The HD 3850 AGP User Experience

just because some one is being heavily bottlenecked by a cpu hardly qualifies as being able to call the video card a flop.

my 1950xt scored 4266 on an A64 3200+ at stock speeds.
with my 4800x2 i went upto 5221
 
God_Of_Death said:
Ejay, how about we wait for newer drivers before calling the 3850 agp a failure. how many people are running a sammy monitor with the magic software?


i have ZERO problems with this card.
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I agree...I uninstalled the Synchmaster software and installed the CCC that came on the Sapphire Disk and have a beautiful image again on the desktop, so that's one less problem. Although none of the regular enthusiast's sites have published a review of the card, at least The Inquirer gave the PowerColor 3850 AGP 8 out of 10 mugs:

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/02/14/agp-nth-coming

With new WHQL drivers, it will in all likelihood prove to be a worthy successor to the X1950 Pro.
 
Well, Im just having way too much fun. Went and got a thermaltake SL1 for my case.. had to move things around a bit.. but now gaming with the case closed and no errors. So some progress has been made. Installed Unreal 2 .. A game I didnt give much attention to.. it really shines now. Looks amazing and Im just in the intro.

So, Im going to sit back, monitor temps, wait for the new drivers. If vista drivers are out dont think XP can be tooooo far behind. Then perhaps can work with the fan abit..

Do have a question why doesnt CCC have fan control? doesnt make sense.
 
just went over to Sapphire's website and low and behold.. XP drivers dated today!!

Thought you all might like to know :)
 
LordVampyre said:
just went over to Sapphire's website and low and behold.. XP drivers dated today!!

Thought you all might like to know :)
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Those drivers replace the drivers that came on the CD with the card? I'm not having any problems with the drivers from the CD, so if someone installs the new drivers, let us know how they work please :)
 
LordVampyre said:
just went over to Sapphire's website and low and behold.. XP drivers dated today!!

Thought you all might like to know :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up!

I downloaded the file, but it appears to consist of the same files that came with the card. All *.inf and *.dll files appear to be the same size which suggest they are unchanged and thus represent the same un-optimized and thus non-WHQL drivers. I realize that changes can be made to a file that do not manifest themselves as changes in the byte count, so it would be interesting to hear from a poster that has tried them to see if the dreaded warning appears regarding "unsigned" drivers that appears in the installation process.
 
tell you what... Oblivian looks better. Looks a bit darker and richer than the drivers on the disk. They could be the same or pretty close but does appear to be a bit of a difference in one game. Of course it could just be these old eyes..

shoot I dont mind non-whql drivers 90% of the time mine were unsigned back in my 6800gt days.
 
Well I got the card installed and ran some games on it. Seems to work out fine. FEAR was smooth as butter. UT3 ran but barely. Had to turn most of the features off to do it. Not really interested in that game anyways. Really want to play COD4 with my boys so I am going to install that this afternoon.

I also downloaded 3Dmark05-06 but I got 7867 & 4761 respectively. Thats not bad considering I'm running and old SocketA 3200+ with only a gig of XMS RAM. In fact it beat my other machine with the FX-57 and the old x1800XT's. That sure makes me smile a bit. Even though it's just a pointless benchmark. : )

Well off to fiddle with it some more. Cheers.
 
tried the new drivers from sapphire, 2-23-08, and my 3dmark scores went up by varying degrees. even the furry benchmark went up a few points but i think the increase is within the margin of error. i dunno:p. no increase to my games either.

3Dmark2006: from 5848 to 5852
3Dmark2005: from 9301 to 9348
3Dmark2003: from 28167 to 28381

i guess the new drivers are maily to fix some bugs.
 
