HD3850 AGP: USA Availability

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AndonSage

Gawd
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We are finally seeing the ATI Radeon HD 3850 AGP cards in the US, and the first one is the Sapphire ATI Radeon™ HD 3850 AGP. I have grouped together the online stores where this card has been available (from the HD3850 AGP thread). If a store sells out, you'll have to just keep checking back, but at least you'll know who has had them. Prices have ranged from $200 to $249, so be sure to check around.

**EDITS**
March 20, 2008: Sapphire back in stock, check links.
March 25, 2008: HIS has released their IceQ3 turbo card, link at Newegg below.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102730&Tpk=100228L

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-3850AGP

http://www.laptops4me.com/product_i...mb-ddr3-2dvi-agp-video-card/products_id/12217

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=19867&sid=XD3B6G4AQHMF8J4WP9BUPVQ7RBUV17UD

http://www.computerhq.com/SAPPHIRE_...-BIT/100228L/hardware/partinfo-id-997272.html

http://www.excaliberpc.com/Sapphire_100228L_Radeon_HD_3850/100228L/partinfo-id-584979.html

If you prefer PowerColor, the PowerColor HD 3850v512MB AGP PCS is now available.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131090

Here is the HIS IceQ 3 Turbo card at Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161226

Hope this helps those of you looking for one of these cards :)
 
You may want to include some pics. Feel free to use these. Also, it was a good idea seperating from the other thread.


Sapphire HD 3850 512MB: http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=211&grp=2

3850agpyi5.jpg



Powercolor HD 3850 512MB: http://www.powercolor.com/Global/products_features.asp?ProductID=1730

3850pcsf1.jpg



Gecube HD 3850 512MB: http://www.techpowerup.com/index.php?49393

So far, no pics for this card and it doesn't appear on Gecubes Website Yet.


Club3D HD 3850 512MB AGP Edition: http://www.club3d.nl/index.php/products/graphics/item/320
[For our Friends Around the Globe]

3850clubzq2.jpg
 
ill be picking up the sapphire card in the next two weeks....

w00t
 
evolucion8 said:
There's also a Club3D version http://www.club3d.nl/index.php/products/graphics/item/320
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Yes I know, I didn't bother linking to it because the thread's titled USA availability and Club3D doesn't do business in the US. I added a pic anyway.

AndonSage said:
I did link the the Sapphire specs page.
Click to expand...

Yes sorry, I was too busy jumping around looking for in-stock cards. :)

AndonSage, I see you started this thread with two of the links I posted in the other HD 3850 AGP thread. Have you heard of either of those guys before? I'm starting to wonder how reputable they are and I was referring to ExCaliberPC and Laptops4me. Personally, I have bought a few cards from Ewiz.com and never had a problem.
 
honestjohn said:
AndonSage, I see you started this thread with two of the links I posted in the other HD 3850 AGP thread. Have you heard of either of those guys before? I'm starting to wonder how reputable they are and I was referring to ExCaliberPC and Laptops4me. Personally, I have bought a few cards from Ewiz.com and never had a problem.
Click to expand...

I had not heard of these companies before yesterday. I found eWiz by using the "Where to buy" list on PowerColor's web site... I simply searched for a HD 3850 AGP on each site they listed for the USA. Both ExCaliberPC and eWiz have nice web sites, so hopefully that's an indication :) Anyway, I received an e-mail invoice from eWiz after my order, and I can check on their site to see the status of my order. I checked today and it lists three lines... Feb 14: "Order Received", Feb 14: "Inventory Processing", Feb 15: "In Warehouse." So I know they at least track orders.
 
Here are the resellerratings.com numbers for those three companies (lifetime rating, # of reviews)

eWiz.com: 9.20, 1985
ExCaliberPC.com: 9.35, 357
laptops4me.com: 5.23, 32
 
Indicative of their rating, I had a good experience buying my Accelero S1 from them (eWiz - ~6 months ago?).. Ordered (cheapest place @ the time), went to Vegas for a quick Spamalot/gambling trip and my cooler was there before I got back less than 48 hours later... Helps that it was basically just a trip down the I-5 to SoCal, but still.

And FWIW, ExcaliberPC used to be Abit's RMA support back before they became uAbit.
 
Can anyone find a review or comparison of this card vs other leading agp cards like x1950pro?
 
kush said:
Indicative of their rating, I had a good experience buying...
Click to expand...

I got an e-mail this afternoon from eWiz saying that my card has shipped, and they provided a UPS tracking number. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this company is OK :D
 
IntelOwnz said:
Can anyone find a review or comparison of this card vs other leading agp cards like x1950pro?
Click to expand...

