ATI Planning HD 3850 X2?

[Jimmy 2004]

ATI's recently launched HD 3870 X2 graphics card was mostly well received, and according to Chinese site HKEPC, the company may now try the same tactic with the HD 3850. The site reports that the HD 3850 X2 should go on sale during mid-2008 with a price tag of between $299 and $379 - which would put it right in the firing line of NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTS. It looks like the card will continue to use the RV670 core and feature GDDR3 memory, although the memory speed will be dropped from 2000MHz to 1800MHz, with a choice of 512MB or 1GB capacities.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[btarunr]

Maybe even use the HD3850's core speed? The 'voices' tell me there could be another higher model with high-clocked GDDR4 memory and a PCI-E 2.0 lane switch chip in the pipeline.

 

[Scrizz]

isn't the 3870x2 really a 3850x2 since the core is basically the same it's just the mem that's different?

 

[btarunr]

isn't the 3870x2 really a 3850x2 since the core is basically the same it's just the mem that's different?

...that which differentiates the HD3870 and HD3850 apart from memory...core clock.

 

[springs113]

Maybe even use the HD3850's core speed? The 'voices' tell me there could be another higher model with high-clocked GDDR4 memory and a PCI-E 2.0 lane switch chip in the pipeline.

ati is finally back on track...what they are doing now is ensuring a grasp in every sector of the gpu market...and they are also flooding the mkt to keep the demand up on its upcoming gpu series...bring it on...so i can either get another 3870 or 8800gt at rock bottom prices...my htpc will be a monster...either a quad phenom or a q9450/9300/6600...with a dual card setup wow..and my desktop pc will be just as if not more powerfull...boy my girls gonna be mad...lol

 

[JrRacinFan]

So then in theory, bta, if one can overclock a 3850x2 to 3870x2 clocks it would be essentially the same as a 3870x2? Meaning one could flash a 3870x2 bios to a 3850x2?

 

[Darknova]

Er....right.

Differences between 3870 and 3850

- Core Speed
- 3870 - GDDR4, 3850 - GDDR3

3870 X2 already uses GDDR3...so the 3850 X2 is basically a slower 3870 X2?

So in other words...it's another 2900 Pro...

 

[Megasty]

So then in theory, bta, if one can overclock a 3850x2 to 3870x2 clocks it would be essentially the same as a 3870x2? Meaning one could flash a 3870x2 bios to a 3850x2?

Basically if they have it with 512mb x 2 capacity, but if its 256mb x 2 i dunno. That price of 299 to 379 would definitely fill that price void.

 

[btarunr]

So then in theory, bta, if one can overclock a 3850x2 to 3870x2 clocks it would be essentially the same as a 3870x2? Meaning one could flash a 3870x2 bios to a 3850x2?

Maybe, yes. I can't say....If you OC it with its default BIOS, you might not go to far vis-à-vis the HD3850. Since the GPU's are the same...and assuming they use the same memory banks and lane-switch chip, maybe a BIOS flash could work. It's important you have the same memory banks or the differences in the timings specified differently with the BIOS'es it might bonk. Remember, it's not HD2900 Pro -> XT. There are two GPU's and two EEPROM's to flash. Dunno how you go about flashing them under DOS when the card is supposed to work as an abstract single unit.

 

[Morgoth]

AGP plz

 

[KainXS]

they won't release this, if they do then they might kill off the 3870X2, there will be no point in buying it since its pretty much the same card

 

[TUngsten]

they won't release this, if they do then they might kill off the 3870X2, there will be no point in buying it since its pretty much the same card

You never know - they might just have tons of the RV670 cores gathering dust...

 

[newtekie1]

I don't see why anyone would even buy this, except for cheap CrossfireX perhaps.

The 8800GTS is already nipping at the heals of the 3870x2(only about 8% performance difference), so releasing a slower version of the 3870x2 at the same price point as the 8800GTS is just plain stupid.

 

[Saakki]

AGP plz

haha agreed..would be ...wicked

 

[InfDamarvel]

Get these prices down and release this card and they could be on a better track.

