Radeon HD 3870 X2
February 9, 2008 – 1:39 am | by TheYoungGuy
This post was provided by Thunderchild65. He posted this information on our Forums, HBPForums.com. He through together information he found around the web including a Customer Review from newegg.com.
The Radeon HD 3870 X2. This graphics card is based on the R680 graphics processing unit which consists of two RV670 GPU cores. Both cores are interconnected using a PCI-Express bridge chip and run in a CrossFire setup which is completely transparent to the end user. There is no CrossFire option to enable in CCC, nor is there one to disable it.
Since this card is a dual design, basically every component can be found twice on the PCB. That is two voltage regulation circuitries, two thermal monitors, but only one set of display output logic for two DVI ports.
This card ranges from $449 to $499.
A reveiw from new egg
Pros: This video card is a powerhouse. Its core and memory clock is over clocked which makes it faster than the Sapphire 100221SR Radeon HD 3870 X2 in terms of raw speed and it out performs (in frames per second)my other computer which has a Crossfire of 2x Sapphire 100225L Radeon HD 3870’s. I average around 30 fps on Crysis at 1680×1050 with setting on high. BTW, there really isn’t any difference between the 8800 Ultra and this card on Crysis as far as FPS goes. The cost/quality ratio is superior compared to the 8800 Ultra. Yes this card may be a dual GPU card vs. a single GPU card in speed but the 3870 X2 costs $300 less or more for almost the same video performance. Who would want to argue with that? Other than NV fan boys.
Cons: As I write this review, the drivers aren’t optimized to utilize the card to its fullest potential. Crossfire is not supported as of yet either because of the drivers but the card is capable of Crossfire and will be available in near future driver updates. The card runs quite warm but that is to be expected of a dual GPU card. It idles at 56c but hits 80c at full load.
Other Thoughts: It consumes around 150 watts idle but when you push it to its max, it eats around 360 watts so watch out for your power consumption from your PSU. The card is 26.7cm long so be prepared to cut out some room in your case if you want this card. I had to reposition my hard drive rack for this monster. Lastly, the 2 GPU’s are Crossfired on the 1 card so you can use it in a PC that has either PCIe x16 with 1.1 or 2.0 and still get the Crossfire benefits from only 1 card slot. This also means that (for the moment) you will only be able to Crossfire 2 of these together which technically makes a CrossfireX setup from only 2 cards which is awesome.
So based on this review and others like it, it seems ATI/AMD still have some tricks up their sleeves. However, with the power consumption this card requires, most people will need to purchase a new PSU. So before purchasing this card, do some research on the cost effectiveness. Would purchasing 2 lower quality and putting them in Crossfire/SLi benefit you more? Who knows, lets get some feedback here and on our forums, HBPForums.com
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