Mobility Radeon HD 5850 vs Radeon R7 M270

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5850

2010Core: 700 MHz
Similar parts
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VS
AMD

Radeon R7 M270

2014Core: 900 MHzBoost: 940 MHz
Similar parts
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Mobility Radeon HD 5850 vs Radeon R7 M270 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 5850 vs Radeon R7 M270: 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 5850

2010

Why buy it

  • Costs $1 less on MSRP ($299 MSRP vs $300 MSRP).
  • 100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (1 GB vs 512 MB).
  • Draws 50W instead of 75W, a 25W reduction.

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.

Radeon R7 M270

2014

Why buy it

  • More future proof: GCN 3.0 (2014−2019) 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.
  • 2014 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 50% higher power demand at 75W vs 50W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Radeon R7 M270 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 1.6% in PassMark G3D (775 vs 763), 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 5850 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?
Radeon R7 M270 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $1 more expensive on MSRP at $300 vs $299, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 1.2% (2.6 vs 2.6), so the value case lines up with the gaming result. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Radeon R7 M270 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, Mobility Radeon HD 5850 has the stronger long-term case.

Mobility Radeon HD 5850 vs Radeon R7 M270 Technical Specifications

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

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5850

The Mobility Radeon HD 5850 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: 763 points.

AMD

Radeon R7 M270

The Radeon R7 M270 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in June 11 2014. It features the GCN 3.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 900 MHz to 940 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 775 points.

Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 5850 scores 763 and the Radeon R7 M270 reaches 775 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.6% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 5850 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon R7 M270 uses GCN 3.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 5850) vs 384 (Radeon R7 M270). Raw compute: 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 5850) vs 0.7219 TFLOPS (Radeon R7 M270).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5850Radeon R7 M270
G3D Mark Score
763
775+2%
Architecture
TeraScale 2
GCN 3.0
Process Node
40 nm
28 nm
Shading Units
800+108%
384
Compute (TFLOPS)
1.12 TFLOPS+55%
0.7219 TFLOPS
ROPs
16+100%
8
TMUs
40+67%
24
L1 Cache
80 KB
96 KB+20%
L2 Cache
256 KB
256 KB
Frame Generation
FSR upscaling
FSR upscaling

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5850Radeon R7 M270
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 5850 has 1 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon R7 M270 carries 512 MB. Mobility Radeon HD 5850 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 5850 and 128-bit on the Radeon R7 M270.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5850Radeon R7 M270
VRAM Capacity
1 GB+100%
0.5 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
Unknown
Bus Width
128-bit
128-bit
L2 Cache
256 KB
256 KB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 11.0 (Mobility Radeon HD 5850) vs 12 (11_1) (Radeon R7 M270). Vulkan: No vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.4 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 6 vs 2.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5850Radeon R7 M270
DirectX
11.0
12 (11_1)+9%
Vulkan
No
1.2
OpenGL
4.4
4.6+5%
Max Displays
6+200%
2
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: UVD 2.3 (Mobility Radeon HD 5850) vs VCE 1.0 (Radeon R7 M270). Decoder: UVD 2.3 vs UVD 4.0. Supported codecs: H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2 (Mobility Radeon HD 5850) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,DivX (Radeon R7 M270).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5850Radeon R7 M270
Encoder
UVD 2.3
VCE 1.0
Decoder
UVD 2.3
UVD 4.0
Codecs
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,DivX
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 5850 draws 50W versus the Radeon R7 M270's 75W — a 40% difference. The Mobility Radeon HD 5850 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 5850) vs 350W (Radeon R7 M270). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs Mobile. Typical load temperature: 85°C vs 80°C.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5850Radeon R7 M270
TDP
50W-33%
75W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
Mobile
Slots
0
Temp (Load)
85°C
80°C-6%
Perf/Watt
15.3+49%
10.3
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the Mobility Radeon HD 5850 came in at $299, while the Radeon R7 M270 launched at $300. On MSRP, Mobility Radeon HD 5850 was 0.3% cheaper ($1 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 2.6 (Mobility Radeon HD 5850) vs 2.6 (Radeon R7 M270) — the Radeon R7 M270 offers 0% better value. The newer card here is Radeon R7 M270 (2014 vs 2010).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5850Radeon R7 M270
MSRP
$299
$300
Performance per Dollar
2.6
2.6
Codename
Broadway
Topaz
Release
January 7 2010
June 11 2014
Ranking
#846
#897

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