Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 ATOMIC: the best RV670 yet

Review: Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 ATOMIC: the best RV670 yet

Final thoughts

We like the fact that Sapphire has done something special with the Radeon HD 3870 SKU. Rather than simply raise clock frequencies a smidgeon and still keep the dual-slot cooler in place, the ATOMIC's vapour chamber technology-based diminutive single-slot cooler performs substantially better, allowing Sapphire to ship the card with the core and shaders clocked at a generous 825MHz - 50MHz above default. What's more, Sapphire's also used faster GDDR4 RAM and clocked that in at 2.4GHz - some 200MHz above the reference card's.

The faster-than-default clocks ensure that ATOMIC 3870 performance is generally five per cent faster, too, and whilst the price premium of 20 per cent therefore translates to a lower HEXUS.bang4buck (the performance increase is less than the price premium), the ATOMIC's feature-rich bundle and, of course, single-slot design makes it a viable option at the £165 asking price. CrossFire performance is also good, and provides a harbinger of things to come (X2, anyone?).

Looking at the competition, NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GT 512 is faster in every game, and that's a fact that cannot be ignored when evaluating a gaming card, so whilst we're happy to see Sapphire launch something really new and exciting, you'll inevitably receive a better gaming experience by opting for an el-cheapo GeForce 8800 GT 512.

The Sapphire ATOMIC 3870 represents the pinnacle of Radeon HD 3870 design. The bundle is excellent, making full use of the card's 2D capabilities, but the innate problem in recommending it as a pure gaming card lies with the competition: it's simply faster for around the same money.

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A fantastic cooler and excellent bundle are more than enough to warrant a gaming innovation award.

Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 ATOMIC

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Maybe I haven't read the article properly but why does the Atomic beat the Geforce in all benchmarks, is cheaper and yet has less “bang for buck”… What have I missed?

The Atomic only wins in crossfire, so two cards, which makes it far more expensive and less “bang 4 buck”

Yup, indeed.

Two ATOMICs may well give you an indication of what's to come next week. :)

I'm just nitpicking but I fail to understand how those particular two are improving the power usage:“…consumes around half the power, thanks to a bunch of improvements - DX10.1, PCIe 2.0, to name but two…”.
Great card nonetheless - definately a wiser desicion over the NV alternative (and I own a nvidia card).Not only is it more innovative but also offers superior image quality ;)

Any idea if sapphire will do an ATOMIC X2?

Review: Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 ATOMIC: the best RV670 yet

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