Sapphire 3850 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB

[Conroy]

I got a bonus I was unaware of Neverwinter Nights 2 which I was stoked about until I read it is a turd of a game lol.

I don't think it's that bad of a game, and 82% on metacritics and gamerankings is pretty decent, if you like that kind of game

[Fred]

mexell: if you're correct, then i guess it would be possible to fit into my plans.
I'm going to power E8400, GA-P35-DS3, 2 GB RAM and some misc. stuff with a be quiet! 350W PSU. And (hopefully) this graphics card.

Edit: Wait you were thinking about the 3870? Even better!
'Cause I was thinking about the passive 3850.

[likwidsh0k]

I got a bonus I was unaware of Neverwinter Nights 2 which I was stoked about until I read it is a turd of a game lol.

I don't think it's that bad of a game, and 82% on metacritics and gamerankings is pretty decent, if you like that kind of game

I am a D&Der from way back so I might give it a look ...when I can stop playing UT3. I just updated the ATI driver (surprised I had to uninstall the old ones completely and then install) and playing on max settings and now with the new drivers I have 5.1 sound working aswell ...HOLY CRAP!!!

And talking about D&D games I just remembered, found and dusted off Baldurs Gate I&II I had in my old AD&D box

[eddd]

Anyone know a UK/Euro stockist for these?

[eddd]

Now we just need them to do this with the 3870, we know it can be done based on other users actually doing it. The high end card with passive cooling!

You mean 8800GT? Sparkle has one. And it works :)

Except they're basically impossible to find..

[ramiawad99]

Please any luck that the passive 3850 can fit in Antec Fusion, please help????

[spykez]

Sapphire is doing a passive version of 3870 model but no release date yet, don't know if its gona be better or worse of the powercolor one.

I was wondering if anyone know for sure if the powercolor 3870 passive or this sapphire 3850 passive card will fit on a new Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6? I am specially concern that the heatpipe will hit the RAM, if you look closer it seens like the dimms are on the way of the PCIe x16 slot. Offcourse if you use DDR2 with an heatsink of its own like the corsair DHX ones this would most certain happen, but in my case im thinking of G.Skill modules.

Something came to mind while i was writing this, what if we use the 2nd PCIe slot on the motherboard? I guess if i do that it will fit for sure, i only hope that it dont cover the last PCI slot of the board which i need for a TV-Card. Even if this is an intel X48 chip board with PCIe 2.0 if i use the 2nd slot it will only run @4x right, will i note any perfomance decrease by doing so?

Btw i have an ANTEC P182 hope it is big enough!

[rhysb]

Sorry, that's complete BS you are posting here. You don't need a 450W PSU to run a normal system with a 3870 - even most high-end systems stay well below 300W power consumption most or all the time. And this card is not high-end.

And, to make it clear, this card doesn't need 30A on the 12V, because this would mean that it consumed 360W alone. That would be more like 2x8800Ultra.

Ok whatever dude, but to quote the "System Requirements" on the side of box that the card comes in "450Watt or greater power supply with 30Amps on 12Volt rail with 2x3 power connector recommended".

Obviously you know a lot more than the people that designed and made this card.

[elziko]

Anyone know a UK/Euro stockist for these?

I just bought the PowerColor HD3870 SCS3 from:

http://www.scan.co.uk

I also got a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard. The video card also uses the space for PCI-E slots either side of it. Not the end of the world since I still have one remaining PCI-E slot and I don't as yet have any PCI-E cards to put in it anyway.

The video card heatsink clears the Northbridge heatsink just fine which is good too.

I'm mostly worried about power - I have two HD drives, one DVD drive and a Q6600 quad core processor (G0 stepping!) too and I'm going to try running it all off a 420W Tagan power supply. I think it may be OK until I start playing games.

Also I'm slightly concerned about my Scythe Ninja CPU cooler - not 100% sure if i will fit in my Coolermaster Cavalier case - it should do but in front of me here it looks massive!

If anyone want any more specific information I'll try to help but I haven't built the system yet.

[spykez]

Anyone know a UK/Euro stockist for these?

I just bought the PowerColor HD3870 SCS3 from:

http://www.scan.co.uk

I also got a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard. The video card also uses the space for PCI-E slots either side of it. Not the end of the world since I still have one remaining PCI-E slot and I don't as yet have any PCI-E cards to put in it anyway.

The video card heatsink clears the Northbridge heatsink just fine which is good too.

I'm mostly worried about power - I have two HD drives, one DVD drive and a Q6600 quad core processor (G0 stepping!) too and I'm going to try running it all off a 420W Tagan power supply. I think it may be OK until I start playing games.

Also I'm slightly concerned about my Scythe Ninja CPU cooler - not 100% sure if i will fit in my Coolermaster Cavalier case - it should do but in front of me here it looks massive!

If anyone want any more specific information I'll try to help but I haven't built the system yet.

