Radeon hd3850 (105w)

jmke · Post by **jmke** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:05 am

I don't think new drivers will make a difference, since the core architecture hasn't changed much

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:26 am

7.9 Catalysts Sheeh... I had huge difference between 7.9 and 7.10 with my HD 2900 Pro ( 11% to 15% )

Well, I'll generally don't trust one source. We should get VR-zones, Guru 3D's and other's hardware site's reviews soon. Then its much easier to compeare numbers. But there is rumor nVidia will have short supply of 8800 GT's as it only could supply 40,000 units during release week.

If nVidia has supply problems and HD 3800-series scores even slightly similarly, Ati still might sell better than nVidia, unless nVidia really can supply enough 8800GT's. Average joes hardly can wait more than 3 or 4 weeks. There are several persons around world who have waited 8800 GT's for weeks and nothing yet... Almost everywhere it seems to be sold: "Don't have any... GT's are comming but we don't know when"

supox · Post by **supox** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:53 am

Well, here's another one, then.

http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/AMD_Rad ... /5392.html

edit:

And another:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1222/1 ... index.html

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:08 pm

That the HD3870's gaming performance generally matches, if not surpasses the HD2900XT is further proof of the advantages of moving to the new fabrication process. Added to that, ATI is pushing for CrossFireX which not only allows for more than 2 cards to be used in CrossFire configuration, it also allows for mixed-cards Crossfire abilities. With this, ATI is starting show positive signs in the direction they are taking, especially with the fantastic price point of the two cards, significantly lower than what their rivals are offering.

That doesn't seem too bad. I am actually bit surprised how well Ati did against 8800GT... I was expecting something like... Fiat Punto vs Bugatti Veyron

I just hoped they would have brought more games like: Prey, Serious Sam 2 ( old but Good ) Oblivion, your standard Far Cry to give more spectrum in games... The amount of games they tested seemed... pretty limited. But HD3870 did surprisingly well in DX10 tests.

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:55 pm

I'll quote myself from another thread.

Erssa wrote:Look at the power consumption from Anandtechs benchmarks. Link. HD3870 vs 2900XT shows dramatic 80W improvement at idle power consumption. 40W less then 8800GT. 90W improvement in load power compared to 2900XT. Load power consumption is pretty much equal to 8800GT. These improvements aren't short of amazing.

HD3850 looks to be my future card.

jojo4u · Post by **jojo4u** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:22 am

Power consumption summarized here.

Kaleid · Post by **Kaleid** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 8:47 am

Might've already been posted.

Passive 3850 from Sapphire:
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?optio ... 7&Itemid=1

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 10:13 am

We need better load draw information. I want to see someone use a system w/o a video card run 3dmark, then take the same system, add a 3850, test power consumption during 3dmark. All of the load power draw we're seeing reported includes some CPU loading, right? Unless they're using some sort of GPU loading tool that uses only the GPU and is completely void of cpu usage.

edit: I'm really only interested in terms of cooling...I was hoping to be able to cool one of these with a passive HR-03, idle power consumption is incredible though. In theory, my idle power consumption should drop just by switching to either card. I just don't want to have to change cooling solutions. We need someone to test with 3rd party coolers.

_MarcoM_ · Post by **_MarcoM_** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 11:08 am

Kaleid wrote:Might've already been posted.

Passive 3850 from Sapphire:
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?optio ... 7&Itemid=1

Why not solid state capacitors, damn. But pretty piece of hardware, hope it is possible to mount in P150 without overheat it

johnniecache7 · Post by **johnniecache7** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 1:15 pm

Radeon HD 3850 destorys the my Geforce 8800 GTS 320MB

. There priced at $206.00 here in Toronto good deal. Still no slient cooling looks like I be waiting for Thermalright to make VGA cooler .

Radeon HD 3850 vs Geforce 8800 GTS 320MB benchmarks: h*tp://www.elitebastards.com/cms/index.php?opt ... mitstart=5

Shining Arcanine · Post by **Shining Arcanine** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 12:46 pm

lloydo wrote:
Matija wrote:Ugh... 100W is a LOT. No 3850 for me, then And that's already wattage that requires a HR-03+ and a fan, or heavy ducting.
What else would you use? I don't know of any gaming card that comes near in terms of performance that isn't 150 W...

A GeForce 7950 GT is not a bad card and it uses very little power, so little that XFX is selling a passively cooled version of it. I am using it right now.

If you are still playing DirectX 9 games, you will find plenty of cards that do not have triple digit power requirements when measured in watts.

