Got my Diamond 3870 video card

[thilanliyan]

http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2921.jpg
Lol at NCIX...half video card...half stuffing (got it very fast though...ordered Nov 15 AM...arrived Nov 16 around noon)

http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2922.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2923.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2924.jpg


Preliminary OCing using CCC yields 855MHz core and 1350MHz (2700MHz) (!!!) memory. I'll post some game results later cause I don't have much time right now. Unfortunately Rivatuner 2.06 nor AMDGPUClock tool work with the card. It isn't even recognized as a 3870...just as RV670.

EDIT: Memory at 1350MHz started artifacting in Crysis demo so backed down to 1300MHz.

FAN SPEED AND NOISE
I upped the fan speed to 50% using Rivatuner and idle temps dropped to 50C (at 850/1300) from 65. Anything above 50% is too noticeable for me.

At 50% fan speed the card idles at 40C (when underclocked by the driver to 300/1130) and loads at 60-65C.

The card feels much lighter than my previous 8800GTS 640 I had...probably because the cooler doesn't cover a whole lot of area...and the fan shroud doesn't even cover all the memory heatsinks.

Any requests for testing?

TESTING RESULTS (only in Vista) (using drivers on CD (8.43 package))
------------------------------------

3DMark06
-doesn't let me go to the online results browser and doesn't show me the scores in the program itself.

_____________________________________________
Mandelbrot (775/1200)
SM3 = 23.1 SM2= 11.80 FBO = 13.30 CPU = 2.88

Mandelbrot (855/1350)
SM3 = 25.5 SM2= 13.10 FBO = 14.70 CPU = 2.88

_____________________________________________
CRYSIS (775/1200)
1920x1200 Very High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 11

CRYSIS (855/1300)
1920x1200 Very High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 12 (lol, huge increase there)

CRYSIS (855/1300)
1920x1200 High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 17


CRYSIS (855/1300)
1600x1200 Very High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 14

CRYSIS (855/1300) (using ATI Hotfix driver)
1600x1200 Very High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 16

CRYSIS (855/1300) (using ATI Hotfix driver)
1600x1200 High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 22

CRYSIS (855/1300) (using ATI Hotfix driver)
1680x1050 Very High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 0xAF in CCC
avg fps = 22

CRYSIS (855/1300) (using ATI Hotfix driver)
1680x1050 Very High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 13

CRYSIS (855/1300) (using ATI Hotfix driver)
1680x1050 High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 18

CRYSIS (855/1300) (using ATI Hotfix driver)
1440x900 Very High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 26

CRYSIS (855/1300) (using ATI Hotfix driver)
1440x900 High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 30

CRYSIS (855/1300) (using ATI Hotfix driver)
1280x1024 Very High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 35 (+10 over regular driver)

CRYSIS (855/1300) (using ATI Hotfix driver)
1280x1024 High settings (except shadows and post-processing at medium), 0AA, vsync off, 16xAF in CCC
avg fps = 35 (+7 over regular driver)
__________________________________________
Counter Strike: Source (775/1126)
1920x1200 All max settings, 0AA
avg fps = 220

Counter Strike: Source (775/1126)
1920x1200 All max settings, 4AA
avg fps = 154

 

[hclarkjr]

how long is the card?

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: hclarkjr
how long is the card?

It's just a bit shorter than the 8800GTS...so about 9 inches I think. It fits fine in my P180...even with the middle drive cage in place.

 

[aiya24]

HL2/CS:S, CoD4 @ 1920x1200, before/after OC tests.

 

[Syntax Error]

Nice! Let's see some benchmarks.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: thilan29
Any requests for testing?

Crysis - highest settings with playable fps you get on your BenQ at either 1920x1200 or 1920z1080.

 

[sisq0kidd]

I want a subjective (of course) evaluation of the noise. Give us comparisons. Don't really care about decibels, just want to know your impressions.

Also, that is the most decorated video card packaging I have ever seen.

 

[Munky]

Now that you mention it, try my mandelbrot set benchmark. Run the app and hit Enter to do the benchmark, I'm curious how this compares to the x1900xt.

 

[bryanW1995]

3dmark06...the only benchmark that matters

seriously, crysis at 1440x900, all details very high, max aa/af.

 

[tvdang7]

dang nice mem. wonder why the reviewers cant overclock it as high as u can. or does diamond have better memory?

