Product Listing

GeCube Radeon HD 3870 512MB GDDR4 (O.C. Edition)

By Vincent Chang - 10 Jan 2008

Conclusion

** Updated on 11th January 2008**

Conclusion

ATI's upcoming dual RV670 graphics card is reminiscent of NVIDIA's own GeForce 7950 GX2. While a 55nm core should alleviate some of the power consumption and heat issues that plagued the GeForce 7950 GX2, it will likely still be an important concern that we hope has been addressed adequately. With the less than stellar performance scaling for CrossFireX, it's hard to imagine this dual GPU card winning against a comparable SLI setup but as a 'single' card, it's all ATI has in the short term to counter NVIDIA's winning streak. NVIDIA however isn't sitting still and their counter is expected soon after ATI makes its move.

It's a typical GeCube product, from its custom cooler to the lack of extras, but the hardware is what counts most and GeCube delivers that well.

For the rest of us, a single graphics card that operates cool, quiet and in an energy efficient manner is probably what we're looking for. Of course, performance matters too but if you're already considering a Radeon HD 3800 series card, that is probably not your main or only criteria. GeCube's new X-Turbo III powered Radeon HD 3870 easily fulfills the cool and quiet quotient, thanks to its heavy duty cooler that packs more cooling performance than the reference. The 3D performance itself is also reinforced by its higher than usual clock speeds, though the actual improvements that you'll see will vary from game to game. Even then, it's still quite unlikely for this overclocked Radeon HD 3870 to overtake the GeForce 8800 GT. After all, the new BIOS from GeCube was just about sufficient for our overclocking to reach the level of a standard GeForce 8800 GT, so let's not mention the many overclocked versions on sale now. Although a point to note here is that GeCube does assure that the card is fit for operating at its maximum OverDrive mode at 885/2400MHz DDR. At this level, it may not yet overtake the GeForce 8800 GT, but it can certainly give it some good competition.

Finally, where the Radeon HD series has the edge at the moment is in pricing. No doubt the price performance ratio may yet be a draw or favor NVIDIA but in terms of absolute dollars and cents, ATI's offerings are cheaper and for those on a budget, these may be the DirectX 10 cards that you're willing to pay. Locally, the GeCube Radeon HD 3870 O.C Edition has a suggested retail price of S$389, giving it a slight premium of S$10 - 20 more than its competitors.

GeCube also has its own standard version Radeon HD 3870 that you can get for around S$369, so the overclocking and the X-Turbo III cooler actually cost you S$20, which is quite reasonable for its performance. No doubt, only the bare essentials are included in the bundle but GeCube has produced a decent piece of hardware here. The only trouble is that the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT is also only slightly higher than this price tag, so those looking for the best performance will surely go for an NVIDIA card. If you're set on an ATI card though (and for its lower price point), the GeCube Radeon HD 3870 O.C. Edition has enough going for it to present itself has a worthy alternative when you consider its OverDrive performance, the overclocking friendly BIOS and a swell cooler that will keep the card cooler than the GeForce 8800 GT while giving you performance within striking distance of it.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.