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:29 am

Shining Arcanine wrote:A GeForce 7950 GT is not a bad card and it uses very little power, so little that XFX is selling a passively cooled version of it. I am using it right now.

If you are still playing DirectX 9 games, you will find plenty of cards that do not have triple digit power requirements when measured in watts.

I plan to buy a passive HD3850 to replace my undervolted and passive 7950GT.

Almost insane to buy a new 7950GT today imho, since the HD3850 seems to draw less power, at least in idle, and performs so much better. Beeing a modern card it also has decode support for H264 etc.
Sure it cost a bit more than the 7950GT, but still.

josephclemente · Post by **josephclemente** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:52 pm

I replaced my passive EVGA GeForce 7950GT KO with a 3850. According to my UPS, my system now consumes 89 watts instead of 99 at idle.

The power savings didn't happen until I installed the ATI drivers. It was somewhere around 30 watts higher before the drivers were installed.

I was planning on installing my Aerocool VM-101 on the card first thing before trying the 3850, but decided to listen to the stock cooling. To my surprise, it really is quiet. My system sounds the same.

I tried running RTHDRIBL fullscreen and the fan speed does not seem to change.

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:54 pm

What about load power consumption?

_MarcoM_ · Post by **_MarcoM_** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:56 pm

josephclemente wrote: According to my UPS, my system now consumes 89 watts instead of 99 at idle.

What's the UPS model? Just for curiosity

josephclemente · Post by **josephclemente** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:36 pm

_MarcoM_ wrote:What's the UPS model? Just for curiosity

It is a Best Buy Geek Squad 875VA. It isn't as sensitive as my Kill A Watt, though, it seems to do some rounding. The comparison to my 7950 GT KO may actually be more or less than 10 watts... I just tried my Kill A Watt and my system shows 85 watts idle.

lloydo · Post by **lloydo** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:00 am

josephclemente wrote:I was planning on installing my Aerocool VM-101 on the card first thing before trying the 3850, but decided to listen to the stock cooling. To my surprise, it really is quiet. My system sounds the same.

I tried running RTHDRIBL fullscreen and the fan speed does not seem to change.

This is great news, and according to a lot of the reviews I've read, the HD3870 is even quieter.

inti · Post by **inti** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 5:12 am

Powercolor 3850 Xtreme (also called 3850 Pro Extreme Silent in some markets)

This looks to be a 3850 with an aftermarket cooler (Zerotherm GX810). Cooler specs say "Automatic fan speed control by Temp. Sensor (900~2500 rpm)". So keep your case cool, and this should be very quiet.

Could be a good alternative to passive, for people (like me) without a lot of space to spare above the graphics card. Not sure how effective this 'open' fan cooling system is, but temperature graphs on various reviews look good - also I kind of like it, helps to keep other cards cool instead of blocking all airflow down there.

It's also factory overclocked, so should be one of the fastest 3850 cards.

Review at TechPowerUp
Review at MVKTech

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:15 am

Problem with those extreme cards is that they run 100% all the time. There is no fan adjustment in those card which is big, big negative thing as even regular HD 3850 had fan adjustment. Some peoples say their extreme version is as loud as HD 2900-series. Now that's damn loud. So if you get Extreme version, prepeare for cooler change.

plympton · Post by **plympton** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:45 am

Hey all,

Just wanted to post my experience with the VisionTek 3850 I just got - summary is that the stock cooler seems pretty quiet for this SPCR reader!

I have an Antec P150, a 250, 320, and 500 GB drive (all soft-mounted with cords), a Seasonic S12-380 (I think - it's the highest one without the PCI-E connector), and 2 Antec Tri-Cool fans - one internal, one blowing out. My processor is a E6600 overclocked to 2.89 GHz on a Conroe945g-dvi motherboard with 3 GB ram.

The whole thing is pretty quiet under my desk as-is - not SILENT, but tolerable, and relatively cool. I haven't looked at temps, but will this weekend once I figure the whole mess out. One reason it's so quiet could be because it's frying in there.... but I don't think so.

The added 3850 doesn't add MUCH noise to the whole ensemble, and I'm pretty happy. I stressed over this or the 3870 with the much better stock cooler (w/ exhaust fan), but the 3850 was such a good deal ($125 after discounts at Dell), that it was a no-briainer.

Easy install (was running the GMA950), runs in Windows fine, runs Crysis at enjoyable resolution / framerates, and I'm a happy guy.

That said.. don't be afraid of the 3850 because of the stock cooler. The money you save can go towards an aftermarket cooler if it drives you buggy!

-Dan

Radeon hd3850 (105w)

Visiontek 3850