Very unhappy with the 3870 :(

[NettieZoom]

I received my 3870 512mb card today and am VERY unhappy, the card runs great right up until you enable AA then it drops to its knees and cries uncle ?

I dont know what ATI was thinking releasing cards that wont run with decent eye candy ?

Not sure if I should just return it outright or RMA it in the hopes it is just broken somehow because it is just not worth the cash in comparison to my 8800GT :(

Anyone else having this issue ?

[omniskillz]

i think it was a known that the ati card sucks with AA
and somewhat acceptable with AF lesser penalty running AF.

AA , personally i dont play games with AA. prob cause i never had a beefy card to do it and i like playing with max frames.. im a product of quake 3 :) picmip 5 days for 125 fps lol.

so if ur wish is to run games with AA and AF by all means get a 8800 gt or gts.

[jivetrky]

Actually these cards are supposed to run with AA much better than the 2900's You are probably just running at a res that the card can't handle in combination with the AA settings. What res/graphic settings/game are we talking about here? And have you tried any overclocking yet?

[vixro]

Depends how much youre running and how high the res is. 1680x1050 looks fantastic with 4xAA and runs great.

[IR1]

Yeah all reviews I have seen show the 3870 is a HUGE improvement over the 2900 and takes less of a hit percentage wise than the 8800GT when AA is on. Also if you were expecting it to outperform an 8800GT at the same settings then I wonder if you have been reading any reviews at all.

I will just throw up one quick example from Firingsquads review:
Crysis 1280x1024x32 NO AA NO AF
8800GT AVG 33.6fps
HD3870 AVG 24.6fps

Crysis 1280x1024x32 4xAA , 8xAF
8800GT AVG 26.9fps
HD3870 AVG 20.1fps

Here is the quick breakdown: 19.9% drop for 8800GT, 18.3% drop for HD3870.

Now I know enough about statistics to know this is nothing to hang ones hat on. If I didnt have a life I would continue but I know you can look this stuff up yourself. The reality is the HD3870 isnt faster no one claims it is. But it does not suffer from the AA problem the 2900 did because it is a bit better in this case than the 8800GT.

FTW THANKS!

[Oc1Kenube]

My card runs Crysis high setting with 2x AA over 30fps enough said.

[IR1]

What res :D ?

[NettieZoom]

I didnt expect it to outperform the 8800GT but I did expect it to do better then it does hehe.

I am running it at 1680x1050 with medium settings...

I played around with it more and as long as I leave AA off its not so bad I guess.

[jivetrky]

I didnt expect it to outperform the 8800GT but I did expect it to do better then it does hehe.

I am running it at 1680x1050 with medium settings...

I played around with it more and as long as I leave AA off its not so bad I guess.

Well what game are we talking about here, Crysis? If so, you just won't be able to play that game with such high settings. everyone gets bent out of shape that their stuff will not play that game with uber settings. That's the way Crytek works. It was the same with FarCry. Just have to accept it.

[Flip-Mode]

I didnt expect it to outperform the 8800GT but I did expect it to do better then it does hehe.

I am running it at 1680x1050 with medium settings...

I played around with it more and as long as I leave AA off its not so bad I guess.

Is there any chance something is hogging your memory?
I was going for the 3850 or a 3870 but now you scared the bejeasus out of me :confused:

[majinwar]

Is there any chance something is hogging your memory?
I was going for the 3850 or a 3870 but now you scared the bejeasus out of me :confused:

You could always get the new 3850 with 512mb on it. It's only $30 more than the 256. I posted a thread about it with benchmarks and stuff.

[Flip-Mode]

You could always get the new 3850 with 512mb on it. It's only $30 more than the 256. I posted a thread about it with benchmarks and stuff.

I'm in Israel so prices here are different, the 8800GT 512mb is 1380 NIS and the 3850 512mb is 1200 NIS. Isn't a very good deal here, I'm going to wait for the 8800GT 256mb and see how the prices stand and then pull the trigger.

Thanks for the info btw :beer:

P.S
The 3870 is 1380 NIS like the 8800GT.....

[majinwar]

I'm in Israel so prices here are different, the 8800GT 512mb is 1380 NIS and the 3850 512mb is 1200 NIS. Isn't a very good deal here, I'm going to wait for the 8800GT 256mb and see how the prices stand and then pull the trigger.

