3870x2 reviews are here and where to buy

[Midnight Rambler]

And its released with plenty of stock, at MSRP. Despite some people with no clue clamoring that it was a paper launch last week.

And now we know why supply of single 3870 cards has been tight ... :roll:

Needs to be ~$400 maybe, since right now, an extra $150-200 over the GTS 512 MB isn't worth it unless you just play the games in which it does far better

Show me where you can get an 8800GTS 512MB for $300, let alone $250 ... best I've seen is $320.

 

[Blacklash]

If you want to see what your graphics card can do in "Oblivion" turn on 8-16xAA + HDR|16xAF.
Set grass and tree viewing distance to max, or far right. Tack on actor, object, and the other distance sliders. Make sure iMinGrass is set to its default .ini value of 80. Turn on things like shadows on grass, tree canopy and high shadow filtering. Load the below saves and from the console type tdt. The most rough one is the first save and the easier one save two.


http://members.cox.net/malfica...%20Time%2004.02.01.ess

http://members.cox.net/malfica...%20Time%2004.12.32.ess

Save one can drop a 8800GTX @ 661|2040 with a 1600 shader clock @ 1680x to 22FPS under the qualified settings. Save two = 32FPS for the GTX.

 

[happy medium]

Added Tweaktown and Driverheaven reviews. Thanks guys.

 

[schneiderguy]

Originally posted by: keflex

Originally posted by: schneiderguy
When I look at a review I'm not looking for how well a card runs a game, I'm looking for which card is faster in that particular game.

You do understand that if synthetics shows that A is faster than B, but in real-world applications B > A, then the synthetic is pretty much useless, right? Kind of like how in vivo studies are alot more accurate than in vitro studies.

Of course, if all you do is buy bleeding edge hardware just to run benchmarks...

"Canned" game benchmarks are not synthetic.

 

[GonePlaid]

Well guys I'm going to go for one. Not sure either the HIS one or Asus. Both are pretty much the same in specs. Stay away from some of the others.

The Diamond has a Core clock @ 775MHz the HIS, ASUS and others are clocked at 825mhz. Not too sure if those are overclocked.
Stay away from the Sapphire one it only seems to list as having a Memory Interface of 256-bit while the others have 512-bit (256x2) not sure if it's a typo.


I'm sure that most of the issues are with the drivers. Toms hardware used the beta drivers for god's sake. Also, the PCIE 2.0 is just a marketing tool. Nothing made today has even bottlenecked the 1.1 pcie.

 

[Nemesis 1]

3870 x2 looks good to me . I just saw that 2 water block makers already have blocks for these ED's is a SINGLE slot design . It looks great . and this is the card for me.

 

[GonePlaid]

Originally posted by: Nemesis 1
3870 x2 looks good to me . I just saw that 2 water block makers already have blocks for these ED's is a SINGLE slot design . It looks great . and this is the card for me.

Same here I'm going from an x1650 pro. So this is going to be a major huge boost for me. Also, this is the first time ever for me going for a first release product of anything. I usually wait a year or two .

I do foresee them using DDR4 next in this series. Still, with the games I like and play this is really actually a bit of an overkill for me as it is and around 3 or 4 revisions on the drivers this card is going to smoke.

 

[nitromullet]

Just looked at the DriverHeaven review... Wonder why one heatsink is aluminum and the other copper... My initial thought was to balance out the heat distribution. I guess they don't want the heat from the first core to heat up the sink on the second core, so they put a sink with less thermal conductivity closer to the fan. Just a guess really...

 

[lyssword]

Originally posted by: bharatwaja
Jus curious... what FPS would one get in counter strike source at 1280*1024 resolution with full settings with one of these cards?

cause I am a WCG player for CSS thats why....

half life 2 episode 2 basically same engine with more eye candy. So cs source would run faster than hl2 episode 2 or 1.

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: GonePlaid
Well guys I'm going to go for one. Not sure either the HIS one or Asus. Both are pretty much the same in specs. Stay away from some of the others.

The Diamond has a Core clock @ 775MHz the HIS, ASUS and others are clocked at 825mhz. Not too sure if those are overclocked.
Stay away from the Sapphire one it only seems to list as having a Memory Interface of 256-bit while the others have 512-bit (256x2) not sure if it's a typo.


I'm sure that most of the issues are with the drivers. Toms hardware used the beta drivers for god's sake. Also, the PCIE 2.0 is just a marketing tool. Nothing made today has even bottlenecked the 1.1 pcie.

I'd go with the HIS as you get a cool magnetic LED screwdriver with a spirit level , at least thats what Techpowerup got with theirs (I got two of these with my recent crossfire setup).

