Radeon HD 3870: characteristics, comparison with analogues and reviews. Video card on PC

Now in the pursuit of cool and powerful graphics processors people are ready to pay hundreds of dollars. Their diversity in the market is amazing. But about ten years ago this could not be said about this sphere. The video card was a little bit, their modifications also rarely appeared in such a large number. But even then, the competition between the "red" and "blue" camps became lighter every year. So, at the end of 2007 AMD releases its new brainchild - Radeon HD 3870.

As usual, this video card was released not only in the reference version, but also in different modifications from other manufacturers. Models differ in appearance, cooling systems and overclocking potential. Options from Gigabyte, Asus, Sapphire became more popular than the original version due to improved features.

Reference

Before considering all the modified versions, it's worth to understand what the original Radeon HD video card turned out to be. Now it is not known how the reference model was supplied and whether it was generally available to the buyer. Also its appearance is unknown. Nevertheless, the accelerator worked on the RV670 core, according to the 55 nm process technology.

The core functioned at a speed of 775 MHz, GDDR4 memory had 256 bits and worked at 1125 MHz. The amount of memory was 512 MB, which is very small for the present time. Transistors inside were 666 million, unified shader blocks 320, and ROP - 16 pieces.

Model from Gigabyte

It can not be asserted that the AMD ATI Radeon HD 3870 video card from this manufacturer became the top one. But still it should be said about it, since it was one of the ones bought and in demand on the market.

The model was delivered in an ominous package with the character of the game. That is, the user could immediately guess that there is a gift inside him. In front, the model and the main specifications were indicated. Behind the information was even more, but this is because it was presented in several languages. Also there were screenshots from the game, which was a gift.

It is interesting that there were no specific instructions for the characteristics of the video card, therefore, in fact, it was possible to place another model in this box, changing only the index of the name from the front. Also surprising was the lack of minimum requirements for a system that would adopt this model. On the one hand, it is clear that every user during the purchase himself must study and look at which options suits him, and on the other, not everyone knew that a 450W power supply was recommended to the card.

Inside, the graphics card on the PC was packed modestly, although it was all that was needed. So, there was a manual in triplicate, a disk with drivers, four adapters, a CrossFire bridge, and the game Neverwinter Nights 2. All in all there was enough, except the power adapter for six-pin PCI Express.

Appearance of Gigabyte

ATI Radeon HD 3870 looked cool at the time. It was fiery red, made of quality clear plastic. On the front of the cooling system casing there was a sticker that reminded us again of the game in the kit. The design was retained by the reference model, which, in general, differed only in the color of the textolite, the casing and the logo.

It is interesting that the board itself was also not distinguished by special permutations of the components. It even had a similarity to the previous model 3850, which differed in support of a different type of video memory. The supply of additional power was realized through a six-pin connector. And if the PC case was not very capacious, there could be problems with installing the adapter inside.

The interface panel acquired a small number of connectors for connecting external devices. Here you could find a pair of DVI-I, for them in the box there were adapters for VGA and HDMI, and there was a TV-Out that supported HDTV.

Cooling system

Any video card on a PC must have its own cooling system. From this will depend on the possibility of overclocking and the overall work of the model. In this modification, it has a rather unusual appearance. Before us is a large red plastic case, inside which there is a fan, of small dimensions, as well as a compact radiator. All this construction can be untwisted to get to the components.

The advantage of this system design is quiet operation and air discharge outside the enclosure. But, on the other hand, it will be better to cope, if you put additional cooling in the case. By the way, cold air captures the memory chips and the power management module through the slots in the casing.

And if at first glance the cooling system seems average and more or less tolerable, then in practice it turns out that it allows the device to warm up to 90 degrees. Specialists began to understand, in what a problem. After all, in fact, the graphics chip itself is quite "cold", also a good copper radiator inside. In due course it was found out, that in drivers to formjahe there is a deficiency. It is caused by the fact that the automatic fan speed control function is not actually activated, and therefore the system initially works by 25%. Hence the silence, and the high temperature of heating.

Despite all this, with the help of additional software all this was quickly fixed. Yes, it was necessary to adjust manually, but the temperature immediately fell, and the system worked correctly. Of course, along with all this, the noise of the fan increased.

Specification

The ATI Radeon HD 3870 (RV670) card was presented in several modifications. In due course the model with the updated kernel of the second version was released. The initial version from Gigabyte had 320 stream processors, 16 pieces of texture units and ROP. The frequency was the same as the reference version of 775 MHz, and the memory bus width was 256 bits. This option was delivered with a capacity of 512 MB, which were divided into 8 GDDR4-type chips. The memory clock frequency is 2500 MHz.

