3870 with new drivers > 8800 GT?

[soterius]

After research on the net, I'm convinced nVidia's 8800GT has better performance than ATI's 3870.

But.... I've read that the 3870 will gain performance once the new drivers for it will be released. So does anyone know whether these have been released yet and if it gained enough performance to beat the 8800GT?

 

[Ironnads]

It's all hot air my friend. Unless those be "magical" drivers.. The only hope for ATI will not be new drivers for the two single gpu DX 10.1 cards, but the new x2 gpu cards.. They're looking spicy! Further benchies should be out soonish. (Welcome to the Forum)
Ryan

 

[soterius]

Well it might all be hot air, but I'd like to see prove of that (after all, who tells me you're not just an nVidia fanboy who's trying to discredit ATI with me? )

So...are those drivers out yet? If yes, can anyone point me to benchmarks with them? If not, when will they be out?

 

[Ironnads]

I'm actually a "fanny" man. There's enough hot air around here without fanning further it thanks! But get real, my tungston testicled friend, are you realy expecting a 30-40 % jump from a new driver ?? wtf, get a sense of direction..?? maybe 5-10% at most - but that still doesn't catch the cat. Trust me - wait for the x2.. Then buy 2 of them and do this:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/593/1/

My argument is simple - the single gpu aint ever gonna catch a gt's perf', but in CF they historically scale better than the sli. Come again?


Ryan.

 

[nvalhalla]

while its possible that new drivers could improve the performance of the 38xx cards, i wouldn't hold my breath. people have been saying "wait for the new drivers" sense the 2900 launch, and they haven't really materialized. Drivers can improve performance, but usually not by a lot, and they don't work miracles. For the price, the 3800 cards are great. If you need more performance, nvidia is the way to go, but most don't and there is where ATI is competitive. This may end up being the future of ATI as well. competitive on the price/performance ratio, but not the most powerful, which is fine by me, I wont pay more than $200 for a video card anyway. I'm not a "fanboy" either, having just replaced my 8600gt with a 3850.

 

[Ironnads]

How come you swapped cards nvalhalla?? Personally I'm holding on a little longer for a nice new wolfie, water cool it to maybe 5ghz (they do reckon they do 4 ghz on air!) and then see what grafix cards best at that time (hopefully the 3870x2 will prove to be as good as it looks - if that's the case AND the price isn't tooo OTT, that'll be my GPU (or rather GPUs!!) Really couldnt care less if its nvid or ati - I'll take price/perf winner.
Be safe
Ryan

 

[soterius]

Hmmm... And what do you guys think of the statements saying the 3850 is better for watching movies than the 8800GT?

 

[Ironnads]

Forget that first question (I had understood u swapped 8800 gt for a 3850..) I didn't see the "6"..

 

[homerdog]

Ah yes, the infamous HD2900/3800 magical driver theory. Just keep waiting, I swear it will happen some day...

 

[Ironnads]

Loads of users/reviewers state that video play back (including colour quality) is better on the ati cards (as it was with the 1900 lot

 

[soterius]

I meant 3870, not 3850

 

[Ironnads]

for video playback - I can't see it making much difference.. Hey, why not get a lower model dx 10 ati/nvid card if you just want vid playback? Or are you a GAY MER?

 

[soterius]

Ugh... So choosing between 3870 or 8800gt basically means I have to choose between better gaming-performance or better video playback-performance?

 

[soterius]

Lol, you're quite full of yourself, aren't ya?

I'm gamer as well as movie-watcher...

 

[nvalhalla]

No, it means choosing between higher performance and lower price. I get very close to the 8800gt with my overclocked 3850 (800/1100) and it only cost me $144 + tax from BB. Sure it wont do as well on higher resolutions, but I only have a 19" CRT, so I don't really care about 2560x1600....

 

[T8RR8R]

I don't think the 3870 will really every "beat" the 8800GT, but I think you could get a 3870 for less money update the drivers and OC it to at least match a stock clocked updated 8800GT. A driver update alone probably won't ever do it for a 3870 though.

 

[IndigoMoss]

Another really nice thing about the 3870 series is the native HDMI and ATI cards usually interface a lot better with HDTVs, than Nvidia cards. The stock cooler on the HD 3870 is a hell of a lot better too. A lot of people say that ATI has better picture quality than Nvidia, but I can't confirm that, since I don't own an ATI card yet.

You will definitely get better performance from the 8800GT, but if you want to do any overclocking, you are going to have to buy a aftermarket cooler, since they run pretty hot. Also, they don't scale as well as the 3870 in dual GPU configurations, but that's a moot point if you don't have a motherboard that supports one or the other.

From THG's review, the 8800GT is only 7% lower performance than the 8800GTX on stock. Where as the HD 3870 is pretty much equal to the 2900XT in graphical performance at stock.

 

[Ironnads]

You will definitely get better performance from the 8800GT, but if you want to do any overclocking, you are going to have to buy a aftermarket cooler, since they run pretty hot..

Makes sense.. It may be worth while you considering Thermal right's 03 GT, if this is the route you choose:

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQyMywxMSwsaGVudGh1c2lhc3Q=

Be safe

Ryan

 

[nvalhalla]

$50 for an aftermarket cooler is ridiculous. Might as well put that money into a GTS 512, which has a better stock cooler anyway.

 

[zenmaster]

After research on the net, I'm convinced nVidia's 8800GT has better performance than ATI's 3870.

But.... I've read that the 3870 will gain performance once the new drivers for it will be released. So does anyone know whether these have been released yet and if it gained enough performance to beat the 8800GT?

New Drivers are not likely to effect the card significantly for games that it already scores well.
If there are some games that it performs far less than should be expected, there is a good chance drivers should correct that.

However, anything more than minor changes for "normal" performance should not be expected.

 

[Ironnads]

you have a point. I just have a thing about fancy coolers (guess I'm a bit wierd). Whenever I pass a computer bits shop I'm always ogling at them..
Ryan

 

[thepinkpanther]

so what if u max clock the 3870 and the 8800gt whats the performance difference then? im thinking the 3870 can be overclocked more because of gddr4 or am i wrong?

 

[Ironnads]

wrong - the ram speed has little impact on oc results. Both OCed - the GT is still the clear winner in most tests. where as the ati x2 vs the 9800 x2 (or whatever it'll be called) will be a different story.

 

[zenmaster]

---------------
why have sex when u can play computer games?!?
?

Most folks play computer games when it's not an option.

 

[jevon]

I thought the 2900 cards improved a lot after launch with driver updates??

Anyway, ideally if I was looking right now I'd wait for the 3870x2, then buy another in a year or two and Crossfire them. Otherwise, I'd get one of the current 3870 and crossfire it with another at some point. Or, Crossfire with a 3870x2 down the road actually as long as they can prove the 3870x2 will play nice and not dumb itself down with a single GPU 3870