Radeon HD 3850 vs Radeon HD 7470M

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.

Radeon HD 3850 vs Radeon HD 7470M 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.

Radeon HD 3850 vs Radeon HD 7470M: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

Radeon HD 3850

2012

Why buy it

✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 2.2 vs 0 G3D/$ ($179 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 7470M across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2012 hardware with 1 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌30% higher power demand at 130W vs 100W.

Radeon HD 7470M

2012

Why buy it

✅2.3% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Draws 100W instead of 130W, a 30W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌2012 hardware with 1 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 2.2 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $179 MSRP).

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon HD 7470M is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 2.3% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and by 1.7% in PassMark G3D (408 vs 401), so the answer here is pretty clean.

Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?

Radeon HD 3850 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond because it comes out ahead on the available hardware-headroom signals for this matchup.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

Radeon HD 3850 makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup. Radeon HD 7470M still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

Radeon HD 3850 vs Radeon HD 7470M Technical Specifications

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

Radeon HD 3850

The Radeon HD 3850 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in March 5 2012. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The boost clock speed is 1000 MHz. It has 1024 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 130W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 401 points. Launch price was $249.

Radeon HD 7470M

The Radeon HD 7470M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 24 2012. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 850 MHz. It has 1280 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 100W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 408 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The Radeon HD 3850 scores 401 and the Radeon HD 7470M reaches 408 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.7% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon HD 3850 is built on GCN 1.0 while the Radeon HD 7470M uses GCN 1.0, both on a 28 nm process. Shader units: 1,024 (Radeon HD 3850) vs 1,280 (Radeon HD 7470M). Raw compute: 1.761 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 3850) vs 2.176 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 7470M).

Feature	Radeon HD 3850	Radeon HD 7470M
G3D Mark Score	401	408+2%
Architecture	GCN 1.0	GCN 1.0
Process Node	28 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	1024	1280+25%
Compute (TFLOPS)	1.761 TFLOPS	2.176 TFLOPS+24%
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	64	80+25%
L1 Cache	256 KB	320 KB+25%
L2 Cache	512 KB	512 KB
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Radeon HD 3850	Radeon HD 7470M
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 1 GB of video memory. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the Radeon HD 3850 and System on the Radeon HD 7470M.

Feature	Radeon HD 3850	Radeon HD 7470M
VRAM Capacity	1 GB	1 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	Shared
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	System
Bus Width	128-bit	System
L2 Cache	512 KB	512 KB

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon HD 3850 draws 130W versus the Radeon HD 7470M's 100W — a 26.1% difference. The Radeon HD 7470M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 450W (Radeon HD 3850) vs 350W (Radeon HD 7470M). Power connectors: 1x 6-pin vs 1x 6-pin.