ATi's dual GPU HD3870x2 was released back in January to a very enthusiastic reception.  Unfortunately, driver issues and a less than efficient reference design cooler kept the HD3870x2 from any real fame at that time.  Fast forward four months to the present day.  Driver issues are worked out and individual ATi partners have had time to work on their own variants to the less than stellar reference design to offer the card that many people originally had hoped for.

Visiontek is a well known and respected manufacturer with a history of innovation and forward thinking.  As such, you should not be surprised that they have released their version of the HD3870x2 not only with an exceptionally impressive cooler but with a factory overclock.  But let's not forget the native qualities of the HD3870x2 that got everyone jazzed to begin with; DirectX10.1 compatibility, over a teraflop of GPU power with dual processors, CrossfireX dual card ready, not to mention Blue-Ray / HD-DVD playback and fully integrated HD audio capacity with 5.1 audio and HDMI connectivity.

Standard HD3870x2 cards come with a reference core/memory clock of 825/1800MHz.  The Visiontek card takes this up a notch to 840/1920MHz on the core and memory respectively.  Not a huge overclock but remember this is something that sets the Visiontek apart from the crowd and at the $450 price point, that is all important.  The Visiontek folks have sent over a sample of this impressive looking product so we can have a first hand look.  Without any further delay, let's jump right in with this large and apparently in charge ATi card.

Specifications

• Graphics Engine: Dual ATi Radeon HD3870 (R680)

• Interface: PCI-Express

• Engine Clock: 840MHz

• Memory Clock: 1920MHz

• Memory Type/Size: GDDR3/1GB

• Memory Interface: 2 x 256-bit

• Stream Processing Units: 640 (2 x 320)

• Max Resolution: 2560x1600

• VGA Output: Yes with adapter

• TV-Out: HDTV/S-Video/Composite Out

• Built in HDMI and 5.1 surround audio

• ATi AVIVO HD video and display technology

• Unified Video Decoder (UVD) for Blue-Ray and HD DVD

• DVI: Four ports

• Native CrossfireX support

• DirectX 10.1 Ready

What you get

Included with the Visiontek HD3870x2 is a DVI to VGA adapter, DVI to HDMI adapter that supports audio and video, CrossfireX bridge cable, S-Video composite adapter, Component HDTV connection, Manuals, Driver disk with Catalyst 8.2, Ruby ROM (game demos and other cool video samples) as well as a full copy of Call of Juarez.

NEXT

Pg 1 - Introduction
Pg 2 - The Card
Pg 3 - Temperature, Sound, Test Bed
Pg 4 - Benchmarks
Pg 5 - Image Quality, Overclocking, Conclusion