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Radeon HD 3870 X2, 3870, 3850 Info

1

1-D_FTW

Member
Supposedly it's gonna underclock/volt(?) when it's not needed. So if you don't need the power, it's consumption will be minimal. Should be very interesting when the actual benchmarks start coming.
 
V

Vic

Please help me with my bad english
With Nvidia launching its GeForce 8800GT (G92) early on October 29, AMD has dropped its ATI Radeon HD 3800 series (RV670) price from US$199-259 to US$179-239 in preparation for its launch later this month, according to sources at graphics card makers.

The ATI Radeon HD 3800 will be available in two versions, the 3870 (RV670 XT) and 3850 (RV670 PRO), noted the sources, adding that the chips also support CrossFire X technology when combined with the upcoming 790FX chipset platform allowing to up to four graphics cards to work together.

In an update to a previous report, the Radeon HD 3850 supports 256/512MB GDDR3 memory with a core frequency of 750MHz and memory frequency of 1.8GHz, while the Radeon HD 3870 adopts 512MB GDDR4 with a core frequency of 825MHz and memory frequency of 2.4GHz.
Click to expand...

...and the cards are not even out yet; good news. Now we need more benchmarks to get the real party started.
 
A

artist

Banned
1-D_FTW said:
Supposedly it's gonna underclock/volt(?) when it's not needed. So if you don't need the power, it's consumption will be minimal. Should be very interesting when the actual benchmarks start coming.
Click to expand...
pplay.jpg
pplay2.jpg

50% reduction in power consumption between Intensive & Light gaming.
 
A

artist

Banned
Cross-posting this here, from the other thread. :D

L'Inq
Nvidia took the easy routes out and vastly limited GT supply, we have heard 20K and 40K boards for the non-denominational winter festivities season (NDWFS). If you want three, you have to go with the GTX or Ultra, or go ATI.

In the end, Nvidia appears to have won the immediate battle, but quite possibly lost the war. Sales numbers for the NDWFS will tell some of the story, but the real number to try and find is how many GTX sales vanish in light of the GT. At least you now know why the gap is so small, and what the mystery 'thermal analysis' was about.
Click to expand...

TGDaily
Nvidia to miss out on holiday sales

Culver City (CA) - On October 29th Nvidia introduced its GeForce 8800GT targeting the mid-range enthusiast segment. Demand has been high and within days the shelves of retailers were emptied of the cards. Two weeks later we are still in the same situation. Although a new shipment hit the stores last night, this supply appears to be limited. After our initial probe into the premium on the new product we unearthed more information regarding supplies.

In conversations with industry sources, 40,000 units of the GeForce 8800GT have shipped worldwide. To put these volume numbers into perspective, other sources have stated that AMD has already fulfilled orders for 250,000 of its Radeon HD 3850 and 3870 models for its launch later this week. It was stated that an additional 150,000 will ship before year end. Prices for 3800 series cards should ship between $180-220.

Sources told TG Daily that performance difference between AMD and Nvidia’s newest cards are within 10% in some cases and on par in other metrics. If AMD can deliver a high performance part for 2/3 the cost in volume, it could mean the graphics pendulum is about to swing the other direction. With holiday shopping ramping up, a lack of supply and new competition, Nvidia might be getting a lump of coal in its stocking this year.
Click to expand...
 
C

cprime85

Banned
nubbe said:
Say 3870 daws 110W for some headroom... Phenomx4 draws maybe 110W too and the extra crap in the case draw 75W.

You can maybe make it with an efficent 650W PSU if you don't overclock. Pretty neat.
Click to expand...

You can make it with less that that.
 
M

Mr. Pointy

Member
farnham said:
I personally prefer AMD and ATi over Intel and NVdia..

But this time i upgraded to a Conroe and a 8600 GTS
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I wouldn't bother with the 8600. Just wait for the 3850, it should be about the same price with easily twice the performance.
 
C

Chrono

Banned
I saw this on an another forum:

Nvidia Corp., the world’s largest supplier of graphics processors, said that it has no immediate plans to release graphics cards that offer higher speed than current top-of-the-range GeForce 8800 Ultra, but said that customers seeking for extreme performance will soon be able to install three graphics cards into one system to get incredible graphics rendering horsepower.
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http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/...dia_s_Focus_for_Now_Says_Chief_Executive.html

I'm seriously considering two 3870s in crossfire now. My motherboard is setup for it already.

