3850 AGP OC'ing, Vmods, experiences, suggestions, where to buy

[Spathi]

Why does everyone go down the glass half empty path...

I can play all my games with no slowdowns, that is all that matters to me. The fact that with this card a 2007 system is only twice as fast as this 2002 system speaks volumes. I doubt the extra CPU power adds up to much benefit either...faster decoding?, vista?, crysis full?.. thats all I can think of and those three things hold little of my interest... maybe next year something will come along.

[15th Warlock]

Originally Posted by Spathi

Why does everyone go down the glass half empty path...

I can play all my games with no slowdowns, that is all that matters to me. The fact that with this card a 2007 system is only twice as fast as this 2002 system speaks volumes. I doubt the extra CPU power adds up to much benefit either...faster decoding?, vista?, crysis full?.. thats all I can think of and those three things hold little of my interest... maybe next year something will come along.

Dude, trust me, I'm was on the same boat, when I originally bought this card I had an old P4 with 2GBs of DDR400, but then my old mobo died on me...

Thing is I had to get a new mobo, ram and proc, and essentially upgrade around this card, but in the end, it was worth it, the difference is breathtaking.

I give you this, the two games I could test on my old system before it died (Oblvion and Crysis) ran relatively smooth with this card, but the fact is, this card will be severely held back by old P4 systems; then again, if it ain't broken, don't fix it; in my case, unfortunately my system broke so I had to upgrade anyways...

[Spathi]

k, btw I almost got that Q6600 so it's a nice CPU you got Warlock, mega OC . This 3850 AGP card sort of came at a lucky time I suppose, the chart was just to give ppl with 3GHz P4's or greater the idea they may actually get away with another year or two if their board is in good nick.

[tkpenalty]

Okay I see no point in a HD3850 if its so bottlenecked... Even the X1950PRO is bottlenecked by something like a Pentium D...

[InnocentCriminal]

Originally Posted by 15th Warlock

Haven't had a chance to pencil mod my card yet unfortunately, last week one doctor called in in my office and I had to work all week long, not gonna have a day off till wednesday... I ordered a voltmeter and it should arrive tomorrow hopefully, will let you guys know about my results once I have 'em

Unlucky dude, still it's better to be busy with work than not to have any work at all.

Keep us informed, I look forward to hearing about your escapades in pencil modding. I'm a bit reluctant to do so with mine, maybe if the benefits completely out way the cons, then maybe I'll give it a shot in the mouth once my new mobo & PSU arrive.

[Spathi]

Originally Posted by tkpenalty

Okay I see no point in a HD3850 if its so bottlenecked... Even the X1950PRO is bottlenecked by something like a Pentium D...

I see no point in comments like 'I see no point'. In terms of 3DMark06's it is 20% faster than a X1950PRO on our old systems and 70% faster than a GF6800. It lets us play every game and get a beast of a PC l8r, thus postponing lots of reinstalls/driver hunts etc etc.

That is 3 or 4 points

[Widjaja]

Originally Posted by tkpenalty

Okay I see no point in a HD3850 if its so bottlenecked... Even the X1950PRO is bottlenecked by something like a Pentium D...

At the end of the day it does mean the system will have higher fps even though there is such a big bottle neck when it comes down to benchmarks.

So if you look at it in real world performance, then yes there is a benefit from the card even over a X1950pro AGP with a P4.

[InnocentCriminal]

I'm interested in seeing the different sort of bottlenecks with different CPUs. If I can get some DDR500 I'm going to try so hard to get my CPU back to 2.5/2.6GHz. Hopefully, once I've installed my WC kit it'll be able to maintain that speed or higher.

Fingers crossed!

[Morgoth]

Originally Posted by Spathi

Not much point in pushing it so hard, 5000 is enough to tide us over till next year or l8r.
and memory speed does not seem to make much difference, ye'ol'P4 is pretty close to maxed out past 3200

nice list i do score above 5000 p4 at 4ghz scores 7k

[intel igent]

Originally Posted by tkpenalty

Okay I see no point in a HD3850 if its so bottlenecked... Even the X1950PRO is bottlenecked by something like a Pentium D...

not eveyone is a benchwhore have a look at 15thwarlock's benches look right on par to me

it does what it was designed to do, give good frames to older systems

i really hope i get my order today im really starting to get itchy. it shipped out of california on the 25th and i specified 3-5 days so today is the day i hope

[InnocentCriminal]

ARRRGH!

I have to see how long I can hold out before buying my 3850. Think I'll order my PSU though as I'll need it.

UPDATE: I just bought the modular 520W Corsair for £69... all I need now is the motherboard and some DDR500 and then my 3850.

^^

[Spathi]

Originally Posted by Morgoth

nice list i do score above 5000 p4 at 4ghz scores 7k

What is the CPUID?

In the graph the 3850 is at stock, I am going to add overclocked 3850 results to the graph when I get time, I want to do it properly though as some people have already cooked these cards. btw there is another graph here...
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=256030&page=2
that shows systems above P4

If I took my Northwood to 4 with it's current cooling it would melt, lol. The kink in the graph is because the ram goes up in latency (from 2,2,2,6 to 2.5,3,3,7). It boots at 3.8 on air but I had no guts to load it up, it is ES and it does not seem to get unstable but from what I have seen so far I am guessing that parts of it would start turning off at high OC without water cooling.

