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ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP February 26, 2008 Brandon Sandman Bell |
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Summary: With two R680 GPUs, 1GB of 0.8ns memory, four DVI outputs, and dual fans, the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP is one feature-packed graphics card. The card is even OC'ed from the factory for even greater performance. Let's see how it fares against the GeForce 8800 GTX/Ultra, as well as AMD's own Radeon HD 3870 X2 card!
 ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP Review | Page:: ( 1 / 15 ) |
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While they’re still best known for their high-end motherboards, over the years ASUS has produced some pretty outstanding graphics cards. ASUS was the first of the big card manufacturers to play both sides in the graphics world, ending the era of exclusive deals that locked card manufacturers to producing cards solely on GPUs from ATI or NVIDIA. In fact, their 9800 XT/TVD and 9600 XT/TVD were the first Radeon cards to ship with VIVO (video-in/video-out) support. Up to the debut of these cards, VIVO was a feature that was only found in the All-In-Wonder line of graphics cards from ATI. Now VIVO is a feature that can be found across the lineup of Radeon cards.
ASUS’ Smart Doctor software also brought features such as dynamic clock speed adjustment depending on workload. For instance, Smart Doctor could automatically overclock the card when a game is loaded, then revert back to stock speeds once you return to the Windows desktop. Smart Doctor also offered dynamic fan speed adjustment, varying RPMs based on workload or temperature. All of these features and more were found in Smart Doctor well ahead of programs like nTune and ATI Overdrive.
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Over the years ASUS has produced quite a few high-end graphics cards that were pretty unique. Back during the GeForce 7800 GTX era, their Extreme N7800 GTX TOP set itself apart from other GeForce 7800 GTX cards thanks to its dual-slot cooler from Arctic Cooling. The card also shipped at higher clock speeds than other GeForce 7800 GTX cards. ASUS partnered with Arctic Cooling again to deliver the Extreme X1800XT TOP/2DHT. While the stock X1800 XT developed a reputation for being a loud graphics card, ASUS’ Extreme X1800 XT TOP ran cooler and quieter, all while running at speeds that were higher than any other Radeon X1800 XT card.
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Now ASUS is back again with another unique Radeon board, this time utilizing the recently released Radeon HD 3870 X2 GPUs. Whereas the stock Radeon HD 3870 X2 board shipped with two DVIs and a single fan, the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP features four DVIs and two cooling fans, and as a TopOverclockingPerformance card, ASUS’ latest 3870 X2
offering is overclocked by ASUS for added performance.
Let’s take a closer look at what ASUS has done with their EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP card!
| Board analysis | Page:: ( 2 / 15 ) |
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Dual fan cooling
Without a doubt, the most notable difference between the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP and AMD’s own Radeon HD 3870 X2 board is the ASUS card’s unique cooling solution.
While AMD’s reference cooling design relies on a mixture of conventional copper and aluminum heatsinks resting above the GPUs and powered by a single fan, the cooler on the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP uses heat pipes. Resting directly above each R680 GPU is a copper plate and heatpipe. The heatpipes themselves are roughly four inches in length and are cooled by aluminum heatsinks which rests a quarter of an inch above and behind the GPUs. One heatsink/heatpipe combination is used per GPU, and each of these coolers has their own dedicated fan above them supplying cool air from within the case to each cooler.
With two fans the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP is slightly louder than AMD’s Radeon HD 3870 X2 board, but by no means would we consider either card anywhere close to being noisy or loud. They both run considerably quieter than graphics cards from a few years ago. It’s also important to note that due to the nature of ASUS’ cooling design, hot air from the cooler isn’t exhausted outside the case, this is another key difference between their cooler and AMD’s.
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We ran some temp tests between the AMD Radeon HD 3870 X2 and the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP. In our testing, the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP idled at 40 degrees Celsius whereas the AMD 3870 X2 card ran 45 degrees at idle. Under load the ASUS card was three degrees cooler – 61 degrees Celsius versus 64 degrees – keep in mind this was done with the ASUS card running at its standard TOP speeds, so the AMD board was running slightly slower.
