Got a Good Deal?? 3870x2 Cheap!

[Saihossoku]

Hey all, just bought a ATi Sapphire 3870x2 1GB for $340CAD, good deal? Also, anything I need to know before I start playing with this bad boy? Thanks.

[Saihossoku]

By the way, what's the best (safe) OC tool for this card??

[Brolloks]

The drivers are not mature for these X2 cards, I could hardly move them from stock speeds with CCC and they would failed stability testing. I would recommend saty with CCC to OC them for now, Rivatuner do recognize them but see them as two seperate cards, that makes them challenging to OC and they are linked electronically not like 2 x 3870 which you can disable CF, then OC them seperately and then enable CF again.

You need an 8 pin and 6 pin to run, and off course it is 13 inches long so make sure you have a big enough case.

[Saihossoku]

The drivers are not mature for these X2 cards, I could hardly move them from stock speeds with CCC and they would failed stability testing. I would recommend saty with CCC to OC them for now, Rivatuner do recognize them but see them as two seperate cards, that makes them challenging to OC and they are linked electronically not like 2 x 3870 which you can disable CF, then OC them seperately and then enable CF again.

You need an 8 pin and 6 pin to run, and off course it is 13 inches long so make sure you have a big enough case.

If not, I'll have to ditch my case! lol I have this one...http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/shark/va7000swa.asp
the black one.

I have this PSU...http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/ocz_600w_stealthxstream_power_supply My card came with an adapter though.

[Saihossoku]

Also, you only need both a 6pin and 8 pin if you're OCing. Which I'm not going to bother for a 10% gain, unless I go Water cooling which I will ot for now. I know you can use the 6pin in the 8pin, just that Overdrive will be disabled. Meh, no loss for me.

[Mr.Guvernment]

try ATITool ?

[batboy]

I haven't played with a 3870X2 yet, but I stumbled across this XS forum thread. If you read through the first 2 or 3 pages, they describe a couple different methods for overclocking this card.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2744212

[Brolloks]

I haven't played with a 3870X2 yet, but I stumbled across this XS forum thread. If you read through the first 2 or 3 pages, they describe a couple different methods for overclocking this card.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2744212


Nice thread, they are getting some great OC's on the X2, while I wait for the CFX drivers I might as well see how far I can push my X2's individually ;)

[batboy]

Nice thread, they are getting some great OC's on the X2, while I wait for the CFX drivers I might as well see how far I can push my X2's individually ;)

Oh yeah, that's what I'd do too if I were in your shoes. If you have decent luck overclocking them individually, start a new thread and describe what program you used and how you did it. I'm about ready to order my 3870X2 (just one). It would be nice if we had the overclocking thing figured out by the time I got it.

[Brolloks]

Oh yeah, that's what I'd do too if I were in your shoes. If you have decent luck overclocking them individually, start a new thread and describe what program you used and how you did it. I'm about ready to order my 3870X2 (just one). It would be nice if we had the overclocking thing figured out by the time I got it.

Sounds like a deal.....which brand are you getting?, between the Sapphire and Viseontek I prefer the Sapphire, better quality packing, comes with full 3DMARK06 and some other video editing programs, other than that the cards are exactly the same.

[Saihossoku]

I updated my sig with the new Card and PSU I grabbed. Oh, picked up a new case as well.

What's the "best" temp monitor? Thanks.

[Brolloks]

I updated my sig with the new Card and PSU I grabbed. Oh, picked up a new case as well.

What's the "best" temp monitor? Thanks.

Rivatuner, it correlates with what CCC reports

[Saihossoku]

Rivatuner, it correlates with what CCC reports

When I power up rivatuner there's virtually no options!? It just says "detected Catalyst" or something similar?

In any event, here's my test so far;

Stock GPU Clock (878MHz)
Stock MEM Clock (955MHz)
Score: 12177 3DMarks

[()nslaught]

When I power up rivatuner there's virtually no options!? It just says "detected Catalyst" or something similar?

In any event, here's my test so far;

Stock GPU Clock (878MHz)
Stock MEM Clock (955MHz)
Score: 12177 3DMarks

12k sounds kind of low to me. With my OC 3870 I got a little over 10k. I would think the x2 would preform much better than that. Anyone else agree?

[batboy]

With an AMD system and if the 3870X2 was at default speed, that score sounds about right.

[Brolloks]

When I power up rivatuner there's virtually no options!? It just says "detected Catalyst" or something similar?

