Bought a Xfire mobo - should I buy a HD3870?

[rocketbubba]

I'm in the process of upgrading from an A64 4400+ cpu system to a 6400+ system. The system I have now is an ASUS nVidia SLI based mobo but the new board is ASUS ATI Crossfire based. Years ago I used ATI video cards (7200, then 8500 - whooo!) and later made the switch to nVidia with a Ti4600. I've used nVidia cards since then (had good luck with 7900GSs in SLI and using an 8800GTS 320 card now) but am seriously looking at an ATI HD3870 since they are reasonably priced.

A few questions:

1) Would I see much improvement going from an 8800 GTS 320 to a HD3870 in general use and light gaming (Guild Wars for instance)?

2) The HD3870s all seem to have fast clock speeds and DDR4 ram but they don't seem to have an advantage over nVidia - why is that?

3) One consideration is trying Crossfire. Is it as good and easy to set up as SLI (for me SLI was a cinch!)?

Thanks.

 

[Jax Omen]

You'd see an improvement, but wait for HD4870. It shouldn't be long now. Sometime in May.

It'll either rock the socks off of everything, or at least drive prices on the 3870 down somewhat.

From what I've heard, CrossfireX is as easy to set up as SLI. If not easier.



As for why they don't have an advantage... I'm not sure, but many people claim it's due to the texture fill rate being terrible on the 3870s or something like that.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: rocketbubba
I'm in the process of upgrading from an A64 4400+ cpu system to a 6400+ system. The system I have now is an ASUS nVidia SLI based mobo but the new board is ASUS ATI Crossfire based. Years ago I used ATI video cards (7200, then 8500 - whooo!) and later made the switch to nVidia with a Ti4600. I've used nVidia cards since then (had good luck with 7900GSs in SLI and using an 8800GTS 320 card now) but am seriously looking at an ATI HD3870 since they are reasonably priced.

A few questions:

1) Would I see much improvement going from an 8800 GTS 320 to a HD3870 in general use and light gaming (Guild Wars for instance)?

2) The HD3870s all seem to have fast clock speeds and DDR4 ram but they don't seem to have an advantage over nVidia - why is that?

3) One consideration is trying Crossfire. Is it as good and easy to set up as SLI (for me SLI was a cinch!)?

Thanks.

1. Whether you'd see an improvement depends on the game and setting, those two cards are two close in performance to have a noticeable difference. (except at high res, where the 320 GTSs memory can hold it back)

2. It's a combination of the inherent inefficiency of the VLIW shader arch, shader resolve AA, less ROPs, slower shader clocks, and less TMUs than some NVIDIA models.

3. Crossfire is much closer to SLi these days, with more flexible drivers NVIDIA's advantage, and multi monitor and different card combos ATi's.

BTW- it should be noted i'd rather own a HD3870 over a 320MB GTS- but I think this is too much a lateral move to be worth it. The cards are too even.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: nRollo
BTW- it should be noted i'd rather own a HD3870 over a 320MB GTS- but I think this is too much a lateral move to be worth it. The cards are too even.

Very much a lateral move, both cards are ~15% slower than an 8800GT, although the 3870 pulls ahead of the 320MB GTS at high resolutions.

 

[Pelu]

there is some rumor around saying that ATI.. is going to release a new card model.. like 3xxx, 4xxx, 5xxx every 6 months... but there isnt going to be much deference between them...

 

[Pelu]

Originally posted by: rocketbubba

2) The HD3870s all seem to have fast clock speeds and DDR4 ram but they don't seem to have an advantage over nVidia - why is that?

some ATI cards have better physical clocks... but in the end isnt just speed... also depends how many transistors you have... how well they are done... and software (drivers)...

 

[Golgatha]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=31&threadid=2179929

I am ecstatically happy with my Crossfire setup.

 

[bryanW1995]

definitely wait until 48xx rolls around. It's supposed to be here in may so you don't have long to wait at all!

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: Pelu

Originally posted by: rocketbubba

2) The HD3870s all seem to have fast clock speeds and DDR4 ram but they don't seem to have an advantage over nVidia - why is that?

some ATI cards have better physical clocks... but in the end isnt just speed... also depends how many transistors you have... how well they are done... and software (drivers)...

How many transistors you have doesn't make performance better/worse.......

The architecture is so vastly different for both Nv and ATI that choosing a card based on specs is pretty useless- have a look at the benchmarks all over the net, thats how you gauge performance.

Happy Crossfire user here, but I'd agree wait for the 4xxx series.

 

[daveybrat]

Just use your 8800GTS for now and then sell it when the 4800 series comes out.

 

[rocketbubba]

Thanks for all the input and advice. On my budget I'll probably see if I can grab a couple 3870s on the cheap when the 4870s come out (maybe buy a 4870 at some point). Thankfully my PSU is crossfire ready.