Sapphire Radeon HD3850 512MB GDDR3 AGP UPDATE!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Very fast! Easy Install! Stable Runner! Overclockable! Best AGP Card!

Cons: Requires Powerful PSU! Requires 2-Molex Leads! Very Long Card!

The Bottom Line: 
This is the best AGP based video card you can buy today for your PC, enough said.

Author's Review
PROS: Very fast card for the old AGP slot! Easy to install! Drivers on included CDROM work just fine despite what other reviews have said! No Stability issues to speak of! Cosmetically the card looks great! High stock clocks and can be overclocked quite high! GDDR3 memory is the only way to go!

CONS: Card requires a powerful power supply of 450 watt 30-amp minimum, I recommend a 500 watt 35-amp or better PSU. Card requires two Molex 4-pin leads from PSU to function properly. This card is very long and as such will not fit in mini towers, full towers only!

Other Thoughts: The bottom line is that they no longer make cards for the AGP slot. And if you don't want to throw a bunch of money into building a new system, this is your best bang for buck card to keeping that older AGP system current to the times. I have a first generation single core AMD 64-bit PC which I soon plan to upgrade to dual core because the new bios on my Asus board supports them. This card utilizes Direct X 10.1 with Windows Vista or later and supports ATI Cross-Over

INSTALLATION: When installing this card, I had to move my hard drive to a lower slot in the bay because the card is so long it extends to the front of them. I used the drivers that were on the included disk, they installed fine.

STABILITY: I have had no instability issues or drivers issues since. However, those who try to run this card with a inferior power supply, or very little air flow inside the case, can expect haphazard results! And I tested this card with Fear with all options maxed out, and all I got to say is WOW! I tested the card with the new game "Crysis" and I can play it on at least the medium settings. Some settings on high!

CLOCK RATINGS: According to the "ATI Catalyst Control Center" program, under the "ATI Overdrive" tab, this card runs at 600 MHZ CORE and 1650 MHZ MEMORY. Those are just the stock clocks! When I overclock the card, they are, 720 MHZ CORE and 1900 MHZ MEMORY. And with an 8X AGP transfer rate, makes this card a screamer for sure!

FPS RESULTS: I get over 60 frames per second on Fear! I also get around 30 to 40 frames per second on average with Crysis! Before I was not able to play Myst IV Revelation because it ran too choppy. Now with this card, glass smooth performance with that game, 60 frames per second!

I also managed to play Farcry 2 with this card on medium to high settings as well. I fully believe this video card to play the next games of tomarrow just as well too. And I can play all the older games like BF2, HL2, Portal, TF2, Doom3, Farcry, including Fear, all on maxed out settings.

I get around 30 to 40 frames per second on Farcry 2 and I get over 80 frames per second for all the older generation of high intensive games. And of course I am getting over 150 frames per second on the much older games such as Red Faction, Jedi Academy, Serious Sam.

LOAD TEMPS: keep in mind that this card will heatup quite a bit. With 5-case fans in my system, it runs around 40C/104F no load and 58C/136F with load. If you only have a fan or two, it will run 50C/122F no load and up to 65C/150F load. So please make sure you are running plenty of case fans with an air cooled system, or just run liquid cooling.

CONCLUSION: Considering the 3850 came out not that long ago, you will be pretty current with this card and should keep your system going for a year or more till your next upgrade. I am happy with my purchase! I have owned this card since August of 09 and the card is still a rock solid performer to this day! Was a $200.00 dollar card when came out. I paid $120.00 from Newegg 2009. Can be bought at Amazon today for $96.00 or from Newegg for $94.00

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

AGP based PC is required with one 4X/8X AGP slot available on the motherboard.

1GB or greater system memory for better performance.

450Watt or greater power supply with 30Amps on 12 volt with 2x4 power connector recommended.

Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU for a list of Certified products

Installation software requires CD-ROM drive.

DVD playback requires DVD driver

Blu-ray/HD DVD playback requires Blu-ray/HD-DVD drive and playback software.

Sapphire's Driver Page:

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/downloads/download_index_01.aspx?psn=0006

MY SYSTEM:

Asus A8V Deluxe Motherboard - Updated Bios 1017
AMD 64 3500+ 2.4 GZ Overclocked CPU
Geil 2GB 184-Pin DDR400 PC-3200 RAM
Sapphire Radeon HD3850 512MB GDDR3 AGP
Western Digital 8MB 200GB HD
Dynapower 500-Watt PSU
Air Cooled System 5-Case Fans


UPDATE NOV, 12 2010


I just wanted to take a moment to update you all on how my gaming card has been performing. Its quite obvious to me now that ATI spends enough time on their product to make them quality. Here we are almost a year later, and this card is still performing like the day I bought it.

However, its just like I said in my review, you really do need a powerful PSU to power it, no older generation PSU will be able to perform for this cards high current requirements. And as long as you install it in a full tower case, with a 500 watt or better PSU, you should be fine.

I also wanted to inform you that I have been updating the drivers to the latest versions throughout the year, as certain games will give you error messages if you don't. So far, I have still not had any driver or system instability issues. I think the problem that most people run into is the fact they install one of these cards in a inferior system.

If you look above my update, you will see what kind of system I am running. If you are running that kind of system or better, you shouldn't have any issues. If you have less then 1-gig of memory in your system, I highly recommend you get 1-gig in it at least, 2-gig's being optimal.

You also don't want a bottle kneck in your CPU, so make sure its a 64-bit 2GZ at the very least, I recommend 2.5GZ to 3-GZ single or dual core. Remember to have at least 2-case fans to keep your video card and main board cool, I recommend 4.

I am absolutely amazed at what this card is able to do. I have been able to play one of the most resource intensive games in the world, (CRYSIS) all on "Medium" settings, except with the water quality level on "High", and the game is still playing quite smoothly! Of course I could crank all the settings to "High", but then it would be choppy.

With my new monitor, a top of the line Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2070sb 22", the games now look even more incredible with this card. Always remember, while the convenience of a flat panel is nice, they will never reproduce colors as well as a CRT. So, with this new monitor, I am now running at a 1280 by 1024 resolution, and the games still play perfectly.

However, though this monitor has a native resolution around 1680 by 1050, I seem to have an issue with games crashing out to the desktop. I don't think this is a problem with the video card however, more likely video game incompatibility.

Recently I took to playing the (Fall Out 3) game, which as you know, does require a lot of computer resources to play. I am happy to inform you all that I can play the game with all high settings! The game runs smoothly for the most part, and the only problems I have had, is well known FO3 game glitches, nothing which has anything to do with the video card.

Though (Plants Vs Zombies) is a simple 2D game that you can purchase and download from Steam, it does not require the capabilities of this video card. However, it is also a game I have recently got into, and its just so addicting to play. No doubt because of such an awesome card, there is no bottle knecks.

I have also been playing the new "Serious Sam 1 HD" and "Serious Sam 2 HD" games, which can also be purchased and downloaded from Steam. These games are much more intensive in requirements then that of "Plants Vs Zombies" and as such put the card to the test. I am able to play all on "High" settings without any issues.

In conclusion, I stick by with what I said nearly a year ago, this is the best AGP card you can buy for the older systems still using AGP slots. You can't go wrong with both the performance of the card, or the awesome price. If you still have an AGP system today, consider upgrading your video card before dumping 700 dollars or more into a new computer build.