The Basics:

The basic design of the EAH3870 TOP follow the reference design for the HD3870 series of cards; dual Crossfire tabs, PCI Express x16 interface, red PCB, and red dual slot cooling solution. The Company of Heroes art work that decorates the cooler may be the most obvious difference, while the overclocked speeds may be the most interesting..


The images below provide a closer look at the ASUS EAH3870 TOP Overclocked Radeon HD3870. The below left image shows some of the items described in the previous paragraph, while the below right image shows the back side of the card where a metal brace is bolted through the card to hold the cooler securely against the GPU.


The external connections can be seen in the next image. There are two DVI connections and one s-video connection, but thanks to a generous bundle of adapters a video signal can be sent out to just about any common display type. The heat generated by the card, as well as some system heat, will be exhausted through the slots shown just above the connections.


The image below provides an edge view of the card where the 6-pin power connection and some of the copper heatsink can be seen. This view also shows just how thick the cooling fan is, as each vane of the 70mm diameter fan is about 15mm wide. As a point of reference, the ASUS HD3850 TOP sports a single slot cooling solution that uses a 60mm fan with 7mm wide vanes.


Not outwardly visible on the card are the key components to its performance. The RV670 GPU and 512MB of GDDR4 all interface with the copper heatsinks that are cooled by the 70mm fan. Elements of the heatsink are bolted through the card in various locations in order to make uniform contact with the thermal tape (used on the memory chips) and thermal paste (used on the GPU).