I don't know of any reviews for the AGP card yet, since it's so new, but you can find reviews comparing the PCI-e versions of the card, like at Tom's Hardware.
 
AndonSage said:
I got an e-mail this afternoon from eWiz saying that my card has shipped, and they provided a UPS tracking number. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this company is OK :D
Click to expand...


mine also shipped today got tracking number about an hour ago. Such a pain that monday is a holiday.. means wont get it till probably wed/thursday
 
is the PCIE version really comparable to the AGP?
I've found that usually the two are pretty different.

edit: Unless it's a glitch, the item is no longer in the ewiz database...
 
IntelOwnz said:
is the PCIE version really comparable to the AGP?
I've found that usually the two are pretty different.

edit: Unless it's a glitch, the item is no longer in the ewiz database...
Click to expand...

They probably took it down so they don't have a lot of backorders which equal unhappy customers. Still had one I added to the shopping cart and it says out-of-stock.
 
i really want one of these cards, but with the way things have gone so far, something tells me to pass. at the very least wait till the cards have been released to the masses and let them be my guinea pigs.
 
IntelOwnz said:
is the PCIE version really comparable to the AGP?
I've found that usually the two are pretty different.
Click to expand...

Yes, but if you compare the PCI-e versions of the cards, you'll know how much better one is over the other, and you can figure that the AGP versions will have a similar difference.

IntelOwnz said:
edit: Unless it's a glitch, the item is no longer in the ewiz database...
Click to expand...

Yep, looks to be sold out. Thanks for the heads-up. I modified the original post. Does anyone have info on the card at laptops4me.com or does no one want to take a chance on them?
 
I guess my question comes down to:

Is this the absolute best AGP card available?

If so, is there anything else I should worry about in the next few weeks, or should I go ahead and order this from ewiz when they're back in stock?
 
honestjohn said:
Did you ever see this X1950Pro comparison Driverheaven.net did last year. Using the same setup the PCI-E and AGP performance was virtually identical. I think the AGP Bus will handle the 3850 nicely, if it was a 3870X2, then maybe it would be a different story ....

http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/Sapphire X1950Pro AGP/hl2.php

pcieagp2jy0.jpg



pcieagp1eg6.jpg



pcieap3kr0.jpg
Click to expand...

skadebo said:
Yeah, it's unfortunate that we haven't had reviews that pit high end cards against each other because high end was not available in AGP. Also, that x1950 comparison is flawed because the cards are operating at different frequencies and have different framebuffers. The PCI-e card is 256mb vs 512mb but has a higher core clock by 20mHz.
Click to expand...

I hope someone reviews this STAT and keeps the framebuffers and clocks the same.
 
IntelOwnz said:
I guess my question comes down to:

Is this the absolute best AGP card available?

If so, is there anything else I should worry about in the next few weeks, or should I go ahead and order this from ewiz when they're back in stock?
Click to expand...
I will be very surprised if there is ever a more powerful AGP card than this one. There have been a few cards before that people thought would be the last powerful AGP card, but this one really does seem to be AGP's last hurrah. When they come back in stock, I'm expecting a severe price hike, which is why I jumped on the $210 Ewiz one.
 
skadebo said:
I hope someone reviews this STAT and keeps the framebuffers and clocks the same.
Click to expand...

I still find the Driverheaven.net review valid regardless of the frame buffer used, at least as a rough estimate. As far a frequencies go bewteen the cards, the PCI-E Powercolor Card actually has it's core clocked 20 Mhz. higher than the Sapphire AGP card, so the Sapphire didn't gain any advantage there. I do agree with you though about an Apples to Apples comparison, hopefully someone will do one with the HD 3850.

For what it's worth, here is a 3DMark Comparison I made myself last year between two different X1950 Pro AGP cards. One with 256MB and another with 512MB. The 512MB card performed a bit better, but the differences were not staggering by any means. I also ran a few other benchmark apps as well and the results came out the same, not much of a difference at all, at least on my old Rig. And yes I know 3Dmark is not the best yardstick, but they're the only ones I could find floating around the Net. I pretty much tossed all my old notes when I switched to PCI-E several months ago and built the new Rig. Here are the results I got for what they're worth ......

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9074980&postcount=68

System:
Asus K8N-E Deluxe
A64 3700+ @ 2.52 Ghz
2 GB DDR @ 430 Mhz.

Visiontek X1950 Pro 256MB AGP / Core 575 Mhz. / Memory 690 Mhz.

