ATi HD3870 Review

papu

for hopefully less the price than the GT and full crossfire computability i may be picking one of these up

and as for the crysis demo , the nv card had nv's crysis patch which the 3870 was running last months drivers , new ones are ment to be out in a day or soo , wonder how with new drivers and the full game how they'll compare .

QUADCROSSFIRE?!?!!! zomg nerdspasm:eek:

LINKEY!

DirkVoodoo

Nice spot Papu, looks like the midrange is the place to be at the moment, quite a turnaround from recent years (take that East St.Louis!).

Anandtech have a nice piece as well, Here.

Dublin_Gunner

AMD have stated there will be around 500,000 cards in the channel, 10x more than 8800GT could muster.

However, if they remain similarly priced, the GT would be the way to go, but due to the nature of supply & demand, the GT's price (if you can find one lol) has skyrocketed.

However, pretty much GTX performance for sub €300 is fantastic.

the HD3870 will be my card of choice if the price stays at <250 (as its not worth more with the 8800GT)


I wonder how well it clocks....... gonna mod a nice fat cooler for it if I decide to buy one and see how far it can be pushed. If I can get around 8800GT performance out of it with a bit of clocking, it will be a great purchase.

Nice to finally see AMD/ATI getting back with a decent mid-range card, something they havent had since the 9800 series.

christophicus

www.hardocp.com have a decent review, where they try overclocking it through CCC and get decent enough results, although I would think the GT still beats it .

Dublin_Gunner

After reading a few reviews I must say I'm disappointed.

Its really no better than the HD2900XT - which is fairly rubbish compared to the 8 series.

8800GT is still the way to go in the €200+ range, although the HD3850 is certainly sweet for €150 ish.

uberpixie

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

After reading a few reviews I must say I'm disappointed.

Its really no better than the HD2900XT - which is fairly rubbish compared to the 8 series.

8800GT is still the way to go in the €200+ range, although the HD3850 is certainly sweet for €150 ish.

To be fair:at their price point they are great value for money especially if you only game @ 1280 x 1024.

If you are getting the performance of a 2900XT for around €200, that is fantastic value.

DirkVoodoo

Not to mention the lower power draw and quiet operation.

I would be tempted by the 3870, seeing as GTs are hard to come by.

papu

yeah , its 55nm , with lower bandwidth than the 2900xt , its a good value card and i'd say dells and hp's will have it ...however im not getting one over my xt...



im waiting for a new gtx or ultra from either camp....

Dublin_Gunner

Thats only if the price remains around €200. Apparently there wont be adequete stock for a while, so they could be in the same boat.

The 8800GT 256 will be out shortly too, and will be priced around the same.

Sure, if the GT 512 may cost a bit more right now, but its a much better performer.

I've seen then for 267 at Komplett, and thats only about 30 more than you'll see the 3870's for.

TerrorFirmer

I dont really see how this is an overly good release. It's OK but after ATI's failures it has to be better then just OK to get a solid grip back on the market. You can get the 8800GT 512mb for 220 on Hardwareversand, and various models for sub 250 on Dabs and Komplett.

The 256mb 8800GT is priced at 179 on Komplett too.

The 3850 might offer something for budget/17" monitor users but I don't see the 3870 being anything more then the 2900 is/was - powerful on paper and vaguely similar in select apps, but in most games weaker for the same price range. The 2900XT was a total fan boy card.

though maybe if drivers improve, and also I suppose given the shortage of GT's that'll have an effect too

EDIT: 3870 now 199 on Komplett - hard to argue with that actually, I was under the impression it would translate closer to 230-240. Same with the 3850 - 150 euro. That's good value in particular.

papu

HavoK wrote: »

The 2900XT was a total fan boy card.
.

why? mine was 270 ex vat with the black box.

papu

sry for double post but

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/593/1/

ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 (R680) Pictured in CrossFire





wonder if the 3870X2 will have much preformance over the 1 core one , and price as its looking >300 for dual gpu!? :rolleyes:

TerrorFirmer

papu wrote: »

why? mine was 270 ex vat with the black box.

