last update before powering the board off and taking it out of the case:
Radeon 3870, a very quick comparison with x1950Pro AGP: well, it is faster
in Crysis it is like 50% + more performance
with x1950 I was running Crysis AT 1024X768 with many settings at low or medium
and card was struggling around 40fps
without changing anything in game settings 3870 scores above 60fps (from 61 to 65 fps roughly)
in HL2 Loast Coast improvement in fps is again noticable, and visual quality is improved, colors
look more saturated
on the end I tried my favorite: Team Fortress 2, while it is smooth already with x1950
it is smother yet with 3870, again my feeling is that it looks better with same settings
summary:
Radeon 3870 is probably limited with available 4x slot, but it is still a worthy upgrade,
especially compared to "lesser" cards then x1950Pro, later on this week it will go in
my new build based on P35 and then I will get chance to compare it with 16x slot
performance (and faster memory, FSB, etc. so not exactly a fair comparison)
I still think that 4CoreDual SATA2 is a great crossover board, if not pushed over the
limit it is very stable and it is a very good performer for the price
thanks again everyone who shared information and tips, you really made my experience
with this board much more fun and I hope that my rumblings will be useful to some
cheers