Radeon HD3850

tux1308 · 05-13-2008, 02:57 AM

Hi guys

I am looking at getting the HD3850 256MB DDR3 card. By mob is only v1.0 PCIE so have to stick to the ATI cards. Will having only 256MB be retrictive say in the next 12 months with up and coming games?

Has any one had problems with this card and is it considered quite a good card for games like Crysis, assasins creed etc?

I have just got the corsair 520W PSU so I have enough power for the card.

Other speed related computer stats are
Core 2 Duo 6300 1.8Ghz
2GB 533 RAM

**emosun** · 05-13-2008, 09:00 PM

The 3850 is ok , not as good as a 3870. ANd yes the 256mb of ram and the slightly slower gpu will be restrictive. You would be better off with a 3870 or a 9600gt.

tux1308 · 05-14-2008, 02:24 AM

I cant use Nvida cards due to the compatiability issue with PCIE v1.0. The 3870 is a little out of my price range. In any event I looked over a review done which showed that on crysis with all filters on, the 3850 was only 4 fps less than that of the 3870 (10fps for COD4) which isn't a hell of a lot. See here http://www.madboxpc.com/contenido.php?id=5461&pag=10 - The 8800GT was top of the logs but again, I can't go near Nvidia.
My main corcern is, in the next 12 months, will games be coming out needing a minumum of 512MB?

And around what would be considered the frame rate where graphics are no longer smooth?

**emosun** · 05-14-2008, 08:49 AM

In first person shooter games anything lower then 30fps and you will notice it. In driving games anything lower then 20fps and you will notice it.

Also , what make of motherboard do you have? If your pc has a core two duo , its most likely to have pci-e 1.1 which is the revision which is fully compatible with 2.0.

tux1308 · 05-16-2008, 01:34 AM

I got hold of XFX support, gave all my specs and they noted that I may have compatibility issues. I wanted the 8800GT but the last thing I want is to buy an Nvida card only to have it not work and pay a penalty to return it. Thanks for the frame rate info.

**emosun** · 05-16-2008, 10:33 AM

You could go to a bestbuy and buy one to make sure a 2.0 card will work. That way you won't have to pay for shipping if you return it.

05-13-2008, 02:57 AM	#1 (permalink)
tux1308 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 23 OS: xp	Radeon HD3850 Hi guys I am looking at getting the HD3850 256MB DDR3 card. By mob is only v1.0 PCIE so have to stick to the ATI cards. Will having only 256MB be retrictive say in the next 12 months with up and coming games? Has any one had problems with this card and is it considered quite a good card for games like Crysis, assasins creed etc? I have just got the corsair 520W PSU so I have enough power for the card. Other speed related computer stats are Core 2 Duo 6300 1.8Ghz 2GB 533 RAM

05-13-2008, 09:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,064 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Radeon HD3850 The 3850 is ok , not as good as a 3870. ANd yes the 256mb of ram and the slightly slower gpu will be restrictive. You would be better off with a 3870 or a 9600gt. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

05-14-2008, 02:24 AM	#3 (permalink)
tux1308 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 23 OS: xp	Re: Radeon HD3850 I cant use Nvida cards due to the compatiability issue with PCIE v1.0. The 3870 is a little out of my price range. In any event I looked over a review done which showed that on crysis with all filters on, the 3850 was only 4 fps less than that of the 3870 (10fps for COD4) which isn't a hell of a lot. See here http://www.madboxpc.com/contenido.php?id=5461&pag=10 - The 8800GT was top of the logs but again, I can't go near Nvidia. My main corcern is, in the next 12 months, will games be coming out needing a minumum of 512MB? And around what would be considered the frame rate where graphics are no longer smooth? Last edited by tux1308; 05-14-2008 at 02:50 AM.

05-14-2008, 08:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,064 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Radeon HD3850 In first person shooter games anything lower then 30fps and you will notice it. In driving games anything lower then 20fps and you will notice it. Also , what make of motherboard do you have? If your pc has a core two duo , its most likely to have pci-e 1.1 which is the revision which is fully compatible with 2.0. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

05-16-2008, 01:34 AM	#5 (permalink)
tux1308 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 23 OS: xp	Re: Radeon HD3850 I got hold of XFX support, gave all my specs and they noted that I may have compatibility issues. I wanted the 8800GT but the last thing I want is to buy an Nvida card only to have it not work and pay a penalty to return it. Thanks for the frame rate info.

05-16-2008, 10:33 AM	#6 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,064 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Radeon HD3850 You could go to a bestbuy and buy one to make sure a 2.0 card will work. That way you won't have to pay for shipping if you return it. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list