ASUS 3870X2

INTRODUCTION

Today we are going to take a look at the ASUS EAH3870X2. Yes, that's right, we are showing some love to the gang in red, err green? Red/Green? Whatever color they are we love to see what ATI has up its sleeve from time to time since it would be a very bad thing if competition didn't exist. First, for those of you who were able to saw off their arm and escape from that rock you were under, let me say this, "WOW, who gets caught under a rock anymore?" Secondly, the X2 represents a unique approach to graphic processing. By combining two GPUs on one PCB you have a card with twice the speed of a standard HD3870 without the need to buy a special chipset or motherboard. Even better, ASUS, never leaving well-enough alone, designed a custom cooler and added a few extra DVI ports to really spice things. Let's see if this card has what it takes to earn a spot in your gaming machine.

SPECIFICATIONS

With cards such as these, it is important to realize that many retailers will incorrectly list this card as having 1GB of RAM or a 512-bit memory bus. Having 512MB x 2 is not the same thing as having a full 1024MB of RAM because each GPU core can only address up to 512MB. Also, since each GPU core has a 256-bit external memory bus, some companies see nothing wrong with listing it as 512-bit. But, once again, the two are very different.