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512mb 3850 or 3870?

Soldato
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Does the extra speed of the 3870 justify spending the extra money on it? The OCUK 512mb 3850 is only £111, while the cheapest 3870 is £158. I am on a tight budget, is the difference in performance worth it?
 
Caporegime
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If you can afford it then yes, the difference is worth the extra, however if your system in your sig is at stock, then you might as well just get the 3850.

What resolution do you play at?
 
Soldato
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The 3850 should be able to overclock at least to 3870 speeds and the only other difference is GDDR3 vs the GDDR4 on the 3870.

I picked up a 512mb 3850 because I didn't want to spend the money for a 3870, and I also I will have it under watercooling so am hoping to get quite high clocks from it
 
Soldato
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I wonder how much that actually impacts performance though at the resolution I am running (1440x900).

Besides, I will probably just use the 3850 to tide me over til the 3870x2 is out :D
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Jul 2005
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Given the price difference vs performance difference it certainly isn't worth it.

Techpowerup have just reviewed two 3850 512mb models and they both perform within a few frames of the 3870. (the results below are for the powercolor 512mb model which is clocked at 720/1800 but can be had for under 120 pounds - I know this as I have one :))

Crysis 1280 x1024 2xAA 8xAF
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_3850_Xtreme/images/crysis_1280_1024.gif

Quake wars 1280 x1024 2xAA 8xAF
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_3850_Xtreme/images/etqw_1280_1024.gif

UT3 1280 x1024 0xAA 8xAF
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_3850_Xtreme/images/ut3_1280_1024.gif

The performance gap shown in the above (1280x1024 is roughly equivilant to 1440x900 albeit not widescreen) is minimal considering the extra outlay.

Please note I have taken these benchmarks at random but only focussed on a resolution close to the ops.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
OP
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1 Jul 2007
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20,503
Location
Various
Given the price difference vs performance difference it certainly isn't worth it.

Techpowerup have just reviewed two 3850 512mb models and they both perform within a few frames of the 3870. (the results below are for the powercolor 512mb model which is clocked at 720/1800 but can be had for under 120 pounds - I know this as I have one :))

Crysis 1280 x1024 2xAA 8xAF
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_3850_Xtreme/images/crysis_1280_1024.gif

Quake wars 1280 x1024 2xAA 8xAF
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_3850_Xtreme/images/etqw_1280_1024.gif

UT3 1280 x1024 0xAA 8xAF
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_3850_Xtreme/images/ut3_1280_1024.gif

The performance gap shown in the above (1280x1024 is roughly equivilant to 1440x900 albeit not widescreen) is minimal considering the extra outlay.

Please note I have taken these benchmarks at random but only focussed on a resolution close to the ops.

Nice to know-cheers for that!
 
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