If the big sites like Anand Tech show the card to be withing 90% of an 8800GT, and it is cheaper and AVAILABLE w/o markups, I don't see why I should wait for a new high-end card.

How are the drivers for crossfire? Are there a lot of headaches getting games to recognize two cards - or are there no such problems? Is there anything I should be worried about if I go with a crossfire setup?

Nvidia is really screwing itself by limiting 8800GT supplies. If the GT is hurting GTX/GTS sales than upgrade those cards! And I mean a serious upgrade not whatever the hell just happened to the GTS.
 
C

Chrono

Banned
It looks like P35 motherboards aren't the best for crossfire. Well there goes that idea.

I won't be buying a single 3870 unless it's pretty close to an 8800GT, like that benchmark in the post above. I hope when the reviews are out other they'll show similar results.

Edit: Oh god I read that graph completely wrong, the 8800GT is murdering everything else. Before I confused the 3850 crossfire with the 8800GT. :lol
 
B

BlizzyAzz

Member
Also Nvidia will release a 256mb version of the GT this month to compete with the 3850.

Edit: Oh god I read that graph completely wrong, the 8800GT is murdering everything else. Before I confused the 3850 crossfire with the 8800GT.
Click to expand...

table.gif


The CF 3870 could still kick ass if the price is right, 3D Mark isn't really the optimal testground though.
 
T

Teknopathetic

Member
Yeah, synthetic benchmarks are only a supplemental measuring tool.

That said, I want to recall WiC as one of the games where the 2900XT actually performed better than the 8800GT (and on par with the GTX). If the 3870 is a hair faster than the 2900XT, I would've expected it to be up with the GT.
 
I

IronicallyTwisted

Banned
Teknopathetic said:
Yeah, synthetic benchmarks are only a supplemental measuring tool.

That said, I want to recall WiC as one of the games where the 2900XT actually performed better than the 8800GT (and on par with the GTX). If the 3870 is a hair faster than the 2900XT, I would've expected it to be up with the GT.
Click to expand...

The drivers running the card could still be preliminary.
 
V

Vic

Please help me with my bad english
Teknopathetic said:
Yeah, synthetic benchmarks are only a supplemental measuring tool.

That said, I want to recall WiC as one of the games where the 2900XT actually performed better than the 8800GT (and on par with the GTX). If the 3870 is a hair faster than the 2900XT, I would've expected it to be up with the GT.
Click to expand...
But if the 3870 Crossfire scaling performance is replicated in the real benchs, it might be very interesting.
 
D

Davidion

Member
Jeebus, a part of me wants to hate Nvidia and have a more balanced market but they're smacking ATI in the face before the latter's new cards even come to market.
 
C

Chrono

Banned
So ATI's new offerings suck, 8800GT can't be found anywhere, and the GTS/GTX/Ultra are over-prices and worthless now that the 8800GT entered the market.

This isn't how I imagined my video card shopping experience. :(
 
D

Davidion

Member
Teknopathetic said:
"8800GT can't be found anywhere for a good price"


Fixed. They're out there. But you'll be paying a cool 30-40ish premium for it.
Click to expand...

Duly noted... I'm selling my GTS and can't even find a GT to replace it right now. :lol :(
 
A

artist

Banned
T

Teknopathetic

Member
Performance in DX10 games is good (I knew I was right about the WiC thing), DX9 performance is about as lackluster as one would expect, given its relative performance to the 2900XT.


Edit: Er, not a worthwhile 200$ part since the Tweaktown review says it's priced at 250$, directly competing with the 8800GT. Meh.
 
D

Davidion

Member
We need a site like Tom's Hardware to do some comprehensive testing. All these random benchmark back-and-forths really don't get the average card buyer anywhere.
 
A

artist

Banned
Teknopathetic said:
Edit: Er, not a worthwhile 200$ part since the Tweaktown review says it's priced at 250$, directly competing with the 8800GT. Meh.
Click to expand...
Second review up from Vr-Zone http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/AMD_Radeon_HD3850_and_HD3870_-_AMD's_salvation%3F/5392-1.html

Both the ATI Radeon HD3850 and the HD3870 come in at a price significantly lower than their older brother, the Radeon HD2900XT. At US$179 and US$239 MSRP for the HD3850 and HD3870 respectively, the HD3870 will costs a good USD$60 dollars less than the NVIDIA 8800GT!. At about the same price, the HD3850 is delivering slightly better performance than can be expected of the 8600GTS which is a good sign for ATI. However, the HD3870, targetted at the 8800GT is just falling short of the latter's performance at this point in time, but the 60 dollar difference might just be the deciding factor for th enthusiast to grab a HD3870 over the 8800GT instead.
Click to expand...

