ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs GeForce GT 550M
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GT 550M and Mobility Radeon HD 3870, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GT 550M outperforms ATI Mobility HD 3870 by a small 6% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 984 | 1010 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | Fermi (2010−2014) | RV6xx (2007−2010) |
| GPU code name | N12P-GT | M88-XT |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 6 January 2011 (13 years ago) | 1 March 2008 (16 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 96 | 320 |
| CUDA cores | 96 | no data |
| Core clock speed | 740 MHz | 660 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 585 million | 666 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 55 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 11.84 | 10.56 |
| Floating-point performance | 0.2842 gflops | 0.4224 gflops |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Laptop size | large | large |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | no data |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | DDR3 | GDDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1536 MB | 512 MB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 900 MHz | 850 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 28.8 GB/s | 54.4 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | - |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | No outputs | No outputs |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Optimus | + | - |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 API | 10.1 (10_1) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 4.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 3.3 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | N/A |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | + | - |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
3DMark Vantage Performance
3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:
| Full HD | 23
+9.5%
| 21−24
−9.5%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| Hitman 3 | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 14−16
+7.1%
|
14−16
−7.1%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| Hitman 3 | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 14−16
+7.1%
|
14−16
−7.1%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| Hitman 3 | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 14−16
+7.1%
|
14−16
−7.1%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Hitman 3 | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 7−8
+16.7%
|
6−7
−16.7%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
4K
High Preset
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2 | 0−1 |
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
This is how GT 550M and ATI Mobility HD 3870 compete in popular games:
- GT 550M is 10% faster in 1080p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Far Cry 5, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GT 550M is 100% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- GT 550M is ahead in 17 tests (35%)
- there's a draw in 31 test (65%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 1.48 | 1.39 |
| Recency | 6 January 2011 | 1 March 2008 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1536 MB | 512 MB |
| Chip lithography | 40 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 55 Watt |
GT 550M has a 6.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 200% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 37.5% more advanced lithography process, and 57.1% lower power consumption.
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between GeForce GT 550M and Mobility Radeon HD 3870.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