In any event, here's my test so far;

Stock GPU Clock (878MHz)
Stock MEM Clock (955MHz)
Score: 12177 3DMarks

open rivatuner.cfg file, find word RV670, add 950Fh at end, save it and it will work.


12k sounds kind of low to me. With my OC 3870 I got a little over 10k. I would think the x2 would preform much better than that. Anyone else agree?

The AMD CPU is holding the X2 back big time

[Saihossoku]

open rivatuner.cfg file, find word RV670, add 950Fh at end, save it and it will work.




The AMD CPU is holding the X2 back big time

Thanks that did the trick. So I know my CPU isn't super fast, but $60 bucks for 3.31GHz isn't bad. So are you all Intel zombies or are you saying that the Core Duo is THAT much better? I fracking HATE Intel.

[batboy]

It's true, the Intel Core 2 Duo and quad cores are really that much better than AMD right now (gaming and benchmarking). I will be the first to admit though, an Intel system will cost more than your current AMD rig. By the way, these new Intel processors are not Pentiums.

[GTFouts]

I do not believe anything out there, for us consumers that is, can touch the QX9650. Well, not for at least what?....6 months? bout right?

[Saihossoku]

It's true, the Intel Core 2 Duo and quad cores are really that much better than AMD right now (gaming and benchmarking). I will be the first to admit though, an Intel system will cost more than your current AMD rig. By the way, these new Intel processors are not Pentiums.

I know, I forgot the name "Intel" lol, I will wait until AMD catches up. :)

[JamesXP]

....10 years later.

[muddocktor]

I know, I forgot the name "Intel" lol, I will wait until AMD catches up. :)

It's your loss then. It doesn't pay to be a fanboy except to yourself and getting the best bang for your bucks. The way things look presently, it will be a long time before AMD will be competitive in the mid to high range processors.

That does sound like a decent deal on the vid card though.

[Saihossoku]

It's your loss then. It doesn't pay to be a fanboy except to yourself and getting the best bang for your bucks. The way things look presently, it will be a long time before AMD will be competitive in the mid to high range processors.

That does sound like a decent deal on the vid card though.

No, no, not a fanboy per se, I love AMD because of their chips in the past. I will be going Intel in the near future, I'm just unhappy about it. :P

[Sndm3mny]

If not, I'll have to ditch my case! lol I have this one...http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/shark/va7000swa.asp
the black one.

I have this PSU...http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/ocz_600w_stealthxstream_power_supply My card came with an adapter though.

i have the same power supply as you and i was wondering you think thats enough power to support the 3870x2 cards on crossfire?

[moto211]

It's your loss then. It doesn't pay to be a fanboy except to yourself and getting the best bang for your bucks. The way things look presently, it will be a long time before AMD will be competitive in the mid to high range processors.

I second that...I have ALWAYS had AMD processors since i've had my own computers, but on my most recent build i had to go to intel. price and performance wise, you can't beat an intel quad.

[Brolloks]

i have the same power supply as you and i was wondering you think thats enough power to support the 3870x2 cards on crossfire?


That PSU is OK for one X2, for 2 x X2 you'll need something bigger

[Saihossoku]

That PSU is OK for one X2, for 2 x X2 you'll need something bigger

Exactly, for one it's more than sufficient, but for two x2's you'll need at least an 850watt+ I would assume? But if you look at my sig, I upgraded both my power supply AND my case. lol

[Tex83]

That PSU is OK for one X2, for 2 x X2 you'll need something bigger

What size power supply do you recommend for running 2 x X2's? And does it take 2, 8pin pcie connectors for quad fire? Any recommendations on a certain model?

[Tex83]

Saihossoku: How's the X2's output on your 42" LG? (Gaming, etc...) Does it have difficulty pushing high res on it?

[Saihossoku]

Saihossoku: How's the X2's output on your 42" LG? (Gaming, etc...) Does it have difficulty pushing high res on it?

I run all games @ 1920x1080 (games that support that res of course. ;)) with zero problems. Actually, I was VERY surprised how good this monitor is, it beats my 1080p projector hands down, just not in size. lol

[Saihossoku]

What size power supply do you recommend for running 2 x X2's? And does it take 2, 8pin pcie connectors for quad fire? Any recommendations on a certain model?

At least 850watts, don't know about the second question, as for the third, matter of opinion, but you want a well known brand that's for sure.

[batboy]

If you want to OC the cards using the CCC overdrive option, then you need a 6-pin and 8-pin power cable on each card. You can use two 6-pin cables on each card to run at default speed or if you use a third party OC program.