Performance

In due time this modification has passed set of tests. Its main competitors were models GeForce 8800 GT, Radeon HD 2900 XT and other variations of the 3870 card. Regarding their younger colleagues, vidhu got a bit more in performance and became faster by 25%. Relatively 2900 XT, could easily compete on energy consumption and cost. And the GeForce 8800 GT became a competitor only because it was a little closer on the overall indicators, although in fact it was stronger, albeit at an inflated price.

Overclocking

Overclocking Gigabyte Radeon HD 3870 512Mb first thing you should start with increasing the fan speed. So, at least to 50% it is necessary to increase the capacity of the cooling system. To make overclocking at the maximum possible rates, you can run the cooler to maximum. So on average it was possible to raise the frequency to 857 MHz, and the memory became faster and worked at a frequency of 2560 MHz. As a result, the figures rose by 10-15%, which is quite good. Consequently, the system itself became more productive by 10%.

Reviews of Gigabyte

The modification was really good. If we consider that the choice at that time was meager, then the demand for it increased even more. Feedback viduhaha also got good. Praised a good value for money. How much is a video card for a computer of this type now, it is difficult to say, the version used can be found for fifteen hundred rubles.

At the time of exit, the cost was approximately the same. For this money, the user received a quiet system, especially if it is not loaded, hardware decoding, the availability of modern video outputs and even a game as a gift. Of course, now such a model is unlikely to be able to cope with modern human demands, but at one time it showed a good average performance result.

Model from Asus

Another good version of the Radeon HD 3870 was the modification from Asus. It got an interesting look, but there are doubts about the technical characteristics. In fact, it is almost identical to the previous model, so it was often viewed in CrossFire mode. What is this, we learn further.

The delivery of the novelty was presented in strict packaging. In appearance, it seems a little more qualitative than in the previous modification. It is made in black and gray colors. There is again a minimum of information ahead of him, but there is information that a new toy is waiting for us inside. On the back of the packaging is also a minimum of information. There are only superficial information, which in general is enough to understand what is in our hands.

Inside the package, there are many interesting accessories. So, there are a couple of adapters with DVI on VGA and HDMI. Also there is an option for TV-Out. There is a CrissFire bridge in the box and unlike the previous model, a six-pin PCI Express connector was placed here. In addition, there is: a paper manual, its electronic version, drivers with software and a disk with the game Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts.

Design by Asus

Interestingly, Asus Radeon HD 3870 decided to use their own textolite design. It is made in red, and the layout is somewhat different from the standard version. The difference is noticeable in the fan power scheme, as well as the presence of a built-in speaker, which will remind you of an additional power connection.

Also immediately noticeable is the choice of a proprietary cooler that looks attractive and somewhat resembles modern variations of the cooling system. It consists of an aluminum radiator, a simple, quiet, but effective, and a large fan that does its job well.

Disappeared from the board and the radiators near the memory chips, which were supposed to distribute heat. On the one hand, the news is bad, on the other - in practice it has virtually no effect on performance, since the main cooler of the device copes with the cooling of the board. The power modules are protected by a proprietary radiator, which is also efficient, albeit compact. Regarding the reference model, the temperature at the same cooler revs in the modification is less by 10 degrees.

Asus Specification

Asus Radeon HD 3870 specifications received identical reference version. Here is the same core RV670 XT, which received 320 universal stream processors, 16 texture units and ROP. It's interesting that the clock frequency has increased by 2 MHz, just to be a beautiful figure of 777 MHz. The difference is none, but it seems to be better remembered.

The video memory has remained the same, with 256 bit capacity 512 MB of GDDR4 type. The frequency of clock memory was 2500 MHz, although in practice the tests show again 2250 MHz.

Increase in productivity

Interestingly, the performance of this modification is the same as the version of Gigabyte, so there is nothing special to expect. With respect to the younger version of the 3850, this one wins a little 10-15%. If we take models from the "enemy" camp, then it is slightly ahead of the GeForce 9600 GT and slightly inferior to the GeForce 8800 GT, which wins by having a 1 GB version.

But if you use the CrossFire mode, then the situation changes. The motherboard is equipped with two video cards from Asus. Immediately testing shows almost a twofold increase in performance. If the PC is loaded so that 512 MB is missing from the head, then in general the system works with only one mind, if you need to use the game project, the motherboard starts at full capacity both adapters, which qualitatively affects the operation of the system.

Overclocking

Overclocking was not a surprise, because, in fact, this card was often bought in two copies at once. Nevertheless, it is known that the core frequency has risen to 837 MHz, and the memory has become faster and accelerated to 2500 MHz, which in fact were claimed. Performance has increased in direct proportion to the growth acceleration - about 7-8%.

