HD 3870 Best reference cooler

[Black Hades]

Okay so I'm thinking of buying a new video card, I've settled on a 3870 preferably with gddr4.

Simply said I wish to know which of the providers has the best cooling performance as I do not plan to go with an after-market cooler.

My current choice would be Sapphire Ati Radeon HD3870 Toxic 512MB GDDR4:)

Awaiting suggestions

[Squirrely]

Personally, I would hold off for a video card until the RV770's come out.

They should launch around June 16th - ish. If you can wait out until then, I would. But if you cant, the Toxic's are quite good cards from what I have heard.

[WarEagleAU]

That toxic fan is pretty loud I hear, even louder than HIS' IceQ3 fan, which I have. Id say this has an awesome cooler as it keeps my gpu nice and cool under load. Then again, the Zalman vf900 would be an awesome aftermarket cooler :D

[Black Hades]

Personally, I would hold off for a video card until the RV770's come out.

They should launch around June 16th - ish. If you can wait out until then, I would. But if you cant, the Toxic's are quite good cards from what I have heard.

True enough, I forgot that the launch is in June thanks. Even if I want to buy the 3870 desperately for some unknown reason, it would be still better to wait a bit as the prices will surely go down a bit. This is not realy the best time to buy any card regardles if it's Nvidia or ATi. :)

Anyway the game I need it for is due in October so I should be patient in theory until the new gpu's and some reviews surface

That toxic fan is pretty loud I hear, even louder than HIS' IceQ3 fan, which I have. Id say this has an awesome cooler as it keeps my gpu nice and cool under load. Then again, the Zalman vf900 would be an awesome aftermarket cooler :D

Yes you read my mind, noise is the enemy. :D

[Darknova]

Eh, stay away from Sapphire single slots...or just stay away from Sapphire.

Anyway, the one I would get would be the HIS IceQ3 Turbo. That's probably the best one you can get.

[erocker]

Eh, stay away from Sapphire single slots...or just stay away from Sapphire.

Anyway, the one I would get would be the HIS IceQ3 Turbo. That's probably the best one you can get.

Make sure it's the Turbo version if you are going HIS. I was about to say, get the stock Sapphire 3870 with the dual-slot cooler as they seem to do better in the OCing department. But I do prefer the coolers on the IceQ models.

[BUCK NASTY]

I would consider the ASUS EAH 3870 512MB GDDR4 w/Glaciator cooler. I have mine oc'd to the tune of 915core/2580mhz memory. She never gets above 62C under full load. I can't believe the oc'ing headroom this card has in stock form. Very quiet with fan @ 100%...
http://www.hardwaremania.com/news/images/stories/vga/eah3850_3d_hires.jpg

[Darknova]

Make sure it's the Turbo version if you are going HIS. I was about to say, get the stock Sapphire 3870 with the dual-slot cooler as they seem to do better in the OCing department. But I do prefer the coolers on the IceQ models.

One thing I've found with my Sapphire is that the memory is not very good. I can't OC it one jot. My old Powercolor did 2.5Ghz.

Possibly it's the non-ref PCB, I don't know. All I know, is my Powercolor was better.

[Black Hades]

One thing I've found with my Sapphire is that the memory is not very good. I can't OC it one jot. My old Powercolor did 2.5Ghz.

Possibly it's the non-ref PCB, I don't know. All I know, is my Powercolor was better.

My curent Sapphire 2600Pro uses Hynix mem chips (and doesnt realy oc well), from what I heard that is one of the limiting factors to oc-ing it. Maybe yours has similar chips?

Anyway thank you guys for the info. Very useful.:)

But as one of you mentioned already, It's safer to wait a bit for the 4xxx to be launched, though I imagine manufacturers to use similar cooling to the current 3870.. so all this info may be useful for the future.

[Black Hades]

I would consider the ASUS EAH 3870 512MB GDDR4 w/Glaciator cooler. I have mine oc'd to the tune of 915core/2580mhz memory. She never gets above 62C under full load. I can't believe the oc'ing headroom this card has in stock form. Very quiet with fan @ 100%...
http://www.hardwaremania.com/news/images/stories/vga/eah3850_3d_hires.jpg

From what I've read in reviews so far this card is quite the prodigy in it's category even though it's a 1 slot solution:) Anyway my case has excelent airflow and it's as big as a case can get so I dont thing that I'll have trouble if I buy it.
Hmm, where I live I could get it for 200euros... If the 4xxx doesnt have a satisfactory performance : price ratio I guess I'll go for this one. :toast: Thx

[happita]

If the 4xxx doesnt have a satisfactory performance : price ratio I guess I'll go for this one. :toast: Thx

Oh it will. 1GB GRRD5 sounds ok on paper, but I'm sure it will be more than that this time around with new gen.

And it would just be better to get the 4K series anyway because pricewise it will be the same, only that it will knock down the 3K price. I'd always go for higher performance IMO.
Its awesome, it seems like high-end is becoming cheaper and cheaper nowadays, the 4870 will be like what? 300-340ish?

[Black Hades]

Oh it will. 1GB GRRD5 sounds ok on paper, but I'm sure it will be more than that this time around with new gen.

And it would just be better to get the 4K series anyway because pricewise it will be the same, only that it will knock down the 3K price. I'd always go for higher performance IMO.
Its awesome, it seems like high-end is becoming cheaper and cheaper nowadays, the 4870 will be like what? 300-340ish?

Yup I know, GDDR5 sounds awesome on paper, if indeed it will just replace the 3xxx series in price I'd definately buy it even for 10% improvement difference, though that is just being a pesimist.

Cross my fingers and hope for the best