With today’s introduction of RV670, AMD finally has a GPU that’s been built from the ground up to service the performance mainstream segment of the 3D graphics market. RV670 will hit shelves in two forms: the $220 Radeon HD 3870, and the $179 Radeon HD 3850. We’ll discuss the Radeon HD 3870 first.
As you saw in the benchmarks, the Radeon HD 3870 delivers performance that is equal or better than AMD’s flagship Radeon HD 2900 XT GPU in most cases. This is quite an accomplishment considering that the board is equipped with a narrower 256-bit memory interface. Clearly it appears R600 wasn’t taking full advantage of its 512-bit wide interface. We’ve been told that the 3870 pulls even further away from the 2900 XT in DX10 apps, but due to time constraints we weren’t able to test this out. We’ll have a follow-up article testing AMD and NVIDIA’s latest graphics offerings exclusively in DX10 apps in the coming weeks.
You also no doubt noticed that the Radeon HD 3870 wasn’t able to outperform its closest competitor, the GeForce 8800 GT. NVIDIA really hit a homerun with this product and it’s clearly the faster GPU overall, which is why AMD chose to undercut the 8800 GT in price: it may not be faster than the 8800 GT, but some gamers may appreciate its lower price tag. If you’re the type who craves performance though, the GeForce 8800 GT clearly outclasses the Radeon HD 3870 at this point. Radeon HD 3870 also runs considerably quieter than its predecessor, the 2900 XT, and consumes significantly less power. We’ll be curious to see if board partners who elect to employ single-slot coolers on their Radeon HD 3870 cards are able to deliver a card that delivers low noise levels similar to ATI’s reference cooling unit.
The Radeon HD 3850 looks pretty strong right now. As you saw in our benchmarks, it outperformed its closest competitor at the moment, the GeForce 8600 GTS, and delivered a nice performance improvement over the Radeon HD 2600 XT and 2900 GT. In fact in some cases it outperformed the 2900 Pro! However, keep in mind that NVIDIA’s upcoming GeForce 8800 GT 256MB will be competing directly with the Radeon HD 3850 when it launches in a few weeks, so we’ll have to wait and see what kind of performance that board delivers in comparison to the Radeon HD 3850. All indications are it’s going to be a very interesting battle.
The debut of the Radeon HD 3870 and 3850 is quite significant for AMD. They’ve finally delivered competitive parts to go head-to-head with NVIDIA at the performance mainstream segment. It’s been quite awhile since we’ve been able to say this. Both GPUs appear to offer good performance for their segment, while also providing technology leadership with support for DirectX 10.1 and 4-Way CrossFire with CrossFire X. We probably won’t see the first DX10.1 titles until this time next year at the very earliest, but CrossFire X has potential to be very interesting for those of you who prefer to upgrade incrementally. You can buy one RV670 card now, and up to three more boards as your performance needs (and budget) allows. NVIDIA has their own 3-Way SLI solution that will be launching shortly, but this will only be available for their high-end cards, the GeForce 8800 GTX and Ultra. AMD’s providing CrossFire X-compliant cards at much lower price points.
Batman: Arkham City PC Review Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to 2009’s smash-hit action game Batman: Arkham Asylum. As the name suggests, you will be reprising your role as the Caped Crusader and going against an even larger 'prison' filled with Gotham's criminals and villains. A textbook example on how to do a proper sequel, Arkham City takes what worked in the original, excised or improved upon what didn’t, and elevated everything to an even greater scope. The PC version suffered from a few months of delay, but in that time, Rocksteady worked closely to NVIDIA to implement some familiar technologies from the last game, such as PhysX and 3D Vision, along with new DirectX 11 optimizations. But how well was the whole package executed? Read on to find out!
Saints Row: The Third PC Review Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plenty of critical and commercial success since it began on consoles back in 2006. This latest iteration, titled Saints Row: The Third promises the most outlandish fun and freedom of customization of them all, and in a much more PC-friendly package than its predecessor. Does it live up to those expectations and, more importantly, is it worth the price of admission? Find out in Will's latest review!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda Softworks’ latest offering in their series of epic fantasy RPGs, as well as one of the most highly-anticipated PC titles of 2011. As the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, prepare to take the fight to the mythical beasts that have returned to the realm after centuries of slumber, all the while exploring a huge and highly-detailed open world.