Reviews about Asus

Now, it is important to understand how much is the video card on the computer and it is desirable to choose from a variety. Ten years ago, it was easier to purchase a similar version with the CrossFire mode, as there were very few super-power video cards on the market, and all of them were produced at sky-high prices.

This modification was also worthy of attention on its own. Unlike the previous version, here the cooling system looks better and manifests itself. Even at high power it is quiet. Regarding all technical components, there are no changes and innovations.

Video card from Sapphire

Another no less popular and productive version of the video card was Sapphire Radeon HD 3870. This model was delivered in a large blue box, which showed all the advantages of this model. So there was talk about high-speed DDR4 memory, the presence of CrossFire X, which could already combine three or more accelerators. There was also a full version of 3DMark 06.

A pair of CDs with drivers and software came along with two CDs for working with DVD, adapters for power and video outputs. There was a bridge for installing several adapters, instructions, a sticker for the PC case and even a coupon for Steam games.

Appearance

By the way, it should be noted immediately that of all the modifications there was no variant of Radeon HD 3870 1Gb. The model described also came with 512 MB. Looked very similar to all the modifications. The reference circuit board changed from red to blue. On top there was a plastic blue casing, inside of which a cooler was stored. Such a choice of cooling systems is due to the fact that the core showed a low heating temperature, therefore, almost nothing was bothering about this issue.

Characteristics

At Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 fan control is also implemented in the system, but in fact sometimes it is necessary to adjust the speed manually. The RV670 core is still running here. Its frequency is 777 MHz. Memory of DDR4 type from Samsung is eight chips and 512 MB. The frequency reaches 2250 MHz.

Interestingly, the overclocking potential turned out to be bad. In general, the values were raised to 850 MHz and 2,600 MHz, but the system was not stable, so overclocking can be considered completely failed.

Reviews

In general, the modification was normal. Praised by users of its quiet and efficient cooling system, I also liked the complete package with all the necessary cables and adapters. CrossFire X technology was not necessary for everyone, but its presence did not hinder this case. Energy consumption was also low. The only thing that buyers encountered is with errors and miscalculations in architecture, but later they were corrected. Well, more expected from overclocking.

A budget option

Few people know that there was a cheap version of Radeon HD 3870 X2. It worked on a modified core RV670 x2 with a 55 nm process technology. The core frequency reached 825 MHz, but the memory was of the old type - GDDR3 with a bandwidth of 256 bits and a frequency of 900 MHz. The amount of memory in this case was still 512 MB. Despite the increased frequencies, because of low-speed memory, this model received a lower cost, as in principle popularity.

Analogues from competitors

As mentioned earlier, the Radeon HD 3870 from ATI turned out quite competitive. The opponent was GeForce 8800GT Sonic. This option was slightly better in performance. Worked on the G92 core with a 65 nm process technology. The core frequency is 650 MHz, but the operating speed of the unified shader units has risen to 1625 MHz.

The number of them is also less than that of the competitor: 320 against 112 pieces. But the texture blocks are several times larger - 56 pieces. The amount of memory was presented in several modifications, but to compare the forces, we took the option with 256 MB. The memory frequency reached 1.9 GHz. For the frequency of the experiment we used the Gigabyte Radeon HD 3870 Overclocked. This version has an increased core frequency of 931 MHz, as well as overclocked video memory up to 2430 MHz.

As a result, testing and comparing three video cards showed that, no matter how AMD tried to jump over its competitor, they rarely get it. The core of the RV670 gave way to the G92. Probably, therefore, the "red" so quickly dumped the cost of the model. The positive quality of the HD 3870 can be considered that in games it is slightly inferior to the GeForce 8800GT, and considering the cost of both cards, and at all is the best choice.

And if at the beginning of its journey the given model from AMD presented hopes both among its own and among the competing adapters, it later threw off the cost to the weak version from Nvidia and stopped struggling with the inevitable.

If you still have the video card that is being monitored, then any specialist will tell you that overclocking for it is a necessary and important thing. The benchmarks are quite weak, but the ability to increase performance by 20% is a great chance to turn from a weak adapter into a good accelerator for everyday tasks. By the way, at the time when both versions existed on the market - 3850 and 3870, - the first option was preferable, as it was cheaper, and although differed by another type of memory, in total with all the other characteristics was almost identical to its older brother.

If we go back to the above-described modifications, then, of course, it is not easy to choose from them, since they are almost identical. According to reviews it is clear that many users chose the model that liked more than the bundle, or rather, the game as a gift. There were also those who Gigabyte chose because of their lower cost relative to Asus. The last option was popular with those who have long trusted this company and know that all their products are reliable.

The model from Sapphire was the least in demand, as few people heard about the manufacturer, and all its features, including the failed overclocking, had a bad effect on sales.