 

[Sylvanas]

Wow great results, I too would like to see Crysis benches at max rez all high 16xAF 0xAA.

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: aiya24
HL2/CS:S, CoD4 @ 1920x1200, before/after OC tests.

Is the test available with just Episode 2 installed? What exactly do I have to install?
For CoD4 is there an ingame benchmark?

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: thilan29
Any requests for testing?

Crysis - highest settings with playable fps you get on your BenQ at either 1920x1200 or 1920z1080.

Would the demo benchmark suffice? I don't have the game installed yet.

Oh by the way I can ONLY do Vista testing..sorry.

Originally posted by: tvdang7
dang nice mem. wonder why the reviewers cant overclock it as high as u can. or does diamond have better memory?

Not sure about Diamond memory but the Hardwarecanucks review also got very high on the memory.

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: sisq0kidd
I want a subjective (of course) evaluation of the noise. Give us comparisons. Don't really care about decibels, just want to know your impressions.

Also, that is the most decorated video card packaging I have ever seen.

As of right now I can't hear the fan period...but I don't know how fast it's spinning since I can't control it and don't know if CCC can control it. For comparison, my previous 8800GTS 640 was noticeable above 60%.

The only time you hear it is if you do a hard boot it spins up very fast but immediately slows down...lol, it actually scared me the 1st time

 

[Munky]

Wow, all your scores in the mandelbrot benchmark are much lower than I expected. With my rig, I get about 33 SM3, 16 SM2, 12 FBO, 5.5 CPU. Your cpu score should be around 9, and I don't know what the heck is up with the video scores... what do you get in 3dmark?

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: munky
Wow, all your scores in the mandelbrot benchmark are much lower than I expected. With my rig, I get about 33 SM3, 16 SM2, 12 FBO, 5.5 CPU. Your cpu score should be around 9, and I don't know what the heck is up with the video scores... what do you get in 3dmark?

Does it work well in Vista?
Installing 3DMark right now.
I ran RTHDRIBL and I get around the same FPS as my 8800GTS did...so I think it's fine...??

I've set Aniso to 16x in CCC and vsync on, and rest default...should Catalyst A.I. be disabled?

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: tvdang7
dang nice mem. wonder why the reviewers cant overclock it as high as u can. or does diamond have better memory?

not true, I read a site that had 860 core/2750+- mem. hardwarecanucks I think.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: thilan29

Originally posted by: sisq0kidd
I want a subjective (of course) evaluation of the noise. Give us comparisons. Don't really care about decibels, just want to know your impressions.

Also, that is the most decorated video card packaging I have ever seen.

As of right now I can't hear the fan period...but I don't know how fast it's spinning since I can't control it and don't know if CCC can control it. For comparison, my previous 8800GTS 640 was noticeable above 60%.

The only time you hear it is if you do a hard boot it spins up very fast but immediately slows down...lol, it actually scared me the 1st time

yeah, I think that all ati cards do that. my 1950xt does it, too. unfortunately, it sometimes gets that fast during hard gaming sessions, too...scary...

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: thilan29

Originally posted by: munky
Wow, all your scores in the mandelbrot benchmark are much lower than I expected. With my rig, I get about 33 SM3, 16 SM2, 12 FBO, 5.5 CPU. Your cpu score should be around 9, and I don't know what the heck is up with the video scores... what do you get in 3dmark?

Does it work well in Vista?
Installing 3DMark right now.
I ran RTHDRIBL and I get around the same FPS as my 8800GTS did...so I think it's fine...??

I never tried it on Vista... that could be the reason for lower scores

 

[swtethan]

Originally posted by: thilan29
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2921.jpg
Lol at NCIX...half video card...half stuffing (got it very fast though...ordered Nov 15 AM...arrived Nov 16 around noon)

http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2922.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2923.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2924.jpg


Preliminary OCing using CCC yields 855MHz core and 1350MHz (2700MHz) (!!!) memory. I'll post some game results later cause I don't have much time right now. Unfortunately Rivatuner 2.06 nor AMDGPUClock tool work with the card. It isn't even recognized as a 3870...just as RV670.

Oh and I can't control the fan speed in CCC...how do ya'll 2900 owners do it?

The card feels much lighter than my previous 8800GTS 640 I had...probably because the cooler doesn't cover a whole lot of area...and the fan shroud doesn't even cover all the memory heatsinks.

Any requests for testing?

