No GDDR4 3870x2?

[LordJuanlo]

Title says all, I've googled but it's neither confirmed nor denied, or I can't find it out. Anyone knows?

[KasuCode]

Card uses 0.8ns DDR3.

[LordJuanlo]

Yes I know the cards that are available ship with GDDR3 rated at 900 mhz (1800 effective). But there were rumors of a possible GDDR4 version of the 3870x2. There are single 3870 cards with GDDR4 at 1.2 Ghz (2.4 effective), it would give a nice memory boost to the x2 too.

[tornadog]

I dont understand...2x 3870 GDDR4 = 380 bucks and 3870 X2 GDDR3 = 449 bucks...why would you even consider the X2?

[jAkUp]

For people that do not have a cross-fire capable board. Also I think it is a little more efficient.

[slaWter]

I dont understand...2x 3870 GDDR4 = 380 bucks and 3870 X2 GDDR3 = 449 bucks...why would you even consider the X2?

To have room for a second X2 later on (lee)

I think ATI decided to go with GDDR3 to keep the price down.

[amk21]

I know it would be hard to say, but what kind of performance gain would you get from using gdd4 vs. gddr3?

[LordJuanlo]

It's not only GDDR4, it's faster:

3870 has GDDR4 at 1.2 Ghz (http://www.diamondmm.com/3870PE4512.php) (2.4 effective)
3870x2 has GDDR3 at 900 Mhz (1.8 effective)

The 3870x2 tries to compensate the lower memory bandwith with a higher core clock, but a higher memory bandwith is very useful at very high resolutions, with AA & AF. The x2 scores are very good, but they would be even better with a 600 Mhz memory boost!!. And the card would run cooler and require less power, GDDR4 uses less voltage.

I wonder if one of the ATI partners would build a GDDR4 version, if it's technically possible.

[LordJuanlo]

Looks like PowerColor (http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/06/powercolor-debuts-gddr4-3870x2) will introduce GDDR4 x2 in april with 825 mhz core and 1126 memory. Good numbers

[Feyy]

Thought i read somewhere aswell that Sapphire were going to introduce a GDDR4 version also.

[Lenin]

Looks like PowerColor (http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/06/powercolor-debuts-gddr4-3870x2) will introduce GDDR4 x2 in april with 825 mhz core and 1126 memory. Good numbers
Very interesting... and it looks like the card has a good cooler as well :D

[PlayerZen14]

saw a magic pro 3870x2 which has gddr4 memory but only 512mb of it. its mem clock is 2200mhz effective, but its not as good because its only 512mb isntead of the refernce 1gb.

according to the magazine, its slightly worse than 2x 3870s in crossfire.

MAGICPRO 3870X2 3DMARK06- 13163
3870 CROSSFIRE 3DMARK06- 13263

3870X2 WiC- 12FPS
3870CF WiC- 24FPS
3870X2 COMPANY OF HEROES- 44.8FPS
3870CF COMPANY OF HEROES- 47.4FPS
3870X2 CRYSIS- 11.99
3870CF CRYSIS- 13.5

sorry no resolutions or filter specs were shown in the magazine article. it just goes to show that the amount of memory is more important than the mem speed, not to say that gddr4 is not important, its just not as important as some believe.

for some strange reason the card is not posted on their website, and from what ive seen, it seems to be only a 'local selling' brand, so i dont think it sells overseas.

[methimpikehoses]

AGICPRO 3870X2 3DMARK06- 13163
3870 CROSSFIRE 3DMARK06- 13263

3870X2 WiC- 12FPS
3870CF WiC- 24FPS
3870X2 COMPANY OF HEROES- 44.8FPS
3870CF COMPANY OF HEROES- 47.4FPS
3870X2 CRYSIS- 11.99
3870CF CRYSIS- 13.5


Those in game numbers are pretty damn lousy... particularly WiC. Everyone knows that Crysis is not scaling well with crossfire... WiC must be DX10 in those tests.