I'm not sure anyone has posted this .. but this is really gonna turn most 2900XT user down with slight improvement only ..

however the heat issue does make a lot of difference this round..

but too bad stupid ATI still decided to use their reference cooler used on 2900XT which is a screamer of all time .. at least for me .. especially when it spin passing 40% ...

I think it's the same from the photo of the card ... I don't think they would invest money to built another one since this could work fine according to their standard.

Probably it's more silent coz the card produce less heat so the fan won't spin up high ...

I've always being let down with stock cooler produced by ATI, none of them are known for cool and quiet ..

NV 8800 series is a better one .. have to admit even though I'm a ATI fan boy .. 2 NV card VS 6 ATI card used draw the conclusion.

Anyone here that have been using 3870 ??

I would like to inquire about it's AA performance ..

As most know by now that AA on 2900XT are craps.

Whenever applied, white edges would appears.

So has this problem happened again on 3870 ??

@cstkl1

What do u mean ??

@peacezxp
I had the AA problem with NFS: Pro Street, Company of Heroes and Command & Conquer 3 ... other game I had not even want to try to activate the AA a all .. sien ...

there were two more game that had problem with: Tomb Raider Legend and TR Anniversary

I hope the issue is really solved with this new card but seems like it isn't ...

Anyone else that have tried 3870 with AA enable ??

Need more input to decide to grab this babe or not ..

This post has been edited by Doom: Nov 25 2007, 09:51 PM

hmm I hardly got dual mon to play with so never encounter it ..

but AA is issue is well known for 2900XT series in forum ...

I just want to know is it the same with 3870 ....

Have anyone tried to fit a third party cooler to this babe,, ???

I found one review here .... 3870 + Artic Cooling Accelero S1

hmm .. seems like this could confirm my purchase of 3870 ....

heheh ... lucky this time I wasn't the pioneer like what I did when 2900XT hit the shelf ...

wait and decide ... now where to look for money to grab this little babe .... hmm

hehe the thing is I aspected that it would happened this way round from beginning..

Never in the history of competition between this two giants where ATI managed to win over for higher FPS for the card at the same price .. espeically in the mid high and high end series ..

I always know the video playback of ATI beats NV series all the time ..

Which is why I'm in love with ATI for years ... I watched lots of HD video all the time ... so it suit my needs more ..

I had 8800GST before for couple months ... it was brilliant with its higher FPS but the video playback just killed me in every sense ..

That's why I sold it right after (2 days) 2900XT available at shop ..

The only downside of 2900XT is the crappy AA settings .. it gets better as driver improvement .. but there's still very minor visible sign in NFS:Pro Street. Apart from that would be the crazy heat issue due to power consumption ...

So 3870 could make me goes back air cooling ....

hehe the thing is I aspected that it would happened this way round from beginning..

Never in the history of competition between this two giants where ATI managed to win over for higher FPS for the card at the same price .. espeically in the mid high and high end series ..

I always know the video playback of ATI beats NV series all the time ..

Which is why I'm in love with ATI for years ... I watched lots of HD video all the time ... so it suit my needs more ..

I had 8800GST before for couple months ... it was brilliant with its higher FPS but the video playback just killed me in every sense ..

That's why I sold it right after (2 days) 2900XT available at shop ..

The only downside of 2900XT is the crappy AA settings .. it gets better as driver improvement .. but there's still very minor visible sign in NFS:Pro Street. Apart from that would be the crazy heat issue due to power consumption ...

So 3870 could make me goes back air cooling ....

That's what the general T&C for warranty for all PC stuffs ...

There's no shop that carry more than one year of warranty service ..

They charge after one year for sure .... or u have to handle it urself ...

That's why never be fooled by the warranty period as anything above one year is our own shit to settle ...

btw not sure how true this information is: R680

This post has been edited by Doom: Dec 18 2007, 07:35 AM

hhehe totally agree ..... I tried both NV and ATI all the time ... gaming at other people PC to save my own money to test the cards ...

NV does excel and better bang of money for certain games ...

however is the consistent performance and image quality of ATI card that keep me at the dark sides for years ...

tried 8800GTS 320Mb, 8600 and 8500 series ..... it just ain't there when comes to quality of image but those card enjoyed for higher FPS ....

beside movie on ATI is much better than on NV .... which I enjoyed the most...

furthermore most of the card now days could achieved FPS more than 50 in most game at considerable high settings ... so there's no harm to sacrifice few more FPS just to enjoy better quality of image....

Wanted to get 3870 but too much of dilemma for me now .. probably wait until next generation card ... see got major advancement or not...

arr!!! I wanted to join the dark force but no stock anywhere at UK now that sells at reasonable price for 3870 ...

So far there's only brands like Sapphire, Asus, Club 3D and Gigabyte ... not much of MSI at all .... got on list but without stock .

missed LYP so much ... .. .. . .

heheh .. will be joining the dark side with HIS Iceq 3870 on two days time ....

Wonder how well does the IceQ cooler ... but on the safe side ordered an AC Accelero S1 ...

Can't wait to be at the darker side .....

look into bulk order for it ... the price would be less than RM700...

3850

This post has been edited by Doom: Jan 4 2008, 06:24 AM

hmm .. I'd go for 3870 loh .... better image quality with slightly lower fps....

however as long as it reaches 50fps on average most of game played .. it's fine with me ...

I'd prefer HIS if want to go along with stock Iceq cooler ... if not MSI OC version would possible alternative as well ...

I'd be getting mine 2mr .... HIS Iceq3 3870 ....

What would be the benefit of Bios fix ??

Got my HIS 3870 Iceq3 512 version already ...









Downside is not much of bundle, but the HIS multi purpose pen does provide some uniqueness...

@TheTraffic

This card definitely could run most of new games with High but not Max settings on 1280X1024...

If u set everything to max, would experience lag in certain games...


@syapl

RM1150... I'm staying at UK now .. so it's UK retail price.

Btw temperature result with stock and AC Accelero S1

Default Cooler: 47c-64c | AC Accelero S1: 36c- 51c .... icon_idea.gif

@syapl
I didn't have choice coz the site that I ordered from only got this model available in stock.....

@skylinegtr34rule4life
, at least u got it right men ... Asus is a good brand also ..

It is really nice and quiet .. I run it for one night only before changed to another cooler ..

actually I had experience with IceQ3 cooler before for several months ..

It's a effective cooler for card that generate heat of mid range card level.

Not suitable for high heat generator coz the fan would spin up to high producing audible noise ...

So it fits just nice on this card ...