I say it was a fan boy card because even despite the lackluster reviews, people rushed out and bought it even before the driver updates somewhat 'fixed' it's performance...

and 270 is a very good price, off the norm!

That X2 is huge. You'd need a monster case for it. Mines a decent size (centurion) and I really don't think that'd fit in.

papu

well first is 2x 3870X2

second is 4x3850

heh

TerrorFirmer

I meant the Length of the 3870...just in case ya thought that I thought the second pic was only 2 cards

papu

oh i see now

mind you , for a 200 euro card competing with the 8600 and such its pretty good , + for 400 a crossfire system is pretty good , the gt is still the king of price/performance , i just cant wait for the new Gtx/Ultra

Dublin_Gunner

Well, while €200 was a good price for the card, it really isnt now.

If the 8800GT wasnt released, yes it would be a fantastic card for the price. But, with the 8800GT, ranging from around €160 - 300 (depending on model), and mostly under €240, it really doesnt make sense to purchase a HD3870 before an 8800GT

The HD3850 however is a fantastci card for the price, €150~ for that performance is just great, and I hope fot AMD/ATI's sake it sells well.

I understand production is focused on the HD3850 anyway.

christophicus

papu wrote: »

yeah , its 55nm , with lower bandwidth than the 2900xt , its a good value card and i'd say dells and hp's will have it ...however im not getting one over my xt...



im waiting for a new gtx or ultra from either camp....

How is the GTX being out performed by a GT and 2900???? Thats crazy !!

And shouldn't the 3870 be at least close to the 2900?? I mean its not as though the cards are that different unless the UT demo was heavily optimised for the 2900 and made better use of the higher bandwidth???

Dublin_Gunner

christophicus wrote: »

How is the GTX being out performed by a GT and 2900???? Thats crazy !!

And shouldn't the 3870 be at least close to the 2900?? I mean its not as though the cards are that different unless the UT demo was heavily optimised for the 2900 and made better use of the higher bandwidth???

bandwidth at the higher resolution. The G80 based cards are more efficient with bandwidth in most scenarios, hence we see the higher clocked shaders of the GT, coupled with its higher quantity of texture units take the lead over the GTX

papu

2900 just preforms amazingly on the ut3 engine , which is Bioshock , Ut3 , and Gow ,

Dublin_Gunner

papu wrote: »

2900 just preforms amazingly on the ut3 engine , which is Bioshock , Ut3 , and Gow ,

Nothing strange there, I can max UE3 games on my X1800XT, its not that hefty of an engine, unlike Crysis.

papu

what i ment was it preforms at gtx level....

Dublin_Gunner

papu wrote: »

what i ment was it preforms at gtx level....

Wow, you must have a faster one than everyone else............. (just 3 reviews with UE3 engine games, there are many more)


http://www.techspot.com/review/76-asus-radeon-hd-3870/page7.html

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/11/12/bfgtech_geforce_8800_gt_oc_512mb/5

http://www.chilehardware.com/Revisiones/Tarjetas-de-Video/AMD-ATi-Radeon-HD-3800-Series-200711151896/5.html

papu

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Wow, you must have a faster one than everyone else............. (just 3 reviews with UE3 engine games, there are many more)


http://www.techspot.com/review/76-asus-radeon-hd-3870/page7.html

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/11/12/bfgtech_geforce_8800_gt_oc_512mb/5

http://www.chilehardware.com/Revisiones/Tarjetas-de-Video/AMD-ATi-Radeon-HD-3800-Series-200711151896/5.html

yeah , dont take it up with me take it up with Vr zone, i NEVER said MINE , i ment in relation to the Vrzone graph , it is keeping up with the gtx


regards

Dublin_Gunner

There's no doubt its a decent card, but the GTX is a lot better, hence the price difference when the 2900 came out at first.