buy a 3850 256mb or wait

[sdf]

Ok I am looking at the 3850 and for the money it is a great budget performance card, and currently I'm on a budget. I am limited to a resolution of 1280x1024 due to my 17' monitor. The res is no big deal but unless I'm wrong that res seems to be the on the fence when it comes to needing or not needing more ram depending on the game. I am waiting for release of Brothers in arms Hells Highway and Olegs Battle of Britian, (at the rate its going I probably will be an old man before BoB is released) I'm not sure if I would be ok with the 256 version or wait for who knows how long for the 512 version. I have right now a FX-60 with 2 gigs of ram. Any suggestions?

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

Get a 8800GT.

 

[Slobogob]

Ok I am looking at the 3850 and for the money it is a great budget performance card, and currently I'm on a budget. I am limited to a resolution of 1280x1024 due to my 17' monitor. The res is no big deal but unless I'm wrong that res seems to be the on the fence when it comes to needing or not needing more ram depending on the game. I am waiting for release of Brothers in arms Hells Highway and Olegs Battle of Britian, (at the rate its going I probably will be an old man before BoB is released) I'm not sure if I would be ok with the 256 version or wait for who knows how long for the 512 version. I have right now a FX-60 with 2 gigs of ram. Any suggestions?

The 512 MB version is already listed by some online-shops in europe. I would go with the 512MB card since some games only let you enable high details/textures if your card has that amount of memory. You should keep an eye on the price though. The 3850 512 might get close to the 3870 - which, for only a little more, would be a even better card.

 

[cleeve]

If you're in a huge hurry, and 1280x1024 is your max gaming res, a 256mb 3850 would be a pretty good card...

But if you can wait a bit, a 512mb card in this class is a better long term investment.

 

[sdf]

Thanks for the replies. I can probably wait for the 512 version just to be on the safe side. Any idea when the 512's will be released in the states? Hope its not too long or I just might go with a cheap used card on ebay in the meantime as my 6800gs is kind of wearing out.

 

[hughyhunter]

I'm not quite sure about what you mean about waiting for the 512 version... the 3870 is on etail right now. Everyday I look at newegg I see some listed and then sold out and then listed and then sold out... You look at it enough you will find one available and get your hands on one... just look around on the web enough and you'll find one. I saw one on tigerdirect yesterday... havent checked today yet though.

If you are on a budget than definitely get an 512 3870... but if you have a few extra bucks or get some cash for christmas a month early grap an 8800gt. The extra memory on these cards will come in useful even on your smaller monitor especially for the games that are coming out in the next few quarters.

You still have an awesome processor... so get an awesome card that will perform well for the next year or two. You still have some good life left on the rest of that old high end processor... Oh how I miss the performance the FX series AMD processors had

 

[sdf]

I'm not quite sure about what you mean about waiting for the 512 version... the 3870 is on etail right now. Everyday I look at newegg I see some listed and then sold out and then listed and then sold out... You look at it enough you will find one available and get your hands on one... just look around on the web enough and you'll find one. I saw one on tigerdirect yesterday... havent checked today yet though.

If you are on a budget than definitely get an 512 3870... but if you have a few extra bucks or get some cash for christmas a month early grap an 8800gt. The extra memory on these cards will come in useful even on your smaller monitor especially for the games that are coming out in the next few quarters.

You still have an awesome processor... so get an awesome card that will perform well for the next year or two. You still have some good life left on the rest of that old high end processor... Oh how I miss the performance the FX series AMD processors had

I was referring to the 512mb 3850, just haven't heard when it hits the states yet. Thanks for the rest of the advise though.

 

[Evilonigiri]

Just letting you know, clubit's black friday deal for the 3850 256mb is $169.99, which is $10 off what neweggs has.

 

[Dahak]

If you want to buy a card,get the 8800GT.It has awesome performance for a reasonable price,and it even out performs the GTX when both are SLI'd.The 3850 256mb card is still slower at this time than an 8800GT.And although ATI has what I consider to be a very sweet architecture,it still will be some time before AMD/ATI can take full advantage of it.I figure a year at least before AMD/ATI can take back the performance crown.

Dahak

M2N32-SLI DELUXE WE
X2 5600+ STOCK (2.8GHZ)
2X1GIG DDR2 800 IN DC MODE
TOUGHPOWER 850WATT PSU
EVGA 7950 GX2 550/1350
SMILIDON RAIDMAX GAMING CASE
ACER 22IN WS LCD 1680X1050
250GIG HD/320GIG HD
G5 GAMING MOUSE
LOGITECH Z-5500 5.1 SURROUND SYSTEM
500WATS CONTINUOUS,1000 PEAK
WIN XP MCE SP2
3DMARK 05 13,685

 

[sdf]

Dahak, thought about getting a 8800GGT but at the speed that they are being restocked I might be an old man before I can get my hands on one, besides I am on a budget and don't want to spend that extra $100.