Thanks for the info btw :beer:

P.S
The 3870 is 1380 NIS like the 8800GT.....

Ah, that sucks :(

[NettieZoom]

I have the 3870 with 512mb, I paid 75% of what I paid for my 8800GT and I expect it to run atleast 75% as fast as it does...

I have tried running Crysis, COD4, Bioshock and MOHAA. This card even stumbles in MOHAA and Bioshock which even my old 8600GTS can run with 8x AA with no problems.
At this point I would say it runs maybe 50% as fast when you are using AA, If i wanted to play games with no eye candy I would have saved a $100 and bought a DX9 card.

I tried the 3870 in my C2D system with 3 GB of ram and my AMD system with 2GB of ram and I get the sam,e results either way.

I am going to return it this afternoon unles I find some ray of hope for it LOL.

[Super Nade]

Re-install drivers?

[ryanmartini]

I have the 3870 with 512mb, I paid 75% of what I paid for my 8800GT and I expect it to run atleast 75% as fast as it does...

I have tried running Crysis, COD4, Bioshock and MOHAA. This card even stumbles in MOHAA and Bioshock which even my old 8600GTS can run with 8x AA with no problems.
At this point I would say it runs maybe 50% as fast when you are using AA, If i wanted to play games with no eye candy I would have saved a $100 and bought a DX9 card.

I tried the 3870 in my C2D system with 3 GB of ram and my AMD system with 2GB of ram and I get the sam,e results either way.

I am going to return it this afternoon unles I find some ray of hope for it LOL.

On the sig system, I run COD 4 1920 x 1080 4XAA with very acceptable framerates with it now overclocked to 870 / 1300. Bioshock runs fine, and I seriously DOUBT you ran Bioshock at a high res with 8XAA with playable framerates.

Have you installed 7.11 cats? My 3870 is going along just fine.

[brakezone]

I'll tell you what, on my system my 3870 does AA's pretty well.

I run full 24X on some old games. I even ran quake 4 at 1280X1024 with 24AA with ultra textures and it only had a little mouse lag on some levels (multiplayer only, single player was slower). As far as COD4, I used the application settings and selected full blown with the full AA's in game and it ran 100% smooth. As far as Crysis is concerned, With the card set at 860/1200, Fraps had it at high 30's and low 40's when I do 1280x1024 with shaders/shadows/water on high, and everything else medium, in DX10 mode on vista64. NO AA's with that but adding 2AA seemed to drop about 10fps.

I'm not unhappy with the card and I don't always expect performance to scale equally to the dollar. Who knows, maybe there are some types of 3d applications out there in the future that will run faster on a 3870 than on an 8800GT?

[Oc1Kenube]

What res :D ?

1440x900

[Cheffster]

Make SURE you update your catalyst drivers to version 7.11

It makes a VERY significant difference over the drivers that come with the CD-rom from the box. I noticed about a 15-25% speed increase after I updated. My 3dmark06 scored in at 13000, not to shabby, the 3870 is also about $50 cheaper then a 8800gt, and much easier to find. And the built in overclocking utility in catalyst works great. I bought a $10 fan that blows air directly from the GPU to the rear end of my PC, and have OC'd this card stable at 840Mhz gpu.


Once prices go down a little I'm picking up another one to run crossfire :)

[ManOfKnight]

really? I don't even think I have the latest Cat drivers. I tried to update a few times but I kept getting an error.

[NewbieOneKenobi]

I received my 3870 512mb card today and am VERY unhappy, the card runs great right up until you enable AA then it drops to its knees and cries uncle ?

I dont know what ATI was thinking releasing cards that wont run with decent eye candy ?

Not sure if I should just return it outright or RMA it in the hopes it is just broken somehow because it is just not worth the cash in comparison to my 8800GT :(

Anyone else having this issue ?

Looks like the whole HD line has good fps only if you don't turn anything on. Then it drops to near unplayable. My 2600XT runs Neverwinter Nights I, a 2002 game, worse than my GF 5900XT did, in addition to glitches. I wonder if my GF 7600GT (post-RMA) wouldn't perform better.

[vixro]

No need to go above 4xAA they look identical. I am VERY happy with this card, here is a screenshot from counter-strike and look how lovely the LINED door looks, the edges, the fences, everything in the distance, and this is with only 4xAA box and AAA disabled.