I just got one question for you: when the card is on the motherboard does the heatpipe stay in a level above or under the RAM? Check the 3 images here and see what iam refering to http://www.hartware.de/review_780_2.html

[elziko]

I just got one question for you: when the card is on the motherboard does the heatpipe stay in a level above or under the RAM? Check the 3 images here and see what iam refering to http://www.hartware.de/review_780_2.html

I've already put everything in the case and there seems to be 23mm between the top of my memory and the bottom of the heat sink on HD3870 SCS3. The graphics card heat sink on the 'memory side' is considerably smaller to accommodate the memory.

HTH

[theycallmebruce]

I bought the Sapphire 3850 Ultimate about a week ago. It was an upgrade from my Geforce FX 5750.

Impressions so far:

Good:
- No compatibility issues with my old school PCI Express 1.0 board (one of the very first boards with PCIex16)
- 1600x1050 gaming with high details, FSAA etc, no problem!
- Seems to be excellent bang for buck compared to similarly priced factory passively cooled cards (8600GT cards). I had been waiting for a decent card in that price range to come out, and I'm pretty happy with the performance/price ratio.
- Doesn't seem to heat up my little case any more than my old card, despite the claim that it can consume up to 100W

Bad:
- It's fricking huge. I have a small case and I had to move a hard disk drive to fit it in. Luckily there are no clearance issues with any of my other parts.

[krille]

So, is this Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 512MB GDDR3, PCI-Express 2.0, "Ultimate Edition" the best buy atm for the best performing silent card? Better than the 3870 dito (due to power consumption)?

I get the impression the power consumption of the 3850 is on par with the 8600, yet the performance is much better?

[theycallmebruce]

In my opinion, 3850 and 3870 represent best bang for buck at this point in time.

As far as I know, the Sapphire 3850 Ultimate is the only fanless (from the manufacturer) 3850 or 3870. That is why I chose it.

I have read in other threads on this forum that it is possible to buy a 3870 and run it fanless using aftermarket graphics coolers, but I wasn't up for that.

[psiu]

ATI/AMD dropped prices--this card is now 204.99 plus shipping at Newegg FYI.

Good to see price dropping...

[krille]

In my opinion, 3850 and 3870 represent best bang for buck at this point in time.

As far as I know, the Sapphire 3850 Ultimate is the only fanless (from the manufacturer) 3850 or 3870. That is why I chose it.

I have read in other threads on this forum that it is possible to buy a 3870 and run it fanless using aftermarket graphics coolers, but I wasn't up for that.

Actually there is a 3870 of the exact same card (Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 512MB GDDR4, PCI-Express 2.0, "Ultimate Edition"). But my main fear is that getting the silent 3870 would be pushing the limit, thermally. Would you agree?

edit: There is also the PowerColor Radeon HD 3870 "SCS3" 512MB, GDDR4, PCI-Express 2.0, 2xDVI/HDMI/HDCP. I wonder which would be the better cooler?

[theycallmebruce]

I didn't see that 3870 ultimate! It's not available in Australia at the moment.

I can't say whether or not it would be pushing the limit, I don't know. You would hope that they wouldn't release a card unless it had been tested and known to be reliable.

[spykez]

It seens that the powercolor 3870 passive is better because it haves 2 massive heatpipes on both sides of the card so it runs cooler, the problem is that it is a 3 slot design.

[krille]

I didn't see that 3870 ultimate! It's not available in Australia at the moment.

I can't say whether or not it would be pushing the limit, I don't know. You would hope that they wouldn't release a card unless it had been tested and known to be reliable.

The problem is it all depends on case-flow. And it's very hard to tell what amount of case-flow a card's been designed for. As we build for silence, the case-flow will be very limited in most cases and as a result cooling solutions (especially passive ones) won't perform anywhere as well as under "normal" conditions.

edit: As for 3850 vs 3870. Isn't the main point of the 3850 the lower power consumption (20-30W under load)? While the power consumption of the 8800GT is only slightly higher than the 3870 and most people seem to argue it's a better card. To me it looks like 3850 passive is the sweet spot?

edit2: How do the Sapphire and Powercolor passive cooling solutions stack up against Arctic Cooling's Accelero S1 Rev. 2 and the Cooler Master CoolViva Z1 and Thermalright's offerings? In short, what's the best passive cooling solution for a 3850 card?

[GavinAshford]

I'm still holding out for one of these cards and I asked ebuyer today about stock and they are planning on getting some in stock but they're awaiting for their supplier to get some and it "may take a few weeks".

(just some info for anyone in the UK)

[psklenar]

Bad News for me.

Question to Sapphire Tech:
"Please can you tell me the height of the Heatpipe cooler on the HD3850 passive version. I need to know if it will fit in the space between the PCIE slot and the Northbridge cooler on my motherboard (Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4). Thanks."
Their reply:
"Dear Sir :
Thank you for interesting to our VGA products.
About your question , we are afraid that the heatsink version can not plug into this MB.
The heatsink on the back of PCB dimension is 21.3cm X 7.3cm X 3.2cm(height) , all of these count from your PCI-E slot.
Thanks."

