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AMD HD3870 512MB roundup, Club3D and HIS compared

Videocards/VGA Reviews by geoffrey @ 2008-03-10

The HD3800 series have been available for nearly three months now, but it´s only until NVIDIA recently decided to launch their 9600GT that we decided to have another look at ATI´s current mainstream video card. Our article includes two samples, one standard clocked HD3870 branded Club3D, and one supercharged video card labeled HIS. Head on to found out how we rated the HD3870 three months after release.

Club3D HD3870: inside the box & specs

Club3D HD3870 512MB: Inside the box

A sober black box doesn't really reflect the power the product has, though in between all those colorful boxes this might make the Club3D HD3870 card stand out in front of the rest. Inside, here is what you'll find:

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Club3D HD3870

One crossfire bridge

One DVI => VGA adapter

One DVI => HDMI adapter

One Composite video-out adapter

One Component video-out cable

Quick installation quide

CD with drivers

The ordinary survival kit for new video card, here are the specifications...

Club3D HD3870 512MB: specifications

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Chipset : ATI RV670 core
- 3D Clock: 775 MHz

512Mb (8x64Mb) GDDR4 memory with 256-bit Ringbus interface
- Brand/Type: Hynix HY5FS
- 3D Clock: 1126 MHz DDR (2252 MHz)

Connector: Video out, dual dual-link DVI- I

HDMI, HDCP compatible

ATI Avivo video acceleration

ATI PowerPlay

CrossFire

DirectX 10.1

System Interface: PCI-Express 2.0 x16

Club3D HD3870 512MB: more info

The reference ATI card, that's how the Club3D HD3870 looks like. For the RV670 core ATI provided a dual slot cooler existing out of a big central heat exchanger supported by a DC fan which forces air to travel through the copper heatsink and back outside the PC housing.

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The heatsink exists out of three different parts. One described above, the second nearly surrounds the first one and is used to cool the DDR4 memory chips. The third heatsinks is strapped to the power mosfets and is located just under the DC fan. Everything is well attached and nicely covered up; the HD3870 is a very solid product.

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The Club3D card comes with two dual-link DVI-I connectors each independently configurable to beyond 1080p resolutions: up to 2560x1600! The DVI-I connectors are VGA and HDMI compatible via adapters. The video out connector provides support for S-Video, Component and Composite video interfaces.

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The backside of the board. The main heatsink is hold onto the GPU via four screws; a back plate makes sure that pressure is evenly spread out over the four mounting holes. The terminating resistors are also found on this side of the PCB. On the left side you may spot the very small GPU Pulse Width Modulation power controller.

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Dual CrossFire connectors have been added. This makes the HD3870 not dual but multi-CrossFire ready, we've all ready seen people testing up to three HD3870 video cards in the same pc config.

The board comes with one 6-pins PCIe power connector. This comes a bit as a surprise since the much alike HD2900XT needed a second 8-pin power connector to offer proper functionality. The 55nm procédé kicking in? Much likely... Onto the HIS HD3870 ->

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