AMD Radeon HD 3800: The Empire Strikes Back

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niz

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Yes they did. Skulltrail supports SLI.
Also I'm not clear why you beleive nVvidia cheat on drivers and ATI dont. Check your history.
 

Harrisson

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You just proved your blind and dogged brand loyalty :)


Yes it did... Wont point finger to whom ;)
 

cleeve

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Wow. Fanboys of all shapes and sizes coming out of the woodwork today. Everyone wants to claim pwnage... :D


From a reasonable human being's standpoint, I think the 3870 and 3850 look to be pretty decent buys for the dollar. Is the 8800 GT better? Sure it is, but it's more expensive and, at this time, impossible to find.

As long as there's a decent price spread, I think the 3870's will do well. If the 8800 GT's arrive in force and price match the 3870, the 3870's will have a very rough time.

I'm interested in seeing Nvidia's 8800 GT 256mb answer to the 3850 though, and once again, finding out if there will be enough on the market to make a dent over christmas.



On a side note, this article was probably originally written in French. All the commas might be an artifact of translation.

 

Seikent

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Well, for now ATI has the best price/performance cards, till 8800GT 512mb demand is satisfy and the other G92 cards appear and show what they have to offer.
 

ikkeman

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perchance slightly off-topic, but I have one sleigt problem with the 38XX's (and the 8800GT's to) - The extra 6pin connector.

These new ATI cards are clearly THE choice fot htpc owners like myself (ati consistently wins the video playback - though an 8800GT would definately do as well), but my shuttle power supply doesn't offer an 6pin connector.

Is there an simple answer like an molex/sata to pci connector???

 

No1sFanboy

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Why all the claims of Nvidia bias in the review? I came out of the 20 pages thinking these are a solid recommendation. If anything the absence of dx10 testing yielded a better result for the 3800's.

Most people I know deal in a $200.00 window for a gpu and the 3850 would be where I would point them, of course followed up by some OCing.

Anyhow, why does everyone, feel the need, to be, so critical?
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Actually the commas can be fun, if you clench your hands out in front of you as read them you could be doing a Shatner.
 

ikkeman

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cleeve, problem is, I'm blessed with neither,,

NO1sFanboy... doing a Shatner - Hilarious :lol:


Nevermind - just saw powercooler sells one with a molex to pci cable... I'll get one!
 

darcher

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Wow, the writing in that article, is, mind, bogglingly, bad and, totally, incomprehensible. I used to have a lot of respect for Tom's, but anandtech does a much better job and I don't have to reread sentences 3-4 times to decipher their meaning. I'm still trying to figure out this one:

"It should be noted that the Radeon HD 3870 places below the HD 2900 XT when there are only 3 games in which is this actually the case, but they are (TDU, UT3 and Call of Duty 4) those with a high number of frames per second and thus more weight ."

wow, just wow.
 

lakedude

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I've purchased several cards from both ATI (original RadeonAIW, 9600AIW, 9600pro, x800xlAIW, hd2600xt, and 1950xt) and nVidia (Ti4200, 6800, 7800gt, 8800GTS) so I'm clearly not a fanboy myself. That said you are 100% on the money. ATI heads, shut up already! Your brand has been trailing nVidia since the original 8800s came out. The reviews are fine, suck it up and admit that the new ATI/AMD cards are disappointing compared to the 8800GT.
 

caamsa

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When did the world decide to leave it up to you to decide if some thing was disappointing or not......I think the cards did quite well. The prices are even better. I am not sure where this nonsense you are spewing is coming from or why you bother to be such a drama queen about it.....

Let's see you owned a Ti4200 and then jumped to a 6800.....? What happened to that 5900 GPU you were going to pick up??????????? I thought so............ :D
 

cruiseoveride

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its almost like some super power came out and said "ATi you will make your 3870 exactly 15% slower than the 8800gt on all the games"

there is no erratic behavior you would otherwise see between two totally different breeds.

how does the 3870 be slower on all tests, something fishy is going on
 

ira176

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I don't know, about being a fan boy for either company. All that I can say, is that clearly the HD 3870 offers decent performance figures at a exceptional price. I can't argue the evidence that the 8800 GT is superior performance wise, but at roughly $60 more per card, and the fact that they're so scarce, I would probably give the HD 3870 a try.
 

kpo6969

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201004
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=20580
 

lakedude

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My "nonsense" is in response to the whining about how anti-ATI Tom's review is. I found the review to be balanced and truthful, if perhaps not exceptionally well written. Since the 8800GT's are pretty much sold out ATI has a chance to sell some cards, good for them. If I needed a card in the $150-200 range right now I might be tempted by ATI's new offering. I'm not a fanboy you see. Personally I'm not in the market at all having picked up a 8800GTS not long ago. If it were me I'd be tempted to wait for the 8800GT to come back into stock instead of settling for an ATI card right now. If cost were an issue I might wait for the half ram version of the 8800GT.
Let's see you owned a Ti4200 and then jumped to a 6800.....? What happened to that 5900 GPU you were going to pick up??????????? I thought so............ :D
We both know the 5xxx series nVidia cards sucked. If you paid attention you will see I've actually purchased half again as many ATI cards as nVidia cards. I love ATI for home theater.

Of course my new hd2600xt sucks at Theater so I'm not well pleased with ATI right now. For years ATI cards could do full screen on one display and widowed mode on another. I bought the 2600 just for theater assuming it would work like the 9600, x800, and 1950, but it does not. There are boxes to check but they don't work. I guess this is a "known issue" with no current solution.
 

syfon

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HD3850 to me seems like a great option. Good performance at low resolution and not a big hole in the wallet. Perfect. Still hesitant to purchase though...the last ATI product was, well, not so good. We shall see.
 

monsterrocks

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Who the heck are you kidding??? 3850=$180; 8800gt=$280. Difference=$100. Brush up on your math there buddy, cause I am pretty sure you failed 4th grade math...

Edit: Did you mean 3870 and not 8800gt? Cause then what you said is very true.
 

cappster

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Sapphire 3870 in stock at new egg this very moment for $219. I just ordered mine! Upgrading from a 7800gt that is struggling with native resolution of my monitor (1280by1024). By the way, I was signed up for auto notify but never received my message for this card. I just so happened to check back "just to make sure".

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102713


Yes, I am spreading the news to help my fellow gaming community out. You may see me post this in a couple of different threads.