HD3870 from Sapphire

[zaqwsx]

Is this card worth it because it would be if it had a red pcb. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102732

 

[happita]

It's somewhat worth it, but since 3870 prices have fallen, I don't think this justifies an extra $85 just for a slightly better cooler and clocks.
Your better off getting this instead and getting an aftermarket cooler thats much better...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102719

edit: Or better yet, just get an aftermarket cooler for your PowerColor 3870 and you'll be smooth sailing.

 

[DanishDevil]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161218

This is the 3870 to get. No need to buy an aftermarket cooler, as this one highly outperforms the stock cooler on other 3870s as it is. The main reason somebody would buy the Sapphire with Vapor-X technology would be to run a 3870 at decent temperatures in a single-slot design. Unless you need a single slot, cool-running, overclockable 3870, grab the HIS. The IceQ3 cooler is also highly UV reactive (blue)

 

[das müffin mann]

or if you really want something awesome you could get a 3870x2, but seriously the one danish is talking about is the one i would go for

 

[jbunch07]

or if you really want something awesome you could get a 3870x2, but seriously the one danish is talking about is the one i would go for

agree!

 

[zaqwsx]

Well I returned my powercolor for my money back (254.99) since mine was bad and they didn't have any in stock. Also I wanted to rma it with powercolor but they don't even have their own product so im not buying powercolor any more. I was thinking about getting the DIAMOND Viper, an HDMI cord, and a 160 sata 3.0 hd, all for cheaper then the sapphire card.

Edit: When is the newer ati cards comming out?

 

[das müffin mann]

the 4000 sereis? they haven't officially announced it yet

 

[zaqwsx]

Should I wait or should I got the HD3870.

 

[UrbanShark]

Sweet

For a Dual GPU card I think the price is very good as I own 1 myself. With my system I can run crysis at 1280x1024 2xAA on High with no sweat. Can run higher res with no problems, but I prefer the res.

 

[das müffin mann]

i would get the 3870 because its going to be a bit of time yet before the 4000 series hits retailers

 

[zaqwsx]

Ok well witch one is beter HIS or Dimond because I was a nvidia guy so I don't know the companies to well but I do know that sapphire is a good brand.

 

[DanishDevil]

I hate the 3870X2. I even got it for $380 +tax locally, and I'm returning it and using the HIS 3870. I messed with CAT 8.1's, 8.2's, XP, and Vista. The damn card can't even run Gears of War on lowest settings at 1680x1050 without dropping below 20FPS half the time. Even with improvement from updated drivers (and this might not happen as 8.2 BLOWS with the X2 versus 8.1), I don't think spending that much on a card with a HUGE and HOT cooler is worth it when you can get a single GPU with a cooler you won't have to replace for $200.

IMO: For crossfire, right now, the HIS 3870 is an amazing deal - even better than a 3870X2 for $380.

Edit:

Ok well witch one is beter HIS or Dimond because I was a nvidia guy so I don't know the companies to well but I do know that sapphire is a good brand.

To answer your question, HIS is known to put better coolers on their cards (the HIS IceQ3 cooler will keep the card around 60C load while both the ATi reference cooler and the "improved" Diamond/Visiontek cooler hover in the 90's), and is pretty highly-regarded. I would say HIS > Sapphire > Diamond.

 

[das müffin mann]

i've never had any problems with HIS in the past

 

[zaqwsx]

Lol guys the HD3870 X2 is out of the question, I dont have that kind of money right know any way this is what im looking at right know so please tell me which is the better deal?

1st Pick:
1x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103050
1x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148230
1x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812189053

2nd Pick:
1x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161218
1x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148230
1x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812189053

3rd Pick:
1x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102732
Comes with 3dmark06, Power DVD, DVD suite

Edit: The reason for the new hard drive is that my seagate 80gb sata1.5 is so slow. I have a 160gb hd from seagate and when i had my windows installed on that it was insanley fast and now that i have the 80gb for the operating system it is very slow. I dedicate one hd to the operating system and one to game. Im also doing a dual boot when I get Vista from microsoft for free!

 

[das müffin mann]

i personally would go for the second pick

 

[zaqwsx]

I chose diamond because of the better bundle well the extra cord thingy plus the red pcb since my whole system is red fans.

Edit: HDTV Cable.

 

[das müffin mann]

in that case the first bundle looks good, there shouldn't be much if any difference between the two cards

 

[erocker]

Get a Sapphire. I don't know, I've heard of them for quite a while now, and they are a good company. Personally I would never buy a Diamond, Visiontek, GeCube, or any of that other stuff.

 

[zaqwsx]

Well I think im ruling the sapphire i have up there out since im going to do Water cooling and am going to cool my graphic card. But the normal HD3870 from sapphire is not on newegg anymore. For some weird reason there are like no HD3870 anymore, like very little

 

[das müffin mann]

if you can find a sapphire i would go for that, sapphire seems to be sold out at quite a few different places so its just not the egg, but i've never had any problems with any diamond products

 

[zaqwsx]

Well I'll see if anything changes in a few days because I just sent my PowerColor back so it will be a few days till I can order the stuff.

 

[DanishDevil]

Keep in mind, if you're planning on putting on an aftermarket cooler, the HIS is the way to go, as you won't need to. An aftermarket cooler is a LOT more expensive than a silly cable

The Diamond has a cooler that doesn't contact one of the memory chips. It's also kinda loud at times. The HIS doesn't have either of those problems, and it runs like 30C cooler. Sapphire NEEDS another cooler, because the single-slot one won't do the job if you're overclocking, and from you buying a Phenom BE, I have a feeling you're an overclocker. I've got an X2 5000+ BE myself

 

[BrooksyX]

It's somewhat worth it, but since 3870 prices have fallen, I don't think this justifies an extra $85 just for a slightly better cooler and clocks.
Your better off getting this instead and getting an aftermarket cooler thats much better...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102719

edit: Or better yet, just get an aftermarket cooler for your PowerColor 3870 and you'll be smooth sailing.

Thats the one I plan on getting in the next week or two. Gonna put my accelero s2 on it. I would get the HIS one but I already have the accelero s2 so I might as well save my money.

 

[jbunch07]

Get a Sapphire. I don't know, I've heard of them for quite a while now, and they are a good company. Personally I would never buy a Diamond, Visiontek, GeCube, or any of that other stuff.

why not?
just curious?

 

[DanishDevil]

HIS HIS HIS!

Ooooooooooooooh preeeeeeeeeettttttttyyyyy!