 

[syfon]

I'm in absolute love with the HD3850 right now. It's a DAMN good card. It's $180, performs very well, is quiet, consumes less power, and supports new technologies. I'm buying one today if I can find one at one of my local PC shops.

But, with the listing price of an 8800GT and them not being in stock it's hard to recommend it to anyone right now. Yes, it's a really really good card, but it's not in stock, the prices are jacked up, so it's near-impossible to get one. The HD3870 is great too. But for $50 cheaper I'll take a HD3850 any day. Either way should you go 8800GT, HD3870 or HD3850, you'll see performance gains.

 

[joewho]

The VisionTek HD3850 comes with Stranglehold game. Dell has them in stock as well.

 

[spoonboy]

Ok I am looking at the 3850 and for the money it is a great budget performance card, and currently I'm on a budget. I am limited to a resolution of 1280x1024 due to my 17' monitor. The res is no big deal but unless I'm wrong that res seems to be the on the fence when it comes to needing or not needing more ram depending on the game. I am waiting for release of Brothers in arms Hells Highway and Olegs Battle of Britian, (at the rate its going I probably will be an old man before BoB is released) I'm not sure if I would be ok with the 256 version or wait for who knows how long for the 512 version. I have right now a FX-60 with 2 gigs of ram. Any suggestions?

Wait for the 512mb version of the 3850. Youve got alot in one package then, powerful card with plenty of memory. When you feel inclined to overclock, you certainly can alot with that card.

 

[gpippas]

Have a look at the thread I just started if you are interested in how 3850 512mb performs. I don't know when it will be available in the states but online retailers over here have it down for the 30/11/07.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/246497-15-powercolor-hd3850-xtreme-budget-card-market

I'm not trying to hijack your thread or anything I just thought you would be interested having read what you are looking for.

 

[pogsnet]

PowerColor's HD 3850 Xtreme 512MB! wow it kicks butt the 8800GT in the ass.


Performance

Temperature

more room for more overclocking?

Price around $200-$250... so why buy $300 8800GT when it is slow, more heat, pricey, no more features to unleash, whatever...just very stupid.

 

[gpippas]

pogsnet

It doesn't beat a 8800gt.

I started a thread on how good that card is. There are 4 reviews in there with a lot of benchmarks and this is the only benchmark in all of them that shows it beating a 8800gt. It doesn't compare to the 8800gt. This card is priced to compare to an 8600gts which it trounces. It also keeps up with an 8800gts which is more expensive.

 

[eeto]

PowerColor's HD 3850 Xtreme 512MB! wow it kicks butt the 8800GT in the ass.


Performance
http://www.elitebastards.com/hanners/powercolor/3850xtreme/charts/crysis-1600aa.png

Temperature
http://www.elitebastards.com/hanners/powercolor/3850xtreme/charts/gpu-temp.png

more room for more overclocking?

Price around $200-$250... so why buy $300 8800GT when it is slow, more heat, pricey, no more features to unleash, whatever...just very stupid.

I'm sorry, I dont quite believe these charts at all. I've read over 6 full reviews on the 3850 using 8800GT. The is the first chart i've seen something completely the opposite. Like gpippas said, the 3850 should be targeting 8600s.

 

[WR2]

pogsnet wrote :
PowerColor's HD 3850 Xtreme 512MB! wow it kicks butt the 8800GT in the ass.Price
around $200-$220... so why buy $300 8800GT when it is slow, more heat,
pricey, no more features to unleash, whatever...just very stupid.

pogsnet; Your sins have found you out.

A factory overclocked 3850! and only $199 (if you can find it??). It does have that nice aftermarket style cooler.
Ok.. that EB review shows for an 11% price increase you get:
HD
3850 stock 670Mhz -> 720Mhz or 50Mhz / less than 8% OC Earlier
review shows 8800GT Factory OC with 19% price increase got 16% OC.
The 8800GT has a lifetime warranty to go with that factory OC. The Powercolor has a 1 year warranty.
(from this thread Why is 8800GT better than 3870)

I also thought the conclusions EliteBastards wrote were VERY INTERESTING. Also worth reading all of the article of course. [:wr2:5]

@ eeto
You're right to be suspicious. Read the WHOLE Elite Bastards article here

 

[yipsl]

The 256 meg cards should be good for high settings but low textures in many games. The 8800GT 256 will be as limited as the X3850 256. The big question is will the 512 meg X3850 cost too close to the normal 512 meg X3870 when the prices stabilize?

Ideally, I'd want a one gig X3780, but they're bound to be overpriced once they arrive. Still, if a 256 meg X3850 is all I can get in a few weeks, then that's what I'll get. It's still the best card out there for the price right now, the way demand for the X3870 and 8800GT have raised prices.