that may be right if you pay those prices but you can get gts for 2 pound dearer.so the only reason to buy one of these is the stock issue at the moment with ati having them around and the gts not. but as stated by gibbo and others there will be quite a lot of gt's around in the next week.look at the pg of the gt and most will be available next week and thats just for ocuk not mentioning everyone else.so it looks like nvidia have been busy to get em out at last in reasonably numbers.
-
Competitor rules
Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.
****ATi 3850 & 3870 Ramblings****
- Thread starter Jakus
- Start date
in this review the 3870 and 2900xt perform the same, theres a few other reviews showing this.. basicly its a 2900xt performance but with less power, heat and as dx10.1..
i don't know why in some other reviews the 3870 looks faster .
Last edited:
in this review the 3870 and 2900xt perform the same, theres a few other reviews showing this.. basicly its a 2900xt performance but with less power, heat and as dx10.1..
i don't know why in some other reviews the 3870 looks faster .
It seems like it may perform better in DX10 by the looks of it! Maybe they are gonna optimise the drivers for the 38**'s in direct x 10 or something! Also the Half-Life 2 Eps 2 performance beats the GT in some reviews and comes close to the GTX which surprised me
Just read through the Tom's Hardware review, seems to me like the GT is still the better card and more sensible one to buy. The 3850 doesn't even seem (to me) to be worth even considering. The 3870 seems to be good and then not good, depending on the game. Heck, my GTS still pips it in a few tests! The GT definately seems the best bang for buck card imho from looking at the benchmark results.
Caporegime
- Joined
- 21 Jun 2006
- Posts
- 38,367
in this review the 3870 and 2900xt perform the same, theres a few other reviews showing this.. basicly its a 2900xt performance but with less power, heat and as dx10.1..
i don't know why in some other reviews the 3870 looks faster .
its simple, its the exact same card specification wise, apart from its clocked much higher, think of it this way
BMW M3 (2005 model) 3.5 litre NA engine producing 356BHP
BMW M3 (2007 model) 3 litre twin turbo engine producing 400BHP
the card have the same number of shaders and pipelines etc, one is limiteied by the 256bit bus but to make up for that the ram is clocked a hell of a lot higher and for the core clock speed its been ramped up as well
so the 3870 should be faster, just by looking at the specs this is obvious
Last edited:
Caporegime
- Joined
- 21 Jun 2006
- Posts
- 38,367
read my post 4 posts before yours, it doesnt take the 3850 into account but you can easily do that yourself, its on par witht he 2900xt so its 10% slower than the 3870 so as long as its 90% the price of a 3870 then it has the exact same bang for buck as the other cards
A bit extreme to say the least
. Not worth even considering? lol, ok then. From the reviews out it shows to be the same as the 2900XT in most tests but a little bit faster in a few. Yes, not exactly ground breaking, earth shattering news but to say it's not even worth considering is just crazy talk.Quiet, low powered cards that run cool and for the enthusiast and the right motherboard, you have Quad
. You just need to look at the HD38-- series from another point of view.but as i said before if u match the 2900 clock to the 3870 clock it'll perform the the same.. that why i said its same as a 2900xt.
Caporegime
- Joined
- 21 Jun 2006
- Posts
- 38,367
lots will argue that ATI are much better at drivers than nvidia, but take it out of the equation and still in the end both cards are equal at bang for buck, the ATI pips it for me due to heat, power consumption and 10.1 support, these may not be an issue to some people but they are issues for me that are definetely worth considering, abyone disputing the facts that these cards are far cooler, use less power and have the same bang for buck as a GT seriously need their heads checked
Caporegime
- Joined
- 21 Jun 2006
- Posts
- 38,367
you mean overclock the 2900xt?
but then you could argue that you can overclock the 3870
its faster get over it, anandtechs review places it 10% faster overall due to the clock speeds
we are talking stock, if you wanna compare overclocking then both card will overclock but the 3870 will overclock further due to less heat being produced, so then again the overclocked 3870 should be 15% faster than a overclocked 2900Xt because they clock further
the 3870 can only do 860 on the core same as a 2900. so same performance
even jrodga2k5 said in his review the 3870 can only do 860 on the core
Last edited:
A bit extreme to say the least
Quiet, low powered cards that run cool and for the enthusiast and the right motherboard, you have Quad
Not really. If I was looking at getting one card for my PC I would not consider the 3850 at all. (Yes, it might seem a better prospect if you do Cross or Quad, but then you can say the same about the GT and so on and so on). So, just sticking with one card in a PC, the 3850 looks rubbish.
TDU (1280x1024 with AA/AF) GT = 72.3 / 3850 = 52
GT wins
SupCom (128x1024 with AA/AF) GT = 43.6 / 3850 = 27.5
GT wins
AoEIII (1280x1024 with AA/AF) GT = 89.8 / 3850 = 61.9
GT wins
.... etc etc
Now for me, yes, the 3850 doesn't come in to question!
The 3870 on the other hand does better, and is a better rival to the nVidia offerings. However, again, after reading the Tom's Hardware review I'd still say the GT is the better choice.
TDU (1280x1024 with AA/AF) GT = 72.3 / 3870 = 61.2
GT wins
SupCom (128x1024 with AA/AF) GT = 43.6 / 3870 = 35.5
GT wins
AoEIII (1280x1024 with AA/AF) GT = 89.8 / 3870 = 72.3
GT wins
Oblivion (1280x1024 with AA/AF) GT = 74.5 / 3870 = 52.8
GT wins
World in Conflict (1280x1024 with AA/AF) GT = 45.9 / 3870 = 40.5
GT wins
The impression I get from that review is that the GT still offers better FPS and I would pay the small price hike for the extra performance.
Last edited:
I still don't understand your reasoning that even a HD3870 is not worth considering though. It's crazy talk as I said in my last post. The reason you brought up the HD3850 and the difference baffles me even further as even the HD3870 is cheaper than a GT?.
From the benchmarks and the HD3870, I can't see why it's not "worth considering" as you put it.
Noooo... with regards to performance, just the 3850 is not worth considering. As I've shown from that review, the GT out performs it easily.
The 3870 is worth considering, but, the GT is still able to perform better (again shown from my point above).
So, at the moment a 3870 costs ~£160 but a GT costs ~£180. For ~£20 more the GT is the more worthwhile card.
J.D said:
The 3870 is not cheaper though? You sure you mean that?
OcUK 3850 = £117.49 and the 3870 = £158.61 ???
EDIT: Just seen you've added on a bit more...
That makes more sense now.So, like stated above, yes the 3870 is cheaper than the GT but just by ~£20. I'd rather have the extra FPS and spend the ~£20 difference.
That's what I'm trying to convey basically, for me, performance and price are key. The GT for £20 more than the 3870, offers better performance. The 3850 (again, for me) is not even worth mentioning as it's slower yet again.
I get you now
. I don't think much about the 3850 either. The HD3870 looks ok but with my Pro overclocked to what it's at there really is no point in me moving over. Yes, I have a noisier, more power hungry card that just lost another bit of value with this release but it's still not worth me selling and moving over.For me the GT and the HD3870 are getting missed out this round. Not much of an upgrade and can't be bothered with the buying/selling scenario so close to xmas. I'll be waiting on this new GTS with 128 SP's.
I get you now
For me the GT and the HD3870 are getting missed out this round. Not much of an upgrade and can't be bothered with the buying/selling scenario so close to xmas. I'll be waiting on this new GTS with 128 SP's.
Tbh I think people will probably go with the 3870 if the GT isn't back in stock soon and just pocket the difference and try to clock it a bit.