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Full Review: 9800GX2 vs HD3870X2!!!

reviewhunter

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Seems like 9800GX2 wins in almost every benchies!
Although there were a few games the NV card couldn't run with AA on.
Both websites talk about the same thing:

in English:
http://lly316.blogspot.com/2008/03/geforce-9800-gx2-vs-radeon-hd-3870-x2.html

in Chinese:
http://www.pconline.com.cn/diy...iews/0803/1241871.html


Here are some of them:





 
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thanks man, i've been looking for something like this, though its a bit early yet to really see how the card peforms, though it gives us a good idea,still not sure if its worth the extra money for the card vs the 3870x2 but we will see, i would still probably go with the 3870x2 due to teh price, but maybe this card wont be a titanic of a faliure like i intially thought
 

Kreij

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Thought I would add this from the review. I think it's of some importance ...
On Gigabyte X48, the R680 had no problem running through all tests. But the 9800 GX2 could only pass 3DMark06 on the very same board. Running any other games would results in errors, or worse, BSoD. Since we know from the previous test that SLI needs to be enabled for maximum performance, yet Intel chipset based boards do not support SLI, we might be looking at a compatibility issue here.

It was then the GeForce 9800GX2 moved to the Striker II Formula platform, where it managed to perform all tests. On the other hand, the 3870 X2 maintained its stability on both platforms. We have to give credit to AMD on its compatibility advantage. In conclusion, we would advice those considering the 9800 GX2 to get a Nvidia chip based motherboard.
 

reviewhunter

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thanks man, i've been looking for something like this, though its a bit early yet to really see how the card peforms, though it gives us a good idea,still not sure if its worth the extra money for the card vs the 3870x2 but we will see, i would still probably go with the 3870x2 due to teh price, but maybe this card wont be a titanic of a faliure like i intially thought

you're welcome bro :)

If you look at the price/performance ratio, I'd pick the 3870X2. Moreover, 3870X2 is going to have a further price-cut some time soon. Also not forgetting the GDDR4 version!
 
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im really looking forward to the ddr4 version :D
 
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Looks like nVidia is gonna pwn ATI again, but in case ATI cut the prices off the x2 I will go for one of those :D
 
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the ati card isnt far off and we all know that a single 3870 could never beat a 9800 card

so good for AMD/ATi coz the performance is about right and well it almost matches up to the nvidia

it will boil down to price and chipset i think coz i think you could cross fire a single 3780 and a 3870x2 for triple setup and the price is way cheaper
 

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Yeah I already posted about it here
 

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70% faster in Crysis...wow...to bad AA kills it. :( Not that you really need AA at 1920x1200.

I hope some driver maturing fixes the AA issues.
 

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But games still look better with the ATi, right? If the ATi gets 40fps, and the Nvidia gets 60fps, but the game looks better on the Ati, I'd still go for the 3870X2.
 

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But games still look better with the ATi, right? If the ATi gets 40fps, and the Nvidia gets 60fps, but the game looks better on the Ati, I'd still go for the 3870X2.

your talking in past tense.

- Christine
 
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- Christine
 

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reviewhunter

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the difference in image quality is barely noticeable these days, so much so that it wouldn't affect my purchase decision.
 

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But games still look better with the ATi, right? If the ATi gets 40fps, and the Nvidia gets 60fps, but the game looks better on the Ati, I'd still go for the 3870X2.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=696331&postcount=67

Dont forget to follow the link and read the entire article. ;)

the difference in image quality is barely noticeable these days, so much so that it wouldn't affect my purchase decision.

Agreed. There should be a sticky in the graphics card section about this. With at least a link to that experiment they did at Maximum PC (posted in the link above). I'm getting tired of correcting that false belief.
 
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Agreed. There should be a sticky in the graphics card section about this. With at least a link to that experiment they did at Maximum PC (posted in the link above). I'm getting tired of correcting that false belief.
Actually i thought the g80/g92 had better image quality than the r600/rv670, at least any review that went in depth discovered that, especially with sample aa enabled.
 

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Actually i thought the g80/g92 had better image quality than the r600/rv670, at least any review that went in depth discovered that, especially with sample aa enabled.

Huh! I haven't seen any in depth review about this that said one is over the other. Most of the ones said they are pretty similar. Well I haven't seen any in depth IQ review anyway, except the ones at TechReport. Have you any link, please?
 

OrbitzXT

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But games still look better with the ATi, right?

This statement is false and has been for quite some time. Prior to the release of nVidia's 8-series, the common train of thought was that ATI had superior image quality whereas nVidia sacrificed some of that quality to give out more frames. This statement hasn't been true for awhile now. Infact when the 8800 GTX came out it had far superior performance than anything ATI was offering obviously, and a superior image as well.

Honestly the 9800 GX2 exceeded my expectations, only because I heard some earlier numbers a couple of weeks ago where it seemed the 3870 X2 was ahead. Even though it doesn't blow away the 3870 X2, the fact that it still wins overall will make it the card of choice for enthusiasts who completely ignore price. This almost reminds me of the Democratic Primaries with the way campaigns will downplay expectations as an election draws near, then if they win even by 1 point will come out claiming an outstanding victory. I personally don't think I'll be buying one though, the only card from nVidia that has my interest right now is the 9600 GT.
 

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no matter what ATi throws at them NV seems to come out on tops! im seriously considering selling my Vmodded 8800GT on ebay and getting one of these puppies now :D

and +1 OrbitzXT, ATi diehards have been throwing IQ in our faces for a while now and its just not true, and even when it was, the difference was so very negligible, that it would not affect my purchase decision either.
 
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atm that cards a bit expensive to have me consider buying the card for a minimal performance gain over ati's solution, but hey if nvidia lowers the price i will pick one up
 

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Why, was anyone expecting the HD3870X2 to beat the 9800GX2?

They are not meant to be competitors as far as I know.
 
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