buying a 3870. need views.....

Discussion in 'Videocards - AMD Radeon' started by DOorDIE, Dec 16, 2007.

  1. DOorDIE

    DOorDIE Member Guru

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    well i did some homework on the current Geforce 8800GT & the ATI 3870.... well there are a couple of things i would like to get you views on:

    1.ATI is providing DX 10.1 and from what i have searched they are saying that it will have different technologies wich will improve the graphics and images in it which the DX10 cards cant have.

    2. ATI has driver issues is there a possibility that they come up with a driver which would increase the performance of the 3870 cards cause ATI's 3870 is quite better than the 8800GT on paper so it means that there are driver issues that are holding the cards real potentials... can this be the reason it isnt beating the 8800GT.....

    3. As for the future the 3870 has DX10.1 if we crossfire it i dont think that any new card realeses in the future would make a difference as we already would have a DX10.1 card and on crossfire it would give us decent frams......

    4. ATI does have better image quality than Nvidia so frame drops will be there that is what i think ....

    so there u have it what i think ..... i need suggestions on the DX10.1 issues cause if I get a 8800GT DX10 .... 2008 10.1 is there mayb just mayb after vista sp1 is intalled and tested with good ATI drivers it would outperform the 8800GT or GTS cause the current DX10 n vista might limit the card to some extent after vista sp1 wih has DX10.1 the card may shine cause again on paper its quite better than the GF 8800GT can there just be a possibilites that the technology in the 3870 are just not capable to perform right now due to limitations of DX10 or vista & drivers.....

    please gimme all the suggestions u can really need to make the right decision to buy a card cause i tend to use it for quite sometime and its quite expensive here at my place.....

    thanks
     
  2. isidore

    isidore Guest

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    well as you can see i got a HD3870, i could have got the 8800gt but the HD3870 has just been released and the drivers will defenitely bring more performance...the 88gt is a very good card..is faster then the hd3870 at the moment but with not much..anyways i'm very pleased with my card and i'm not sorry i got it...

    and yeah the card OC to the sky..as you can see my specs..:) and thats with stock cooling
     
  3. Scoica

    Scoica Active Member

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    go for it 3870 its a great vcard, 8800 its more expensive and just 10% better, difference that you would not notice in realtime
    3870 has integrated soundcard, temperature is not a problem ive set the fan to 40% and i have 30C idle and 65C full load, also you can oc alot and works like a charm with cat 7.11
    the 3800 series will take advantage of dx 10.1 in spring when service pack 1 for vista will be available
     
  4. MaxBlade

    MaxBlade Master Guru

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    I would go for the ATI also. But to answer you question about DX10.1. No the SP1 will not make or help the 3870 to be faster than 8800gt/gts. But it will be able to use the extras that up DX10 to DX10.1.
     

  5. fivefeet8

    fivefeet8 Ancient Guru

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    Go with whatever you can get and afford. Both the 8800gt and 3870 are good cards at their price ranges. But don't base the decision too much on:

    1. Drivers improving the situation between the 2.
    2. IQ being objectively better on the 3870.
    3. DX10.1 making a huge difference.

    Look at what games you play and at what settings. That's the only thing you need to consider.
     
  6. eat@joes

    eat@joes Maha Guru

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    Buy the cheapest guy out there. ATI always tickles my inexpensive button :)
     
  7. Scoica

    Scoica Active Member

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    dx 10.1 will only bring improvements in lights and detailed textures not speed, only starting with SP1 these will be suported
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2007
  8. Dublin_Gunner

    Dublin_Gunner Ancient Guru

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    Basically, DX10.1 is a non issue. Not only are there NO dx10.1 games, but it really doesnt add much, only ties up a few losoe ends of the DX10 spec. Anyway, NO current cards are powerful enough to implement a full dx10.1 game anyway (DX10 with 4xMSAA, lol, yeah right!)

    Look at reviews, go for which card performs best in the games you play.

    Bare in mind, there is really no difference in IQ between 8800 & HD3800 series cards, anything different is basically a driver issue - and drivers from both camps are equally dreadful at the moment.

    BTW, even though on paper, the r670 based cards are technically superior, well, in some ways, it doesnt mean they will perform better.

    I believe it really comes down to vector & scaler ALU's on each card, and Nvidia's perform better.
     
  9. GhostXL

    GhostXL Guest

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    Umm ok? If my crossfire setup can handle Hellgate: London X64 DX10 at 1680x1050 all maxed settings at 4xaa with supersampling AA and still pull 34-60 FPS depending on area, then I see no problem with DX10.1. Hell these arent even optimized drivers....

    It's also able to handle Crysis at the same resolution with everything set to High. 16xAF, supersampling AA to boot. I pull around 26-40 FPS which is imo excellent for an unoptimized game and driver. Im on Cat 7.11 btw. Also when I say unoptimized, I mean for the 3800's. Drivers still have a ways to improve on them.
     
  10. Dublin_Gunner

    Dublin_Gunner Ancient Guru

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    So for crossfire, you're still only getting 30-60 FPSD in Hellgate, and 24-40 in Crysis?? Hardly what I'd call great performance.

    Try doing that on a single card and tell me the current crop can handle DX10 with 4xAA
     

  11. dukedave5200

    dukedave5200 Ancient Guru

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    1) DX10.1 shouldn't be a determining factor. As only the geekiest of geeks will know/see the difference.

    2) In my experience, ATI in general has better driver support and developers. To me, ATI cares more about stability, support and IQ... nVidia cares more about benchmarks. Yes, this is my opinion only, but I've had cards from both companies and this is my impression of things. I almost regret going nVidia this round, and I will be switching back to ATI whenever I upgrade again.

    3) Not sure what you mean by this. But yes, you can crossfire in the future if you have a motherboard to support it. DX10.1 really won't give you anything more to make a choice on, but if you do go with ATI then you have it.

    4) ATI does have better IQ. In my experience, even with better IQ, ATI cards/drivers are in general smoother than nVidia cards/drivers. Not sure what you mean about frame dropping? But having better IQ doesn't mean it's slower. It just means it looks better. Perhaps ATI is sacraficing some performance for better IQ, but there wouldn't be any dropped frames because of it. Again though, ATI cards/drivers have always given me a sense of better IQ and smoother gameplay. nVidia cards score better on benchmarks.


    Those are my thoughts...
     
  12. DOorDIE

    DOorDIE Member Guru

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    well thanks alot guys for the info i really appreciate it ... currently i can afford both the 3870 or the 8800GT but the main thing is when i sell it i get 20% of the price i purchase the card on and its real expensive here so i fould want a future proof card..... with all the research and ur opinions i will be getting a 3870 cause not only it has new technology and better IQ i would like to see what ATI has to offer as i have been using Nvidia for a long time and this time round i want to try ATI and in the future will run it on crossfire rather than buying another card etc like a GF 9xxx series or any new ATi cards as the 3870 does support the latest technology and in the future i dont think there would be any newer technologies etc and the next cards would have the same technology as the 3870..... well thanks again guys will get the ard and post what performance i get.....

    apart from all this we basically cannot say that what effects will the DX10.1 have on the current cards until we actually see what DX10.1 has to offer... cause u never know when a white rabbit pops out of a magicians hat ... lolz something of that sort .. my views i know i can be crazy.... thanks again ppl

    thanks
     
  13. Dublin_Gunner

    Dublin_Gunner Ancient Guru

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    Enjoy the card, let us know how it goes
     

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