i just bought a radeon 3870 512MB and put it into crossfire with my "old" 3850 256MB... now everything ive seen including in catalyst control center says that the 3870 is 256 MB... and on top of that the card looks different from what i expected... the other ones ive seen of the 3870 512 config were all red with a double slot cooler... this one is blue with a single slot cooler... did someone pull the yankee swap on me or is the discrepancy something to do with crossfire matching the cards?
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did i get the wrong card?
- Thread starter soulliea
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Hagrid
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In sli and crossfire the memory doesnt add up( 2 x 256mb = 512mb for example). The memory will be 256mb since hat is the card with the lowest memory.
Try the 3870 by itself and see what it says.
bicycle_wreck
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The 3870 and the 3850 are two different cards. The 3870 is the higher-end model, and has dual-slot cooling like you said, and the 3850 is the little brother with single-slot cooling. The color of the PCB is irrelevant, but some OEMs provide their own cooling solution which could account for the single-slot/dual-slot discrepancy.
Please provide the brand and models of both cards. Pics would be helpful as well.
No one screwed you over, but you might want to consider using either 2 3870's or 2 3850's if you want Crossfire.
Running GPUz as suggested would also be helpful...
Please provide the brand and models of both cards. Pics would be helpful as well.
No one screwed you over, but you might want to consider using either 2 3870's or 2 3850's if you want Crossfire.
Running GPUz as suggested would also be helpful...
bicycle_wreck
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I must have misread your initial post. I never thought the validity of the card was in question, but yeah that's a 3870. The problem is arising because you have both cards installed simultaneously. If you pulled the 3850 and ran GPU-Z it should give you more accurate information otherwise it seems you're getting a hob-gob of spliced information, mostly from the 3850.
Here's your card by the way: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102719
inotocracy
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I believe in crossfire the configuration that is mirrored is the lower performing card, so if you pair a 512mb card with a 256mb card the most the system will utilize is 256mb. You may get better performance with just the 3870 since it has more memory-- test both configurations out and see which one works best. I'd guess the 256mb would limit the resolution and amounts of details you could crank up.
ive seen benchmarks that say the crossfire is better... ill stick with it... i overclocked the 3850 anyway so the only real drawback is the memory issue... no big deal... ive been running it on 256 since the 3000 series originally came out anyway...
I just read a review today that compared a mix and match setup with 3870/3850 combos with 256mb to 1024mb memory. Since the OP has the 790fx chipset he is running CFx which I believe I read can utilize the mixed cards. The review stated the best performance for $ combo was this dudes setup.
Trying to find the link.
Found it! http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5641&Itemid=1
Trying to find the link.
Found it! http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5641&Itemid=1
ya i did my own benchmarks in 3dmark06 just to satisfy my own curiosity once and for all...
but the 512MB 3870 + 256MB 3850 in crossfire got a score of 14724
and the 512MB 3870 by itself got a score of 11161
id say thats a pretty big drop...
i think ill stick with crossfire... i hadn't run the 3850 alone in benchmarks but i can only imagine how low it would drop with only the 3850 running... something tells me it was a decent investment... especially since the 3870 cost me less than a new 3850 would have cost me... i may just try and sell the 3850 and grab another 3870 if it will get me a decent improvement over my crossfire results... but for the time being, for everybody ive heard telling me its a stupid setup... i think its just fine...
but the 512MB 3870 + 256MB 3850 in crossfire got a score of 14724
and the 512MB 3870 by itself got a score of 11161
id say thats a pretty big drop...
i think ill stick with crossfire... i hadn't run the 3850 alone in benchmarks but i can only imagine how low it would drop with only the 3850 running... something tells me it was a decent investment... especially since the 3870 cost me less than a new 3850 would have cost me... i may just try and sell the 3850 and grab another 3870 if it will get me a decent improvement over my crossfire results... but for the time being, for everybody ive heard telling me its a stupid setup... i think its just fine...
op paid less for the 3870 than he did for the 3850 256, so he really came out ahead. i wouldn't recommend trying mixed cf for anyone who already owns a 3870 256 and can't
get a deal on a 3870. if you believe the numbers from the fudzilla link, the 3870+3850 256 cf is not significantly faster than 3850 256 cf.
get a deal on a 3870. if you believe the numbers from the fudzilla link, the 3870+3850 256 cf is not significantly faster than 3850 256 cf.
inotocracy
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It may give a higher 3dmark score, but you do know that doesn't always translate to in-game performance? Try out your games on both setups and see which one works best for you. That 256mb could be really limiting.
like i said... theres a possibility of a second 3870 in my future... thusfar i havent run into any issues with the 3850 in there though... but all ive played since then has been c&c3 which isnt incredibly tough on graphics... it ran pretty much full out on the 3850 alone to begin with...