I was curious if anyone knows if the ARCTIC COOLING ACCELS1 Rev 2 VGA Cooler will fit this card. I know it is brand new and only a few have their hands on the card at the moment. I know this third party cooler is listed as being compatible with the pci-e version of the HD3850. Just with some of the heat issues I have read about and the lack of a fan control option at this time, this would be an ideal cooler if it fits onto this card.
 
nexusspeed said:
I was curious if anyone knows if the ARCTIC COOLING ACCELS1 Rev 2 VGA Cooler will fit this card. I know it is brand new and only a few have their hands on the card at the moment. I know this third party cooler is listed as being compatible with the pci-e version of the HD3850. Just with some of the heat issues I have read about and the lack of a fan control option at this time, this would be an ideal cooler if it fits onto this card.
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from looking at pics of that cooler it seems that it only cools the gpu so you don't have to worry about mosfets or anything else being cooled and being in the right place to be cooled. i think it would fit.
 
saw that cooler.. was considering it till I figured out that it wouldnt fit into my case with the cooler on the north bridge ? think thats what its called.. right below the cpu ... now Ive never seen this cooler if it was ONLY the size of the card and no over hang would fit perfectly but think there would be over hang.

any of this make sense?
 
Well, my temps rarely go over 50C but I was thinking of this summer. They got hot here in Texas.

I'm thinking of the Zalman VF900 or Thermalright HR-03 myself. I'd lean more toward the Zalman due to the size of the thermalright. Plus I used the Zalman to cool my X1800 and it worked out great. Cools the memory around it too. just my 2 cents.
 
okay, FINALLY figured out how I saw fan speed. Its using TechPowerUp's GPU-Z 0.1.7 in the sensors area.
right now fan is at 25% and that to me is abit low. .. so I wasnt going nuts I actually did see fan speed.
 
LordVampyre said:
okay, FINALLY figured out how I saw fan speed. Its using TechPowerUp's GPU-Z 0.1.7 in the sensors area.
right now fan is at 25% and that to me is abit low. .. so I wasnt going nuts I actually did see fan speed.
Click to expand...

but thats normal. iirc, the fanspeed is is currently running at it's lowest setting. then it goes up depending on temp.

its a shame that i can not get the fan going at 100%. no proggy works as far as I know.
 
Well, Im just a happy camper.. with this GPU-z program I was able to put it on another monitor (dual monitors) while I played some Obliv. The fan reacts very quickly to the temp. It went all the way up to 99 when the card finally hit 70 and the fan was croozin. Cooled it right down. Ended the game, was at 49degrees really quick.

So, I feel much better and now can relax not being worried that I was going to burn this card up.

I found this GPU-Z over on majorgeeks.com incase anyone else might want to get it.

think Ill still slowly look for a new roomier case. This poor old Antec is just getting too crowded..
 
I have a P4 3.2, Radeon 9800 pro and 1 gig ram on Vista right now... Pretty old system as you can see. I've really been holding out on a full system upgrade but I was thinking maybe I should get this card until I finally decide to do a full upgrade. My only question is whether or not my current system will really bottleneck the card? And what would be the minimum power supply I need if I decide to get this card?
 
you can't do anything about the cpu bottleneck so don't worry about it. what i would worry about is your psu. could you give us some specs?
 
da233 said:
I have a P4 3.2, Radeon 9800 pro and 1 gig ram on Vista right now... Pretty old system as you can see. I've really been holding out on a full system upgrade but I was thinking maybe I should get this card until I finally decide to do a full upgrade. My only question is whether or not my current system will really bottleneck the card? And what would be the minimum power supply I need if I decide to get this card?
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Although I’ve moved on to PCIe, I still maintain and run a 3.2 Northwood on an Intel D865 PERLL motherboard. Back when I purchased these two items, they were not cheap and so it’s just my nature to extend the useful lifetime as long as possible, especially since it is still versatile enough to handle a full range of chores, including some gaming. And the D865 PERLL, given its generous use of Rubicon caps and reputation for stability and longevity, just keeps on pluggin’.