There are a couple of oversights with AMD’s cooling solution that we should mention though. For starters, the PLX chip that splits the PCIe lanes between both GPUs (16 per GPU) isn’t actively cooled. On the stock AMD cooler, a thermal pad connects the PLX chip to the AMD cooler. Second, the memory modules on the underside of the card aren’t cooled either. On the AMD reference design, an aluminum plate is used to cool the modules on the bottom of the card. Let’s discuss how this may not be a major issue…
Hynix memory modules
One feature ASUS touts on the EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP is its “specially sorted” 0.8ns GDDR3 memory. When comparing the EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP to the standard Radeon HD 3870 X2 we received from AMD, you can see that ASUS has indeed opted for faster memory modules than AMD’s reference design.
Whereas the AMD reference design relies on 1.0ns Samsung K4J52324QE-BJ1A memory modules rated for speeds as high as 1.0GHz, the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP is outfitted with Hynix HY5RS123235BFP-08 modules. These particular memory modules are the fastest chips Hynix makes, and are officially rated for speeds as high as 1,200MHz!
By using faster memory modules, this gives you more headroom for overclocking the ASUS TOP card. Out of the box the memory modules run at 954MHz. This speed is 54MHz higher than the stock Radeon 3870 X2 (which runs at 900MHz), but well shy of the 1,200MHz rating of the memory modules.
This is why we don’t think the lack of cooling for the memory modules on the bottom of the card is a huge issue, but at the same time the modules would obviously run a little cooler if RAMsinks had been installed here.
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Faster core clock speed
Besides running the memory modules at speeds higher than stock, the graphics core is clocked higher from the factory as well. ASUS clocks the GPU at 850MHz, a 25MHz improvement over the stock Radeon HD 3870 X2.
| Quad displays! | Page:: ( 3 / 15 ) |
The other easily noticeable feature that separates the EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP from AMD’s reference design are the four DVI connectors on the back plate of the graphics card. We tested this feature out and it does indeed work, but there are a couple of caveats that you need to keep in mind.
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For starters, DVI #3 or DVI #4 must be connected in order to get a video signal. We recommend you use DVI #4. DVI #4 is located on the bottom right corner of the card’s backplate, resting directly to the right of the yellow DVI connector. When the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP card is housed inside the PCI Express graphics slot, the fourth DVI is the DVI connector located closest to the motherboard. If you hook your monitor up to one of the secondary DVI connections (DVI numbers 1 or 2), you won’t get a video signal when booting up your system. We’re defining the secondary connectors as the two DVIs located above DVI #4 (and the yellow DVI connector) on the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP.
So why is the other DVI connector yellow? This is where you HDTV owners will use the HDMI adapter included with the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP card to hook up your HDTV if you wish to use HDMI. This connector doesn’t support dual-link operation however; it’s a single-link DVI output. Those of you with 30” flat panels should primarily rely on the fourth DVI connection located closest to the motherboard that we mentioned previously.
One neat trick that AMD has added to CrossFire recently is the ability to run multiple monitors with CrossFire. Previously neither SLI nor CrossFire supported multi-monitor.
With multi-monitor support, you can now run two displays simultaneously on the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP or the AMD Radeon HD 3870 X2. Before, you’d have to disable CrossFire every time you wanted to run two monitors.
CrossFire doesn’t natively support four monitors though. So if you plan to hook up four monitors to the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP, you’ll have to disable CrossFire in the Catalyst Control Center control panel. Then, when you’re ready to game, don’t forget to re-enable CrossFire. Once CrossFire is turned on, the two monitors connected to your secondary DVIs will automatically be disabled.
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One final point about the displays we should mention is that we couldn’t run a CRT monitor (connected via DVI adapter) off the secondary DVIs. We had to use the primary pair of DVI outputs in order for the CRT to operate. We also ran into problems mixing the CRT with more than one LCD.
The bottom line is we recommend sticking to DVIs if you plan on using all the displays on the EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP.