The PC version of the game promises enhanced graphical fidelity, standard RPG trimmings such as hotkeys and quick-save, as well as unbridled mod support, something we’ll all be thankful for once they release that SDK. Skyrim has already sold millions of copies and set records for play-time on Steam... Find out why in today's review, which happens to be one of the biggest and most in-depth articles on the subject out there!
L.A. Noire Complete Edition PC Review L.A. Noire, as the name clearly states, is a video game built on the tropes of one of the greatest periods of American cinema: film noir. Developed by the now defunct Australian developer Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games, this title has been out on consoles for a full six months before finally making its way to the PC. This “Complete Edition” of the game features improved graphics, keyboard/mouse controls, and every bit of previously-released DLC for free. But was it truly worth the wait? Read on and find out!
Intel Core i7-3960X Sandy Bridge-E Performance Review
Today marks the launch date for Intel’s Sandy Bridge-E line of processors, a new family of high-end Core i7 products based on the LGA 2011 platform. This new socket is poised to replace the existing LGA 1366 specification used by the more powerful Nehalem and Westmere parts from the past couple years, specifically Bloomfield and Gulftown, the Core i7-9xx+ line of CPUs.
With 6 cores, 15MB of cache, and support for quad-channel DDR3-1600 memory, the Core i7-3960X sounds like quite a catch. Want to know more about it and how it performs? Read on!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 Review
The self-appointed "most anticipated game in history" launched worldwide this past Tuesday. Why, it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, of course (of course), what else? Unsurprisingly, the military FPS debate between this and Battlefield 3 rages on, but now that both have been released, surely we can take a look and objectively evaluate them both? Luke's taken the Xbox version of MW3 for a spin this week, so to find out what he thinks of it in today's review!
Stronghold 3 Review
The latest sequel in the long-running real-time strategy franchise from FireFly Studios, Stronghold 3 is all about building your dream castle and defending it against sieging enemies. Almost exactly one decade after the first game was released, this new title promises a return to the classic and well-received gameplay that has been strayed so far from in more recent iterations. Does it live up to those expectations? Will (AKA Synchronous Failure) tells us all about it in his first official FiringSquad review, so read on!
Battlefield 3 PC Review - Single-player Impressions
One of the most highly-anticipated PC games of the year is upon us; Battlefield 3 is now available in North America! EA/DICE have finally delivered a sequel to the core Battlefield franchise, a proper follow-up to BF2. Having played through the game's single-player campaign already, ahead of the multiplayer festivities kicking off around midnight, I figured I'd share my impressions ASAP. Is it really a worthy addition to the core Battlefield series, or just another bullet point on the back of the box? Read on and find out!
Wrecked: Revenge Revisited Supersonic Software Interview
Following up on our hands-on preview from earlier this month, here's an interview with Supersonic Software, creators of Wrecked: Revenge Revisited. The game's coming out on XBLA and PSN in a matter of weeks, but for now, Luke chats with the developer about its predecessors Mashed and Micro Machines, how difficult it can be to get an indie game published, the closure of Codemasters' Guildford branch, and more!
Orcs Must Die! PC Review Orcs Must Die! is the first release from an independent developer named Robot Entertainment. Fans of classic real-time strategy games may have heard that name before, as the outfit is comprised of many veterans from Ensemble Studios, creators of the Age of Empires series.
Equal parts action and strategy, this is a tower defense game that not only puts you in command, but on the front lines of combat, as well. Slaughter thousands of orcs, ogres and other vile creatures of fantasy that invade your fortresses through 24 levels of the story-based campaign. With high levels of replayability thanks to its scoring and leaderboard functionality, multiple difficulty levels, and various styles of play, it sounds a steal at only $15. Does it deliver on all that’s promised, though? Read on and find out!
Overclocking and Power
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