ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT vs ATI Mobility HD 3870 X2

Place in performance ranking	858	932
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	0.04
Architecture	RV6xx (2007−2010)	TeraScale (2005−2013)
GPU code name	M88-XT CF	R600
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	1 September 2008 (16 years ago)	14 May 2007 (17 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$399

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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	640	320
Core clock speed	660 MHz	743 MHz
Number of transistors	666 million	720 million
Manufacturing process technology	55 nm	80 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	110 Watt	215 Watt
Texture fill rate	10.56	11.89
Floating-point performance	0.4224 gflops	0.4755 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	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 1.0 x16
Length	no data	241 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin

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	GDDR3	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	512 MB	512 MB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	512 Bit
Memory clock speed	850 MHz	1656 MHz
Memory bandwidth	54.4 GB/s	106.0 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

2x DVI, 1x S-Video

API compatibility

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	10.1 (10_1)	10.0 (10_0)
Shader Model	4.1	4.0
OpenGL	3.3	3.3
OpenCL	N/A	N/A
Vulkan	N/A	N/A

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

5−6
+66.7%

3−4

−66.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Battlefield 5	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 +66.7%	3−4 −66.7%
Far Cry 5	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Forza Horizon 4	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Hitman 3	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +35.7%	14−16 −35.7%
Metro Exodus	0−1	0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 +66.7%	3−4 −66.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 +33.3%	27−30 −33.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Battlefield 5	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 +66.7%	3−4 −66.7%
Far Cry 5	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Forza Horizon 4	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Hitman 3	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +35.7%	14−16 −35.7%
Metro Exodus	0−1	0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 +66.7%	3−4 −66.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 +30%	10−11 −30%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 +33.3%	27−30 −33.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 +66.7%	3−4 −66.7%
Far Cry 5	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Forza Horizon 4	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Hitman 3	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +35.7%	14−16 −35.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 +30%	10−11 −30%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 +33.3%	27−30 −33.3%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

5−6
+66.7%

3−4

−66.7%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Far Cry New Dawn	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	1−2	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2	0−1
Far Cry 5	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Hitman 3	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Horizon Zero Dawn	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	1−2	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	12−14 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

5−6
+66.7%

3−4

−66.7%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	0−1	0−1
Far Cry New Dawn	1−2	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	1−2	0−1
Far Cry 5	1−2	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	0−1	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

3−4
+50%

2−3

−50%

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	2.21	1.71
Recency	1 September 2008	14 May 2007
Chip lithography	55 nm	80 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	110 Watt	215 Watt

ATI Mobility HD 3870 X2 has a 29.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 45.5% more advanced lithography process, and 95.5% lower power consumption.

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 2900 XT in performance tests.

Be aware that Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 is a notebook card while Radeon HD 2900 XT is a desktop one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.