It seems there will be some drivers appearing soon and even one listed by Sapphire, how new it is I don't know.

IMO the standard response of 'well nothing saturates PCI-E 1.1' is coming to a close, when running a Crossfire/SLI setup in PCI-E 16x 1.1 there are gains to be had by increasing the PCI-E frequency (just check XS) and thus increasing the bandwidth for that bus, so theres no reason that should not come into play with a PCI-E 1.1 bridge chip. In this thread there are also some graphs that supposedly demonstrate the difference between the two interfaces with the 3870X2 how reliable that is I don't know but it does give food for thought.

Good to see DangerDen is out of the blocks quick with an FC waterblock:thumbsup:

 

[GonePlaid]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

I'd go with the HIS as you get a cool magnetic LED screwdriver with a spirit level , at least thats what Techpowerup got with theirs (I got two of these with my recent crossfire setup).

It seems there will be some drivers appearing soon and even one listed by Sapphire, how new it is I don't know.

IMO the standard response of 'well nothing saturates PCI-E 1.1' is coming to a close, when running a Crossfire/SLI setup in PCI-E 16x 1.1 there are gains to be had by increasing the PCI-E frequency (just check XS) and thus increasing the bandwidth for that bus, so theres no reason that should not come into play with a PCI-E 1.1 bridge chip. In this thread there are also some graphs that supposedly demonstrate the difference between the two interfaces with the 3870X2 how reliable that is I don't know but it does give food for thought.

Good to see DangerDen is out of the blocks quick with an FC waterblock:thumbsup:

Yeah I noticed that too in the neweggs picture line up for the card. Like I don't have enough of those already hehe. But yeah the HIS one is a go. I already put the order in simply because the Asus one being out of stock kinda made that decision process easy for me.

Well yeah, like anything else it's only a matter of time before the 1.1 bandwidth is sucked up. But my new crossfire board which is stated in my sig isn't PCIE 2.0. I didn't think I'd be upgrading the video card this soon.

 

[Engineer]

Where to buy?

If you can wait a little while, you can get it from Microcenter for $383.99 plus shipping.

Click me!

enjoy!

 

[SilverHair]

Originally posted by: Engineer
Where to buy?

If you can wait a little while, you can get it from Microcenter for $383.99 plus shipping.

Click me!

enjoy!

I took some of that action, 2 day shipping is 8.99 total 392.98

Shipping date: 2/19/08 worth the wait to save the greenbacks.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: SilverHair

Originally posted by: Engineer
Where to buy?

If you can wait a little while, you can get it from Microcenter for $383.99 plus shipping.

Click me!

enjoy!

I took some of that action, 2 day shipping is 8.99 total 392.98

Yep its a great deal for sure, almost hot enough for me to see if they have them in-store. They charge tax in some states where they have B&Ms and they're not as fast as NewEgg/Fry's when it comes to online sales but I doubt you'll find a better price on these in the next few months.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

Dang local sales tax takes it up to nearly $425. Price to pay for living in Micro Center's "home town" ...

 

[jedisoulfly]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: SilverHair

Originally posted by: Engineer
Where to buy?

If you can wait a little while, you can get it from Microcenter for $383.99 plus shipping.

Click me!

enjoy!

I took some of that action, 2 day shipping is 8.99 total 392.98

Yep its a great deal for sure, almost hot enough for me to see if they have them in-store. They charge tax in some states where they have B&Ms and they're not as fast as NewEgg/Fry's when it comes to online sales but I doubt you'll find a better price on these in the next few months.

I have noticed that when microcenter does not have something in stock they offer it at a lower price until it is in stock (not always though) then it goes back up. It says ships in 7-21 business days. It is their way of being nice for making you have to wait. Still the best price so far. Even buying it in store and paying tax is the cheaper.

 

[JACKDRUID]

finally AMD came back. very nice, support AMD! support competition.

 

[GonePlaid]

Originally posted by: Engineer
Where to buy?

If you can wait a little while, you can get it from Microcenter for $383.99 plus shipping.

Click me!

enjoy!

Thanks for the find. Hmmm, they only have the visiontek version. The stats are on par with the HIS and the ASUS one. But, how good is this visiontek company in terms of quality etc..

Also does microcenter accept money order orders? I haven't signed up yet and I always shop that way with newegg.

 

[SilverHair]

Originally posted by: GonePlaid

Originally posted by: Engineer
Where to buy?

If you can wait a little while, you can get it from Microcenter for $383.99 plus shipping.

Click me!

enjoy!

Thanks for the find. Hmmm, they only have the visiontek version. The stats are on par with the HIS and the ASUS one. But, how good is this visiontek company in terms of quality etc..

