evga 8800 GTX KO Superclocked vs. Radeon HD 3870 X2

[TommyD]

Which performs better? I'm currently thinking of shit canning my 8800 GTX KO super clocked for a 3870 X2 just because AMD/ATI's drivers are much more stable and they have better driver development for multi gpu support.

I had Quad SLI with 2 7950 GX2s and the support from nvidia and their drivers were abysmal to say the least.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: TommyD
Which performs better? I'm currently thinking of shit canning my 8800 GTX KO super clocked for a 3870 X2 just because AMD/ATI's drivers are much more stable and they have better driver development for multi gpu support.

I had Quad SLI with 2 7950 GX2s and the support from nvidia and their drivers were abysmal to say the least.

I'm wondering if you'd do better just getting a second GTX and SLI them. I'm assuming you have an SLI board if you ran 2x 7950GX2's previously.

What issues are "you" having with drivers that make them abysmal.

I have been using the following drivers with the following cards over the past few weeks.

169.21, 169.25, 174.20, 174.74 on:

single 8800GTS640
double 8800GTS640
single 8800GTS512
single 9800GTX
double 9800GTX

On following games:

Crysis, CoD4, Bioshock, Painkiller, Stalker, CoD2, Various Demos. Now I'm checking out Call of Juarez Demo. More to come. I'd hardly call current drivers "Abysmal".

To say the least?

 

[TommyD]

Well the other issue is my motherboard is a Crossfire board. I just chose it because from what I had read it was the best for overclocking at the time with stability, I have an Asus P5W DH Deluxe.

As for the driver support I am just -EXTREMELY- wary of buying any multi GPU nvidia products again after the lack of decent Quad SLI drivers when I had my 7950 GX2 Quad setup.

Not to mention I have an old Radeon HD PCI-E from my secondary PC, can you Crossfire slave that with the 3870 X2?

Anyway is one 8800 GTX KO Superclocked better then a Radeon 3870 X2?

 

[Sylvanas]

The 3870X2 is considerably faster in 7 out of 9 tests that AT did in their review (and these results were before the 8.3 Catalyst). The multiGPU products this round are much more refined than your old 7950GX2 setup and ATI's drivers are on the improve every month. You could probably sell the GTX second hand and not have to fork out much if any for a new X2.

 

[TommyD]

Thanks Sylvanas.

Does anyone know if the 3870 X2 can be setup in Crossfire with a card not identical to it like a 3870 regular?

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by: TommyD
Thanks Sylvanas.

Does anyone know if the 3870 X2 can be setup in Crossfire with a card not identical to it like a 3870 regular?

Yes, you can Crossfire a X2 and a regulare 3870. But doesn't this only work in Vista ?

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Here's a handy chart for all your crossfire needs:
link

 

[betasub]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2174141&enterthread=y

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: TommyD
Which performs better? I'm currently thinking of shit canning my 8800 GTX KO super clocked for a 3870 X2 just because AMD/ATI's drivers are much more stable and they have better driver development for multi gpu support.

I had Quad SLI with 2 7950 GX2s and the support from nvidia and their drivers were abysmal to say the least.

Sell your gtx and grab a 9800gx2. You should be able to find one for 520.00$ now. You should get 250$ for your gtx easy. 270.00$ out of pocket isn't bad for the fastest single slot card.

 

[TommyD]

I no longer want Nvidia for my graphics solutions mainly due to the poor driver support in Vista.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: TommyD
I no longer want Nvidia for my graphics solutions mainly due to the poor driver support in Vista.

As betasub so kindly linked to my review, i'll suggest you read through it as well.

Originally posted by: betasub
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2174141&enterthread=y

I have an 8800 GTX, & yes, nV's Vista drivers have been craptacular from day one, & while they continue to improve them, they were so bad in the first place that i can understand how you'd still be frustrated.

I know i have a strong desire to throw my card out the window everything i get a BSOD from doing something as simple as alt tabbing in UT3.

However, i hate to say, but like myself, i doubt you'd be very happy with Crossfire 3870s either.

Check out my review...i babble alot about how i feel about the 3870X2 (which is basically the same thing as CF 3870s), so maybe it'll give another perspective.

 

[scottb75]

You have an 8800GTX KO which is closer in performance to the 8800Ultra then to the stock 8800GTX. With that said, and in my opinion I've seen too many real world game tests where the 8800Ultra still beats the 3870X2 to justify switching. I think that unless your favorite game is 3dMark06 that you'll get more consistant in-game performance from staying with the 8800GTX KO, then switching to the 3870X2, atleast until the drivers for the 3870X2 mature a bit.

 

[lopri]

I agree with others. Just keep the GTX a little longer.

 

[TC91]

Originally posted by: TommyD
I no longer want Nvidia for my graphics solutions mainly due to the poor driver support in Vista.

the current drivers have not been very stable for me as well (they reset sometimes, but instead of reloading the driver i get a bsod instead), since then i have reverted back to 163.75 but they dont have the optimizations for newer games though. i would suggest to keep the GTX a little longer like the others have suggested; perhaps rv770 might be a good card but you might have to wait another year to get a very nice boost in performance.

 

[imported_wired247]

I'm going come in with a flame suit on and say that the current geforce 9-series drivers for vista are just about perfect in every application and game I've tried.

 

[ROEHUNTER]

I had 2 x 3870's in crossfire for awhile and while they would get more max fps than the card I have now, the min fps just ... well... sucked.

I did an impulse buy and bought a 8800GTS 512 and am very glad I did. The gameplay is alot smoother, and as for the drivers, they seem fine to me. I have noticed I can change the Nvidia drivers about twice as fast as the ATI ones.

Anyways my vote would be to stay with the 8800.

Originally posted by: betasub
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2174141&enterthread=y

That is a very good post showing how the 8800 can keep the framrate up to a decent level , while the 3870 struggles.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: wired247
I'm going come in with a flame suit on and say that the current geforce 9-series drivers for vista are just about perfect in every application and game I've tried.

I would agree with this. I'm using 174.74's with Vista32 on 2x9800GTX. I can't speak for everybody, but in the games I play, I'm pretty dern impressed. Single or SLI.

Anyway, OP: I'd stay with your superclocked GTX. Especially after reading N7's mini review.
It's your call, but the info is there for you to see. Basically, it always ends up being what you really want to do.

 

[bfdd]

Nvidia drivers were so bad for Vista when I built a rig around a 8800 GTX that I kept XP 32bit on for a couple more months. Felt like I wasted my money buying Vista they crashed so often, now though they're pretty damn good almost no crashes, but I do run 9600 GTs in SLI.

 

[TommyD]

Not to sound like an idiot but what is the deal with minimum fps? Why would that matter when it comes down to playing games?

 

[DeathSniper]

The gameplay will have more stuttering (ie not as smooth).