Be carefull when u buy a Gigabyte 3870 card..

[trog100]

u might think u are getting one of these..

but actually get one of these..

OC/UK are selling the blue one but showing pictures of the red one.. i tried hard to avoid this.. even checked with them to see if their own brand card had the dual slot cooler on it.. they couldnt guarantee it did so i bought a real brand name instead.. bigger fool me.. it seems i am getting a blue one.. he he he

the blue one it seems is a new cheapy 3870 that comes with ddr3 memory onboard..

trog

it going straight back with the carrier..

 

[niko084]

I'm confused..... Whats the point?

 

[hat]

And your point is? The 3870 runs cool compared to the 2900.

 

[oli_ramsay]

Where's the punchline?

Don't leave us hanging....

 

[ktr]

The seller is who we should be careful from buying, not the 3870...

 

[trog100]

Where's the punchline?

Don't leave us hanging....

what the point..???

should be obvious shouldnt it.. ???

trog

 

[niko084]

what the point..???

should be obvious shouldnt it.. ???

trog

Your showing that they sell a HD3870 with two different style coolers on them and they say on the box which cooler it has?

Sounds to me like common sense.

 

[TechnicalFreak]

Isn't that like "false advertising"? If Gigabyte themselfs are doing this, then they should re-think wtf they are doing..

 

[kylew]

He's actually saying to be careful buying from them because they gigabyte 3870 they are advertising may be different to the one you actually get. I know I'd prefer a reference one over one with a "flower" cooler. He's trying to give a heads up just in case.

 

[trog100]

part of the problem seems to be just how many variations on a theme there are with the 3xxx series cards..

to some a 3870 card is a 3870 card.. but if i try and buy something that looks like the red ati reference design and end up with the blue partner kludge half 3870 and half 3850.. something is wrong.. he he

trog

 

[overclocker]

part of the problem seems to be just how many variations on a theme there are with the 3xxx series cards..

to some a 3870 card is a 3870 card.. but if i try and buy something that looks like the red ati reference design and end up with the blue partner kludge half 3870 and half 3850.. something is wrong.. he he

trog

i agree with you. wen im paying for something i want it the way i saw it in the picture!

 

[tkpenalty]

part of the problem seems to be just how many variations on a theme there are with the 3xxx series cards..

to some a 3870 card is a 3870 card.. but if i try and buy something that looks like the red ati reference design and end up with the blue partner kludge half 3870 and half 3850.. something is wrong.. he he

trog

You're complaining when you got a 200% superior product?

5 Phases, four for core and one for vmem, what are you complaining about? Please edit your post because its VERY misleading. The reference design is inferior to gigabyte's non-ref design. The Non-ref design comes with better core cooling. Yeah well memory cooling could be improved... they use the samsung GDDR3 chips, which can easily clock to 2.1 at least.

Heres a fact guys, the reference cooler is NOT good. The reference cooler takes up two whole slots and runs warmer. Yes its quiet, but wtf?

The VF700ALCU on the non-ref design keeps the card less than 50*C at load. I don't see why you guys would want the reference when it isnt better. I'd keep the card. Trog, if you got the ref design, you'd need to replace the cooling anyway, as it runs around 70~80*C at load, costing more than adding memory cooling on the non-ref HD3870.

 

[oli_ramsay]

what the point..???

should be obvious shouldnt it.. ???

trog

It is now you've edited it

 

[erocker]

He has every right to complain. He bought the card with the stock cooler and GDDR4 and recieved something else. False advertising indeed.

 

[tkpenalty]

He has every right to complain. He bought the card with the stock cooler and GDDR4 and recieved something else. False advertising indeed.

I don't see the reference design HD3870 clocking faster for the memory than the non-ref one. The non ref uses samsung GDDR3 rated at 0.8ns... Erocker, consider how many phases it has versus the reference design. Also consider the cooling, which by all means stamps all over the reference. Trog its not really a "cheap" HD3870, when you look at the power phases.

 

[erocker]

Not the point, he didn't get what he paid for. I agree with all of your statements Tk, but personally, I only like card coolers that exhaust out the back (personal preference), and if I bought a card for the specific reason of doing that, and they sent me a non-reference design, I'd send it back.

