HD 3870 + GPUs. advice needed.

[Domestic_Ginger]

I use a 17" CRT with resolutions of 1024x768 max (often less). I do a reasonable amount of gaming when I have time. It is really to power Empire: total war at medium to high settings.

I have a knackered X1950pro with VRMs running at ca 100C when at load. (the card has warped so it is clamped to the one piece heatsink a cable tie(gives pressure), PCI bracket (spreads the load) and a few bits of paper (even better fit) very crude but it stops the card overheating.)

I wanted a 4800 series but it looks like I would need to wait a while until I could afford one. I've spent my budgetP2.

Would a HD 3870 be able to cope at those resolutions to a reasonable degree with the 4800s? links/guides welcome.

How much do you think a second hand one is worth (or how much would you pay for one)?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

An HD3870 will be fine and are good overclockers too. You will be able to play most games reasonably well between 1280x800 and 1680x1050 at reasonable settings. It does have poor AA performance though. I had one for a while.

There is one for sale in the classified section:

http://forums.hexus.net/classifieds-...-hdds-gfx.html

[MSIC]

I have a 3870, and i can tell you that i game at 1920 x 1080, and most games on full or nearly full details (although i can't claim to use the very latest stuff, but certainly am happy to use Steam to get stuff like Civ4, and also play Crysis at 1680 x 1050).
Check out my sig for the passive fan on my 3870 too.
You could certainly pick one up for under £50 either on this forum from time to time or fleabay, Scan sells them for £85 which i dont think is great value.

Equally a 4670 should give a similar amount of grunt, with less power usage and lower heat.
A 4670 is in the £60 region, new.

Honestly however, for 1024 x 768 resolution, something like this 4650 is far more appropriate, for under £40. I'd only consider something more expensive if you think that you are likely to change your gaming monitor / resolution in the near future.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Again, thanks for the input guys.

When I bought my 1950 to upgrade from my 9600 pro i used the following link to untangle how good the cards are and the comparison between the manufacturers:-

GPU hierachy

The 3870 is 3 steps above what I have now; I thought i would stick with that. ETW is a bit of a pig, you should have seen the stutter on my s939 3200+

Can't get into the classifieds yet <100 posts. Will keep posting....

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Remember get the GDDR3 version of the HD4670 NOT the DDR3 version which is slower. IMHO,the HD3870 is a better choice in most instances as only its poor AA performance counts against it.

If you don't mind very high power consumption the HD4730 is the fastest card for under £60 AFAIK:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166840

It is slightly behind an HD4830(it is sometimes better too) and has worse AA performance. However since it is based on an HD4870 it has very high power consumption and requires two PCI-E power connectors. Even an HD4850 requires only one additional power connector.

[Domestic_Ginger]

From what little I do know the 4730 is (like you said) meant to be very hot and high in energy consumption; that is a very good deal though. Can't help thinking the £10 to a 4850 (google shopping has then starting at about £70) may be saved in energy and longetivity (until it needs to be upgraded) over the life of the GPU.

I would prefer a dual slot one with exhaust (with my budget I can't be picky; I know). Looking on fleabay but it is so expensive for buy me nows; the bidding goes upto almost the price of a new one. What is a sensible % price drop form new to old? roughly speaking.

just out of interest how much is that card going for on the classifieds? If It is not against forum rules of course.

I'm beginning to enjoy finding bargain parts and learning how to fix and build systems rather than actually using them.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

From what little I do know the 4730 is (like you said) meant to be very hot and high in energy consumption; that is a very good deal though. Can't help thinking the £10 to a 4850 (google shopping has then starting at about £70) may be saved in energy and longetivity (until it needs to be upgraded) over the life of the GPU.

I would prefer a dual slot one with exhaust (with my budget I can't be picky; I know). Looking on fleabay but it is so expensive for buy me nows; the bidding goes upto almost the price of a new one. What is a sensible % price drop form new to old? roughly speaking.

just out of interest how much is that card going for on the classifieds? If It is not against forum rules of course.

I'm beginning to enjoy finding bargain parts and learning how to fix and build systems rather than actually using them.

Get an HD3870 as the one for sale in classifieds has the reference dual slot cooler which expels the hot air out of the case.

This is the one MadduckUK has for sale for £40.




I suspect it is the slightly faster(and rarer) GDDR4 model.

Perhaps if you are interested perhaps you could send a PM and ask if MadduckUK will hold onto until you reach 100 posts.

[MadduckUK]

[nightkhaos]

Only 18 posts for him to go and you've got a sale.

[Pob255]

In all honesty for sub £50 look for a 2nd hand 3870 or nvidia 8800gt/8800gts/9800gt will be all the power you need.

For a bit more a 4830 @ £67
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168791
That has about the same performance as the 8800gt which was slightly better than the 3870

Umm I think CAT ment the GDDR5 version not the GDDR3 version of the 4730, but at that level of performance I'd look at a 2nd hand card.

And never fully trust thoes google shopping resaults, follow the link and you'll often find ether a sub vat and postage price or an out of stock product that has been lowered in price, which will go back up IF it ever comes back into stock it's a sneaky trick some e-tailors use.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Umm I think CAT ment the GDDR5 version not the GDDR3 version of the 4730, but at that level of performance I'd look at a 2nd hand card.

I was talking about the HD3870 and the GDDR4 version(which I had) was slightly better than the GDDR3 version. The HD4730 does use GDDR5 like you said.

[Pob255]

Ether way it's not what you typed

Remember get the GDDR3 version of the HD4670 NOT the DDR3 version which is slower.

Didn't think there were any GDDR3 versions but that doesn't surprise me ati vendors were being spanked hard at the time by the release of the 8800gt so dropping the memory to lower the cost of the card makes a kind of sense.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Only 18 posts for him to go and you've got a sale.

The pressure mounts! That is a very nice card and overclocks to just sub 8800gtx standards (~4830). Interesting they underclock well too. (hope no-one sneaks in and bids now).

@Madduck; I'll PM you later today. I need to have a think and watch a few items on fleabay. It might take me 10-14 days to get to the magic 100.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

My HD3870 overclocked from 777mhz to 877mhz and there was probably more left in the core but I did not bother.

[MSIC]

Reading all these posts, overall i'd back getting the 2nd hand 3870 (i am happy with mine still), seems the best value for money... however i want to emphasise again that a 3870 is already extreme overkill for 1024 x 768 gaming. Nothing wrong with that per se, and it allows for a better monitor in the future, but i'm just saying.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Reading all these posts, overall i'd back getting the 2nd hand 3870 (i am happy with mine still), seems the best value for money... however i want to emphasise again that a 3870 is already extreme overkill for 1024 x 768 gaming. Nothing wrong with that per se, and it allows for a better monitor in the future, but i'm just saying.

I value your input! I'm trying to work out how hot this puppy gets.

Would you happen to remember what temps yours get up to?