hd3870 vs 8800gt

[oscaryu1]

The HD3850 is the best card for the price overall. But the HD3870 would be my choice from experience. Just get the HD3870 and later down the road if you feel you need more, Crossfire. IMO

Or just get a HD3850 and OC it to a 3870's speed, as a HD3850 is basically a downclocked HD3870...

 

[bthacker]

i have the money so i guess i'll get the 3870, and i think the 3850 only comes in a 256mb unless im wrong

 

[ThatGuy16]

you can get the 3850 in 512mb, but if you got the moeny, i would recommend the 3870


The 3850 and 3870 are not the same, the 3870 packs the GDDR4 memory which can clock higher. BUT they do have the same core.

 

[oscaryu1]

you can get the 3850 in 512mb, but if you got the moeny, i would recommend the 3870


The 3850 and 3870 are not the same, the 3870 packs the GDDR4 memory which can clock higher. BUT they do have the same core.

Hmm... How is GDDR3 compared to GDDR4?

And is there any way to get Hypermemory on mine? I have plenty unused memory

 

[mep916]

Get an Ultra. j/k

 

[elitehacker]

Hmm... How is GDDR3 compared to GDDR4?

And is there any way to get Hypermemory on mine? I have plenty unused memory

You don't want hypermemory man, its usually a feature in the lower end cards. To have that technology your card must utilise the onboard RAM at 64-bit which is the same as the Bandwidth for the system RAM. Most high performance cards have 256-bit memory bandwidths making them incompatible with Hypermemory or Turbo cache which is essentially the same thing just branded differently by AMD/ATi and Nvidia respectively.

 

[maroon1]

I would see no reason to go with the 8800GT, later down the road you could buy another 3870 if you wanted..

The 8800GT offers better performance for around the same price

In the future he can sell 8800GT and get newer video card, there is no need for SLI or crossfire

 

[newguy5]

The 8800GT offers better performance for around the same price

In the future he can sell 8800GT and get newer video card, there is no need for SLI or crossfire

i tend to agree. by the time you want to do crossfire, i imagine 2 3870s will be severely outdated.

 

[oscaryu1]

You don't want hypermemory man, its usually a feature in the lower end cards. To have that technology your card must utilise the onboard RAM at 64-bit which is the same as the Bandwidth for the system RAM. Most high performance cards have 256-bit memory bandwidths making them incompatible with Hypermemory or Turbo cache which is essentially the same thing just branded differently by AMD/ATi and Nvidia respectively.

Well I'm pretty sure 256MB isn't enough these days Guess I'll have to upgrade sooner than I thought