 

[trog100]

sounds like a good idea.. a x2 3870 just a little cheaper.. okay its the same hardware.. but wont be when the current x2 3870 goes gdd4 as it will..

so we end up with a x2 3850 and a x 2 3870.. one clocked a little slower with gddr3 and one clocked faster with gddr4..

neat enough.. and the new x2 3850 is bound to come cheaper.. the ati line up gets better.. no problems except for nvidia.. what will their reply be... a x2 9600 probably..

once again ati lead nvidia will have to reply.. folks will buy x 2 even if it dont go any better than the next step up x 1.. just like they buy quad cpus over faster duals..

the multi whatever is the way its going.. and people will buy it.. two is better than one and four is better than two.. the logic is simple.. the next ati high end offering will be four gpus on one card.. the more the merrier.. all it takes is cool running chips..

trog

 

[sinner33]

I donno but it sounds to me like 3850x2 is the same as the current 3870x2. As always hitting myself for not waiting the extra months for the next best thing for lower prices

 

[trog100]

I donno but it sounds to me like 3850x2 is the same as the current 3870x2. As always hitting myself for not waiting the extra months for the next best thing for lower prices

the problems of being an early adopter and feeling the need to be at the bleeding edge.. i dont see much changeing performance wise in the grafix market for quite some time to be honest..

the new multi hardware is now waiting for software to catch up..

trog

 

[yogurt_21]

I don't see why anyone would even buy this, except for cheap CrossfireX perhaps.

The 8800GTS is already nipping at the heals of the 3870x2(only about 8% performance difference), so releasing a slower version of the 3870x2 at the same price point as the 8800GTS is just plain stupid.

agreed this should be $299 for the high clocked 1gb with the 512mb at $230 or so. it doesn't seem to be that competitive at the current price list. especially being that 256mb per core is really going to slow it dow at high resolutions.

 

[imperialreign]

Maybe even use the HD3850's core speed? The 'voices' tell me there could be another higher model with high-clocked GDDR4 memory and a PCI-E 2.0 lane switch chip in the pipeline.

I've been getting the feeling ATI will be going that route with the 70x2. We've already seen a couple of prototype GDDR4 models, as well as learned that a few manufacturers are slated to release a GDDR4 version sometime in April -

although, we haven't heard anything about PCIE2 support, yet . . . but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it showed up on the spec sheets for the new GDDR4 70x2 cards.

Looking forward to it

I don't see why anyone would even buy this, except for cheap CrossfireX perhaps.

The 8800GTS is already nipping at the heals of the 3870x2(only about 8% performance difference), so releasing a slower version of the 3870x2 at the same price point as the 8800GTS is just plain stupid.

keeping in mind that there are a lot of people that go to purchase hardware that don't really understand the differences, and don't ever OC the cards and run everything "as is" - all they'll see is the lower price tag.

I expect the 70x2 price to go up a bit once the GDDR4 versions hit the shelves; or to stay stable and the price of the 50x2 will drop quickly soon after initial release.

 

[cdawall]

AGP plz

wont work the cards will not communicate correctly with the AGP bus




to hell with the X2 stuff just release a 3850 X3 and call it a day

 

[MilkyWay]

i think if they have made an x2 with 2 chips on one board why not just use 2 pcb and make an x4

seems like a good idea although im sure this would need pci express 2.0 because thats 4 gpus

if they can stick 3 mobile gpu together then why not 4

 

[WarEagleAU]

Nifty but still a little high for me.

 

[TheGuruStud]

wont work the cards will not communicate correctly with the AGP bus

It's called a bridge chip from agp to pci-e and they've been around for a while.
Think about the first pci-e interface cards, but reversed. The cards were the exact same agp boards, but had that bridge chip.

It's easy to do, but they want to force you to buy a pci-e board so they rake in more cash.
I think it's total BS and they shouldn't shit on the customers like that. Especially, since just a couple yrs ago everyone had AGP boards.

 

[MilkyWay]

well as everyone knows its cpu limitations now for agp boards because the best cpu i can think of for agp boards is prolly 939pin amd x2 processors