ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs GeForce GTS 250

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
GTS 150 OEM GTS 240 OEM GTS 250 GTS 450 GTS 450 OEM GTS 450 Rev. 2 GTS 450 Rev. 3
VS
#ad 
Buy on Amazon
3400 3410 3430 3450 3470 3470 Hybrid X2 3650 3670 3850 3850 X2 3870 3870 X2

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTS 250 with Mobility Radeon HD 3870, including specs and performance data.

GTS 250
2009, $199
1 GB GDDR3, 150 Watt
1.35
+8.9%

GTS 250 outperforms Mobility HD 3870 by a small 9% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

Share:
GTS 250 GTS 250
ATI Mobility HD 3870 Mobility HD 3870

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking10531087
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.07no data
Power efficiency0.691.74
ArchitectureTesla (2006−2010)TeraScale (2005−2013)
GPU code nameG92BM88
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date4 March 2009 (17 years ago)4 June 2008 (17 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$199 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.

no data

Performance to price scatter graph

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 cores128320
Core clock speed738 MHz660 MHz
Number of transistors754 million666 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)150 Watt55 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature105 °Cno data
Texture fill rate44.9310.56
Floating-point processing power0.3871 TFLOPS0.4224 TFLOPS
ROPs1616
TMUs6416
L2 Cache64 KB256 KB

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 sizeno datalarge
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length229 mmno data
Height4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pinno data
SLI options+-

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 typeGDDR3GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount1 GB512 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1100 MHz850 MHz
Memory bandwidth70.4 GB/s54.4 GB/s
Shared memory--

Connectivity and outputs

This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.

Display ConnectorsTwo Dual Link DVINo outputs
Multi monitor support+no data
HDMI+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
Audio input for HDMIS/PDIFno data

API and SDK support

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX11.1 (10_0)10.1 (10_1)
Shader Model4.04.1
OpenGL3.03.3
OpenCL1.1N/A
VulkanN/AN/A
CUDA+-

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

Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Resident Evil 4 Remake 0−1 0−1

Full HD
Medium

Battlefield 5 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Far Cry 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Fortnite 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Valorant 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

Full HD
High

Battlefield 5 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Dota 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Far Cry 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Fortnite 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 0−1 0−1
Metro Exodus 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Valorant 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

Full HD
Ultra

Battlefield 5 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Dota 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Far Cry 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Valorant 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

Full HD
Epic

Fortnite 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

1440p
High

Counter-Strike 2 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Valorant 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

1440p
Ultra

Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%

1440p
Epic

Fortnite 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%

4K
High

Grand Theft Auto V 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Valorant 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

4K
Ultra

Dota 2 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%

4K
Epic

Fortnite 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 43 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 1.35 1.24
Recency 4 March 2009 4 June 2008
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 512 MB
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 55 Watt

GTS 250 has a 9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 9 months, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

ATI Mobility HD 3870, on the other hand, has 173% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between GeForce GTS 250 and Mobility Radeon HD 3870.

Be aware that GeForce GTS 250 is a desktop graphics card while Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is a notebook one.

Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
8800 GTX GeForce 8800 GTX
ATI Mobility HD 3870 Mobility Radeon HD 3870
vs
GT 630M GeForce GT 630M
GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
HD 6570 Radeon HD 6570
GTS 150 OEM GeForce GTS 150 OEM
vs
RTX 3060 Ti GDDR6X RTX 3060 Ti GDDR6X
GTS 150 OEM GeForce GTS 150 OEM
vs
Apple M4 40-core GPU 40 core GPU
GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
GTX 770M GTX 770M
GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
K2100M Quadro K2100M
GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
9800M GS GeForce 9800M GS
GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
ATI Mobility HD 3670 Radeon HD 3670
GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
ATI Mobility 9550 Radeon 9550
GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
GTX 560 OEM GTX 560 OEM
GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
GeForce 615 GeForce 615
GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
Quadro K420 Quadro K420

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.

3.5 1826 votes

Rate GeForce GTS 250 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
2.3 3 votes

Rate Mobility Radeon HD 3870 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Comments

Here you can give us your opinion about GeForce GTS 250 or Mobility Radeon HD 3870, agree or disagree with our ratings, or report errors or inaccuracies on the site.