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Need help choosing between 3870 and 8800

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Need help choosing between 3870 and 8800

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mcidfta200   11-26-2007 at 07:35:31 AM

Ok... I was cool with the 3870 till every price got jacked up.

I just got a 47" LG, and I'm going to want to hook that bad boy up to the comp once in a while for a game or two.... so at 1920 x 1080, which one of those would be a better buy?

BTW, does anyone have the VisionTek 3870? I hated the nVidia ones that went out of biz cuz my card broke and ATI had already bought them out, but are the ATI's worth anything?

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soloman02   11-26-2007 at 08:15:41 AM
- 0 +

For what its worth, PowerColor is releasing a 3850 Extreme with slightly higher clocks over the standard 3850 and 512MB of memory. The only difference between the 3870 and 3850 is the RAM and clock speeds. The 3850 uses either 256MB or 512MB (for extreme version) of GDDR3. Whereas the 3870 uses 512 MB of GDDR4. The ddr4 overclocks much better than the ddr3.

 

The extreme has not been officially released yet and the MSRP is $20 more than the standard 3850

 

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/472/


Message edited by soloman02 on 11-26-2007 at 08:18:18 AM
------------------------------ 3 more years to get my BSEE @ UNH :(
Intel E2200 @ 2.90Ghz (264x11) | 3GB DDR2 800 G.Skill (2x1GB, 2x512MB) | Gigabyte DS3L | Gigabyte 8800GT 512 @ 675/1566/900 | 160GB Seagate 7200rpm SATAII | Seasonic 500Watt SS-500ES | XP Pro
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astrotrain1000   11-26-2007 at 08:16:21 AM
- 0 +

Based solely on benchmarks the 8800GT pretty much wins so if FPS at 1920x1080 is what you care about then go with the 8800gt. I just orders the 8800gt, but my decision was mainly based which one I could get first at MSRP. Both cards have +/-'s that go with them.

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Harrisson   11-26-2007 at 10:12:22 AM
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Both are good, but for this res you would need pair of them for the best effect, so check what your MB supports.

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trooper1947   11-26-2007 at 03:07:46 PM
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Yea .... but the 8800's graphics quality is far below the ATI 3870's ... plus what they call nvidia bleed .... inpure output .... do you really wanta sacrafice pure natural video for a few frame rates ? It's a toss up ... changing settings on different monitors and system setups will achieve different results . Turn down the effects a hair on 3870's and gain fps .... turn up effects on 8800's and lose fps .... are the prospects of not having to tune worth the extra $50.00 for 8800's ? Plus nvidia for some reason " HAVE " to be overclocked to the max from the factory to achieve good benchies ! The ati's are not ! You still have headroom for overclocking then see what ya can get . Plus .... yes the nvidia's have an inferior cooling system .... running hotter ... I don't go by what TH puts up anymore so darn slanted for AMD cpus and nvidia graphics cards . We test our own here ... for some reason in real life tests on common systems ours " tests " don't come out like some of these sites ..... probably because we have to buy ours and don't get them for free and have to kiss butt !


Message edited by trooper1947 on 11-26-2007 at 03:12:26 PM
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Ycon   11-26-2007 at 03:43:48 PM
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Anyone missing a troll?

The 8800 GT will suit your needs better, but not best.
Considering that youll be running almost WUXGA, the G92-400 (G92 GTS) should be what you should be looking for.

Message quoted 1 times
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homerdog   11-26-2007 at 03:50:32 PM
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Other than the Crysis bug that has been fixed, what IQ advantages does the 3870 have over the 8800gt?
I would really like to know since my 8800gt comes in today :bounce:

Reply to homerdog
enewmen   11-26-2007 at 04:24:48 PM
- 0 +

I will get the 3870 for sure.
I got slammed for praising the 10.1. However, I still think the 3870 is a lot more forward-thinking than the 8800GT.
I can also get crossfire on my Intel-based mobo.

Reply to enewmen
shadowmaster625   11-26-2007 at 04:46:09 PM
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I think its pretty craptastic that both the 8800GT and 3870 are being retailed at the same price. That's bad for amd. But I guess whoever can build the most will sell the most.

Reply to shadowmaster625
mcidfta200   11-26-2007 at 06:41:22 PM
- 0 +

Ycon wrote :

Anyone missing a troll?

The 8800 GT will suit your needs better, but not best.
Considering that youll be running almost WUXGA, the G92-400 (G92 GTS) should be what you should be looking for.



Is that the new GTS coming out?

Reply to mcidfta200
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