GeForce GTX 280M vs Mobility Radeon HD 3850
Aggregated performance score
GeForce GTX 280M outperforms Mobility Radeon HD 3850 by 122% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
Primary Details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 1137 | 932 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation | no data | 0.16 |
| Architecture | RV6xx (2007−2010) | G9x (2007−2010) |
| GPU code name | M88 | N10E-GTX |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 1 December 2007 (16 years ago) | 2 March 2009 (15 years ago) |
| Current price | no data | $140 |
Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
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 | 320 | 128 |
| CUDA cores | no data | 128 |
| Core clock speed | 580 MHz | 585 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 666 million | 754 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 55 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 55 Watt | 75 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 9.280 | 38 billion/sec |
| Floating-point performance | 371.2 gflops | 374.5 gflops |
| Gigaflops | no data | 562 |
Form Factor & Compatibility
Information on Mobility Radeon HD 3850 and GeForce GTX 280M compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.
| Laptop size | large | large |
| Bus support | no data | PCI-E 2.0 |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | MXM-IV |
| SLI options | no data | + |
| MXM Type | no data | MXM 3.0 Type-B |
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 | 1 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 750 MHz | Up to 950 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 48 GB/s | 61 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 | HDMIDual Link DVISingle Link DVIDisplayPortLVDSVGA |
| HDMI | no data | + |
| Maximum VGA resolution | no data | 2048x1536 |
| Audio input for HDMI | no data | S/PDIF |
Supported GPU Technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Power management | no data | 8.0 |
API Compatibility
List of supported graphics 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 | 2.1 |
| OpenCL | N/A | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | no data | + |
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.
GeForce GTX 280M outperforms Mobility Radeon HD 3850 by 122% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 17%
GeForce GTX 280M outperforms Mobility Radeon HD 3850 by 255% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.
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 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 8−9
−25%
|
10−11
+25%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
−100%
|
4−5
+100%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 6−7
−16.7%
|
7−8
+16.7%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 8−9
−25%
|
10−11
+25%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| Metro Exodus | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
−100%
|
4−5
+100%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 6−7
−16.7%
|
7−8
+16.7%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 2−3
−50%
|
3−4
+50%
|
| Hitman 3 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 4−5
−25%
|
5−6
+25%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
4K
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
| Hitman 3 | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Far Cry 5 | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Red Dead Redemption 2, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 280M is 100% faster than the ATI Mobility HD 3850.
All in all, in popular games:
- GTX 280M is ahead in 20 tests (80%)
- there's a draw in 5 tests (20%)
Pros & Cons Summary
| Performance score | 0.67 | 1.49 |
| Recency | 1 December 2007 | 2 March 2009 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 1 GB |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 55 Watt | 75 Watt |
The GeForce GTX 280M is our recommended choice as it beats the Mobility Radeon HD 3850 in performance tests.
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.
