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Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 X2
Conclusion
The HD 3870 X2's greatest strength is smooth FPS. Even when the frame rate is low, the frames are whole and the lows aren't that low after all. It's definitely not a gimmick. ATI perfectly executed this dual-GPU marvel. The drivers don't need your input, they just work, which is a relief to anyone who early-adopted multi-GPU. Still, I'm not totally sold on the X2. I think it has two places: Micro-ATX cases and in CrossFireX. Where the high-end is concerned there are three paths: AMD the whole way, which should be great, but Phenom is still holding things back. NVIDIA's SLI is dead sexy, but bad drivers and glitchy motherboards have a face only an enthusiast could heart. And last, the love that dare not speak its name. AMD and Intel really do look happy together, at least in the privacy of a case. So, if you're shooting for a decidedly hard-core computer, get one. That is to say, get two, because that's just kick-ass. But if you just want a solid all-around performer, pick up a 256-bit HD 3870 1024MB, or something else that doesn't rely on two GPUs--ATI or otherwise--unless that's your only option. Pros No messy configuring First-class video playback CrossFire-on-a-stick for the people of Micro-ATX They work in pairs Cons Overclocking--limited by power and cooling CrossFire not equal among games Draws power like it's two video cards for some unimaginable reason
Page 1: Introduction, The Card & Bundle
Page 2: Specifications and Testing Setup Page 3: DirectX 10 Titles Page 4: DX9, OpenGL, and Synthetics Page 5: Video, Power, and Overclocking Page 6: Conclusion 
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Add Comment
3 User Comments 1 - Posted by
dude81
on June 3, 2008 - 6:07 am "Best, er, only dual-GPU ATI card". What about 3850 X2?
2 - Posted by
Max Slowik
on June 3, 2008 - 11:53 am Yeah, I wrote that before it was released. Kurtis, can we retract that? Also, Diamond has informed us that it was a mis-print that their 1GB 3870 has a 512-bit ring bus; it's still an impressive card, but it's just 256-bit.
3 - Posted by
Kurtis
on June 3, 2008 - 12:00 pm dude81: Thanks for pointing out that error. That (and the 512-bit ring bus error) has now been corrected.
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