NEWS: HD3800 series clocks and prices

[simonnance]

From HERE, so take with the obligatory pinch of salt.

HD 3850 ($149 to 179):

* 55nm RV670PRO GPU at 668 MHz (why not 666?)
* 256MB GDDR3 memory at 828 MHz DDR (1.66 GT(/s)
* 10.69 GPixel/s fillrate
* 52.99 GB/s memory bandwidth
* 320 Unified Stream Processors
* 24x Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing support
* ATI Avivo HD
* ATI PowerPlay power saving technology
* Game Physics processing capability (this belongs to fairy tale land, but you know – marketing...)
* HDMI support

HD 3870 ($200 to 230):

* 55nm RV670XT GPU clocked to 775 MHz
* 512MB GDDR4 memory clocked at 1.2 GHz DDR (2.4 GT/s)
* 12.40 GPixel/s fill-rate
* 76.80 GB/s memory bandwidth
* 320 Unified Stream Processors
* 24x Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing support
* 55nm process
* ATI Avivo HD
* ATI PowerPlay power saving technology
* Game Physics processing capability
* HDMI support

One part i like is

The real truth is that AMD started running into clocking walls (with a selected heatsink-fan combo) and again decided to crash the prices instead of gunning for a better cooling setup that will enable those 800 MHz+ clocks we saw earlier in development.

Bad news: parts are clocked lower from stock

Good news: Plug a decent aftermarket cooler on and these should clock very nicely!

Interesting times.

 

[Schnippzle]

Ill await LoadsaMoney's inevitable rambling about how crap these are gonna be before I make my decission.....or not

 

[Scougar]

What a load of ****. Or perhaps, better put, what a disappointment. Not even reaching the 825Mhz previously vaulted.

Honestly disappointed with ATI if this is the truth about clocks etc. Lets hope they perform better than R600 when matched clock for clock, but I doubt it.

Matthew

 

[J.D]

With the new GT just been released then these cards better be damn good or they will end up £100 - £140 <-- if they want to sell any that is. I really hope AMD can turn things around again as we don't want Intel falling back into their old ways.

I do think we should all be thankful to AMD though. Without them Intel would still just be the hot and crap performing money sucking company that they used to be. Just goes to show the nature of a huge company with dominance. We don't want that back, EVER!!! . So thank you AMD but ffs stop getting caught with your knickers at your ankles.

 

[Gibbo]

HI there

Lets look at this from a positive point of view.

The 1GB 2900 XT GDDR4 is quicker than an 8800 GTS 640MB when not using AA/AF and only lags behind when AA/AF is enabled but newer drivers have helped close this gap.

Now considering the outgoing R600 based 2900 XT was clocked at 740MHz core and 2000MHz memory, means that surely the newer RV670 based HD3870 as its rumoured to be called is rumoured to be running at 775-825MHz core and 2200-2400MHz memory clock speed.

So based on a good 50MHz core speed, upto 400MHz more on memory speed along with much cooler running, quieter and hardware UVD now included surely the new RV670 will be a match or superior to the outgoing 2900 XT 1GB DDR4? Surely the extra GPU and Memory clock speeds will make up for the 512-bit ringbus and extra 512MB of RAM?

So if the HD3870 as its rumoured to be performs as well as the outgoing 2900 XT GDDR4, then one has to ask how does the 2900 XT GDDR4 compare to the 8800 GT?

I think the RV670 will bring a good fight to NV's 8800 GT, they will both no doubt perform similar, ATI's does however have a far better feature set, consumes less power, runs cooler, is quieter and will no doubt be priced slightly cheaper.

ATI may not be quicker, but the technology is certainly superior.

 

[J.D]

HI there

Lets look at this from a positive point of view.

The 1GB 2900 XT GDDR4 is quicker than an 8800 GTS 640MB when not using AA/AF and only lags behind when AA/AF is enabled but newer drivers have helped close this gap.

Now considering the outgoing R600 based 2900 XT was clocked at 740MHz core and 2000MHz memory, means that surely the newer RV670 based HD3870 as its rumoured to be called is rumoured to be running at 775-825MHz core and 2200-2400MHz memory clock speed.

So based on a good 50MHz core speed, upto 400MHz more on memory speed along with much cooler running, quieter and hardware UVD now included surely the new RV670 will be a match or superior to the outgoing 2900 XT 1GB DDR4? Surely the extra GPU and Memory clock speeds will make up for the 512-bit ringbus and extra 512MB of RAM?

So if the HD3870 as its rumoured to be performs as well as the outgoing 2900 XT GDDR4, then one has to ask how does the 2900 XT GDDR4 compare to the 8800 GT?

I think the RV670 will bring a good fight to NV's 8800 GT, they will both no doubt perform similar, ATI's does however have a far better feature set, consumes less power, runs cooler, is quieter and will no doubt be priced slightly cheaper.

ATI may not be quicker, but the technology is certainly superior.

I disagree. My card at 847Mhz core and 1000Mhz Memory won't match the GT's speed, especially with AA. Also the GT beats the GTS by a fair margin so how could you say that the HD3870 will compete with the GT when in the same statement you mention that the HD3750 is about the same as the 2900XT?.

If you have any inside knowledge about this card then your statement just made alarm bells go off in my head . I wanted this card not to be just good or near to but great.

Edit: I've had ATI all my PC gaming life except one 7600GT and would love to see ATI back on top but I know that a GT/GTX/Ultra beats any 2900. No fanboyism here .

 

[vorm]

So true. And like any card, we'll have to wait for real life benchies before coming to any conclusions.


btw Gibbo, you could add me to your BMW and it would overclock it to 1482kg. Not sur ehow that would affect performance though

 

[Scougar]

At the moment it's looking like they have had there knickers around there ankles for the past year, and now they are about to get a big intel sized **** in their ***.

Sorry for use of starred expletives but really is frustrating to see 2 good companies (ati + amd) really mess things up

Hopefully it is a load of balony.

Matthew

 

[Owenb]

At the moment it's looking like they have had there knickers around there ankles for the past year, and now they are about to get a big intel sized **** in their ***.

Sorry for use of starred expletives but really is frustrating to see 2 good companies (ati + amd) really mess things up

Hopefully it is a load of balony.

Matthew

Things aren't as bad for ATI as they are for AMD. If the new cards are quieter and use less power than the GT's while been only slightly slower then they should do very well.

 

[J.D]

Well Matthew it does seem this way. I hope Intel use some lube!! .

I too hope that something good comes from the new HD series. Time will tell.

 

[knowledge123]

The key to the HD3800 will be the DX10.1 capability, depending on how exactly it it affects the DX10 render pipeline, could be it's secret weapon.

 

[J.D]

The key to the HD3800 will be the DX10.1 capability, depending on how exactly it it affects the DX10 render pipeline, could be it's secret weapon.

Is it definitely going to have this though?. If so then it might be able to do some damage to the GT actually. Now the wait and see scenario .

 

[pastymuncher]

The key to the HD3800 will be the DX10.1 capability, depending on how exactly it it affects the DX10 render pipeline, could be it's secret weapon.

Not for the vast majority of people who are still on XP it won't be.

 

[Street]

But apparently Microsoft aren't releasing DX10.1 until mid next year.. So that extra feature will be redundant until that is out!

 

[simonnance]

i think having the RV670Pro out at sub £100, which should be possible even with bending over for the exchange rate to have another go, will be mighty nice indeed. Especially if it overclocks well.

Might be looking at a X1950Pro successor in the HD3850, and we all know how well those sold!

The HD3870 looks to be a tweaked, boosted, and fixed HD2900...... no more whining about noise, heat and power usage, and fingers crossed the free AAx4 means they have sorted the well known R600 AA problems.

As i said, if the only reason why ATI havent clocked these babys higher is that they are trying to keep in the 1-slot thermal envelope (which tbh the 8800GT is severly pushing) then there is no reason why the manufacturers like HIS wont slap their own derived coolers on them and clock them up some more...... or you could just buy a slower one, slap a HR-03 or the like on, and be in clock heaven.

 

[Scougar]

The key to the HD3800 will be the DX10.1 capability, depending on how exactly it it affects the DX10 render pipeline, could be it's secret weapon.

Not if the 9 series is released soon. Would make them kinda defunct if nvidia 9 series support 10.1.

All we need now is fo Nvidia to do a deal with Intel, implement High gate technology, and have some overclocking monsters to kill off ati in the enthuthiast market.

I know pretty excessive statements. It is pretty bad though when I think we have assumed the minimum clock will come out (for hd3870 (xt)) as 825Mhz, and they bring forth the mighty 775Mhz lol. Pathetic basically. Over 6 months to sort it out and they take the pee.

