Hi all. I found this thread doing some googling and decided to join up
I own two machines (well, three, but the third is a pile of parts with bits needed). Any way, my main rig is a 940 OC with a pair of 5770s. It's fast.
However due to me constantly messing with it I decided to build a second PC to fall back on (ever tried doing an RMA without a PC? god it's a nightmare !).
At first I went for an EVGA 8800u KO edition that I found on Ebay. Only paid ÂŁ55 for it as one of the VGA lines is screwed on head one (no green, so you only get purple, DVI works 100% though). I was using the second head but after about a month it died (seems it had been baked).
Got onto the seller and when I asked if it had been on a sheet with the cookies he sorta crapped it and sent me a ÂŁ75 refund. At that point I got a 3870x2 for ÂŁ50. Mint, boxed, and Sapphire to boot.
I love it. Firstly it benches and games about 15-40% better than the benches and tests I have found in reviews (that were done when it first came out) so I would imagine that drivers have come on leaps and bounds. Secondly it's almost on par in 'real world' terms with my 5770 Xfire (being that games feel about the same even if the FPS count is less).
It also obliterates the 8800 Ultra (which has now been rebaked with flux flow and thicker thermal pads to put pressure down to keep it from warping) which looking at early benches and reviews it shouldn't do, but it does.
Infact, so impressed am I that I have shifted my Fallout 3 install (all 13gb of it with hundreds of mods) onto that machine and play laying in bed
For ÂŁ50 it's simply the best card I have ever owned. I've created a custom profile with MSI's Afterburner and it never goes above 60c even on full load in Fallout 3 (the key to keeping these toasters alive).
I'll go on to say that I love it so much that there is something on the horizon....
My existing card...
And what's coming...
ÂŁ50 on a Scan clearance. And this, ÂŁ50 on Ebay. Again boxed mint and all accessories.
It's time to see if Quadfire 3870x2 has improved with age as much as the 3870x2.
Full report to follow once it all arrives