rabies229

I was looking at the specs. and i was looking to get the 2900 pro and then flash it over to the XT to get the performance boost. now, here are my main problems from the 2900 to the 3850, i see a higher core clock on the XT(by about 75 mhz, but a higher memory clock on the 3850 (by about 3mhz)

here is my references.

Pro Vs XT

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=536&card2=518

and then

XT vs 3850

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=518&card2=546


I also see a much larger memory bandwidth (about 52gb/s higher )on the 2900's versus the 3850's won't that cause a performance drop too? I just want the best performance. and I'm not sure whether the 2900 would be better if i bought the pro and flashed it to the XT or to just save time and buy the 3850 and accept the performance drop. any thoughts?

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3 nvidia 6600's dead, 2 power supplies dead, 1 7800GS fried--overclocking... Priceless
**Korndog2003 - I have to admit that is a fast celeron** http://img60.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpuz2uv.png
http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/screenshot/78203.png

nate911

What about the 3870? I am pretty sure the 2900 PRO is better than the HD3850, although the 38x0 is a newer core.

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Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

rabies229

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=518&card2=547

it beats it in the memory/core clocks but not in the bandwidth. would the 3870 be the best pick ?

__________________
3 nvidia 6600's dead, 2 power supplies dead, 1 7800GS fried--overclocking... Priceless
**Korndog2003 - I have to admit that is a fast celeron** http://img60.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpuz2uv.png
http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/screenshot/78203.png

nate911

Not an Ati Expert but if you want performance I would either go with the 2900 or the 3870; I don't know which though. Maybe somebody else can help you.

__________________
CPU-Z Validation at 3.4Ghz! 10749 in 3DMark06! | P4885 in 3DMark Vantage

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

rabies229

i'm kinda hoping to get some ati enthusiasts in here

__________________
3 nvidia 6600's dead, 2 power supplies dead, 1 7800GS fried--overclocking... Priceless
**Korndog2003 - I have to admit that is a fast celeron** http://img60.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpuz2uv.png
http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/screenshot/78203.png

rabies229

also, will the 3870 work in a PCI-E x16 .. it says its 2.0 , does that mean i have to have a PCI-E 2.0 motherboard or is it backwards compatable?

__________________
3 nvidia 6600's dead, 2 power supplies dead, 1 7800GS fried--overclocking... Priceless
**Korndog2003 - I have to admit that is a fast celeron** http://img60.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpuz2uv.png
http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/screenshot/78203.png

rabies229

no one is around to help ? Geeze lol

__________________
3 nvidia 6600's dead, 2 power supplies dead, 1 7800GS fried--overclocking... Priceless
**Korndog2003 - I have to admit that is a fast celeron** http://img60.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpuz2uv.png
http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/screenshot/78203.png

DorsalFin89

It is backwards compatible, I wouldn't worry about having a pci-e 2.0 capable motherboard just yet, and I would recommend the 3870 as it beats the 2900XT in a lot of games: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...preview-5.html

rabies229

thank you kind sir, that is all i needed

__________________
3 nvidia 6600's dead, 2 power supplies dead, 1 7800GS fried--overclocking... Priceless
**Korndog2003 - I have to admit that is a fast celeron** http://img60.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpuz2uv.png
http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/screenshot/78203.png

reflex1989

Get the HD2900PRO 512mb 512bit for $165 on newegg once it comes back in stock on the 31st. You can flash it to XT bios and overclock it to be just as fast, even though it will probably beat the 3850 stock. If you have the extra $85 or so then sure get the 3870 but I don't think you will see a big improvement and certainly not $85 worth.

EDIT: I looked for HD2900Pro benchmarks and found this: 2900Pro gets 11k on 3dmark06 OC'd and that is without flashing to XT bios --> thread on nvnews.net

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