Overclocker Cafe - HIS Radeon HD3870x2 Dual GPU VGA Card Review

HIS Radeon HD3870x2 (1GB Memory)

Results

With graphics settings to high in 1600 resolution let's check in on our resident resource hog, Crysis. As we have all seen before, Crysis can bring video card GPUs to their knees like nothing else. FSAA is turned off with all other settings set to 'high'.

	Min	Max	Avg
GeForce 8800GT	15	43	28
Radeon HD3850	6	32	22
Radeon HD3870 x2	24	44	33

This is the smoothest Crysis has ever played for me in 'high'. Once the game starts off, play is smooth. The occasional stutters with the 8800 GT we had seen before are gone. Looking at the chart you can see why, game play is consistently over the magical 30 fps mark.

Next up is another favorite, Need For Speed: Pro Street. Clean vistas lay a nice backdrop to this latest in the NFS franchise. Screen resolution is set to 1600 with all settings at max with FSAA turned off.

	Min	Max	Avg
GeForce 8800GT	36	86	70
Radeon HD3850	38	63	54
Radeon HD3870 x2	41	61	49

Now this must have kept me busy for a few hours with uninstalling/reinstalling drivers and general looking for a problem. A twin HD3870 engined card being bested by the HD3850? This can't be right. It was and I am at a complete loss to explain it. I do speculate that this is a sample of the reasons ATi put a hold on the HD3870x2's release. Remember, "driver issues?"

BACK NEXT

Pg 1 - Introduction
Pg 2 - The Card
Pg 3 - Operation / Temperature / Test Bed
Pg 4 - Crysis / NFS: Pro Street
Pg 5 - STALKER / Image Quality / Overclocking
Pg 6 - Conclusion