6 vs 2.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5650Radeon HD 8500M
DirectX
11.0
11.1 (11_0)
Vulkan
No
1.0
OpenGL
4.4
4.6+5%
Max Displays
6+200%
2
🎬

Media & Encoding

Decoder: UVD 2.3 vs UVD 3.0. Supported codecs: H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2 (Mobility Radeon HD 5650) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 Part 2 (Radeon HD 8500M).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5650Radeon HD 8500M
Encoder
UVD 2.3
Decoder
UVD 2.3
UVD 3.0
Codecs
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 Part 2
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 5650 draws 50W versus the Radeon HD 8500M's 40W — a 22.2% difference. The Radeon HD 8500M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 5650) vs 350W (Radeon HD 8500M). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs 1x 6-pin. Typical load temperature: 80°C vs 75°C.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5650Radeon HD 8500M
TDP
50W
40W-20%
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
1x 6-pin
Slots
0
Temp (Load)
80°C
75°C-6%
Perf/Watt
8.8
11.2+27%
💰

Value Analysis

The newer card here is Radeon HD 8500M (2012 vs 2010).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5650Radeon HD 8500M
MSRP
$150
Codename
Broadway
Heathrow
Release
January 7 2010
April 24 2012
Ranking
#846
#787

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.