Kevin said:
Whats going on with ATi? The mid range Geforce cards are beating ATi's 'next gen' offerings...
Click to expand...
3870 = Midrange
3870 X2 = High end
 
T

Teknopathetic

Member
"The guys at B3D were saying the 8800gt used was likely OC'd based on the tests, so that could be it."


A quick glance at newegg prices shows they'd have to be somewhat selective in which card it was to cost 60$+, even OC'd.

Either way, that's some fairly manipulative wording.
 
C

Chrono

Banned
irfan said:
3870 = Midrange
3870 X2 = High end
Click to expand...

Any news on when the 3870X2 is coming out?

Edit: looks like January.

I really don't think I'll be buying a video card this year. I might just get a PSP or DSL and buy a video card in January, it looks like Nvidia might also have something new then.

Edit 2: you know what, I'll just buy a 3870 and then sell it and upgrade later on. I stopped worrying about getting the 'perfect' system and built one before penryn CPUs and I should do the same with the video card.
 
C

Chrono

Banned
Anand Tech review is up!

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3151

Here's what's really interesting, on average the Radeon HD 3870 offers around 85% of the performance of the 8800 GT, and if we assume that you can purchase an 8800 GT 512MB at $250, the 3870 manages to do so at 87% of the price of the 8800 GT. The Radeon HD 3870 becomes even more attractive the more expensive the 8800 GT is and the opposite is true the cheaper it gets; if the 8800 GT 512MB was available at $219, then the 3870 doesn't stand a chance.

If AMD can actually meet its price expectations then it looks like the 3870 is actually competitive. It's slower than the 8800 GT, but the price compensates.
Click to expand...

I wonder how overclocked versions of both cards stack up. Can the highest factory overclocked 3870 match a regular 8800GT? What about superclocked and higher?

Without a doubt, AMD is back in the graphics game. When the Radeon HD 2900 XT launched, we couldn't be more surprised at how poorly the product did. The lack of competition allowed NVIDIA to sit back and relax as the orders for more 8800-based product kept on flowing in. While the Radeon HD 3870 isn't faster than the GeForce 8800 GT, if AMD can hit its price point, it is a viable alternative if you're looking to save money.

AMD is in a lot of trouble however if the 8800 GT pricing/availability problem does get worked out; the 8800 GT does offer better performance-per-watt and better performance in general, at the same price the decision is clear, but luckily for AMD the two don't appear to be selling at the same price.
Click to expand...
 
N

nubbe

Member
Seems like 3870 is a good card considering for what you pay for it. 3870 is going to retail for about €200 while the 8800GT cost €269 where I am.

and the 3850 absolutely destroys the 8600 and 2600 in value.
 
S

Scotch

Member
Kevin said:
Whats going on with ATi? The mid range Geforce cards are beating ATi's 'next gen' offerings...
Click to expand...
A fine example of how this naming is confusing. They really should've called it the HD2950.

But yeah, it seems to perform as expected. Cheaper, less power consuming and a little cooler (and more quiet?) than the 8800GT. Unfortunately for ATI most gamers are merely interested in raw power.
 
C

Chrono

Banned
Scotch said:
A fine example of how this naming is confusing. They really should've called it the HD2950.

But yeah, it seems to perform as expected. Cheaper, less power consuming and a little cooler (and more quiet?) than the 8800GT. Unfortunately for ATI most gamers are merely interested in raw power.
Click to expand...

Anand Tech's review puts the 370's power consumption as just a bit over the 8800GT. It's lower while idle though.

Edit: it's really hard posting while drunk, but oh so fuck-awesome.
 
S

Scotch

Member
Vic said:
I think they wanted to separate the RV670 from being associated with the R600.
Click to expand...
Yeah true. But then they should've called it HD36xx or something. The 8 seems to indicate it's pretty much a high-end nextgen card, which of course it's not.
 
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