Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire
Radeon HD8970M
Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire vs Radeon HD8970M 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 5870 Crossfire vs Radeon HD8970M 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.
Path of Exile 2
Counter-Strike 2
League of Legends
Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire vs Radeon HD8970M: 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 5870 Crossfire
2010Why buy it
- ✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 4.1 vs 0 G3D/$ ($800 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).
Trade-offs
- ❌2010 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
- ❌20% higher power demand at 120W vs 100W.
Radeon HD8970M
2013Why buy it
- ✅Draws 100W instead of 120W, a 20W reduction.
- ✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.
Trade-offs
- ❌2013 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
- ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 4.1 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $800 MSRP).
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Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire vs Radeon HD8970M Technical Specifications
Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.
Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire
The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire 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 1600 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 120W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,311 points.
Radeon HD8970M
The Radeon HD8970M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in May 14 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 850 MHz to 900 MHz. It has 1280 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 100W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,369 points.
Graphics Performance
The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire scores 3,311 and the Radeon HD8970M reaches 3,369 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.8% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire is built on Terascale 2 while the Radeon HD8970M uses GCN 1.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 1,600 (Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire) vs 1,280 (Radeon HD8970M).
| Feature | Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire | Radeon HD8970M |
|---|---|---|
| G3D Mark Score | 3,311 | 3,369+2% |
| Architecture | Terascale 2 | GCN 1.0 |
| Process Node | 40 nm | 28 nm |
| Shading Units | 1600+25% | 1280 |
| Frame Generation | FSR upscaling | FSR upscaling |
Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)
| Feature | Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire | Radeon HD8970M |
|---|---|---|
| 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)
Both cards ship with 2 GB of video memory. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire and System on the Radeon HD8970M.
| Feature | Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire | Radeon HD8970M |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | Shared |
| Memory Bandwidth | Unknown | System |
| Bus Width | 128-bit | System |
Power & Dimensions
The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire draws 120W versus the Radeon HD8970M's 100W — a 18.2% difference. The Radeon HD8970M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire) vs 350W (Radeon HD8970M). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered.
| Feature | Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire | Radeon HD8970M |
|---|---|---|
| TDP | 120W | 100W-17% |
| Recommended PSU | 350W | 350W |
| Power Connector | PCIe-powered | PCIe-powered |
| Temp (Load) | 95°C | — |
| Perf/Watt | 27.6 | 33.7+22% |
Value Analysis
The newer card here is Radeon HD8970M (2013 vs 2010).
| Feature | Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire | Radeon HD8970M |
|---|---|---|
| MSRP | $800 | — |
| Codename | Broadway-XT | Neptune |
| Release | January 7 2010 | May 14 2013 |
| Ranking | #688 | #507 |
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