Sapphire HD3870 512MB TOXIC Edition Review
May 20, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
HardwareCanucks take a look at the Sapphire HD3870 TOXIC Edition. Take a read to see if it can complete with the venerable nVidia 8800GT.
Well ladies and gents, welcome to another Hardware Canucks graphics card review and today we have something for you which may appeal to a great many consumers: a card which offers a truly complete multimedia experience while having the capabilities to play all the latest games on the market. While by now you are surely familiar with ATI’s vaunted HD3870 cards, a little primer is needed since a lot has changed in the GPU industry since its release all those months ago. Its primary competitor –the Nvidia 8800GT- has seen its price plunge in recent weeks to the point where it is now retailing for the same price as most HD3870 cards on the market. As we have seen in review after review, the HD3870 512MB cards just don’t have the stones to compete mono-a-mono with Nvidia’s best selling G92-equipped card when it comes to gaming. Thus, ATI’s board partners have had to come up with unique ways of marketing their cards so consumers will look beyond what is presented at face value and decide to purchase this card based on features rather than pure performance potential.
Sapphire, being one of the (if not THE) largest of ATI’s board partners has been in the market now for countless years and their name is well recognized here in North America. So, if there is one ATI AIB out there who is in the position to push an innovative take on the standard HD3870 design to a market which is hungry for something different, it is Sapphire. They have taken on this challenge like a duck to water and in the past have produced some extremely unique designs which have mostly been released under the “Toxic” name. The card we are reviewing here today represents the next logical step in the Toxic series as it makes its jump to the HD3870 series with the Sapphire HD3870 512MB Toxic. This card was first conceived as the special-edition HD3870 Atomic which came in a metal carrying case that would make any CSI wannabe proud. This one of a kind card has now evolved into something a bit more mundane with the Toxic version but at least this version is widely available.
This card’s main claim to fame is its uniquely-designed single slot cooling solution that Sapphire dubs the Vapor-X. While we will discuss this in detail a bit later, in a nutshell this pint-sixed cooler does a better job at cooling the Toxic’s overclocked RV670 core than the relatively huge dual-slot reference cooler. Have we got your attention yet? Well, if your ears haven’t perked up yet then consider this: this is one of most fully-featured cards on the market with full HDMI compatibility HD decoding among a myriad of other features. It is these features which ATI and Sapphire want consumers to focus on in order to show that their cards are able to compete quite well with Nvidia offerings.
However, when it all boils down to it, it is the consumers who decide whether a product will be a raging success or an abysmal failure. To this end a good shopper will always keep their eyes open for the graphics card that offers them not only the best value for their money but also piece of mind for whatever the future might hold. Unfortunately in this respect, ATI’s board partners have not stayed ahead of the curve since many of them are sorely lagging behind their Nvidia counterparts when it comes to warranty length. So, while the Sapphire HD3870 Toxic comes with a 2-year warranty (which is longer than most people will keep their graphics cards) we still find it is a bit on the short side when compared to the green-totting competition.
Priced at around $210, this card is poised to compete directly with the 8800GT in terms of the price you pay for performance but how will it stack up to the competition? Will its factory overclock boost performance enough to make the Toxic a viable option against the 8800GT? Let’s find out.
HIS Radeon HD3870 Review & Crossfire Performance Preview
December 24, 2007 by admin · Leave a Comment
Manufacturer Product Page: TBD
Product Number: H387F512N
Availability: Now
Warranty: 1 Year
Price: Click here to compare prices
Into the wilds with AMD and ATI
In the last year, ATI has undergone more changes than can be included in the scope of this review but it is sufficient to say that it has been one heck of a rollercoaster ride for the company and their longtime customers. Soon after their purchase by AMD, ATI released their eagerly anticipated yet long-delayed HD2900XT (R600). It was a power hungry space heater that was priced to compete with the Nvidia 8800GTS cards and did very well in that respect (even though the jury still seems out on this) but unfortunately, it did not win many consumers over. In the end, ATI’s late flagship ended up being pitted against an Nvidia card that was already firmly entrenched in the performance category. AMD is trying mightily to right some of the slip-ups that were committed by ATI during the 2900-series launch by pressing for an aggressive release schedule of new cards coupled with firm availability dates. AMD has promised an end to the paper-launches of years past and seems to be making quite a bit of headway with this since the release of their HD2600-series cards.
All of this leads to today, where a new day is dawning for ATI with the release of their new HD3870 and HD3850 cards. AMD is making some huge strides to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself by stocking the retail channel with cards for the launch of these cards. Indeed, we have heard from numerous retailers that both the HD3870 and HD3850 will be in-stock on launch day but due to the perceived popularity of the HD3870, supply may be a bit tight for the first week or so. To make matters even better (as if actual stock of an ATI card on launch day isn’t surprise enough) the suggested prices of these cards are surprisingly affordable: about $240 for the HD3870 and about $180 for the HD3750. Not only does the HD3850’s price undercut that of the lackluster 8600GTS but AMD has really thrown down the gauntlet by pricing their HD3870 a whole $50-$70 less than the recently-released 8800GT. Personally, I think this pricing scheme is something consumers should be really excited about since it shows where the industry is heading at breakneck speed: maximum performance for your hard-earned dollar. For the next little while, it seems like AMD is content to let the competition sit pretty in the ultra high-end bracket while they begin taking bites out of the $170-$300 price point. Unfortunately for AMD, it seems like Nvidia may have had an inside track on the performance figures of this card since they pushed forward the release of their 8800GT card in order to steal some of the 3870’s thunder. Fortunately for AMD, finding an 8800GT has become a lesson in futility so they are in a prime position to benefit from Nvidia’s lack of units in the retail channel.
In this review we will be taking a little closer look at the HIS Radeon HD3870 which promises to be the new poster child in the price / performance category. We were lucky enough to receive two of these cards so a few Crossfire tests will be run as well. Since time was a bit tight for the board partners, the drivers shipping with this card are NOT WHQL certified but are rather one of the latest iterations of the beta drivers from ATI. In addition, we will be releasing a review for the new HD3850 in a few days so stay tuned for that one as well.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at this new card!
