[Comparison]HD 3870 Crossfire vs 8800GT SLI

Discussion in 'Videocards - AMD Radeon' started by C_A_T, Nov 27, 2007.

  1. C_A_T

    C_A_T Member

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  2. Mad Cow

    Mad Cow Maha Guru

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    Talk about ownage. :D Shows just how mature Crossfire is, even though it was released later it somehow became so much better. And with compatibility with every chipset, ATI has a winning solution.
     
  3. Crossfire

    Crossfire Ancient Guru

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    http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=196598


    Wrong section.
     
  4. LordAboveAll

    LordAboveAll Guest

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    I was just sitting here picking out the clumped deodorant out of my right armpit and I found this thread thanks! I was bored....
    Interesting Comparison.
     

  5. llerenaprincipe

    llerenaprincipe Ancient Guru

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    wow
    impressive :p
     
  6. Vastro_Lord

    Vastro_Lord Member

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    glad i brought a HD 3870 crossfire and not 8800gt SLI.

    I thought that 8800gt SLI would be better but i didnt buy it because i couldnt find any so i just brought two HD 3870's! Good decision aye?
     
  7. Australis

    Australis Guest

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    Catalyst has a bad reputation in these days, particularly in Crossfire technology, so I am uncertain about their claims.
    Bear in mind, NVIDIA has not released the new 8800 GTS with 128 unified shaders. Once they do, the Radeon 3870 will be eaten for lunch. Hmm...they are defeated already by the GTX.
     
  8. bahamut

    bahamut Master Guru

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    Crossfire scales better and according to that review (which, while it's a site I've not heard of before, the results seem to be pretty believable) the HD3700 Xfire setup trades blows with the 8800GT SLI setup.

    However a few things I would like to point out:

    1) Not every game supports Crossfire (or SLI for that matter) well, in a single card 3870 vs 8800GT situation the 8800GT will still be faster and there will be quite a few situations like that.

    2) Even with superior scaling overall the results are pretty much a wash between the two setups meaning it is price dependent rather than performance dependent.

    3) Nvidia SLI drivers are not in a good place atm, especially on Vista, I'm not sure on how well Crossfire drivers are maturing on Vista either but with this kind of performance scaling I would guess they are doing pretty damn well. :)

    All in all I think we can generally say with some confidence for the time being:

    8800GT > HD3870

    8800GT SLI = HD3870 Crossfire

    In terms of price versus performance ATI have a real winner here. For example in the UK at Scan, the 512MB 8800GT starts from £180 inc VAT, the HD3870 starts from £150, meaning you will save £60 total in a Crossfire setup compared to an SLI setup which is a pretty decent amount of cash.

    You would have to weigh that against the slightly faster single card performance of the 8800GT and any possible driver improvements in the near future ofc and I would really like to see some Windows XP results as well. What is clear however, is that at this price point either the 8800GT or HD3870, in single or multi card configurations, both offer excellent performance/£. Well done ATI, and it's been a while since I've said that! :)
     
  9. Cycloid

    Cycloid Master Guru

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    Only stupid problem with this is that you have to throw out your motherboard to switch between the two dual-card setups.

    Maybe AMD(err ATI) is better for GFX, but will the Xfire chipset on the new Mobo still yield the same expected performance vs SLi solution. Will it be better?


    I am guessing most will just stick with their brand as the tangible performance increase/catch-up won't justify swopping the Mobo as well.

    Another observation, it is actually quite impressive that we have to compare the Drivers to distinguish which offering has taken the lead. Shows how close they are really...

    On the review, It is quite funny how the Valve engine game (HL2) the ATI loses, but on the ID engine Quake Wars it leads. ID games always performed better on Nvidia and HL2 on ATI if I remember correctly.
     
  10. QuantumRand

    QuantumRand Member

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    Are there any performance figures of a 3850 linked with a 3870? It seems weird that such a key feature of the new CrossFireX has yet to be explored.
     

  11. 8IronBob

    8IronBob Master Guru

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    Glad I have a dual-slot P35 mobo. Unfortunately, I have an 8800GT at the moment. If I could buy graphics cards all over again, I most certainly would have went for 2 x HD 3870s in CrossFire mode. However, for single card setups, I'm guessing that the 8800GT is still better.
     
  12. isidore

    isidore Guest

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    interesting...man can't wait to get my hd3870:).and to OC it to hell and back:p..
     

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