Mobility Radeon HD 5870 vs Radeon R9 M275

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5870

2010Core: 700 MHz
VS
AMD

Radeon R9 M275

2014Core: 900 MHzBoost: 925 MHz

Mobility Radeon HD 5870 vs Radeon R9 M275 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 vs Radeon R9 M275: 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

2010

Why buy it

  • 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.
  • 33% HIGHER MSRP
    $399 MSRPvs$300 MSRP
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 2.7 vs 3.7 G3D/$ ($399 MSRP vs $300 MSRP).

Radeon R9 M275

2014

Why buy it

  • Costs $99 less on MSRP ($300 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).
  • Delivers 36.3% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 3.7 vs 2.7 G3D/$ ($300 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).
  • 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.
  • 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 R9 M275 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 2.5% in PassMark G3D (1,115 vs 1,088), 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 5870 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 R9 M275 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $99 cheaper on MSRP at $300 vs $399, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 36.3% (3.7 vs 2.7), so the value case lines up with the gaming result. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Radeon R9 M275 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, Mobility Radeon HD 5870 has the stronger long-term case.

Mobility Radeon HD 5870 vs Radeon R9 M275 Technical Specifications

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

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5870

The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 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: 1,088 points.

AMD

Radeon R9 M275

The Radeon R9 M275 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 28 2014. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 900 MHz to 925 MHz. It has 640 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,115 points. Launch price was $799.99.

Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 scores 1,088 and the Radeon R9 M275 reaches 1,115 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 2.5% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon R9 M275 uses GCN 1.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 5870) vs 640 (Radeon R9 M275). Raw compute: 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 5870) vs 1.184 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 M275).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870Radeon R9 M275
G3D Mark Score
1,088
1,115+2%
Architecture
TeraScale 2
GCN 1.0
Process Node
40 nm
28 nm
Shading Units
800+25%
640
Compute (TFLOPS)
1.12 TFLOPS
1.184 TFLOPS+6%
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 5870Radeon R9 M275
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 5870 has 1 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon R9 M275 carries 512 MB. Mobility Radeon HD 5870 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 5870 and 128-bit on the Radeon R9 M275.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870Radeon R9 M275
VRAM Capacity
1 GB+100%
0.5 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
64 GB/s
Bus Width
128-bit
128-bit
L2 Cache
256 KB
256 KB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 11 (5.0) (Mobility Radeon HD 5870) vs 12 (FL11_1) (Radeon R9 M275). Vulkan: N/A vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.4 vs 4.1. Maximum simultaneous displays: 0 vs 6.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870Radeon R9 M275
DirectX
11 (5.0)
12 (FL11_1)+9%
Vulkan
N/A
1.2
OpenGL
4.4+7%
4.1
Max Displays
0
6
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: None (Mobility Radeon HD 5870) vs UVD3 (Radeon R9 M275). Decoder: UVD 2.2 vs VCE. Supported codecs: H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2 (Mobility Radeon HD 5870) vs H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1,Flash (Radeon R9 M275).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870Radeon R9 M275
Encoder
None
UVD3
Decoder
UVD 2.2
VCE
Codecs
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2
H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1,Flash
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 draws 50W versus the Radeon R9 M275's 75W — a 40% difference. The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 5870) vs 350W (Radeon R9 M275). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs Mobile. Card length: 0mm vs 0mm, occupying 0 vs 0 slots. Typical load temperature: 85 vs 80°C.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870Radeon R9 M275
TDP
50W-33%
75W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
Mobile
Length
0mm
0mm
Height
0mm
0mm
Slots
0
0
Temp (Load)
85
80°C-6%
Perf/Watt
21.8+46%
14.9
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 came in at $399, while the Radeon R9 M275 launched at $300. On MSRP, Radeon R9 M275 was 24.8% cheaper ($99 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 2.7 (Mobility Radeon HD 5870) vs 3.7 (Radeon R9 M275) — the Radeon R9 M275 offers 37% better value. The newer card here is Radeon R9 M275 (2014 vs 2010).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870Radeon R9 M275
MSRP
$399
$300-25%
Performance per Dollar
2.7
3.7+37%
Codename
Broadway
Venus
Release
January 7 2010
January 28 2014
Ranking
#846
#851

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