Fireblade
20-12-2007, 10:16
If PC Pro's review of the Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 (http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/145233/sapphire-radeon-hd-3870.html#) is anything to go by (and their reviews usually are!), it's...
A competent card with older games, but it can't handle the new generation.:eek:
Our first test confirmed our doubts: Call of Duty 2 is an old DirectX 9 game,
and the 3870's average frame rate of 35fps at high detail settings fell far short of the speeds we've come to expect from Nvidia.
When it came to DirectX 10, though, the 3870 performed more creditably, partly thanks to its generous complement of 320 stream processors.
It managed an average rate of 21fps on medium settings in Call of Juarez, and kept up 21fps in Crysis at 1,280 x 1,024 with medium detail.
These results might be respectable in light of the card's £119 price tag, but it's hard to recommend a GPU that, in the month of its release,
is already struggling to keep up with current games.:(
Seems like ATI/AMD are still playing 'catch-up'!
And if a rumour I've heard on the grapevine is to be believed... they won't be releasing any 'new' products throughout 2008!?
They'll likely be updating the 38xx series in the New Year - in much the same way Nvidia have done with their new G92 revision 8800GTS.
But I'm hearing no genuinely 'new' cards will be released in 2008!?
If founded on truth... that's not good news, 'coz no competition to Nvidia's products, means there's potential for Nvidia to choose whatever prices they want for their cards :rolleyes:
A competent card with older games, but it can't handle the new generation.:eek:
Our first test confirmed our doubts: Call of Duty 2 is an old DirectX 9 game,
and the 3870's average frame rate of 35fps at high detail settings fell far short of the speeds we've come to expect from Nvidia.
When it came to DirectX 10, though, the 3870 performed more creditably, partly thanks to its generous complement of 320 stream processors.
It managed an average rate of 21fps on medium settings in Call of Juarez, and kept up 21fps in Crysis at 1,280 x 1,024 with medium detail.
These results might be respectable in light of the card's £119 price tag, but it's hard to recommend a GPU that, in the month of its release,
is already struggling to keep up with current games.:(
Seems like ATI/AMD are still playing 'catch-up'!
And if a rumour I've heard on the grapevine is to be believed... they won't be releasing any 'new' products throughout 2008!?
They'll likely be updating the 38xx series in the New Year - in much the same way Nvidia have done with their new G92 revision 8800GTS.
But I'm hearing no genuinely 'new' cards will be released in 2008!?
If founded on truth... that's not good news, 'coz no competition to Nvidia's products, means there's potential for Nvidia to choose whatever prices they want for their cards :rolleyes: