ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870

The ATI Mobilty Radeon HD 4870 from AMD is a DirectX 10.1 high end notebook graphics adapter. Technically it is based on the desktop HD 4850/4870 GPUs but with a lower clock rate to save energy. As the desktop HD 4870 it can be equipped with GDDR5 memory. The successor of the HD 4870 is the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 which supports DirectX 11.

The gaming performance of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 should be compareable to the desktop HD 4850 (a bit below) and therefore very good. The high amount of shaders and the 256 bit bus allows to run every DirectX 9 game in high resolutions and details. Demanding DirectX 10 games, like Crysis can be played with high details. Compared to the GeForce GTX 280M, the HD 4870 delivers a similar performance in games.

The Mobility HD 4870 is based on the RV770 chip and features 800 stream processors (160 5-dimensional shader cores). These cores do the graphic work of the shader- and pixel pipelines of older GPUs. The stream processors are also called ALUs and are grouped in five-way VLIW units. Each of the five instructions of a VLIW bundle has to be independent from the others and therefore the performance depends on the optimization of the driver.

The Mobility Radeon HD 4870 includes the Avivo HD called video technology including an onboard soundchip for 7.1 sound output over HDMI or DisplayPort and the 2nd generation UVD (Unified Video Decoder). This UVD 2 supports full bitstream decoding of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 streams. In addition to this, it also supports dual video stream decoding and Picture-in Picture mode which makes the UVD full BD-Live compliant. Simplified, the Avivo HD technology handles all video tasks and enables the GPU to decode HD videos.

AMD published a current consumtion of about 65 Watt for the HD 4870. Still it is unclear if this value represents the chip alone or the whole mxm board including the memory (which would include about 5 Watt).

Compared to the desktop ATI Radeon HD 4870, the mobile 4870 features a slower core clock and therfore should perform in the region of the desktop HD 4850 to 4830.

benchmarks

3DMark 05: - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
      min: 14594, avg: 16349, max: 18103 Points ... More Details

3DMark 06:
0% 100%
      min: 10183, avg: 10655, max: 11127 Points ... More Details

Cinebench R10: - Shading
0% 100%
      min: 5190, avg: 5190, max: 5190 Points ... More Details

3DMark Vantage: - P Result no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
      min: 6631, avg: 6631, max: 6631 Points ... More Details

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
Based on 6 benchmarks

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailled information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010) - Approximation!

ultra:

25+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

high:

47+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

med.:

70+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

low:

133+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

CoD Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

med.:

46.4

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

ultra:

30.8

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..

Risen (2009)

med.:

50

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

ultra:

28.3

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..

Need for Speed Shift (2009)

med.:

51.8

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

ultra:

30.7

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..

Colin McRae: DIRT 2 (2009)

med.:

65.5

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

ultra:

29.5

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..

Anno 1404 (2009)

ultra:

58.8

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Sims 3 (2009) - Approximation!

high:

98+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

med.:

174+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

low:

251+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

F.E.A.R. 2 (2009)

high:

88.8

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

ultra:

49.3

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto (2008) - Approximation!

high:

38+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

med.:

53+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

low:

58+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

Left 4 Dead (2008) - Approximation!

high:

119+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

low:

121+ fps (GeForce GTX 260M)

Far Cry 2 (2008)

low:

76

[X]
Intel Core 2 Duo (Desktop) E6600 2.4GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (652MHz), 512MB (875MHz) GDDR3, Catalyst 9.1
3072MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.

Crysis Warhead (2008) - Approximation!

ultra:

17+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

low:

76+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

Racedriver: GRID (2008) - Approximation!

high:

73+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

med.:

68+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

low:

108+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

Trackmania Nations Forever (2008) - Approximation!

high:

73+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

med.:

68+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

low:

108+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare (2007) - Approximation!

high:

90+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

med.:

100+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

low:

165+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

Supreme Commander - FA Bench (2007)

high:

50

[X]
Intel Core 2 Duo (Desktop) E6600 2.4GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (652MHz), 512MB (875MHz) GDDR3, Catalyst 9.1
3072MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.

Crysis - GPU Benchmark (2007)

high:

50

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

ultra:

14.5

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.

Crysis - CPU Benchmark (2007)

high:

43.9

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

ultra:

13.5

[X] M17x (HD 4870)
Intel Core i7 620M 2.7GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (550MHz), 1024MB (888MHz) GDDR5, 8.14
4096MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.

World in Conflict - Benchmark (2007) - Approximation!

high:

46+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

med.:

77+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

low:

89+ fps (GeForce G 210M)

Command and Conquer III (2007) - Approximation!

high:

30+ fps (GeForce 8700M GT)

Call of Juarez Benchmark (2006) - Approximation!

high:

32+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

The Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion (2006) - Approximation!

high:

60+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2)

Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark (2005)

high:

165

[X]
Intel Core 2 Duo (Desktop) E6600 2.4GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (652MHz), 512MB (875MHz) GDDR3, Catalyst 9.1
3072MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.

F.E.A.R. (2005) - Approximation!

high:

139+ fps (GeForce 8800M GTX SLI)

med.:

208+ fps (GeForce 8800M GTX SLI)

low:

352+ fps (GeForce 8800M GTX SLI)

Quake 4 (2005) - Approximation!

ultra:

62+ fps (GeForce GTX 260M)

high:

115+ fps (GeForce Go 7800 GTX SLI)

med.:

116+ fps (GeForce Go 7800 GTX SLI)

low:

116+ fps (GeForce Go 7800 GTX SLI)

World of Warcraft (2005) - Approximation!

high:

43+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

med.:

190+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4850)

low:

176+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 4650)

Counter-Strike Source (2004) - Approximation!

high:

265+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

low:

30+ fps (Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) X3100)

Doom 3 (2004) - Approximation!

ultra:

160+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

high:

190+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2)

med.:

192+ fps (Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2)

low:

161+ fps (GeForce GTX 280M)

Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo (1999)

high:

582

[X]
Intel Core 2 Duo (Desktop) E6600 2.4GHz
Mobility Radeon HD 4870 (652MHz), 512MB (875MHz) GDDR3, Catalyst 9.1
3072MB RAM

 fps

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.

:: No reviews found for this graphics card.