My last AGP card for this board was a VisionTek XGE 1950 Pro, which is still working just fine and was no slouch in its own right. Unfortunately, this card is no longer being produced and can only be found used or as new for exorbitant prices. CompUSA is now defunct, but you can still find it on their website:

http://www.compusa.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?MfrId=1637&Nav=|c:318|&Sort=0&Recs=10

I don’t know if actual purchases can still be made from this site which leaves the dell.com site which also lists the 1950 Pro:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...anav&nf=61540~0~1093815&navla=61540~0~1093815

Now, given that the X1950 Pro AGP was initially promoted with a msrp of close to $300, the 3850 at around $200, would be a much wiser choice, and the price may come down even more. In my own testing, the 3850 outscores the 1950 by 88% in 3DMark03, and by 26% in 3DMark06. So for now, it would appear that the 3850 is a worthy successor to the 1950 and in reality offers more ‘bang for the buck’. The Sapphire 3850 I purchased at the ‘egg, after loading the CCC software included with the purchase and after giving the card a few days to ‘settle in’, appears at this point to be running even cooler than the 1950. It is nine inches long, so measure you interior case dimensions to see that it will fit. And as the prior poster noted, be sure you have a good quality power supply, 500 watt or greater, I would recommend.

And now to the heart of your question - the 3850 will allow you to play older games such as HL2, Titan Quest, Fear, etc., just fine, and according to some reports even COD4 and Oblivion (albeit at lower resolutions and less eye candy). I don’t know about Bioshock – maybe someone viewing this thread can offer an opinion on this game. But Crysis and newer CPU intensive games to follow – forgiddaboutit. Is the 3.2 P4 a bottleneck? Yep, it is. But that doesn’t mean you can’t see a visible difference in the games you already play, and the 3850 may allow you to play some games that were released 6 months to a year ago that would choke a lesser card. For those who choose to go this route, it's just a matter of plugging it in, no reloading operating systems, programs, product keys, files, and installing drivers for other system hardware parts, or incurring the additional expenses for a new motherboard, memory, etc.

There are certainly valid arguments to doing a full upgrade to PCIe, and over the long haul this may be the better option. It all comes down to your own personal situation, and performing a re-evaluation of what you use your computer for and how much time and money you are willing to invest in extending the capabilities of your machine. Make your decision, don’t look back, and move on.
 
Ejay said:
My last AGP card for this board was a VisionTek XGE 1950 Pro, which is still working just fine and was no slouch in its own right. Unfortunately, this card is no longer being produced and can only be found used or as new for exorbitant prices. CompUSA is now defunct, but you can still find it on their website:

http://www.compusa.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?MfrId=1637&Nav=|c:318|&Sort=0&Recs=10

I don’t know if actual purchases can still be made from this site which leaves the dell.com site which also lists the 1950 Pro:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...anav&nf=61540~0~1093815&navla=61540~0~1093815
Click to expand...

Tigerdirect also has a supply of the Visiontek Cards for $189. Don't know why anyone would want this card as opposed to the HD3850 though. I can't believe Dell is asking for $240 for the Visiontek 256MB X1950 Pro as I only paid $249 for the Sapphire 512MB card when it was launched in December of 2006.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2918625&CatId=935
 
Ejay, in reference to Oblivian, Im running it at 1680X1050 8X AA , everything pretty much maxed out, and for a first, even have grass turned on.. I get occasional slow downs but nothing that is play killing(wonder if that was to having email still turned on?). Combat is smooth. Just as a personal liking I think Im going to turn the grass off. Keep loosing too much stuff in it.

I just now got done doing 3 or 4hrs of Obliv. and had a blast.. one thing I noticed when I got out of the game. I had forgotten to turn off my email, Yahoo messenger, anydvd and spy sweeper and avg controller.. Ive never been able to play this with those things left on.

OH I also have the Perl motherboard. Got it also because of stability. Thought that was interesting.

Lets see, this was funny doing a bit of Unreal 2 .. it put no load onto the video card. according to GPU-Z. Guess cause its such a old game.

I mostly highly recommend this card. None of the issues that I had on the 1950Pro which is nice for a change.
 
LordVampyre said:
Ejay, in reference to Oblivian, Im running it at 1680X1050 8X AA , everything pretty much maxed out, and for a first, even have grass turned on.. I get occasional slow downs but nothing that is play killing(wonder if that was to having email still turned on?). Combat is smooth. Just as a personal liking I think Im going to turn the grass off. Keep loosing too much stuff in it.