3DMark05: 8756
3DMark06: 4034

Sapphire X1950 Pro 512MB AGP / Core 580 Mhz. / Memory 700 Mhz.

3DMark05: 9119
3DMark06: 4232
 
arthur_tuxedo said:
I will be very surprised if there is ever a more powerful AGP card than this one. There have been a few cards before that people thought would be the last powerful AGP card, but this one really does seem to be AGP's last hurrah. When they come back in stock, I'm expecting a severe price hike, which is why I jumped on the $210 Ewiz one.
Click to expand...

I agree somewhat, but AGP supposely had it's last hurrah in 2006, then they released the X1950 Pro, XT, and 7950GT. Then that was its last hurrah. Now we have the HD 3850, so you never know. As far as pricing goes. I think if they make the card too expensive it's not going to sell because the climate is much different now then when the X1950 Pro's were released in the beginning of last year. I think the Ewiz price will likely be the norm.....hopefully. :confused:
 
arthur_tuxedo said:
I will be very surprised if there is ever a more powerful AGP card than this one. There have been a few cards before that people thought would be the last powerful AGP card, but this one really does seem to be AGP's last hurrah. When they come back in stock, I'm expecting a severe price hike, which is why I jumped on the $210 Ewiz one.
Click to expand...

bite your tongue! I don't want to see $250+ prices on these cards. The Ewiz price is perfect.
 
honestjohn said:
I agree somewhat, but AGP supposely had it's last hurrah in 2006, then they released the X1950 Pro, XT, and 7950GT. Then that was its last hurrah. Now we have the HD 3850, so you never know. As far as pricing goes. I think if they make the card too expensive it's not going to sell because the climate is much different now then when the X1950 Pro's were released in the beginning of last year. I think the Ewiz price will likely be the norm.....hopefully. :confused:
Click to expand...
Yes, but those predictions were based on skepticism that companies would release another AGP card even though the bus itself was nowhere near maxed out. With the 3850 and especially with anything faster, that's no longer the case. nVidia hasn't released a high performance AGP card since the 7900 GS and 7950, and those were only available for a limited time in limited stock and weren't really price competitive with the faster X1950 Pro AGP. AMD might release another one, maybe even faster than the 3850, but it will probably be a midrange card and probably not for quite a while.

Anyway, I expect these cards to sell out fast, remain out of stock for quite some time, and stay at $250+ for quite a while. There are a lot of people who would want this card, basically anyone with a S754 or S939 rig who isn't ready to spend the money or time on a new system. I don't expect supply to even come close to keeping up with demand.
 
I checked the laptops4me.com web site early Sunday (Feb 17) morning, and it appears they still have the card in stock, since I was able to add it to my shopping cart. They have also updated the item page with a picture and a description. I've updated my original post with this information.
 
well , its like 740pm here in southern missouri... just checked and newegg still has them!! guess they got in a bunch! hope so for everyone
 
Sheldog23 said:
Which is why I just bought one! :D That and my 9700pro died. This should give my kids system a good boost till I feel like building them a better one later on. can't wait to bench it.
Click to expand...

You must have got the last one because NewEgg is out now.
 
Hagrid said:
WOW, that is expensive! I am glad I switched out my agp systems for pci-e!

For that price I would just save and get a new system! :eek:

Hopefully people put heftier PS's in their systems. hehe
Click to expand...

Yes Hagrid, we already know your feelings regarding AGP from the last HD 3850 AGP thread you "contributed" to ...

Hagrid said:
Because they want to waste money on an AGP card rather then just saving and getting a ton more for their video/computer purchase.
Click to expand...

Also, just a reminder that this thread is for the Availability of the HD 3850 AGP, not to debate the merits of PCI-E vs. AGP. So if you have any hot leads please let us know.
 
LordVampyre said:
Doing my nightly croozin... found another place selling this card... Have done business with these guys before with no issues.

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/pro...id=19867&sid=C6AH4N2WJ1WR9GVU8JWCNV5734D45494
Click to expand...

WOW! Thats a pretty good price. I was expecting something more in line with the X1950 Pro AGP when it was released at the end of 2006. First card out of the gate was the Visiontek 256MB for $299 in Nov 06, then the Sapphire 512MB card came out in December at Zipzoomfly for about $250. The HD 3850 at twice the horse-power is a great deal compared to that.

By the way, did you guys notice when you do a google search for the HD 3850 AGP it comes up with $190 at Ewiz.com now?? :eek: The link doesn't go anywhere, but that would really be a sweet price if they list them for that ....

http://www.google.com/products?q=hd3850+agp&hl=en&show=dd
 
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