What is really annoying is that it drags the whole market down as all the OEM 3 series cards getting installed that won't be raising the level as such, and then it drags the whole PC game industry back with the level of detail they can program for as a minimum spec. (or perhaps I'm looking at it wrong, with the cards being really naff and maybe affordable, (the prices the 8800GT's SHOULD have been GRR), more oem units may get installed?)

Right, rant style finished, will just wait till they come out and see what potential they have.

Matthew

 

[drunkenmaster]

HI there

Lets look at this from a positive point of view.

The 1GB 2900 XT GDDR4 is quicker than an 8800 GTS 640MB when not using AA/AF and only lags behind when AA/AF is enabled but newer drivers have helped close this gap.

Now considering the outgoing R600 based 2900 XT was clocked at 740MHz core and 2000MHz memory, means that surely the newer RV670 based HD3870 as its rumoured to be called is rumoured to be running at 775-825MHz core and 2200-2400MHz memory clock speed.

So based on a good 50MHz core speed, upto 400MHz more on memory speed along with much cooler running, quieter and hardware UVD now included surely the new RV670 will be a match or superior to the outgoing 2900 XT 1GB DDR4? Surely the extra GPU and Memory clock speeds will make up for the 512-bit ringbus and extra 512MB of RAM?

So if the HD3870 as its rumoured to be performs as well as the outgoing 2900 XT GDDR4, then one has to ask how does the 2900 XT GDDR4 compare to the 8800 GT?

I think the RV670 will bring a good fight to NV's 8800 GT, they will both no doubt perform similar, ATI's does however have a far better feature set, consumes less power, runs cooler, is quieter and will no doubt be priced slightly cheaper.

ATI may not be quicker, but the technology is certainly superior.

gibbo, check more recent benchmarks, the 2900xt is ahead of the gts in most things now WITH 4xaa on. it is 30% ahead of the gts, with 4xaa in ut3, which is the engine a whole ridiculous crapload of games coming out will be based on. bioshock, ut3 and a few others the 2900xt is on par with the gtx now which infact puts it ahead of the gt. the only problem with the new parts is without the 512mbit bus AA might be an issue unless they've made the pipes easier to get all the power out of the 64x5 sp units. the smaller bus might hurt it, but the smaller bus on the GT hurts the GT with AA< which is why basically no reviews at all used AA, infact the only AA i saw where it did well was oblivion, a poor performing part and it only beat the gts by a little with AA enabled. but yet no other games in that review(anandtech) used AA.


the big thing here is, ati are going single slot quiet cooling, hence clocks being dropped rather than a 2 slot cooler being smacked on. but that does leave us all perfectly capable of putting a good cooler on. the gt is single slot and, well half the reviews said it was loud as hell under load, and others said it was quiet under load so who knows.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3127&p=8

the GT review some weeks after this decided to use the XT numbers from the slowest map, the GTS number from the fastest map and the GTX from somewhere in the middle, which seems incredibly fair for GT reviewing. when on release a VERY limited number of sites had reviews, that all did things very different to normal and all ignored the standard resolutions/aa benchmarking

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3122&p=3

hl2, the 2900xt coming in very close to gtx at 1920x1200, gts640 not in the review for some reason? but its not a texture heavy game, the 320 has the same basic power as the 640 and i doubt texture size was a problem at 1920x1200.

 

[gareth170]

all we can do is wait and see, theres nothing solid to say the 3000 series is gonna be good or crap, one site says one thing and another site says another things, its all if and maybe's....

 

[knowledge123]

There are many ways this could turn out, the best one from ATI's p.o.v is to have the HD3800 out as soon as Vista SP1 is out, and have exclusivity over DX10.1. Seen as the GTS new version isn't out yet, I think it will be a while after that, that the 9 version of nvidia is out.
The real key then is Vista SP1, and when it will be released.

 

[simonnance]

All we need now is fo Nvidia to do a deal with Intel, implement High gate technology, and have some overclocking monsters to kill off ati in the enthuthiast market.

When that day comes i'll buy myself a airplane and start herding flying pigs......

TBH, dropping 50Mhz isnt the end of the world, it's only what.....6%? And if they are dropping in price then that should make up for it some.

You are forgetting that the 8800GT was suppoesed to be £50 MORE expensive than it already is....... so the only place they were going to be hitting the £100 mark is in our dreams..... Its a bit like saying that if Nvidia dropped the GTS 640 prices to £175-£200 it would have killed off the HD2900, true, but it didnt happen.