VisionTek HD3870X2 Graphics Card
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I have included charts to easily see the results of my testing done with the games and PCMark06. The testing is consistent with others testing this card out and similar HD 3870 X2 cards with the 1 Gigabyte of memory. The VisionTek HD 3870 X2 card performs very well and is a definite worthwhile purchase for the gaming enthusiast.
My results are not exactly even and can be a bit misleading on a few games and at different screen resolutions such as the Unreal Tournament 3 game. Sometimes the card is actually better at different resolutions and this is mainly due to the system and how well the card works in any particular computer.
I had really good results across the board in all games and general computer use with the VisionTek HD 3870 X2 and really enjoyed testing this card out, but not trying to get it to work with another card. The card had a great increase in graphics performance across the board as the dual graphics processors do make for a much better graphics solution for any computer.
Having the two GPU’s on the same card allows any motherboard capable of an ATI card also capable of the dual GPU’s in Crossfire mode. You do not need a Crossfire capable motherboard to use one of these cards giving anyone the benefits of a dual graphics card on a system that would otherwise not allow it.
I had some small problems with heat buildup inside my computer as the card does put out some extra heat, even with its great heat sink fan assembly. You will want to make sure you have plenty of circulation through your system and if you are planning on installing this with another graphics card you will want to ensure you maximize your cooling as much as possible.
Even though the card comes overclocked I tried overclocking this card using the built in Auto Tune feature of ATI’s Catalyst Control Center and achieved a little bit more performance from the stock 840 GHz that the card comes at to 860 GHz and the Memory from 960 MHz to 990 MHz. This added a few frames per second in gaming but nothing to brag about but the games did improve a little.
You can achieve this same bit of gaming improvement by turning down a little of the eye candy if you want faster performance as the improvements are not all that much. It is just as easy to leave it at the standard overclocked settings and just ensure your system is optimized. This card is plenty fast out of the box in its standard overclocked settings but some may want to try and get that few extra frames or just a little bit more form their purchase.
The VisionTek HD 3870 X2 Overclocked Edition is a great purchase and well worth the money for a gaming powerhouse graphics card and only the future will tell how easy adding another card into my system will work out. The VisionTek HD 3870 X2 Overclocked Edition is a high end graphics card and with the recent release of the 48XX series that are showing up on the internet for sale the price of the HD 3870 X2 should be going down soon but probably not by much.
If you want a high end graphics card for gaming and multi monitor use VisionTek has some great priced choices and the HD 3870 X2 Overclocked Edition is a definite high end contender. I highly recommend the VisionTek HD 3870 X2 Overclocked Edition for a great high end graphics card.