TESTING RESULTS (only in Vista)
------------------------------------

Mandelbrot (775/1200)
SM3 = 23.1 SM2= 11.80 FBO = 13.30 CPU = 2.88

Mandelbrot (855/1350)
SM3 = 25.5 SM2= 13.10 FBO = 14.70 CPU = 2.88

In comparison of the same test on my system with 700/1900/2000 clocks

SM3= 62.4 SM2= 31.4 FBO= 31.2 CPU= 3.78



Using Vista64

 

[AFG34]

did you get any games with it? orange box?

 

[bryanW1995]

mandelbrot is either nvidia friendly or OP has some cleaning up to do...

 

[swtethan]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
mandelbrot is either nvidia friendly or OP has some cleaning up to do...

or.......... the third option



my card just rocks

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: swtethan

Originally posted by: thilan29
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2921.jpg
Lol at NCIX...half video card...half stuffing (got it very fast though...ordered Nov 15 AM...arrived Nov 16 around noon)

http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2922.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2923.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2924.jpg


Preliminary OCing using CCC yields 855MHz core and 1350MHz (2700MHz) (!!!) memory. I'll post some game results later cause I don't have much time right now. Unfortunately Rivatuner 2.06 nor AMDGPUClock tool work with the card. It isn't even recognized as a 3870...just as RV670.

Oh and I can't control the fan speed in CCC...how do ya'll 2900 owners do it?

The card feels much lighter than my previous 8800GTS 640 I had...probably because the cooler doesn't cover a whole lot of area...and the fan shroud doesn't even cover all the memory heatsinks.

Any requests for testing?

TESTING RESULTS (only in Vista)
------------------------------------

Mandelbrot (775/1200)
SM3 = 23.1 SM2= 11.80 FBO = 13.30 CPU = 2.88

Mandelbrot (855/1350)
SM3 = 25.5 SM2= 13.10 FBO = 14.70 CPU = 2.88

In comparison of the same test on my system with 700/1900/2000 clocks

SM3= 62.4 SM2= 31.4 FBO= 31.2 CPU= 3.78



Using Vista64

Those gpu scores look about right, but the cpu score is way too low. Does it say "using 4 threads" for the software renderer?

 

[swtethan]

Originally posted by: munky

Originally posted by: swtethan

Originally posted by: thilan29
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2921.jpg
Lol at NCIX...half video card...half stuffing (got it very fast though...ordered Nov 15 AM...arrived Nov 16 around noon)

http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2922.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2923.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/PICT2924.jpg


Preliminary OCing using CCC yields 855MHz core and 1350MHz (2700MHz) (!!!) memory. I'll post some game results later cause I don't have much time right now. Unfortunately Rivatuner 2.06 nor AMDGPUClock tool work with the card. It isn't even recognized as a 3870...just as RV670.

Oh and I can't control the fan speed in CCC...how do ya'll 2900 owners do it?

The card feels much lighter than my previous 8800GTS 640 I had...probably because the cooler doesn't cover a whole lot of area...and the fan shroud doesn't even cover all the memory heatsinks.

Any requests for testing?

TESTING RESULTS (only in Vista)
------------------------------------

Mandelbrot (775/1200)
SM3 = 23.1 SM2= 11.80 FBO = 13.30 CPU = 2.88

Mandelbrot (855/1350)
SM3 = 25.5 SM2= 13.10 FBO = 14.70 CPU = 2.88

In comparison of the same test on my system with 700/1900/2000 clocks

SM3= 62.4 SM2= 31.4 FBO= 31.2 CPU= 3.78



Using Vista64

Those gpu scores look about right, but the cpu score is way too low. Does it say "using 4 threads" for the software renderer?

yes it does

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: thilan29

Originally posted by: munky
Wow, all your scores in the mandelbrot benchmark are much lower than I expected. With my rig, I get about 33 SM3, 16 SM2, 12 FBO, 5.5 CPU. Your cpu score should be around 9, and I don't know what the heck is up with the video scores... what do you get in 3dmark?

Does it work well in Vista?
Installing 3DMark right now.
I ran RTHDRIBL and I get around the same FPS as my 8800GTS did...so I think it's fine...??

I've set Aniso to 16x in CCC and vsync on, and rest default...should Catalyst A.I. be disabled?

Forcing AF or vsync makes no difference on my rig. AF should not make a difference anyways because the aplication does not do any texture filtering.