Date 2008-03-29
Provider: Asus
Author: Niko Lupala
Editor: Amber Lupala
Asus 3850 TOP Videocard Review
We have earlier looked at the 8800GT, 8800GTX and even a 3870X2 card from Asus and today we have another card from them on the test bench. We are going to look at the 3850 TOP which is a overclocked version of their 3850 card that is a middle class card that should still be able to perform quite well. Our tests are going to put it vs the 8800GT card so you get an idea of how it will perform.
Graphics Engine ATI Radeon HD 3850
Bus Standard PCI Express 2.0
Video Memory DDR3 256MB
Engine Clock 730 MHz
Memory Clock 1.9 GHz ( 950 MHz DDR3 )
Memory Interface 256-bit
DVI Max Resolution 2560 x 1600
D-Sub Output Yes x 1 (via DVI to D-Sub adaptor x 1 )
DVI Output Yes x 2 (DVI-I)
HDTV Output (YPbPr) Yes
HDCP Support Yes
TV Output Yes (S-Video to Composite)
Adapter/Cable Bundled 1 x DVI to D-Sub adaptor
1 x HDTV-out cable
1 x Power cable
Software Bundled ASUS Utilities & Driver
Hottest 3D Game: Company of Heroes - Opposing Fronts
Note The card size is 4.376 inches x 9 inches
The product:
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
The box is similar to the 3870X2 with a big Company of Heroes picture. On the back of the box you can see various facts and specifications about this card. They also have a small graph on the front which is supposed to show the difference between the Top and non Top card.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
With the card you get a cd with drivers, manual, cd wallet, manual cd, and a full copy of Company of Heroes. It is always nice to get a full game with the card and in this case it is actually a good game. You also get a few adapters that will help you hook up your computer to the TV for example. On the right picture we see that you get a SLI bridge, DVI>HDMI adapter and a S-Video to RGB adapter.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
If your PSU does not have a PCI-E power cable you can use a adapter that you get with the card. You plug the white connector to a molex from the PSU and then the black connector into the videocard.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
The card is equipped with an annoying 40 mm fan. When the card gets hotter during a game seesion you can expect it to boost the RPM and make alot of noise. The first thing I would do is to change the cooler on this card. I found some issues with the fan though, the temperature sensor seems to not work as well as planned. The fan speeds up but even when it is down to idle and low 38 celisus it still runs on full speed and to solve that I had to reboot the computer.
You also got a small heatsink by the fan to keep the components under cool and stable.
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