WB for Radeon HD3870

[leo_bsb]

what do you guys think it is a better option:
- 2 3870 in crossfire on my P35 board for $ 500

or

- one new G92 8800GTS 512 MB for $360

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

what do you guys think it is a better option:
- 2 3870 in crossfire on my P35 board for $ 500

or

- one new G92 8800GTS 512 MB for $360

I second this. I'm in the same predicament.

EDIT:

One thing I did notice, and this really reflects where technology is going, is that the two 3870s in crossfire uses less power than one G92 8800gts 512 mb. For me, its nice to not have as much load on the PSU.

I think for anything over 1600x1200, the crossfire set up is superior to the single G2 8800gts 512 mb.

[Fujimitsu]

It's hard to compare the 3870 sli to the 8800... the price difference is pretty huge. I'd say the nvidia, but it really depends on how much you want to spend. I'm pretty sure the 3870s will perform better... although I haven't seen a lot of reviews for either yet.

[ColonelCain]

Yeah, but the the 3870 has independent RAM and GPU heatsinks, so you only need a GPU WB, not a full cover.

Semi-influential reason as to why I got the 3870... saved me $30 in Mem/mosfet heatsinks.
I would think that most semi-recently released GPU core blocks should fit. I personally went for the MCW-60, but will be finding out how well this performs this weekend.

[Jupiler]

The MCW60 performs very well on the 3870, trust me.

[Giuliano]

A few other full cover blocks coming up for the 3850 / 3870's:

Aqua Cooling Aquagratix RV670:
Not shown on their web site yet, but previewed here at another forum:
http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/showpost...37&postcount=1

The Aquagratix RV670 appears to be fairly thin, thinner than the EK blocks.
Doesn't appear to have double-sided ports for Crossfire, though.


Koolance VID-387 & VID-385:
No pictures yet.
http://www.koolance.com/water-coolin...roducts_id=579

[Giuliano]

what do you guys think it is a better option:
- 2 3870 in crossfire on my P35 board for $ 500

or

- one new G92 8800GTS 512 MB for $360

One thing you should consider about the P5K-E - the second PCIe x16 slot runs at 4x or 1x, not the full x16.

Also, the 3870's are PCI Express 2.0, and standard PCIe x16 is 1.x.

They'll clock down to the lower speed and work fine, but you may not get the best performance out of two 3870's with this board config.


Myself, I got the Maximus Extreme, which has 3 PCIe 2.0 slots, which run at x16 & x16, or x16, x8, and x8.

[[XC] DragonOrta]

With an MCW60 on my 3870, I'm idling at 27c with a PA160 and DDC1 w/ top.

clocked at 891/1323

[[XC] DragonOrta]

With an MCW60 on my 3870, I'm idling at 27c with a PA160 and DDC1 w/ top.

clocked at 891/1323

Running through 3dMark06 get the highest load to 29C.

[leo_bsb]

One thing you should consider about the P5K-E - the second PCIe x16 slot runs at 4x or 1x, not the full x16.

Also, the 3870's are PCI Express 2.0, and standard PCIe x16 is 1.x.

They'll clock down to the lower speed and work fine, but you may not get the best performance out of two 3870's with this board config.


Myself, I got the Maximus Extreme, which has 3 PCIe 2.0 slots, which run at x16 & x16, or x16, x8, and x8.

I know, according to some reviews it didn't show a huge performance drop running crossfire on a P35 board. I may change my mobo next year so I could get x38 board, right now I'm tempted just for the vidcards.

[Giuliano]

I know, according to some reviews it didn't show a huge performance drop running crossfire on a P35 board. I may change my mobo next year so I could get x38 board, right now I'm tempted just for the vidcards.

Then I'd suggest sticking with the 3870's, and keeping the investment for when you upgrade to a newer Crossfire board.


If you got the 8800, the only way you'd be able to do SLI would be to switch to a Nvidia chipset board.