In May, AMD launched the HD 2900XT, which seemed impressive at first but the extra power requirement, and the missing Unified Video Decoder (UVD) as a result of the large die area, downplayed the overall appeal of the card. Sure, the pricing was an eye-catcher, however, its performance didn’t quite match up to our expectations as it did on paper. This time round, AMD made a come back with their new HD 3800 series that is supposedly better and improved. We see why with MSI’s RX3870 OC edition.

First and foremost, we’ll tell you what’s new. The GPU is based on the 55nm process in contrast to the 80nm core in the HD 2900XT. With a smaller die area, the HD 3870 draws half of what the latter required. Also, more space is available for the UVD, which takes over the CPU’s task of decoding videos. The VRAM has also been switched to GDDR4 which runs at 1,125MHz dual channel, while its core clocks in at 775MHz. Now the HD 3870 sports the same number of texturing units and stream processors as the HD 2900XT, so it’s almost the same card but faster. You’ll be glad to know that it supports the latest PCI Express 2.0 too. There are two features that make the HD 3870 unique, the first being able to support DirectX 10.1, hence Shader Model 4.1 is also supported. However, there is a debate as to whether this is necessary at all as major developers such as Microsoft and Crytek commented that they won’t be working with DX10.1 anytime soon. The second is ATI’s PowerPlay, which is a GPU monitor that can dynamically adjust the core clock to three different levels depending on usage.

The card came with a decently packaged bundle. MSI was kind enough to put in a dual Molex-to-PCIe power connector, an S-Video-Component cable, an S-Video-Composite adapter, a DVI-VGA adapter, a DVI-HDMI adapter, and finally a CrossFire ribbon. Unlike the 8800GT, the card is a dual slot design. This enables a larger fan to be used, though not as efficient as it should be as the air blown out was quite hot; we recorded a temperature increase from 52°C to 89°C. Last but not least, MSI’s HD 3870 is overclocked to 800MHz while the memory clock was left alone.

Seeing as DX10 games are now being released, we’ve decided to run all benchmarks on Vista, AND we’ve changed the games to Crysis and World in Conflict. The tests in 3DMark were smooth throughout, but that can’t be said for the tests for the games. The games ran smoothly with no AA and AF, but the graphics were awful (what’s a DX10 game without full quality right?). With AA and AF on, the games were literally crawling. WIC wasn’t as bad but you’ll encounter jerkiness occasionally. You might want to stick with lower resolutions.

With all these new features, the HD 3870 is actually quite value for money. It loses out in the power department against NVIDA’s 8800GT for sure, but the performance gap isn’t that big. However, we did experience some bugs during gameplay, so you’ll need to update the drivers regularly. All in all, it’s a great addition to AMD’s video card lineup.