Although the Diamond HD 3870 512MB G-DDR4 is not the NVIDIA killer that it was rumored to be it is still a very good card that performs well enough and is priced well enough to still be a viable VGA solution in the mid range market. The card performed flawlessly in Windows Vista and played every game we use without error at resolutions of up to 1680X1050, even with the features set to maximum. There are a few 24’’ and larger monitors that do higher resolutions, but the user who buys that has the money to also buy a card to go with that pricey monitor. Priced at around $219.00 US, it is at the moment lower than an 8800GT the card from NVIDIA at which it is priced to compete with. The human eye cannot distinguish a noticeable difference between an 8800GT and the ATI 3870, the GT is faster, and numbers only mean so much after a certain point. I can really think of nothing negative to say about the 3870 other than like usual hype exceeds reality.
The 3850 however is a different animal altogether, this is a low end 3D card that priced at $179.00 competes with the 8600 series by NVIDIA. To me this card is a waste of time for ATI at this price point, I mean who would not shell out a lousy $30.00 more for a 3870 card. This card is far an inferior product to the 3870 and should sell for around $159.00 at the most to be really competitive. 256MB of memory and an 828MHz Shader clock that is less than half means a serious performance hit when compared to the HD 3870 at 512MB and Shader clock at 2400MHz. The price difference is not suitable for the 3850 when you look at the cards specs head to head with its own card. Diamond is trying their best to make a stable and aggressive market for ATI, and to their credit they do have an uphill battle in the current scheme of things. There is an upside to this though, you can easily get your hands on a Diamond HD 3870, but the 8800GT is out of stock almost everywhere, and hey it is cheaper. I give the Diamond HD 3870 an Editors Choice Award as it is a solid 3D solution for the mid level market, and is very available so no waiting to get one. Good job Diamond and ATI, you get an A for effort.
Doc out