It also runs like gravy in TF2 with everything maxed out including very high textures, 1680x1050, 4xMSAA (the only thing not at the max), full HDR and gets 70-100fps on a 28 player server.

http://images32.fotki.com/v1044/photos/8/873576/5233857/de_cpl_fire0000-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/vixro/gaming-screenshots/random/decplfire0000.html)
Click the image and then click on "get original uploaded photo" at the bottom of the picture to see the 1680x1050 version.

Did I also mention that I get 50-60fps on UT3 with everything on high including Ultra post processing? This card is a BEAST for the price and every game I have played on it has been dreamy.

[ViperJohn]

My card runs Crysis high setting with 2x AA over 30fps enough said.

At what resolution. Without that your "enough said" is meaningless lol.

Viper

[vixro]

1680x1050 and I'm talking actual gameplay not the flyby benchmark (what kind of bench flies into the sky to give you an idea of how the game runs when you play in the trees anyway?), this card is a dream and the price is unbeatable. It met all of my expectations and beat a lot of them.

[joesaiditstrue]

i wish my 8800 gtx got 30+fps in crysis at 1680x1050 with 2xAA at high details :(
guess I should "upgrade" to a 3870

/sarcasm off

[vixro]

You should!

3.2ghz compared to my 3.6, doh!

[NettieZoom]

LOL...ya right

[Cheator]

I have the 3870 with 512mb, I paid 75% of what I paid for my 8800GT and I expect it to run atleast 75% as fast as it does...

I have tried running Crysis, COD4, Bioshock and MOHAA. This card even stumbles in MOHAA and Bioshock which even my old 8600GTS can run with 8x AA with no problems.
At this point I would say it runs maybe 50% as fast when you are using AA, If i wanted to play games with no eye candy I would have saved a $100 and bought a DX9 card.

I tried the 3870 in my C2D system with 3 GB of ram and my AMD system with 2GB of ram and I get the sam,e results either way.

I am going to return it this afternoon unles I find some ray of hope for it LOL.

What system are you running it in?

[NettieZoom]

Tried it in my 5200+ @2.9ghz and my C2D @3.2ghz.

The card works fine if you game in low resolutions with low AA but you if you play at 1680x1050 or higher you can just forget AA unless you play 5 year old games LOL.

[IR1]

NettieZoom really what the heck are you talking about?

Did you miss my post above? The 8800GT took a slightly bigger hit % wise than the 3870 in Crysis with AA. I have the 3870, I play ALL of my games at 1680x1050 with AA if I can (HDR and AA dont like eachother). Maybe you got a defective one or maybe you need to update your drivers. Or maybe this whole thread is one huge troll, because so far you have yet to add any meaningful posts or informative updates on your situation. Sorry you are having issues but you cannot speak for anyone's card but your own SON!. You asked if anyone else is having this issue, so far looks like most people are not. Go please return the card or get a replacement, end of discussion!

[vixro]

According to his sig, he doesn't even own a 3870.


Cod4 all at the highest setting, 2xAA 1680x1050 - 70fps in firefights??????

UT3 24/24 multiplayer vehical CTF server, zoomed out in the sky looking down on a battle with everything on high 1680x1050 and still 39-40fps??? I'm confused about what "current" game is getting unplayable or bad fps.


Looking into bioshock right now, this is all Vista 64bit scores, which is technically "slower" than your XP scores.








WOW THIS IS REALLY STRANGE!!!! In DX10 Vista 64bit, with Aero still enabled in the background, 1680x1050 with ALL SETTINGS AT THEIR HIGHEST I still magically have 55-60fps in Bioshock???

I wonder what current game I am forgetting to test that isn't 5 years old?


(saved and resized with paint, so quality isn't perfect)

http://images31.fotki.com/v1052/photos/8/873576/5233857/bioshock-vi.jpg
The wide open areas actually had MORE fps so I just took a picture when it finally dropped, which happened to be in a closed room.

http://images32.fotki.com/v1065/photos/8/873576/5233857/cod4-vi.jpg

http://images32.fotki.com/v1066/photos/8/873576/5233857/ut3-vi.jpg

[IR1]

I just got COD4, I have it runnning 1680x1050 4xAA, 16xAF, everything McMaxed, and I get 35-55fps avg, on my single core Opty system, in sig. This card is awesome... way above my expectations!

