Sapphire HD 3850 1024 MB

W1zzard · 02-13-2008, 11:48 AM

To read this review go to: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/S.../HD_3850_1_GB/

Please Digg the review to help us promote it.

OnBoard · 02-14-2008, 01:41 AM

Like that it has all the memory chips on one side, backside memory is so 2005

If you were to crossfire two of these, wouldn't the bigger memory help them? Like you don't get 1024MB of mem with 2x512MB cards in crossfire. Other than that it's an overkill.

a111087 · 02-14-2008, 03:11 AM

lol, just as everyone expected, memory didn't do much
but the more memory sapphire sell the better for them ...

btarunr · 02-14-2008, 03:26 AM

It's only a little faster than a 256M HD3850. For $230 you're better off buying a reference-design HD3870.

[I.R.A]_FBi · 02-14-2008, 03:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by btarunr

It's only a little faster than a 256M HD3850. For $230 you're better off buying a reference-design HD3870.

agreed. rather spend my 230 and get a gddr4 512 card and have a better cooler.

eidairaman1 · 02-14-2008, 03:50 AM

the ram only comes in use with Ultra High Resolutions.

InfDamarvel · 02-14-2008, 04:45 AM

It did overclock to HD3870 speeds where it did beat it out pretty easily though.

InnocentCriminal · 02-14-2008, 08:53 AM

Good review W1zzard!

I guess this card, when paired & watercooled in an adequately spec'd system, these would be quite beneficial for people wanting to play at large resolutions of 1680 x 1050 and above.

Hmmm....

mdm-adph · 02-14-2008, 02:40 PM

Makes me wonder... if two of these cards will theoretically cost about $460, then when is someone going to come out with a 3870 X2 2GB?

rodneyhchef · 02-14-2008, 05:07 PM

Quite an unusual looking card compared to other 3850s! Nice to see sapphire going back to blue PCBs. What's the deal with only a 2-pin fan connector though? Seems like a step backwards to me

W1zzard · 02-14-2008, 05:24 PM

most ati pcb designs make no use of the "RPM" information

rodneyhchef · 02-14-2008, 06:43 PM

Fair enough! Does it have a failsafe for the fan though? The last card I had with a 2-pin fan connector was an FX5600, which did not have a fail safe and therefore broke when the fan died on it.

I suppose with this card, you will hear the fan stop working.

W1zzard · 02-14-2008, 06:49 PM

yeah ccc will kill 3d when temperatures go too high

Random Murderer · 02-14-2008, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W1zzard

Sapphire's new HD 3850 1 GB uses the same single slot cooler designs as the reference HD 3850.

isn't that the atomic 3870 cooler?

it seems that sapphire has decide to do whatever the hell they please in relation to card designs...
it also seems that despite the higher clocks and more memory, the 3850 1G still gets outpaced by its bigger brother.

lemonadesoda · 02-14-2008, 07:27 PM

Excellent review.

The performance per $ is a nice chart at the end. And very interesting... esp. for AGP users since the 3850 AGP is not only top of the AGP choice, but also a great price/performance contender.

NEXT TIME when doing a review, please put a "previous generation" card in there too... so that people can see the value of upgrading, e.g. X800Pro which is a reference design from 2 years ago. Quite honestly, its not so interesting for TPU users to see so many "budget" cards in the benchmarks as it is to see the "upgrade path" in their older rigs.

W1zzard · 02-14-2008, 08:22 PM

those old cards can not be bought anymore, so cant put them into perf/$ chart

adrianx · 02-15-2008, 08:04 AM

nice review and good one

mdm-adph · 02-15-2008, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemonadesoda

Excellent review.

The performance per $ is a nice chart at the end. And very interesting... esp. for AGP users since the 3850 AGP is not only top of the AGP choice, but also a great price/performance contender.

NEXT TIME when doing a review, please put a "previous generation" card in there too... so that people can see the value of upgrading, e.g. X800Pro which is a reference design from 2 years ago. Quite honestly, its not so interesting for TPU users to see so many "budget" cards in the benchmarks as it is to see the "upgrade path" in their older rigs.

Well, Tom's Hardware has a pretty good chart on the value of upgrading -- it's always at the end of one of their "Best of [Current Month]" for video cards. It shows old cards all the way back to the ATI Rage series and everything.

02-13-2008, 11:48 AM	#1
W1zzard Administrator Join Date: May 2004 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posts: 7,610 (3.77/day) Thanks: 79 Thanked 2,486 Times in 931 Posts System Specs	Sapphire HD 3850 1024 MB To read this review go to: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/S.../HD_3850_1_GB/ Please Digg the review to help us promote it. Last edited by W1zzard; 02-13-2008 at 11:36 PM.

