Hey,

new benchmark out @legionhardware.com.

Fair bit of depth in there I think, going to take a look now.

http://legionhardware.com/document.php?id=703

Looks like catalyst 7.11 would be a big help then

#SPOILERS#

Its a 2900xt, but $160 cheaper, quiet (yes very quiet apparently!) and about 80watts less power hungry. Roughly similar performance in dx9, but dx10 has improved alot, though still not great.

Note: Despite the tone of the article, maximum playable resolutions, where both cards top out playability wise, are not all that different in dx9. Dx10 however...

(p.s. what the hell is farcry doing in there and not crysis (demo)???)

Thanks for the article. I'll be sure to check it out.

Judging soley by this reviews, I'm not going to say I am dissapointed, but it does look like I will be going with that 8800GT.

Look again.. it's there, before Far Cry.

Is there a higher performer coming? This is pretty abysmal imo (don't know the price, is it a 150$ card?).

amd needs to put out new drivers!!

im so dissapointed!

Sorry! what am i saying crysis is in there.

nice comparison between farcry and crysis on modern cards though.

wow.... what the hell is ATI doing...

They shouldnt launch a product without new drivers to. Thats bad coordination if ever you'll see one. Where is 7.11 anyway?

Well, the review is a bit crappy- number of tests is small, AA settings in different game tests are all different, erratic, reviewer's comments tend to be only about 1900x1200, and like almost everywere, reviewer seem to promote nVidia, and downgrade ATi.
However, if more extensive testing prove speed ratio of 3870vs8800gt the same as in this review, I''l probably buy 8800gt 512mb or 3850 512mb, wichever better in price/performance.

No one is surprised by this, it's what was expected.

At least the price is alot more competitive, and since the 8800GTs are not really selling at MSRP yet, but mostly above. For some people it will be a good price for the performance.

Yeah the tone was a bit much really, but then again he has a point.

However, playability at higher esolutions was not all that different from the 8800gt. Company of heros dx9 would be choppy at times over 1400x900 on the 3870, and @1900x1200 on the 8800gt, and quake wars is not really an option at 1900x1200 on the 3870, but it is on the 8800gt. Farcry should be ignored as it was a piece of p1ss for all cards at 1900x1200, and, well, dx10 is a bit beyond ati for a little while yet. Like for most gamers then

As an ATI fan I have to say that this a pathetic. Forget the drivers they are only going to help decrease a large gap into a slightly smaller gap.

This is just f**king lazy. The die has shrunk to 55nm they have decreased the memory controller from 512bit to 256bit all of which decrease the costs of producing the chips. Yet they have done nothing to increase performance.

The problem was always the R600 arc. Its good but has some fundemental flaws. The TAU's and the ROPS needed to be increased. Everybody seems to know this except for ATI.

And how can they have the nerve to release it under a new series name having done nothing to improve performance.

Unlike most fans of companies I do not feel that I am obligated to buy their crap if it doesn't compare to the competitors.

This isn't a surprise its what we were all expecting apart from the performance gap being so large between the 3870 and the 8800gt and the price difference being so small.

Hence its price/peformance ratio is not as good as the 8800gt's.

Steady on old chap! ...its not all doom and gloom you know. Try thinking of happy thoughts, like christmas, and puppies...

Yeah r600 and its derivatives need more texturing power and rops. Now that could have been introduced without too much hassle im sure.

Theres always hope for crossfire I guess.

I had ATI card for the past 5 years, was a loyal customer until the 8800GT, which I bought. Even if AMD does put out a optimized driver, how much real-world performance can it provide. Although this is just one benchmark, the results were actually dis-heartening. I wanted the 8800GT to win (afterall I did buy it), but this looks like a pretty bad for the 3800 series. I almost feel bad for AMD/ATI. Hold the champagne.

we dont know the steet prices yet so hold on...

Exactly bildo123 thats what I'm saying. Optimised drivers can only make so much difference. Its the hardware that needs to be changed.

At the end of day it doesn't make any difference to me I will buy whatever has the best price/performance.

But as an electronics engineer I can't understand why any of the fellas over at AMD/ATI would be satisfied with their work. Knowing that the competitors product is better. Especially when a few elementary changes would reduce the performance difference if not overturn it.

maybe they ve put in all what they had at their disposition?who knows?

lets see how they sell before we can assume how a disappointment it is

Well, they might not be all that happy with it themselves, but then again (generally) faster, cheaper and more power efficient is a good achievment from a technical point of view, and they have been first GPU manufacturer to mass produce on the 55nm process. Not overly impressed with it though. If only all this was a few months ago....

more reviews at tweaktown and vr-zone