3850 CF kicks 8800gt ass [benchmarks]

4745454b

Titan
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I guess that depends on what you call "a lot". The 3850 is ~$185 shipped from newegg, so ~$370 will get you both. The 8800GT, if you can find it, is running just under $300, so we are only talking ~$70-$90 here, hardly what I would call a lot if you are dropping $300 for video cards.

As was mentioned, the better point to make is there isn't anything else that costs <$400 that performs at GTX levels. I get the feeling that we simply need the prices to come down, but it seems for the first time I can ever recall that SLI/CF finally makes sense.
 

aadamszc

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It really is amazing how people just fawn over new things.

Oct. 29-Nov.15: "OMG 8800GT. OMG. OMG."

Nov. 15-Dec. 3: "OMG ATI PWNS. OMG."

Dec. 3-Sometime in the future: "OMG. G92 8800GTS 640MB. OMG"

Seriously.
 

Dahak

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Now,put those cards in crossfire,against 2 8800GTs in SLI and then tell me who kicks butt.Again,just another mismatched comparison.Like comparing a 7950GT to a X1800pro.There is no comparison.One card soundly beats the other hands down.So why compare them.Now put a 7950GT up against the X1950pro,and you have a decent comparison.You have similar cards with similar performance,and benchmarks in games could go either way depending on several factors.But puting a pair of 3850s in crossfire up against a single 8800GT,and you have an UNFAIR comparison.Just another way to try and decieve and confuse the consumer.

Dahak

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A consumer is someone who buys a product. If he or she buys something in a quantity, be it ounces lenths or performance. As was said earlier, the price/performance ratio stongly favors the cf setup. If the cf drivers are good, then its a good alternative to a GTX, let alone a GT
 

Dahak

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I know what you mean,but my point is this.How can you possibly compare 2 cards in a crossfire or sli configuration against a single card?It's an unfair comparison at best,and down right dirty pool at the worst.The 38X0 cards are supposed to be able to compete with the 8800GT on a one on one basis.And they do to a point.But when you put two cards together against the one,and individually,the cards are similar in performance,you get what I consider an unfair comparison.

Dahak

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Ibanezrg570

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It can be compared in a performance/dollar ratio, plain and simple. Lets use a simple exaple outside of computers. Take for instance, the 05+ Mustang GT vs the Lotus Exige in Europe. Both cost roughly the same in Euros (last I recall) and yet the Mustang gets is arse handed to it in every performance category (and i'm a die hard Mustang fan, owning 2 of them). Ford econo muscle car vs Lotus hyper car? Knife to a gun fight? Sure, but that does'nt negate the fact that in Euro terms, the Lotus lays the smack down on the GT in performance every day of the week and twice on Sunday, but I will still love my Mustang nonetheless.
 
Think of it this way. If a single core cpu whips another single core in integer and floating point, apples to apples, but the price point isnt equal per performance, per dollar spent, then having a duo core on the second cpu which still beats the superior cpu price/performance wise would be considered a good thing, then why not for gpu's?
 

Phenium 4 FX

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the review is not an NV vs. Ati it is 3850 vs. 3870 w/CF they include only 88gt for basic comparison, but don't base you conclusion in that review because there is no 88gt SLI.

i wonder why SLI is not included in the comparison because most of the consumer based their decisions in the reviews.
 

Harrisson

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3850 Crossfire gives nice performance/price ratio, but IMO if you have money for such rig its better to get 2 x 3870 or 2 x 8800GT for ultimate mid-level rig which costs little extra.
 
Mostly, its not highend most sites write about. Maybe an article or a few, and even more exsclusive is a sli/cf setup than a top cpu or single top gpu. But this openas a few doors in affordability. I see this happening as we head to fusion and larrabee. If they (nVid/ATI) could work out the scalibility, which fusion/larrabee supposedly will, then this discussion becomes moot. My comparison works well for cpus, not so for gpus because of the lack of scalibility, but once this changes, it all changes. But even so, at this price point, the cf config of the 3850s look good, as may the 256meg GTs when they arrive
 

pauldh

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Um, there is no X1800 pro and the X1800XT was actually a bit ahead fo the X1950 pro when it launched. I'd say now the X1950 pro would at times because of it's 3:1 architecture often beat the X1800XT and possibly by a good margin as we saw in NFS Carbon. But really, I would bet the X1800XT could also beat the 7950GT in many games just like the X1950 pro does. Anyway, I get what you were saying though.

But really, dual 3850's at $360 isn't that much high priced that an 8800GT. Newegg has some for $330 and still out of stock reguardless. Anyone who can spring $300-330 can spring $360. Dual 8800GT's will be $550-600+ now, so that's a huge step up in cost.

The issue I have with crossfire is the mobo cost. I was ready to throw 2 8800GT's onto a MSI P6N platinum (sub $150 mobo), but if I go crossfire although it works, I don't like the P35 boards and their 4X second PCI-e16 slot. Factoring in the cost of a X38 mobo and crossfire is getting more expensive. But if I already owned a P35 right now, I would give dual 3850's a try.

 
This reminds me of the headlines awhile back:"New ATI drivers yield 40% improvement!" And I'm thinking, "Oh, Wow. ATI's getting their act together."

Then I look more closely and find the "Gotcha!" It's only in Crossfire - which was broken before.

So I looked at this link and noticed that, yes, the CF setup was faster. I also noticed that when comparing single cards, the 8800GT was 20% faster. And the 3000 series card were supposed to kill nVidia.
 

Peta

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Thanks for the info. I don't care if you're comparing 1 vs 2. It all comes down to price/performance.

On another note. Most consumers aren't that picky about having the absolute best. As long as it does what they want, and they save money doing it. In this sense ATI will kick Nvidia in the way of making money. They are getting great yields, and they have the product on the shelf in time for Xmas.... where's the 8800 GT's I wanted one, but I've change my decision.
 

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