[ViperJohn]

I just got COD4, I have it runnning 1680x1050 4xAA, 16xAF, everything McMaxed, and I get 35-55fps avg, on my single core Opty system, in sig. This card is awesome... way above my expectations!

COD4, or any other COD game is not exactly hard on a GFX card though.

Viper

[thisisapen]

i think it was a known that the ati card sucks with AA
and somewhat acceptable with AF lesser penalty running AF.


So ATI finally lost the quality battle to nVidia eh? From what I remember ATI were king for AA and they were known to be the card to go for if you wanted image quality over performance, but sometimes equal performance and better quality.

[Shell]

ATi is actually back on top with AA again, no more of this bull****.

I'm seeing the 3870 suffer from a LOWER % performance drop then the 8800GT with AA enabled across the board.

This is an overhaul of the 2000 line people.

[IR1]

COD4, or any other COD game is not exactly hard on a GFX card though.

Viper

I am not sure what the old COD games have to do with it. The new one doesn't use the same engine it is a new and awesome graphically intense game, have you played it?? Its no Crysis but it does use he UT3 engine. Go ahead and play COD4 at those settings with a 7900 or something on my single core 939 system and tell me it aint hard on your graphics card.

[ViperJohn]

I am not sure what the old COD games have to do with it. The new one doesn't use the same engine it is a new and awesome graphically intense game, have you played it?? Its no Crysis but it does use he UT3 engine. Go ahead and play COD4 at those settings with a 7900 or something on my single core 939 system and tell me it aint hard on your graphics card.

Yes I have played COD4. Good graphics but I would hardly call them intense by todays
standards with today cards.

Playing a game released lately with a card designed 3 years ago it would be expected to
struggle lol.

Viper

[IR1]

Well Viper I still have no idea what point you are trying to make, but if a game released less than 2 months ago using one of the newest gaming engines is not useful for performance comparison with AA on, then I have no idea what games I should be posting about. COD4 like I said does not require a beastlord of a machine to run well, and look beautiful, hence my point about my machine still running it well (to my joy). But you make it sound like the HD3870 is the latest high end graphics card to rein above all cards. Its not, its the latest from ATI yes, though it is still slower than Nvidia cards that have been out of about a year. The point is this card did not cost nearly as much as your 8800 Ultra and GTX, but look at what we get in return. With all do respect I think your'e spoiled.

[joesaiditstrue]

You should!

3.2ghz compared to my 3.6, doh!

hehe, look at the CPU scaling performance in crysis in any review online

the game scales down to about 1.4-1.5Ghz on a Core2Duo from 3.0Ghz, with the same frames per second, on an 8800 Ultra :)

so 3.2 vs 3.6 in crysis = 0 increase in framerate

nice try pal~

[ViperJohn]

Well Viper I still have no idea what point you are trying to make, but if a game released less than 2 months ago using one of the newest gaming engines is not useful for performance comparison with AA on, then I have no idea what games I should be posting about. COD4 like I said does not require a beastlord of a machine to run well, and look beautiful, hence my point about my machine still running it well (to my joy). But you make it sound like the HD3870 is the latest high end graphics card to rein above all cards. Its not, its the latest from ATI yes, though it is still slower than Nvidia cards that have been out of about a year. The point is this card did not cost nearly as much as your 8800 Ultra and GTX, but look at what we get in return. With all do respect I think your'e spoiled.

Sounds to me like you didn't read anything lol.

Viper

[Super Nade]

Here is the deal guys, if you say your card is crap, post a few SS's to prove your claim. Mere words do not make a compelling argument. vixro has a very nice thread with lots of data from various games. Honestly, the newest game I have is COD4 and you can see my results at stock here (it is a bit low, but un-OC'ed!) :-

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=538373&page=2

[IR1]

Sounds to me like you didn't read anything lol.

Viper

Sounds to me like you don't have a real response. :P

[Oc1Kenube]

At what resolution. Without that your "enough said" is meaningless lol.

Viper


Again as posted before 1440x900 not massive i know but a result nonetheless :) for a £156 card im well happy

[ViperJohn]

Sounds to me like you don't have a real response. :P

Okay ya want real???

