Video Card Question For Nick

[richardd43]

I just saw the 3870X2 listed for $509.00.

As that is slightly more than 2 3870s would I be better off with 4 of the 3870s or use my 3870s somewhere else and opt for 2 3870X2s? :-/

[NickN]

The price as I understood it will be about 460. For a card that beats the ultra hands down and no clocking, thats dirt cheap

You are going to see all sorts of prices with the introduction so i would wait a few weeks before making that decision. The drivers are still maturing too.

[sbq]

tomshardware.com just did a big write up on this card, worth a read if you want to get it.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/28/ati_r680_the_rage_fury_maxx_2/

[fighter25]

Wow that is a steal. Nick will that card be beat by the new NVIDIA cards?

[richardd43]

I read the article and it was quite interesting. Until the drivers mature I see no reason to replace my 3870s yet.

Am thinking the 3870X2(s) will be my card of choice on my next build along with an Intel chip.

This is my first ATI card since Nvidia brought out the 6600s and I have never built an Intel system so times are changing for sure.

[Brett_Henderson]

*Bump*

[richardd43]

Brett.. I am still doing a lot of reading on the card and the difference between the single X2 card and my Crossfire setup is not enough to make me buy the card yet.

But my next build will surely include one (or two). I am still waiting for the new drivers to see what happens.

Games seem to be split between the 3870 X2 and the 8800 GTX depending on what you play.

For the price difference it seems to be a pretty good deal.

Like you, I am waiting for some words of wisdom from Nick.

Here is an interesting twist on the 3870 X2. Looks like just the thing for FSX with multi monitors:

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?optio ... 7&Itemid=1

[Brett_Henderson]

Excellent... thanks for updating me (and please post back when you know more)...

This seems like the card to get now, for FSX  :)

[HugoCampos]

This card is better than any NVIDIA card available but there's a catch: you CANNOT use 2 of them in your system because it doesn't support Crossfire (Crossfire is already activated internally). So, if you want top performance, the best you can do is get 2 ULTRAS and SLI them.

[Brett_Henderson]

Here's a post from Nick, about a month old...

I hope you did not buy 2 cards for SLI in FSX

If you did, you wasted your money

In order to have any advantage with SLI in FSX you must be able to run the following:

16-32AA
over 2000x screen resolution (or higher)

and in order to be able to run 16-32AA at that resolution, you better have a very fast quad core running, and, at todays CPU speeds, it best be overclocked to 3.6gig

otherwise SLI is a waste in FSX and will run like crap

I have been posting that about SLi and FSX for well over a year

And to top that all off,  right now Nvidias drivers are not that great either

I long ago accepted that SLI is a waste.. and was hoping this new  3870 X2    was  a good fit for FSX....  Now I'm confused again..lol

[richardd43]

This card is better than any NVIDIA card available but there's a catch: you CANNOT use 2 of them in your system because it doesn't support Crossfire (Crossfire is already activated internally). So, if you want top performance, the best you can do is get 2 ULTRAS and SLI them.

I am not quite sure what you are saying. I am fully capable of running two 3870 X2 boards in quad crossfire.

Here is what Diamond has to say about multi cards:
[quote]For a complete ATI CrossFireX

[Brett_Henderson]

I'm just tickled that there's an alternative to the 8800 series cards. This last year and a half is the first I remember card prices staying so high for so long. Now we just need AMD to start competing in the CPU market. The Core-two Duo/quad chips have held their prices too long, too.

[HugoCampos]

This card is better than any NVIDIA card available but there's a catch: you CANNOT use 2 of them in your system because it doesn't support Crossfire (Crossfire is already activated internally). So, if you want top performance, the best you can do is get 2 ULTRAS and SLI them.

I am not quite sure what you are saying. I am fully capable of running two 3870 X2 boards in quad crossfire.

Here is what Diamond has to say about multi cards:
[quote]For a complete ATI CrossFireX

[richardd43]

I misunderstood what you were saying. Yes the motherboard support is there, no the drivers are not.

Word is Cat 8.2 is due out anyday.

[NickN]

1. I have not run the card in Quad

2. Yes the card does run in Quad.. those tech sites are so full of crap its pathetic. they are not the ones who are really testing the products they are just there to get you to read their stories with drama

3. If I already had a single card, buying the X2 is not really a huge difference over another single in crossfire

4. If you are upgrading from a older card, the x2 is a great choice and although drivers are still in Q/C, its not like the card wont run... like Nvidia's crap in October of 06 which wouldn