View Full Version : ATI 3870 X or 9800 GTX OC
hello I have a 9800 gtx oc and a friend is selling a couples of 3870 x2 cards I would like to get one but I want to know if I would increase in performance or just a waste of money and time also what power supply do i need to power 2x 3870 x2 in crossfire I have a cooler master silent pro 600w with max output of 720w thx.
GT3mich
10-16-09, 05:14 PM
Looks like it will out perform your single card.
http://www.techspot.com/review/86-ati-radeon-hd-3870-x2/
Any chance you could borrow them for a day or so and test them yourself?
Edit: Now I'm not so sure.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/Crysis-v1.21,752.html
But then look at this chart.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/3DMark06-v1.1.0-3DMark-Score,794.html
4th from the top and the 9800 GTX is 22nd.
ratbuddy
10-16-09, 05:53 PM
I wouldn't touch a 3870. They were a major letdown especially when you turn on AA. While a pair of 3870X2 might beat a 9800GTX in some benchmarks, you're headed for microstutter city in actual games.
What processor do you have?
I have qx6850 oc 3.6ghz 24/7
the problem with nvidia is that the drivers are giving problem with vista and xp i cant run any game when im playing like 10-15min maybe less artifacts start showing temps are k card is like a month old and with some drivers take longer to have problems and also my old 8800 gts 512 have the same problem so i rma to bfg and received the 9800 gtx so idk what to do plz help me.
ratbuddy
10-16-09, 06:04 PM
I have qx6850 oc 3.6ghz 24/7
the problem with nvidia is that the drivers are giving problem with vista and xp i cant run any game when im playing like 10-15min maybe less artifacts start showing temps are k card is like a month old and with some drivers take longer to have problems and also my old 8800 gts 512 have the same problem so i rma to bfg and received the 9800 gtx so idk what to do plz help me.
Sorry, I'm not sure what you're saying. I think you mean temps are not getting too high but it's artifacting anyway? What are the temps exactly and how are you measuring them?
real temp is the software Im using and at full load the max is 71c
ratbuddy
10-16-09, 06:10 PM
real temp is the software Im using and at full load the max is 71c
Sounds to me like your CPU temperature? Unless they added GPU monitoring to Real Temp.. Have you tried monitoring the GPU (video card processor) temps?
edit: I think EVGA Precision works on other brands of cards. Head over to http://downloads.guru3d.com/EVGA-Precision-1.8.1-download-2403.html and grab it, and once it's running, try a game. Alt-tab out of the game as soon as it starts artifacting and see what the temperature graph says.
edit2: I updated the link, you need to have an EVGA account to get it direct. Same thing though.
the new real temp have the gpu temp also I try hwmonitor and ntune too same temp in all software
ratbuddy
10-16-09, 06:17 PM
RMA time, then?
But if your 8800GTS was doing the same thing... :shrug:
the problem i think is not the card bc In vista everytime i want to play a game it show a message saying that Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding, but has succesfully recovered and crash the game or start doing artifacting.
ratbuddy
10-16-09, 06:23 PM
the problem i think is not the card bc In vista everytime i want to play a game it show a message saying that Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding, but has succesfully recovered and crash the game or start doing artifacting.
That driver has crashed on me before when I had an OC that was too high. Did ya try running the card underclocked?
no i have the card stock but is oc from factory
ratbuddy
10-16-09, 06:29 PM
no i have the card stock but is oc from factory
Try clocking back to base model clocks of 675/1688/1100?
Im going to try that I let you know the results
Hey I try what you told me and nothing same problem but i notice that the problems is just in games i used video card stability test is a software to make your card work at full load and check if there is stability and everything is fine temps go up to 71-72c max but i just open a game and in less than 2 min the problems starts and temps are around 67-68c
ratbuddy
10-16-09, 07:07 PM
Hey I try what you told me and nothing same problem but i notice that the problems is just in games i used video card stability test is a software to make your card work at full load and check if there is stability and everything is fine temps go up to 71-72c max but i just open a game and in less than 2 min the problems starts and temps are around 67-68c
One last thing to try and I'm outta ideas, did you try it at stock CPU clocks, no OC at all?
If it's same result, I dunno. RMA or wait for someone smarter to jump in.
The 3870's really aren't great cards though. Worst case, RMA your card and sell the replacement, then get a 4870/5850 depending on budget.
Im going to wait for someone else to see if they another solutions if not Im going to rma and get a 4870 or new nvidia gtx 300 serie that are coming out in December.
GT3mich
10-16-09, 08:10 PM
Have you tried reinstalling the video drivers? Even rolling back to an older version. What are your GPU fan speeds? You can increase it using EVGA precision. You can down clock your GPU to see if that helps.
Artas1984
10-17-09, 11:44 AM
Single HD3870X2 teoricaly is much more powerful than 9800GTX, taken form gpureview:
115 GB/s VS 70 GB/s
1056 FLOPS VS 432 FLOPS
26400 MPIXELS/s VS 10800 MPIXELS/s
26400 Mtexels/s VS 43200 Mtexels/s
The problem with HD3870X2 is that you rarely get the benefits of dual VGA power - i have seen maby benchmarks where HD3870X2 scores the same as HD3870.
And 2 HD3870X2? If that would work 100 %, it would annihilate a 9800GTX, it would beat even a GTX280 - however it does not work that way. With 2 HD3870X2 cards sometimes you don't get anything from the second card, and more to that - a single HD3870X2 typicaly just boosts performance about 50 % from HD3870, just like a 9800GTX is faster than a HD3870.. So conclusion - risky.. 2 HD3870X2, i believe, is not recommended anywhere at all in any setup..
I Really like my 9800 gtx runs great but the driver problem I cant play no games I call bfg and they told me to rollback the driver to 182.50 drivers but still having the same problem.
what i notice is that sometimes it in games I play like 20 min without any error or problem but there is times that i just open the game try to play in less than 2 min the problems start its crazy I'm really disappoint of nvidia drivers Im not too happy with the card either because the problems.
Artas1984
10-17-09, 01:12 PM
Before getting a HD3870X2, make sure that the games, on those you will be applying the HD3870X2, will benefit from it more than 2/3 from a single HD3870. Check benches.
I play nfs shift warrock aoe 3 and grid
Artas1984
10-17-09, 01:58 PM
Age Of Empires 3 will work on any card lol - check benches, it seems even the old 2x X1600XT would perform well.. LOL, this is an RTS game, 15 FPS will be enough...
RACER Grid - it seems the HD3870X2 is useless, performs the same as single HD3870.
NFS Shift - can't find HD3870X2 benches.
So far stick with your 9800GTX.
yeah I really don't want to move to another card but with these problems imagine.
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