ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 Video Card Review

[FeRaL]

Great review. I would have liked to have seen how a Pheonom system with this card would have compared to the Intell CPU you used. That would be an anesome match up.

Any chance we can get this?

I can do that in another article if you can tell me what readers could get out of it that they don't already know from my previous articles.. Unless you are wanting to see how an AMD chipset, AMD CPU and AMD GPU do versus an Intel chipset, Intel CPU and AMD GPU...

I guess I could have been a little more specific. I would like to see how the full AMD system would compare to and Intel system with an AMD GPU would look. Specifically when everything is OC'd and at a realistic gaming resolution, say 168*1050 or higher, to see if and where the systems bottleneck.

[themattman]

Great review. I enjoyed reading it.

I was hoping the card had more overclocking potential, but I am guessing that it already has enough power.

Now to see nvidia's response.

[Blacklash]

I wish more would test this card against nVidia's offerings in titles that allow 8xAA and use said setting.

[martini161]

I can't speak for the others, but I used FRAPS to benchmark the full retail version of the game with patch version 1.2. I benchmark utility on the first level of the game after the helicopter drops you off on the cargo tanker. I take an average of three 120 second runs to get the scores I used. I attached a screen shot of the exact settings I'm using if you'd like to take a look. I stand behind the numbers I took 100% as I've re-tested these cards on 7.10/7.11 and 8.1 drivers now and a number of Forceware drivers.

Remember since everyone is using FRAPS in different parts of the games you will not and can not compare numbers from various sites. I personally use the cargo ship scene to benchmark the game as it's outdoors and has a bunch of stuff going on at once.

cod4_settings.jpg

is this the settings you used for the 3870 x2? if you have some free time on your hands why dont you try testing to see if you get a performance increase by selecting yes for "dual graphics cards"?

[Apoptosis]

if you have some free time on your hands why dont you try testing to see if you get a performance increase by selecting yes for "dual graphics cards"?

Who has free time, but I'm more than happy to make time for anyone with a serious question!

I retested the card just now with the settings you asked for and got this:

Dual Video Cards: NO = 50.517 FPS
Dual Video Cards: YES = 50.533 FPS

The computer was restarted between enabling dual video cards and was averaged after three runs. No difference at all really as both get 50.5FPS in Call of Duty 4, but this was and is expected since the card really isn't a dual video card since it has a 'bridge' chip on it. The data going to the motherboard has already passed through the bridge chip and not the PCI Express lanes on the motherboard. Wouldn't expect any difference, but now we know.

[Wildfire788]

Thanks for the review, I think it's one of the better ones out for this card. I'm also glad you guys used an X38 board to test it with, as that's the one I'm getting. Looks like it runs well with this card, and I can't wait for CrossfireX!

[diasdm]

It's good to see that AMD is finaly fighting for the first place of video cards market.
After reading a few reviews and lots of benchmarks about this new card, I was very satisfied with the results.
But... Thinking a little, the R680 has 2 cores, 1Gb and is more recent than nVidia's cards. So I think that it isn't way better than a GeForce 8800 ultra. Just a little. But that's a improvement, right?!

[DX]

No site of leaked beta for the new Crossfire?

[Apoptosis]

No site of leaked beta for the new Crossfire?

CrossFireX Drivers is what I think you are talking about and they aren't finished yet, so they haven't been leaked.

[martini161]

its probably really obvious but, instead of putting two dies on one chip, why dont the just develop a muti core gpu??

[FeRaL]

its probably really obvious but, instead of putting two dies on one chip, why dont the just develop a muti core gpu??

Sadly, they probably want to make it natively dual core, and are running into problems with the engineering...

All kidding aside, that is a real good question. Probably has something to do with the engineering life cycle and it is probably less costly to do it the way they are now seeing how they well be pumping out another series in the next 4-8 months.

[sushrukh]

Very nice & informative review Apop. Actually i was searching for a review of this card & this review came out on top of the Google search.Though i was a bit confused about the fact that some other websites are still benching this card on a non-PCI-E 2.0 capable mobo which isn't a justice for this powerful card.

[GenG]

I am looking to CrossfireX 2 of these puppies in my new build coming up later this month, that is unless, nivdia has a good counter, which i think we are all assuming they will.

[Exorcist]

I am looking to CrossfireX 2 of these puppies in my new build coming up later this month, that is unless, nivdia has a good counter, which i think we are all assuming they will.

Man you are super rich. But make sure you buy a PCI-E 2.0 enabled mobo with the crossfireX setup.

[ManPower]

Donno when the 9800GX2 is coming out.Untill then, the crown of the top video card will remain to AMD but 9800GX2 will give them a serious competition for sure .

[GenG]

I am looking to CrossfireX 2 of these puppies in my new build coming up later this month, that is unless, nivdia has a good counter, which i think we are all assuming they will.

Man you are super rich. But make sure you buy a PCI-E 2.0 enabled mobo with the crossfireX setup.

No i have been saving for a WHILE, and i have to wait for over a month to actually get the second one though. I really hope the 9800s are good competition, that way the prices could go down slightly :D

[Wildfire788]

FPS labs got their hands on some early CrossfireX drivers and have done some testing. Not sure how reliable this info is but it's looking good for ATi.

http://www.fpslabs.com/reviews/video/a- ... ex-scaling