 

[mitsirfishi]

you should of read discription and checked on there website and ocuk it specifically says

Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI
ATI Radeon HD 3870 GPU @ 775MHz
- 512MB GDDR3 Memory @ 1800MHz
- 320 stream processing units
- 666 million transistors on 55nm fabrication process
- PCI Express 2.0 x16 bus interface
- 256-bit GDDR4 memory interface
- Fully distributed design with 512-bit internal ring bus for memory reads and writes
- Hardware processed 1080p video playback of Blu-ray™ and HD DVDs
- Up to 24x Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing (CFAA) for improved quality
- ATI CrossFireX™ Multi-GPU Technology
- HDMI with 5.1 surround sound audio
- ATI PowerPlay™
- ATI Avivo™ HD Video and Display Platform
- Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 support
- Shader Model 4.1
- 450Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended.
- For ATI CrossfireX: 550 watt power supply or greater with two 6-pin connectors.


if that isnt specific enough me get some glasses also you should notice a price difference and just a picture mismatch card still very fast do not doubt it with the phase 5 better cooling than normal 3870's check out the review

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-020-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=416
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/gigabyte_hd3870/2.html

 

[tkpenalty]

you should of read discription and checked on there website and ocuk it specifically says

Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI
ATI Radeon HD 3870 GPU @ 775MHz
- 512MB GDDR3 Memory @ 1800MHz
- 320 stream processing units
- 666 million transistors on 55nm fabrication process
- PCI Express 2.0 x16 bus interface
- 256-bit GDDR4 memory interface
- Fully distributed design with 512-bit internal ring bus for memory reads and writes
- Hardware processed 1080p video playback of Blu-ray™ and HD DVDs
- Up to 24x Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing (CFAA) for improved quality
- ATI CrossFireX™ Multi-GPU Technology
- HDMI with 5.1 surround sound audio
- ATI PowerPlay™
- ATI Avivo™ HD Video and Display Platform
- Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 support
- Shader Model 4.1
- 450Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended.
- For ATI CrossfireX: 550 watt power supply or greater with two 6-pin connectors.


if that isnt specific enough me get some glasses also you should notice a price difference and just a picture mismatch card still very fast do not doubt it with the phase 5 better cooling than normal 3870's check out the review

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-020-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=416
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/gigabyte_hd3870/2.html

NUFF SAID.

 

[erocker]

Ouch Trog... Sorry mate.

 

[intel igent]

He has every right to complain. He bought the card with the stock cooler and GDDR4 and recieved something else. False advertising indeed.

indeed he does but he should change the thread title as it is misleading, something like "be carefull when you buy GIGABYTE 3870 card"



O/P sorry to hear that, maybe you can call them and question them about it see if they correct it

 

[mitsirfishi]

it was a gigabyte card

 

[intel igent]

it was a gigabyte card

brainfart!

 

[trog100]

the complaint i have is a simple one.. the picture shown should be one of the product being offered.. not an entirely different product..

as to the rest.. well what makes a 3870 a 3870 as opposed to a 3850..

lets look at the ati reference design.. 3870.. better dual slot cooler and gddr4 memory from a hardware point of view.. faster clocks from a bios point of view..

3850 single slot cooler and gddr3 memory and slower bios clocks..

to me the the gigabyte card isnt a real 3870.. its an overclocked 3850..

i consider myself a bit of an expert on 3xxx series cards.. but i wasnt even aware there was a 3870 card that didnt have the more expensive ddr4 memory onboard..

the question is how far can the parners deviate from the reference design and still claim the card is a 3870 as opposed to a 3850..

gigabyte for example could have called this particular card a 3850.. its closer hardware wise to a 3850 than it is a 3870..

i tried to purchase something close to the 3870 reference design.. and ended up with something about as far removed from it as i can possibly imagine..

its also quite clear some people think the noisy none speed controled fan that runs flat out all the time and blasts its heat into the case and dosnt cool the memory is a better option..

i dont but thats just me.. one of the reasons i bought the 3870 card was cos i liked its cooler..

i dont just thinks its gigabyte.. its ati not putting enough limits on how far partners can mess with cards.. also sorry for the first edit.. i hadnt finished the post and wanted to see which order the pics came in before i did finish it.. he he

trog

 

[intel igent]

are you returning the card and exchanging it for the correct model?

 

[erocker]

Be sure to take a screen shot of their website and the pictures in question for proof so they don't give you any grief.