You stated "I just got COD4, I have it runnning 1680x1050 4xAA, 16xAF, everything McMaxed,
and I get 35-55fps avg, on my single core Opty system, in sig" like it was some kind of badge
of triumph when COD4 is not seriously intense graphically nor does it need high CPU/System
speed to play well. The polygon count the FPU in the CPU has to process then hand off the
GXF card simply isn't very high.

You then brought up a 3 year old design 7900 as a comparison to support your statement.
Assuming you were talking about a 7900GTX the card is 3-4x slower than any new high end
card so of course it will struggle in COD4 (although it still isn't so bad at lower resolutions).
That is a no brainer.

Then you state (actually completely make up) "But you make it sound like the HD3870 is the
latest high end graphics card to reign above all cards". I never even mentioned a HD3870 any
where nor would I own one if it was given to me. The card simply does not enough horse
power for my taste.

Lastly if you want to know what any of these later cards will really do get a system that isn't
way out off date. A single core Opti system (hell an AMD system period) can't make any of
these newer high end cards fly with the eagles...except maybe in COD4.

Viper

[IR1]

ROFL at badge of triumph OK GUY! I dont need no stinking badges! I was just trying to make a simple point about the fact that even on my 2 year old system, way out of date, whatever you want to call it, I am running COD4 on a HD3870 with AA on at a high resolution with no problems at all. The original poster was complaining that these cards fall to their knees with AA on. I was just trying to show otherwise. I think the fact that I have the older system just makes my point that much stronger.

When you said "COD4 is hardly intensive for todays cards blah blah blah" I took that to mean you thought of the HD3870 as today's standard, which it really isnt, its a year agos standard, but now its a low price! Thats all I was trying to say, it was just a bit of hyperbole. Hyperbole is fun and you can't deny that.

Cheapshots aside, I have been planning to upgrade my system for a while, first step was video card, mission accomplished and I am extremely satisfied so far with my purchase. $209 for a HD3870, good deal! Not all of us buy the latest and greatest the second it hits the shelves. I got a mortgage to worry about first.

COD4 is graphically intensive... all reviews lately have been using it, and on todays NEW systems it does a good job of measuring performance on newer cards.
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/xfx_geforce_8800_gt_256mb_xxx_review/page17.asp

I was just trying to actually contribute something solid and useful to this thread and its original topic.

[brakezone]

well, at 860/1250 it runs quake 4 for me at 60fps pegged at the FPS limiter (so it would actualy be higher) at 1280x1024 with 24XAA 16XAF on ultra quality. I cannot compare higher resolutions because this is the highest my monitor will do; however, 24XAA is alot of filtering. In my experience with my system, I can apply 24XAA to alot of games, certainly not anything like crysis though.

On top of this, soon there should be a atitool voltmod that will allow overclockers on air to get perhaps up to 1000mhz core. At 1000mhz core, the card starts to become much more relevant to high end, maybe not completely, but the reality is that this is basically an much cheaper 2900XT that runs cooler and uses less power.

And then I saw the 8800GT 256 on sale for 10$ cheaper than what I paid for my 3870 and my heart sank. Originally, I wanted to get the 8800GT 256 because of the great linux drivers. It had become apparent that ATI's linux drivers had improved, this meant that the 3870 was at least an option. I have 3d going under linux with the ATI driver but it is too buggy still. I am still glad I went with the 3870 because i've seen the benchmarks with the 8800GT 256 and the 256mb really chokes it.

On the other hand, I'm not surprised the OP is disappointed with the 3870 if they had a 8800GT. I've seen in other forums people with volt modded 8800GT's comparing them with un-voltmodded 3870 and saying how disappointed they are. Im not saying this is the case here, but I think we have to wait a little for a soft-voltmod to see what these cards can really do on the average system.

[DEZMOND]

I guess et quake wars is not a good one to judge on to. :santa2: And nvidia was i bed with id on that one.

[ViperJohn]

I guess et quake wars is not a good one to judge on to. :santa2: And nvidia was i bed with id on that one.

It wasn't that NV was in bed with Quake. It was ATI drivers were so bad with OpenGL back then.
I believe ATI has really improved their OGL perfomance in the last year or so (heck it had no where
to go but up lol).

Viper