Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 vs Radeon R9 280X

When choosing between Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 and Radeon R9 280X, it is worth examining the specifications of the models in detail. Do they meet the recommended requirements of modern games and software? Storage capacity, form factor, TDP, available ports, warranty and manufacturer support are all important. For example, the size of a PC case can limit the maximum thickness and length of the card. Often, instead of the factory overclocked card and RGB backlight, it is better to choose a reference model with a more efficient GPU. And make sure that your current power supply unit has the correct connection pins (using adapters is not recommended). This GPUs compare tool is meant to help you to choose the best graphics card for your build. Let's find out the difference between Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 and Radeon R9 280X.

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 here:

Main Specs

  Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 Radeon R9 280X
Power consumption (TDP) 110 Watt 250 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 512 MB 3 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 280X has 127% more power consumption, than Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2.
  • Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon R9 280X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 has 509 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 280X.
  • Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 is used in Laptops, and Radeon R9 280X - in Desktops.
  • Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 is build with RV6xx architecture, and Radeon R9 280X - with GCN.
  • Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 is manufactured by 55 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 280X - by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 6−7 35−40
ultra / 1080p 4−5 21−24
QHD / 1440p 0−1 16−18
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 16−18 60−65
medium / 1080p 8−9 40−45
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 355% more, than Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2.

Full Specs

  Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 Radeon R9 280X
Architecture RV6xx GCN
Code name M88-XT CF Thaiti XTL
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 1 September 2008 8 October 2013
Pipelines 640 2048
Core clock speed 660 MHz
Boost Clock 1000 MHz
Transistor count 666 million 4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology 55 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 10.56 128.0
Floating-point performance 2x 422.4 gflops 4,096 gflops
Length 275 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 384 Bit
Memory clock speed 850 MHz
Memory bandwidth 54.4 GB/s 288 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 10.1 (10_1)
Shader Model 4.1 5.1
OpenGL 3.3 4.6
OpenCL N/A 1.2
Vulkan N/A +
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.5 kh/s
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 494 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
DisplayPort support +
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Decred / DCR (Decred) 1.07 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 14.42 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 285 Sol/s
AppAcceleration +
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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