X-bit labs

A Lil’ Bit: A Little Faster ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 – MSI R3870X2-T2D1G OC Review (page 16)

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin , Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 04/30/2008 | 11:04 PM ]

Conclusion

Now it’s time to sum up everything about the MSI R3870X2-T2D1G OC graphics card we have tested today. This product should be affordable for a large user audience, so we’ll discuss every consumer aspect of it.

From a technical point of view, the new flagship product from MSI is impressive. ATI’s developers managed to accommodate two RV670 chips on one PCB for a total of 640 shader processors. The card’s peak heat dissipation is about 150 watts. However, MSI didn’t spend much effort on their version of ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 as the results of our tests suggest. The 25MHz increase in the GPU clock rate is hardly an achievement. The resulting performance growth isn’t high.

The accessories are overall sufficient, but not original. If you are going to be satisfied with a full set of cables and don’t mind having no free software in the kit, the MSI R3870X2-T2D1G OC will suit you just fine.

And finally, the card’s performance in real-life applications is the most important factor. Unfortunately, the MSI card has some nuances here. You should be aware that the driver is not yet polished off, and CrossFire technology doesn’t work in all applications. Anyway, the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 is the fastest Radeon HD 3870-based solution. If you need something more than the standard 3870 X2 model, you may be interested in the MSI R3870X2-T2D1G OC.

The R3870X2-T2D1G OC beats its opponents thanks to the factory overclocking, but only in those applications where CrossFire works correctly. If you consider buying it, you may want to check out beforehand whether it’s compatible with your favorite games.

Highs:

• Factory pre-overclocking with manufacturer’s warranty;
• Best gaming performance if ATI CrossFire works correctly;
• Wide range of supported FSAA modes;
• Excellent quality of anisotropic filtering;
• 640 shader processors, 32 TMU and 32 ROP;
• DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1 support;
• Fully-fledged hardware HD video decoding support;
• High-quality HD video post-processor;
• Built-in sound core with HDMI support;
• No compatibility issues with existing mainboards;
• Low noise;
• Potentially suitable for 4-2way ATI CrossFire configurations.

Lows:

• Insufficient driver optimization;
• Performance depends on the application support in the drivers;
• Relatively high power consumption;
• Relatively high price;
• Large size;
• Accessories bundle doesn’t include all necessary software HD video player is missing.