I just now got done doing 3 or 4hrs of Obliv. and had a blast.. one thing I noticed when I got out of the game. I had forgotten to turn off my email, Yahoo messenger, anydvd and spy sweeper and avg controller.. Ive never been able to play this with those things left on.
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Wow! Super! Thanks for the info and for giving a more accurate account of how the card handles Oblivion.
 
regarding Ejay's question on Bioshock, I ran Bioshock with all in game settings on max with my 1950PRO and it ran fine. with the 3850PRO the game runs smoother and textures, lighting, just about everything looks better and runs very smooth. i play at 1440x900 btw. the same applies to UT3. i am very pleased with the 3850 to say the least.
 
God_Of_Death said:
regarding Ejay's question on Bioshock, I ran Bioshock with all in game settings on max with my 1950PRO and it ran fine. with the 3850PRO the game runs smoother and textures, lighting, just about everything looks better and runs very smooth. i play at 1440x900 btw. the same applies to UT3. i am very pleased with the 3850 to say the least.
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More good news!

[honestjohn wrote] Tigerdirect also has a supply of the Visiontek Cards for $189. Don't know why anyone would want this card as opposed to the HD3850 though. I can't believe Dell is asking for $240 for the Visiontek 256MB X1950 Pro as I only paid $249 for the Sapphire 512MB card when it was launched in December of 2006.

Ditto!
 
heh, just for fun I OC'd the card using the CCC. I let me put both of the Memory and the GPU slider at the top (or pert near). LOL, thats pretty good I suppose. I imagine it would do much better than that if ATI tool or whatnot worked with it. Then again, it's not the card thats holding me back it's my Proc. It's still fun to mess with though and interesting to know there is some headroom with these cards. If this wasn't my kids compy and I really cared all that much about it I'd OC the proc and see what the system could do.

Anyone else mess with OCing the card at all?
 
da233 said:
I have a P4 3.2, Radeon 9800 pro and 1 gig ram on Vista right now... Pretty old system as you can see. I've really been holding out on a full system upgrade but I was thinking maybe I should get this card until I finally decide to do a full upgrade. My only question is whether or not my current system will really bottleneck the card? And what would be the minimum power supply I need if I decide to get this card?
Click to expand...

Your system is close to mine (in my sig), and I just upgraded from the X850 XT PE to the HD 3850 AGP, and my 3dMark06 scores went up 119% :) I would say for you to get another GB of RAM, and an HD 3850 AGP card, and your system will be good for at least another year, which means you don't need to get a new system until the Nehalem architecture comes out.
 
Sheldog23, Im way too chicken to try overclocking.. always having bad dreams about flaming video cards shooting at my head in anger! So, how hard is it, and how dangerous is it to the card/system?
cant believe Im actually going to try and do this. oh well.. only money..
 
Just as a reference... the highest temp I've seen my card get is 59C while playing Vanguard.
 
LV, its real easy using the CCC Overdrive tab. Just click the button that says "autotune". Once that is done you can either click the button that says "Test Custom Clocks'" or the two above that say "accept" or "restore". Fairly easy. Then test it out to see how it runs, if it gets too hot or you start having problems.

I'm not sure how reliable the CCC overclock is but after I set mine I played for several hours and it worked out fine.

OCing it through ATI tool is a little more complicated. I've never tried it through Riva tuner or anyother program so I'm not sure about those. Most are about finding your max then setting it right below that. It is risky but as long as you go slow in small increments and take your time you should be ok. Usually you can get pretty far above what CCC will let you do. But you have to disable CCC to do it.
 
Okay, I tried it got 709 and 939 for speeds. but temps went way up. no load was like 59 load was 75 .. so I put it back and now its back to 49 and ?? (dont remember). Was easy though.

Finally got 3dmark 03 to work. have never ran this but it says says my 3dmarks is 25,948 and thats running straight out of the box no changes by me. No idea what that means but the movies were great especially nature.
 
i am not much for o/c'ing vid cards. not since the ti4600 days. i'm gunna stop by BestBuy today and see what new game i can pick up. :D
 
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