[KainXS]

I have seen the agp model get tome good furmark scores, my pcie version gets about 3300 at 800/1000 and I have seen the agp models perform at about 3100 marks at similar clocks, thats not bad at all

[intel igent]

thnx for the graphs spathi!

what all proggies/drivers are you using?

are you using the 8pin molex adapter or straight 6pin from PSU?

seems like these score between 5k-6k on a p4 not bad @ all

cant wait for my order to get here so i can throw my rig back together, im tired of staring at this card.

[Spathi]

atm I am using 8.3.. too lazy to edit 8.4 and put it on

I am running just the drivers (i.e. no CCC) and disabled both the ATI services as well.

Using a PCIe power connector from the ps

Overclocked mildly last week to 729 with the default BIOS edited in "RBE - Radeon BIOS editor". Will probably always install with CCC when I stop playing, sort of hoping someone works out how to unlock the BIOS so it runs with CCC > 730. Then I am going to reseat the heatsink with Arctic silver and clock it to 810 or maybe lower. 810 was 69*C loaded on a very hot day when I tested which I am guessing is just too high. There is no point in overclocking the memory as it does not achieve much at all and is risky because the memory is passively cooled (i did bring the memory up to a multi of 27 though). The PowerColor's cooler blows over the harddisks, so I also removed the front fan on my PC and now only have a top thermal case fan to extract heat, it is nice and quiet without the front fan although slightly hotter.

Also, waiting in hope the Vista 3D ATI performance comes up to XP's so I can install it and leave XP.

[InnocentCriminal]

Interesting stuff.

Well, I've managed to source a new mobo from another TPU member, just sorting out payment details when he's back in the UK. Managed to bag MKmod's DDR600 for a fantastic price so I'm hoping that'll be with me very soon. (Means I can have a bash at OC'ing my old school AthlonXP - until I get my new mobo).

Then all I have to do is what for my girlfriend to buy me the 3850 for my Birthday... ROLL ON MAY! Might try and convince her to buy it slightly early for me.

^^

In the mean time, I'll download 3DMark05 and 06 and see what scores I get with my current set up. Currently running with my CPU at 2.31GHz. I've never been able to push my X1950 Pro, always locks up.

[intel igent]

coming along innocent!

you and me both are doin the waiting game thing hopefully we get our stuff sooner than later

@ spathi : you said youve seen a few of these cards fry already? got any links?

updated first post

[InnocentCriminal]

Well, my wonderful GF said she'd be willing to buy it for me early as I won't shuddup about the thing, just waiting for the motherboard and RAM to arrive.

I benched my Shuttle/X1950 Pro last night in 3DMark03 with the only OC being the CPU at 2.3GHz from 2GHz stock.

I got 15189 @ default settings. Last time I tried to OC my X1950 Pro it crapped out and hard-locked in ATiTool and CCC. However, I've disabled the service for Overdrive now so I'll either try ATiTool again or I just won't bother.... hmmmm!

[intel igent]

nice G/F you have , treat her well

im still waiting on my order to arrive as well

youre switching PSU's when you go to your lian-li?

[InnocentCriminal]

Originally Posted by intel igent

nice G/F you have , treat her well

The best, and I do...

Originally Posted by intel igent

im still waiting on my order to arrive as well

How long ago did you order it?

Originally Posted by intel igent

youre switching PSU's when you go to your lian-li?

I have too, as I don't have a full ATX PSU, just my Shuttle 240W which I'll need to pass on. I'm killing two birds with one stone (hate that saying) as I'll be able to use the Corsair with my Nehalem based rig once the prices have dropped et al.

[lemonadesoda]

Yes, I know this is a 3850 AGP "only" thread, but I thought I would add some more info regarding bench! Here is my result on a Q6600 @2.70 and a RADEON 9700


I've got a TOP score on a 9700. This is clearly bonkers. The bench! utility isnt very good. Its not working the way we expect. Something is going wrong. Either its buggy, or the CPU is having a major influence on the results, and a Q6600 is able to make an OLD card like the 9700 outperform a X1900XTX.

(I'm using ATI Try Tools v1.3.6.1042)

[InnocentCriminal]

Yeah, something is really incorrect there. I suggest we use another benchmark.

I'll be using 3DMark03 through to 06 -then real world performance in these games...

Call of Duty 4 - v1.5
Dawn of War: Dark Crusade - most recent version.
Unreal Tournament 3 - v1.2
Company of Heroes - v2.1.0.2

Then if I can be arsed...

HL2: EP2
CS: Source (for shits & giggles)

If anyone would any other games shout 'em out and I'll see if I have them.

Obviously, I'll be comparing my X1950 Pro to the 3850 at stock speeds. Both in my Shuttle with a clean install and then again in once I've got my ASUS A8V.

Only OC will be on my CPU. Which is currently at 2.3GHz.

[intel igent]

Originally Posted by InnocentCriminal

How long ago did you order it?

my order left san francisco on the 25th after that i dont know where it is i specified rush delivery, so the mailman is taking his time

[Morgoth]

i got my watercooling finaly

[intel igent]

Originally Posted by Morgoth

i got my watercooling finaly

nice!

what all did ya get?