DrStrange,

Have you found a pair of passively cooled video cards that will work on the EX38-DS4?

pat----

[Fred]

Actually there is a 3870 of the exact same card (Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 512MB GDDR4, PCI-Express 2.0, "Ultimate Edition").

Out of curiosity, has anyone seen that particular card anywhere else than that specific page? Can't find it on either google or sapphire's webpage. Strange.

Edit: Perhaps it isn't out yet... it's some time left before komplett has it in their possession.

[JoeRoss578]

Does anyone know if the Sapphire Ultimate Edition 3850HD will fit a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L board? I'm worried about the Northbridge heatsink and memory slots being in the way of the GPU heatsink...

[elziko]

Does anyone know if the Sapphire Ultimate Edition 3850HD will fit a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L board? I'm worried about the Northbridge heatsink and memory slots being in the way of the GPU heatsink...

As I mentioned earlier, my HD3870 fits my GA-P35-DS3L board just fine - I very much doubt the faster card has a smaller heat sink.

EDIT: From the next post says, it seems that my assumption on the HD3870 heat sink being the same or bigger than the HD3850 is not valid!

[D Incorporated]

Yeah the 3870 fits fine (my hardware just arrived and I was able to test it a few hours ago), but the top heatsink on the 3850 is actually larger than on the 3870 (that's the main reason I ordered the 3870 over 3850), so it can't be said for sure about the 3850 unless somebody with it can verify. Looking at images of the 3850 and 3870 side by side and trying to picture the different sizes relative to the 3870 sitting in the board in front of me, I think the 3850 should clear the northbridge without hassle, but you'll probably have to be careful if your RAM has heatsinks that extend more than 2-4mm. I will have pictures of my GA-P35-DS3L with the HD3870 in a day or three.

[tehcrazybob]

Ok whatever dude, but to quote the "System Requirements" on the side of box that the card comes in "450Watt or greater power supply with 30Amps on 12Volt rail with 2x3 power connector recommended".

Obviously you know a lot more than the people that designed and made this card.

I'm sure we can have these conversations without getting rude (and yes, I realize I'm responding to a pretty old post, but it bothered me).

Video card manufacturers routinely publish completely ridiculous power supply requirements because there are so many low-quality power supplies out there. Most of the supplies on hardware enthusiast sites are of good quality, and most of the supplies on this particular site are of exceptional quality, because that's what you need to keep things quiet. However, out in the real world, there are a truly staggering number of people using $5-$15 power supplies, or, even worse, the power supplies that came with their computer case. The ratings on these things are usually a joke, and if you try to pull their "rated" capacity from them for more than a few seconds they'll either give such low-quality power that they'll crash your computer or they'll just just fail completely.

If you were running a modern system, including an HD3850, on a $5 "450 watt" power supply, you may indeed be using nearly the maximum available power. On the other hand, if that's a respected name-brand PSU, you won't even be using half the available power. In truth, a completely reasonable system with a Core 2 Duo, a hard drive or two, and an HD3850 would barely pull 150 watts.

So, just to make sure that's clear - the "system requirements" are taking the safe road and assuming your power supply's rated capacity is a complete and utter lie on the part of its manufacturer, because that's the most common situation. If, on the other hand, you know you have a quality supply, you can quite happily ignore that recommendation.

[elziko]

So, just to make sure that's clear - the "system requirements" are taking the safe road and assuming your power supply's rated capacity

I agree. I'm running the card with an 'under-spec' PSU and I have it maxed out in Crysis for quite a while with no problems at all. I have a 420W Tagan. I'm sure my 12V rail is can supply nowhere near 30A, not sure of the actual values though.

[D Incorporated]

Does anyone know if the Sapphire Ultimate Edition 3850HD will fit a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L board? I'm worried about the Northbridge heatsink and memory slots being in the way of the GPU heatsink...

I will have pictures of my GA-P35-DS3L with the HD3870 in a day or three.

Make that two days. Pictures here

EDIT: From the next post says, it seems that my assumption on the HD3870 heat sink being the same or bigger than the HD3850 is not valid!

It's valid, but the arrangement is different. There's only one heatsink on the 3850, and it's the top one. That giant bottom one we have on our 3870's isn't present at all on the 3850, making the 3850 a 2-slot model instead of a 3-slot like the 3870. However, as a result, the top heatsink is larger on the 3850 even though the 3870 has far more overall heatsink area.

Here's the 3850...


...and here's the 3870:


If you look at my pictures and try to imagine the 3850 in the place of the 3870, I think you will find good northbridge clearance, but you may have problems using RAM with taller heatsinks.

[Fred]

So, just to make sure that's clear - the "system requirements" are taking the safe road and assuming your power supply's rated capacity is a complete and utter lie on the part of its manufacturer, because that's the most common situation.

Ah, I see. Makes sense to me.

[JoeRoss578]

Does anyone know if the Sapphire Ultimate Edition 3850HD will fit a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L board? I'm worried about the Northbridge heatsink and memory slots being in the way of the GPU heatsink...

I will have pictures of my GA-P35-DS3L with the HD3870 in a day or three.

Make that two days. Pictures here

Thanks for the pics!