Radeon HD 4870 vs Radeon HD 7850M

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 4870 vs Radeon HD 7850M 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 4870 vs Radeon HD 7850M: 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 4870

2008

Why buy it

✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 4.6 vs 0 G3D/$ ($299 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 7850M across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2008 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌275% higher power demand at 150W vs 40W.

Radeon HD 7850M

2012

Why buy it

✅0.6% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Draws 40W instead of 150W, a 110W reduction.
✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌2012 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 4.6 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $299 MSRP).

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon HD 7850M is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 0.6% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. PassMark G3D leans toward Radeon HD 4870 instead at 1,386 vs 1,373, so for this question the real-game FPS result matters more than the synthetic split.

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

Radeon HD 4870 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 4870 makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup. Radeon HD 7850M still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

Radeon HD 4870 vs Radeon HD 7850M Technical Specifications

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

Radeon HD 4870

The Radeon HD 4870 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in June 25 2008. It features the TeraScale architecture. The core clock speed is 750 MHz. It has 800 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 150W. Manufactured using 55 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,386 points. Launch price was $299.

Radeon HD 7850M

The Radeon HD 7850M 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: 1,373 points.

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Graphics Performance

The Radeon HD 4870 scores 1,386 and the Radeon HD 7850M reaches 1,373 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.9% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon HD 4870 is built on TeraScale while the Radeon HD 7850M uses GCN 1.0, both on 55 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 800 (Radeon HD 4870) vs 640 (Radeon HD 7850M). Raw compute: 1.2 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 4870) vs 0.864 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 7850M).

Feature	Radeon HD 4870	Radeon HD 7850M
G3D Mark Score	1,386	1,373
Architecture	TeraScale	GCN 1.0
Process Node	55 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	800+25%	640
Compute (TFLOPS)	1.2 TFLOPS+39%	0.864 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	16
TMUs	40	40
L1 Cache	160 KB	160 KB
L2 Cache	256 KB	256 KB
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Radeon HD 4870	Radeon HD 7850M
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

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Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 2 GB of video memory. Memory bus width is 64-bit on the Radeon HD 4870 and System on the Radeon HD 7850M.

Feature	Radeon HD 4870	Radeon HD 7850M
VRAM Capacity	2 GB	2 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	Shared
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	System
Bus Width	64-bit	System
L2 Cache	256 KB	256 KB

🎬

Media & Encoding

Supported codecs: H.264 (Radeon HD 4870) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4,DivX (Radeon HD 7850M).

Feature	Radeon HD 4870	Radeon HD 7850M
Encoder	—	VCE 1.0
Decoder	—	UVD 3
Codecs	H.264	H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4,DivX

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon HD 4870 draws 150W versus the Radeon HD 7850M's 40W — a 115.8% difference. The Radeon HD 7850M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (Radeon HD 4870) vs 350W (Radeon HD 7850M). Power connectors: 2x 6-pin vs 1x 6-pin.

Feature	Radeon HD 4870	Radeon HD 7850M
TDP	150W	40W-73%
Recommended PSU	500W	350W-30%
Power Connector	2x 6-pin	1x 6-pin
Slots	—	1
Temp (Load)	—	70°C
Perf/Watt	9.2	34.3+273%

💰

Value Analysis

The newer card here is Radeon HD 7850M (2012 vs 2008).

Feature	Radeon HD 4870	Radeon HD 7850M
MSRP	$299	—
Codename	RV770	Heathrow
Release	June 25 2008	April 24 2012
Ranking	#784	#787

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