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02-14-2008, 03:11 AM	#3
a111087 Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 2,085 (2.16/day) Thanks: 190 Thanked 126 Times in 109 Posts System Specs	lol, just as everyone expected, memory didn't do much but the more memory sapphire sell the better for them ... __________________

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02-14-2008, 01:41 AM	#2
OnBoard Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Finland Posts: 2,197 (1.89/day) Thanks: 189 Thanked 237 Times in 189 Posts System Specs	Like that it has all the memory chips on one side, backside memory is so 2005 If you were to crossfire two of these, wouldn't the bigger memory help them? Like you don't get 1024MB of mem with 2x512MB cards in crossfire. Other than that it's an overkill.

02-14-2008, 03:26 AM	#4
btarunr News Editor Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hyderabad, India Posts: 10,911 (14.09/day) Thanks: 539 Thanked 3,041 Times in 1,834 Posts System Specs	It's only a little faster than a 256M HD3850. For $230 you're better off buying a reference-design HD3870. __________________ Liked TPU? You'll love GeneralNonsense.net

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02-14-2008, 03:50 AM	#6
eidairaman1 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Stationed in Florida, Home is Houston, Texas Posts: 4,148 (4.75/day) Thanks: 226 Thanked 308 Times in 280 Posts System Specs	the ram only comes in use with Ultra High Resolutions.

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02-14-2008, 04:45 AM	#7
InfDamarvel Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 455 (0.38/day) Thanks: 1 Thanked 12 Times in 12 Posts	It did overclock to HD3870 speeds where it did beat it out pretty easily though.

02-14-2008, 08:53 AM	#8
InnocentCriminal Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: 'ereyfurdshire, UK Posts: 3,749 (2.16/day) Thanks: 68 Thanked 355 Times in 276 Posts System Specs	Good review W1zzard! I guess this card, when paired & watercooled in an adequately spec'd system, these would be quite beneficial for people wanting to play at large resolutions of 1680 x 1050 and above. Hmmm.... __________________ LandsElite Gaming Portal -- Steam Community - JP -- Last.fm -- The Perry Fellowship Bible During the rectification of the Vuldronaii the Traveler came as a large, moving Torb. Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants they chose a new form for him—that of a giant Sloar. Many Shubs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day, I can tell you.

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02-14-2008, 02:40 PM	#9
mdm-adph Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Your house. Posts: 2,181 (2.25/day) Thanks: 272 Thanked 301 Times in 219 Posts System Specs	Makes me wonder... if two of these cards will theoretically cost about $460, then when is someone going to come out with a 3870 X2 2GB? __________________ Win•dows: n. A thirty-two bit extension and graphical shell to a sixteen-bit patch to an eight-bit operating system originally coded for a four-bit microprocessor which was written by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition. HD 4830 GPU-Z Validation

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02-14-2008, 05:07 PM	#10
rodneyhchef Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 243 (0.27/day) Thanks: 18 Thanked 12 Times in 12 Posts System Specs	Quite an unusual looking card compared to other 3850s! Nice to see sapphire going back to blue PCBs. What's the deal with only a 2-pin fan connector though? Seems like a step backwards to me

02-14-2008, 05:24 PM	#11
W1zzard Administrator Join Date: May 2004 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posts: 7,610 (3.77/day) Thanks: 79 Thanked 2,486 Times in 931 Posts System Specs	most ati pcb designs make no use of the "RPM" information

02-14-2008, 06:43 PM	#12
rodneyhchef Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 243 (0.27/day) Thanks: 18 Thanked 12 Times in 12 Posts System Specs	Fair enough! Does it have a failsafe for the fan though? The last card I had with a 2-pin fan connector was an FX5600, which did not have a fail safe and therefore broke when the fan died on it. I suppose with this card, you will hear the fan stop working.

02-14-2008, 06:49 PM	#13
W1zzard Administrator Join Date: May 2004 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posts: 7,610 (3.77/day) Thanks: 79 Thanked 2,486 Times in 931 Posts System Specs	yeah ccc will kill 3d when temperatures go too high

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02-14-2008, 07:27 PM	#15
lemonadesoda Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 4,891 (4.15/day) Thanks: 622 Thanked 760 Times in 591 Posts System Specs	Excellent review. The performance per $ is a nice chart at the end. And very interesting... esp. for AGP users since the 3850 AGP is not only top of the AGP choice, but also a great price/performance contender. NEXT TIME when doing a review, please put a "previous generation" card in there too... so that people can see the value of upgrading, e.g. X800Pro which is a reference design from 2 years ago. Quite honestly, its not so interesting for TPU users to see so many "budget" cards in the benchmarks as it is to see the "upgrade path" in their older rigs.

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02-14-2008, 08:22 PM	#16
W1zzard Administrator Join Date: May 2004 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posts: 7,610 (3.77/day) Thanks: 79 Thanked 2,486 Times in 931 Posts System Specs	those old cards can not be bought anymore, so cant put them into perf/$ chart

02-15-2008, 08:04 AM	#17
adrianx Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bucharest ROMANIA Posts: 230 (0.34/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 9 Times in 9 Posts System Specs	nice review and good one

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