GeForce GT 230 vs ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Mobility Radeon HD 3870 with GeForce GT 230, including specs and performance data.
ATI Mobility HD 3870 outperforms GT 230 by an impressive 65% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 1000 | 1133 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 0.01 |
| Power efficiency | 1.75 | 0.78 |
| Architecture | TeraScale (2005−2013) | Tesla (2006−2010) |
| GPU code name | M88 | G94B |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 4 June 2008 (16 years ago) | 12 October 2009 (15 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $43.99 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 320 | 48 |
| Core clock speed | 660 MHz | 650 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 666 million | 505 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 55 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 55 Watt | 75 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 10.56 | 15.60 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.4224 TFLOPS | 0.156 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 16 | 16 |
| TMUs | 16 | 24 |
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 2.0 x16 |
| Width | no data | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | None |
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 | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 850 MHz | 900 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 54.4 GB/s | 57.6 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 |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 10.1 (10_1) | 11.1 (10_0) |
| Shader Model | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| OpenGL | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| OpenCL | N/A | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | - | 1.1 |
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 | 4−5
+100%
|
2−3
−100%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 6−7
+100%
|
3−4
−100%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
+100%
|
2−3
−100%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+100%
|
2−3
−100%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Hitman 3 | 6−7
+100%
|
3−4
−100%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 14−16
+75%
|
8−9
−75%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 8−9
+100%
|
4−5
−100%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+83.3%
|
18−20
−83.3%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 6−7
+100%
|
3−4
−100%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
+100%
|
2−3
−100%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+100%
|
2−3
−100%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Hitman 3 | 6−7
+100%
|
3−4
−100%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 14−16
+75%
|
8−9
−75%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 8−9
+100%
|
4−5
−100%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−12
+83.3%
|
6−7
−83.3%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+83.3%
|
18−20
−83.3%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 6−7
+100%
|
3−4
−100%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
+100%
|
2−3
−100%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+100%
|
2−3
−100%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Hitman 3 | 6−7
+100%
|
3−4
−100%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 14−16
+75%
|
8−9
−75%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 8−9
+100%
|
4−5
−100%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−12
+83.3%
|
6−7
−83.3%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+83.3%
|
18−20
−83.3%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Hitman 3 | 7−8
+75%
|
4−5
−75%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 6−7
+100%
|
3−4
−100%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 4−5
+100%
|
2−3
−100%
|
4K
High Preset
| Far Cry New Dawn | 0−1 | 0−1 |
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| 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
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 1.39 | 0.84 |
| Recency | 4 June 2008 | 12 October 2009 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 55 Watt | 75 Watt |
ATI Mobility HD 3870 has a 65.5% higher aggregate performance score, and 36.4% lower power consumption.
GT 230, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 1 year.
The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 230 in performance tests.
Be aware that Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is a notebook card while GeForce GT 230 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
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