Non-standard in all the ways: Radeon HD3850 by PowerColor
Benchmarking and conclusions
We ran tests of the video card using the already familiar test bench of the following configuration:
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Test configuration
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CPU
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MB
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Memory
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OS
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WinXP + SP2 + DirectX 9.0c
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PSU
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Thermaltake ToughPower 750 W
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For PowerColor HD3850 and Radeon HD3870 we used the most current Catalyst 7.11 versions, and for GeForce 8800GT – ForceWare 169.02. We start traditionally from the 3DMark suites:
PowerColor HD3850 and Radeon HD3870 are approximately on par, lagging a bit behind GeForce 8800GT. Now let's look at the results of gaming tests which we ran using 4x FSAA and 16x AF.
At Call of Duty 4, PowerColor HD3850 and Radeon HD3870 are approximately in par, and as the resolutions go up they go outside the line of the minimum acceptable FPS. Also, we can't help noticing a substantial superiority of GeForce 8800GT which stays unattainable for the pair of Radeon cards.
At Crysis, the situation is similar. PowerColor HD3850 and Radeon HD3870 go almost equally, with GeForce 8800GT taking a lead.
At Need for Speed Carbon, the situation for PowerColor HD3850 and Radeon HD3870 is more favorable than in the previous gaming tests. Despite the leadership of GeForce 8800GT, Radeon video cards provide an acceptable speed in all the modes.
At Need for Speed Pro Street Racing, PowerColor HD3850 and Radeon HD3870 demonstrate about the same speeds and, like in the previous tests, they both lag behind GeForce 8800GT.
At Oblivion, we again see a similarity of results for PowerColor HD3850 and Radeon HD3870, with the leadership again taken by GeForce 8800GT.
At Prey, the situation is changing. At 1024x768, GeForce 8800GT takes a lead, but in the more demanding modes the HD3850 and Radeon HD3870 are almost close at the heels. The situation is caused by the narrow (according to the modern standards - 256 bit) memory bus width, since the game Prey is demanding for the memory bandwidth.
Final Words
The new product by PowerColor has proved quite interesting due to the quality cooling system that provides twice as low heating of the graphic processor and uses much faster memory, which allowed the developers at PowerColor to raise the frequencies of the cards from the standard 670/1660 MHz to 715/1800 MHz. Certainly, the mentioned improvements have favored to the overclocking capability as well, which allows it so approach closely to the more expensive Radeon HD3870. The disputable point is the HDMI port unsoldered instead of the customary DVI. If you plan to plug in a TV-set with an HDMI port to the video card, then such a replacement will make the process simpler and release you from having to use an adapter. But if you intend to use a second monitor with the DVI or D-Sub monitor, then the PowerColor HD3850 is not your choice.
Pros:
- efficient cooling system;
- faster memory chips;
- increased frequencies.
Cons:
Specific features:
- an HDMI port unsoldered instead of the DVI;
- PCB of in-house design.
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MoBo:
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VGA Card:
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CPU & Memory:
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