Asus 3850 Trinity @ DH

***craig5320*** · Sep 16, 2008, 03:27 PM

Read The Review Here
___________________

Being a research and design employee for a technology company can be a pretty hectic job, new product after new product is released and it is up to you to ensure your employer has the best version available. As journalists who review products regularly we can empathise with R&D guys because there are occasions where several launches come along in quick succession and it can be a hectic time.

So what do R&D guys do to unwind and what do they get up to in those rare times when they do not have deadlines to meet? Well, they have some fun creating new products which are not necessarily aimed at being launched, just a test of what can be done... and that brings us to today’s product.

IvanV · Sep 17, 2008, 01:14 AM

It's nice to see this card reviewed. It's not the latest, but it's quite a curiosity so it's still interesting to read about it.

There is a minor omission in the text, on page 4, the Lost Planet chart contains the overclocking results data (despite having the correct background).

***Veridian3*** · Sep 17, 2008, 11:27 AM

Thanks for that.

***craig5320*** · Sep 17, 2008, 12:41 PM

Sorry the graph was my fault, too much coffee and not enough contacts lense. Have corrected it now.

ironleg · Sep 18, 2008, 05:03 AM

nice article! it would be nice to see what they could do with the new 4850,4870 and the 4870 x 2. I would really love to see them do something like this to the 4870 x2.

sammorris · Sep 19, 2008, 01:50 AM

Would never happen for the 4870, even two GPUs use more power than is wise for one card, let alone three.

mkk · Sep 19, 2008, 06:29 PM

How cool of Asus to lif the lid on some engineering concepts. The experience gathered could be useful some time in the future, perhaps for a 5850 chip should the next generation prove to be a wee bit more power efficient than the current. High up on my wish list would be technology to power down the extra two chips or at least the third one when it's not needed.

Since the days of the Voodoo 5 chips we've still not seen a retail product with more than two GPU's on a single card. The cost of graphics memory has likely played its part in that. But when having three or four chips with slowly but steadily improved scalability, less expensive memory could do just fine.

sammorris · Sep 19, 2008, 08:09 PM

The HD4870X2 uses four times as much memory as the HD4870, not double, so I don't think memory is too much of a prohibiting factor in it, GPUs just aren't engineered to use little enough power for more than two of them to be on a card without it not being cooled adequately, back in the Voodoo days that just wasn't an issue. You could use low-end chips but what would be the point? It would be easier to have fewer, faster chips on there instead.
Possibly the biggest problem of all is the scaling. Triple SLI and Triple or Quad CF do work, but in fewer titles than dual mode, and that cuts back the percentage of games it works for even more...

Falstaff · Sep 22, 2008, 09:01 PM

WONDERFUL!!!
Good to see a review free from hype and hyperbole.
As usual, very refreshing...
I wonder if Nvidia has something comparable.

Sep 16, 2008, 03:27 PM	#1
*craig5320* HH Administrator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 8,271 Rep Power: 428 System Specs	Asus 3850 Trinity @ DH Read The Review Here ___________________ Being a research and design employee for a technology company can be a pretty hectic job, new product after new product is released and it is up to you to ensure your employer has the best version available. As journalists who review products regularly we can empathise with R&D guys because there are occasions where several launches come along in quick succession and it can be a hectic time. So what do R&D guys do to unwind and what do they get up to in those rare times when they do not have deadlines to meet? Well, they have some fun creating new products which are not necessarily aimed at being launched, just a test of what can be done... and that brings us to today’s product. __________________

Sep 17, 2008, 01:14 AM	#2
IvanV HH Assassin Guild Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5,646 Rep Power: 280 System Specs	It's nice to see this card reviewed. It's not the latest, but it's quite a curiosity so it's still interesting to read about it. There is a minor omission in the text, on page 4, the Lost Planet chart contains the overclocking results data (despite having the correct background). __________________ Our Folding@home stats:

Sep 17, 2008, 12:41 PM	Thread Starter #4
*craig5320* HH Administrator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 8,271 Rep Power: 428 System Specs	Sorry the graph was my fault, too much coffee and not enough contacts lense. Have corrected it now. __________________

Sep 19, 2008, 01:50 AM	#6
sammorris HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brentwood or York, UK Posts: 178 Rep Power: 24 System Specs	Would never happen for the 4870, even two GPUs use more power than is wise for one card, let alone three. __________________ Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 & Philips MC-70 [homebrew surround via ATEN CS1782 KVAM] for HTPC. Logitech Z-5500 for gaming PC. I/O: Razer Diamondback Magma, MS Intellimouse Optical, MS Sidewinder X6, Saitek Eclipse II, Pertelian X2040 USB Display DVD: As little as Possible (LG GH20NS15) Networking: Netgear GS105, GS605, GS608, WRN2000, Linksys WRT54GL [Tomato], DrayTek Vigor 120, yards of CAT6

Sep 19, 2008, 08:09 PM	#8
sammorris HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brentwood or York, UK Posts: 178 Rep Power: 24 System Specs	The HD4870X2 uses four times as much memory as the HD4870, not double, so I don't think memory is too much of a prohibiting factor in it, GPUs just aren't engineered to use little enough power for more than two of them to be on a card without it not being cooled adequately, back in the Voodoo days that just wasn't an issue. You could use low-end chips but what would be the point? It would be easier to have fewer, faster chips on there instead. Possibly the biggest problem of all is the scaling. Triple SLI and Triple or Quad CF do work, but in fewer titles than dual mode, and that cuts back the percentage of games it works for even more... __________________ Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 & Philips MC-70 [homebrew surround via ATEN CS1782 KVAM] for HTPC. Logitech Z-5500 for gaming PC. I/O: Razer Diamondback Magma, MS Intellimouse Optical, MS Sidewinder X6, Saitek Eclipse II, Pertelian X2040 USB Display DVD: As little as Possible (LG GH20NS15) Networking: Netgear GS105, GS605, GS608, WRN2000, Linksys WRT54GL [Tomato], DrayTek Vigor 120, yards of CAT6

Sep 17, 2008, 11:27 AM	#3
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 4,821 Rep Power: 171	Thanks for that.

Sep 18, 2008, 05:03 AM	#5
ironleg HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 88 Rep Power: 0	nice article! it would be nice to see what they could do with the new 4850,4870 and the 4870 x 2. I would really love to see them do something like this to the 4870 x2.

Sep 19, 2008, 06:29 PM	#7
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,374 Rep Power: 120 System Specs	How cool of Asus to lif the lid on some engineering concepts. The experience gathered could be useful some time in the future, perhaps for a 5850 chip should the next generation prove to be a wee bit more power efficient than the current. High up on my wish list would be technology to power down the extra two chips or at least the third one when it's not needed. Since the days of the Voodoo 5 chips we've still not seen a retail product with more than two GPU's on a single card. The cost of graphics memory has likely played its part in that. But when having three or four chips with slowly but steadily improved scalability, less expensive memory could do just fine.

Sep 22, 2008, 09:01 PM	#9
Falstaff Old Codger Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: USAFA Posts: 19,047 Rep Power: 206	WONDERFUL!!! Good to see a review free from hype and hyperbole. As usual, very refreshing... I wonder if Nvidia has something comparable. __________________ "Inspiration is always a surprising visitor."