Accessories
ASUS bundles the card with a copy of the DX10 game Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts. The follow-up to the hit WW2 RTS game Company of Heroes, Opposing Fronts was released last year to positive reviews and is a $30 value. Also included with the card are two DVI adapters, an HDMI adapter, CrossFire cable, power cable, and component video cable. ASUS also includes a leather CD wallet with the card which you can use to organize your games.
| System Setup | Page:: ( 4 / 15 ) |
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800
ASUS P5E3 Deluxe (for Radeon cards)
EVGA nForce 680i SLI motherboard (for GeForce cards)
2GB Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4
ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP
AMD Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB
8.451.2_080123a-058649E-ATI Driver (Catalyst 8.1 derivative)
GeForce 8800 GTX
GeForce 8800 Ultra
ForceWare 169.28
300GB Western Digital Caviar SE
Windows Vista 64-bit w/Service Pack 1
Benchmarks
Company of Heroes 1.71 (running DX9)
F.E.A.R. 1.08
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Call of Duty 4
Half-Life 2 Episode Two
Lost Planet DX9
Crysis
| F.E.A.R. Performance | Page:: ( 5 / 15 ) |
| Company Of Heroes DX9 | Page:: ( 6 / 15 ) |
| Company Of Heroes DX10 | Page:: ( 7 / 15 ) |
| Oblivion | Page:: ( 8 / 15 ) |
| HL2 Episode 2 | Page:: ( 9 / 15 ) |
| Lost Planet DX9 | Page:: ( 10 / 15 ) |
| Lost Planet DX10 | Page:: ( 11 / 15 ) |
| Call Of Duty 4 | Page:: ( 12 / 15 ) |
| Overclocking | Page:: ( 13 / 15 ) |
| Ballistics Report | Page:: ( 14 / 15 ) |
Pros
Faster memory: ASUS outfits the EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP with 1GB of 0.8ns memory modules from Hynix. The memory modules themselves are rated for speeds as high as 1.2GHz! Meanwhile in comparison, AMD’s own Radeon HD 3870 X2 boards ship with 1.0GHz memory.
With faster memory modules on the EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP, theoretically you should be able to OC the card’s memory further than the stock AMD 3870 X2 card. Of course as always with OC’ing, your mileage will vary.
Faster clock speeds: ASUS clocks the EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP at speeds of 850MHz core/954MHz memory. This is an improvement of 25MHz on the graphics core over the stock AMD Radeon HD 3870 X2 card, and 54MHz on the memory. These faster speeds generally improved the card’s performance by 3% over the stock Radeon HD 3870 X2 in our testing, but there were cases such as DX10 Company of Heroes where the performance improvement was nearly 5%.
Unique cooling: Rather than sticking with the standard heatsink/fan unit developed by AMD, ASUS has come up with their own unique cooler that actually performs better than the stock AMD unit.
Instead of relying solely on heatsink/fan technology, ASUS’ cooler employs copper heatpipes for increased effectiveness. Heat from these heatpipes is then dissipated by aluminum heatsinks, while dual fans keep the whole system running cool. In our testing the ASUS EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP ran up to five degrees Celsius cooler than the stock AMD cooling unit despite the ASUS card’s higher clock speeds.
Four DVIs: One sacrifice you’d normally have to give up with the standard Radeon HD 3870 X2 card versus running a pair of Radeon 3870 cards are the two additional DVIs you’d have on the 3870 slave card. While the R680 GPUs are capable of supporting more displays, AMD opted to include just two DVIs with their standard Radeon HD 3870 X2 card, leaving the top of the bracket for exhausting hot air outside the case.
ASUS’ EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP however is equipped with four DVIs, allowing those of you with multiple monitors the ability to connect up to four monitors to the card simultaneously.
Competitive MSRP: ASUS says that the EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP will carry an MSRP of $479. This is $30 more than the MSRP AMD officially charges for their Radeon 3870 X2 card. Considering the added features that ASUS includes with the EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP, $30 is a nice deal.
Cons
Availability: Unfortunately ASUS’ EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP card hasn’t hit retail shelves yet. In fact, we couldn’t find it on the ASUS USA website either. Hopefully the card will be released soon, as it’s the best 3870 X2 that’s been announced so far.
CrossFire DX10 scaling: While CrossFire’s performance in DX9 apps is exemplary, besting NVIDIA’s GeForce 8800 Ultra for the most part, in DX10 apps it’s a different story, usually the 3870 X2 falls behind the GeForce 8800 GTX and Ultra.
AMD has made numerous improvements to their DX10 driver over the past several months, but they still have a little bit more to go if they hope to catch up to NVIDIA.
| Final Verdict | Page:: ( 15 / 15 ) |