3850 256mb vs 512mb

[richwenzel]

I had been searching for some comparisons between the 256mb 3850s and the 512mb ones to see how much a difference it makes (i game on a 22in).

I had a hard time find some reviews directly comparing the two. So I looked at newegg and found some 512mb ones and decided to search for reviews. I found two interesting ones.

The one bad part about these reviews is that they are not standard clock vs standard clock, i.e. they overstate the difference between the two if you are willing to overclock the 256mb.

This one is $210 at newegg after rebate (only 8 off standard 3870 in 3dmark06, wow)
http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/485/



This one is $190 at newegg after rebate and the one I will most likely buy (the 210 does seem to be closer to3870 performance and is cooler looking [literally and figuratively] but I am too cheap)
http://www.techpowerup.com/rev...n_HD_3850_X-Turbo-III/

I flip flop between the two actually, I think this is better than 256mb gt as the $210 version is really close to a 3870....

As a point of reference the cheapest newegg prices for a 256mb 3850 256mb/8800gt 256mb respectively are: $160/$215 ($200 out of stock)...this is after rebate.

I am pretty much decided on one of these two cards. I am really writing the post to help people that are considering between the 256/512 versions, as I found it hard to find a directo comparison. I just found things that said the the 512 is better...

Rich

 

[biostud]

Personally I wouldn't get less than 512mb of video memory.

 

[Doclife]

HD3850 with 512MB for $160 (after $30 rebate) will solve your dilemna.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814140086

 

[richwenzel]

I am a bit leery about apollo...very few reviews of any of their items on newegg, and most are not good:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...apollo&name=Apollo+Inc.

 

[ZoNtO]

It just depends on what you are going to use the card for bro. If you're comparing it to 3870 performance you obviously care about gaming performance so you'd probably want to get the 512mb version and get a good aftermarket cooler for it or something. Weigh in the factor of finding a cheap 3870 as opposed to a 3850 512 though, it's only a few more depending on the deal.

If you're just going for casual gaming and HTPC use, then get the 256 mb. After price matching and returning a few times, I ended up getting my Visiontek HD3850 256mb for $107!

 

[BFG10K]

It's better to get a 3870 but if you can't get the 512 MB version. 256 is just too crippled for modern games.

 

[Killrose]

Get the 512mb vers. And get the Gigabyte with the Zalman onit
Look at how close the 3850 256mb comes to the 3870 512mb with its faster core clock and 512mb of DDR4 mem in some benches. With 512mb and a little bit of OC on core and mem on a 3850 you wont look back.

My Saphire 521mb card gets well over 75c while running at 700MHz. Have a Zalman comming for mine.

Just noticed the 512mb 3850 Visiontek comes WITH GDDR4 here

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
It's better to get a 3870 but if you can't get the 512 MB version. 256 is just too crippled for modern games.

256MB isn't too bad at lower resolutions. I might actually pick up a 512MB version if I can find a wicked sale(non Apollo), just in the interest of directly comparing the two.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Killrose
Just noticed the 512mb 3850 Visiontek comes WITH GDDR4 here

That's what it claims, but the RAM clocks aren't very high. In fact, the card has identical specs and cooler as the GeCube version which is listed with GDDR3, so maybe it is a typo?

 

[Kampfire]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Killrose
Just noticed the 512mb 3850 Visiontek comes WITH GDDR4 here

That's what it claims, but the RAM clocks aren't very high. In fact, the card has identical specs and cooler as the GeCube version which is listed with GDDR3, so maybe it is a typo?

can anyone confirm if that visiontek has GDDR4 memory?

 

[Rockhound1]

The reviews of the product on Newegg say this card has GDDR3.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Kampfire

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Killrose
Just noticed the 512mb 3850 Visiontek comes WITH GDDR4 here

That's what it claims, but the RAM clocks aren't very high. In fact, the card has identical specs and cooler as the GeCube version which is listed with GDDR3, so maybe it is a typo?

can anyone confirm if that visiontek has GDDR4 memory?

Click me (notice sticker on image. Part number matches). GDDR3 (not 4).

 

[Yuriman]

After extensively reading reviews, I have come to the conclusion that 1680x1050 is the borderline resolution where a 256mb card starts to fall behind in performance... assuming max settings. Turning textures down a notch or running without vsync will probably go a long way in saving memory, and you'd be fine, but don't expect to run AA in most new games. I purchased 2x 3850 256mb's for crossfire, and if I'm not happy, Ill sell them and move up. However, by my reasoning, since crossfire halves the framebuffer size per card (I believe), 256mb might be enough for me.

It seems to me, that if you can get 2x 256mb cards for the price of a 512mb card, plis $20-30 or so, you're better off doing that.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Engineer
Click me (notice sticker on image. Part number matches). GDDR3 (not 4).

Thanks for the link.