Also does microcenter accept money order orders? I haven't signed up yet and I always shop that way with newegg.

You would think so because they have B&M stores

 

[GonePlaid]

Originally posted by: SilverHair

Originally posted by: GonePlaid

Originally posted by: Engineer
Where to buy?

If you can wait a little while, you can get it from Microcenter for $383.99 plus shipping.

Click me!

enjoy!

Thanks for the find. Hmmm, they only have the visiontek version. The stats are on par with the HIS and the ASUS one. But, how good is this visiontek company in terms of quality etc..

Also does microcenter accept money order orders? I haven't signed up yet and I always shop that way with newegg.

You would think so because they have B&M stores

Yeah, I was just looking at their Billing faqs. They do accept personal checks. I could always call them about money orders.

Oh yeah another big questions, how's microcenter on RMA's in case of problem hardware or dead equipment. Those things are important too.

 

[GonePlaid]

Originally posted by: Midnight Rambler
Dang local sales tax takes it up to nearly $425. Price to pay for living in Micro Center's "home town" ...

Jeez try living in NYC. The tax brings this card up to $430 plus the 2 day shipping brings this thing only $15 cheaper than Newegg. Not enough to make me switch from a great retailer in this case.

 

[bluehaze013]

Originally posted by: GonePlaid

Stay away from the Sapphire one it only seems to list as having a Memory Interface of 256-bit while the others have 512-bit (256x2) not sure if it's a typo.

They are reference cards, they are all the same except for clock speeds which really don't matter that much anymore either as if it's anything like the past they will all overclock close to the same regardless of the stock clock. eventually some will have gddr4 memory but none currently do.

Here are the specs on the Sapphire just for reference:

Chipset HD 3870 x2
Engine clock 825MHz
Stream processors 320 x2
RAMDAC 400MHz x2
Memory clock 900MHz GDDR3
Memory interface 256-bit + 256-bit
Memory Support 2x 512MB
Cooling Active dual slot cooling
Bus Interface PCI-Express x16
Variable display outputs Dual DVI, TV out, VGA & HDMI via adapter
Max 3D resolution 2560x1600 (dual-link DVI)
1024 x 768 (TV out)
Hardware Features DirectX® 10.1
ShaderModel 4.1
Software Feature ATI AvivoTM

 

[GonePlaid]

Originally posted by: bluehaze013

Originally posted by: GonePlaid

Stay away from the Sapphire one it only seems to list as having a Memory Interface of 256-bit while the others have 512-bit (256x2) not sure if it's a typo.

They are reference cards, they are all the same except for clock speeds which really don't matter that much anymore either as if it's anything like the past they will all overclock close to the same regardless of the stock clock. eventually some will have gddr4 memory but none currently do.

Here are the specs on the Sapphire just for reference:

Chipset HD 3870 x2
Engine clock 825MHz
Stream processors 320 x2
RAMDAC 400MHz x2
Memory clock 900MHz GDDR3
Memory interface 256-bit + 256-bit
Memory Support 2x 512MB
Cooling Active dual slot cooling
Bus Interface PCI-Express x16
Variable display outputs Dual DVI, TV out, VGA & HDMI via adapter
Max 3D resolution 2560x1600 (dual-link DVI)
1024 x 768 (TV out)
Hardware Features DirectX® 10.1
ShaderModel 4.1
Software Feature ATI AvivoTM

Hmm yeah that's what I was thinking. I should have checked out sapphire's site to get the specs other than what's listed on Newegg. It only lists the card as have 256 not 256x2. My first ATI was a 9000 model and it was a sapphire and it lasted quite a bit. I ended up giving to someone who needed something better after I upgraded to the 9600xt.

Hmmm, HIS comes with free steam games/screwdriver and the sapphire comes with PowerDVD and 3Dmark (not sure what version yet). Decisions, decisions.

 

[bluehaze013]

Hmm that is pretty cool, I ordered Sapphire but I didn't even realize it came with software Just looked it up. It comes with 3dmark, Cyberlink Power DVD and Cyberlink DVD Suite looks like ultra version (blue disk) thats 129.95 on Cyberlinks site Must be a cheaper version though for OEMs I doubt they would give you a 129.95 freebie.

 

[ghost recon88]

Ok, just wondering something. Lets say you have an X38 board, so you can run each PCI-E lane @ 16x. Wouldn't it be better to get 2x 3870s? Because, with each 3870 the RAM is stock clocked 600MHz higher than the 3870x2, plus you wouldn't have the bottleneck of trying to run 2x GPUs on one single PCI-E 16x lane. You're not gonna max out a 16x lane with a single 3870.