 

[Kampfire]

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: Kampfire

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Killrose
Just noticed the 512mb 3850 Visiontek comes WITH GDDR4 here

That's what it claims, but the RAM clocks aren't very high. In fact, the card has identical specs and cooler as the GeCube version which is listed with GDDR3, so maybe it is a typo?

can anyone confirm if that visiontek has GDDR4 memory?

Click me (notice sticker on image. Part number matches). GDDR3 (not 4).

thanks

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Engineer
Click me (notice sticker on image. Part number matches). GDDR3 (not 4).

Thanks for the link.

You're welcome. There is also a pretty good review of the card at that site. Shows how close it comes to a HD3870 and other cards. From what I can tell, most of these HD 3850 cards with 512M actually peform quite well against other cards. Not stellar, but above average and more than enough to play "most" games.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Or you could have the best of both worlds and get a 2900 Pro. 512MB, more memory bandwidth then a 3850 or 3870. And it's cheaper. I have mine running at 800mhz on the core right now. I know you said you were pretty well decided on the cards in the OP, but a 2900 90% the same card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102706

Runs hotter and needs more power though.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
Or you could have the best of both worlds and get a 2900 Pro. 512MB, more memory bandwidth then a 3850 or 3870. And it's cheaper. I have mine running at 800mhz on the core right now. I know you said you were pretty well decided on the cards in the OP, but a 2900 90% the same card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102706

Runs hotter and needs more power though.

It is about the same price as the Apollo 512M 3850 card from Newegg (which is $159.99 after $30 MIR PLUS FREE shipping). Of course, the 2900 has a better cooler, but it really needs it!

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Doclife
HD3850 with 512MB for $160 (after $30 rebate) will solve your dilemna.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814140086

And now FREE shipping to make it even better. Newegg had no problem issuing a credit for my shipping!

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally posted by: Yuriman
After extensively reading reviews, I have come to the conclusion that 1680x1050 is the borderline resolution where a 256mb card starts to fall behind in performance... assuming max settings. Turning textures down a notch or running without vsync will probably go a long way in saving memory, and you'd be fine, but don't expect to run AA in most new games. I purchased 2x 3850 256mb's for crossfire, and if I'm not happy, Ill sell them and move up. However, by my reasoning, since crossfire halves the framebuffer size per card (I believe), 256mb might be enough for me.

It seems to me, that if you can get 2x 256mb cards for the price of a 512mb card, plis $20-30 or so, you're better off doing that.

Most newer games I've monitored have used more more than 256mb, and most close to 512mb. That's on each "card" that makes up my 7950GX2. People make a big deal about resolution affecting how much VRAM you need, but IMO textures and other stuff are more important.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
Or you could have the best of both worlds and get a 2900 Pro. 512MB, more memory bandwidth then a 3850 or 3870. And it's cheaper. I have mine running at 800mhz on the core right now. I know you said you were pretty well decided on the cards in the OP, but a 2900 90% the same card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102706

Runs hotter and needs more power though.

Another "cheaper" 2900pro.

Originally posted by: Doclife
HD3850 with 512MB for $160 (after $30 rebate) will solve your dilemna.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814140086

Finally found settings on my motherboard to allow this to run properly and achieved 7,751 on 3DMark06. That's on E6600 (stock), 2GB of 667MHz 5-5-5-15 T2 Ram and Asrock 775DUAL-VSTA board with only PCIe 4X slot. Should do better with PCIe 16X slot of my next board not to mention Q9450 and 4GB of PC6400 DDR2 ram.

 

[soccerballtux]

I was considering the 50/70; decided if I got one (I got the 8800GT) I'd get a '50 with 512MB and OC it to 3870 speeds like everybody can (and most do).

 

[v8envy]

Once again, watch out. That cheaper 2900Pro is a 256 bit, not 512 bit version. The trailing 'L' in the product number gives it away -- the real Pro has a product ID ending in an 'R'. That one is a 2900GT with faster clocks. Hard to argue with the $145 price tag though.

If you've waited this long for a video upgrade (god knows I have, I've had my 7600GT for almost a year now) you can hang out and wait for 8800GTs to get stocked.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: v8envy
Once again, watch out. That cheaper 2900Pro is a 256 bit, not 512 bit version. The trailing 'L' in the product number gives it away -- the real Pro has a product ID ending in an 'R'. That one is a 2900GT with faster clocks. Hard to argue with the $145 price tag though.

If you've waited this long for a video upgrade (god knows I have, I've had my 7600GT for almost a year now) you can hang out and wait for 8800GTs to get stocked.

Thanks. The problem is that sites like Newegg list the card as 512bit. Unless you know what you're doing (I didn't) or take a look elsewhere (I didn't), you assume (wrong choice) that it truely is a 512bit card.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Newegg isn't very good at this kind of thing... In the picture it says 256-bit.