Conclusion:

The 512MB ASUS EAH3870 TOP Overclocked Radeon HD3870 performed as expected, which is a very good thing. As the big brother to the HD3850 TOP card reviewed here I expected it to perform about 10-20% better, and in general that is about what it did. It offers solid performance in today's demanding games without draining you of the extreme amount of money that the high end cards will set you back. And while the card may be overkill for the typical home theater setup, it does offer all the features you would want there as well, including an HDTV encoder, HD video support for sources like Blu-ray, HDMI audio and video output, and so on.

The card comes overclocked from the factory, so you get a speed boost of about 10% over the typical HD3870. Definitely a nice feature for those wanting the best plug and play performance from a graphics card in this class. My efforts to overclock even more didn't go very well, and I was unable to get any extra speed out of the GPU. The memory did overclock some more, but considering how fast it is to begin with (2286MHz), I was more interested in increasing the GPU speed.


While the fan may seem loud when at higher speeds, it is about what you can expect from any card like this since it is based on the ATI reference design. The main advantage to the increased noise level is that the GPU on this card doesn't get as hot as I have seen (or heard) on other models. Inside a closed case the noise is dull but noticeable, and if you have the volume turned up in your game you probably won't be bothered by it at all.

A search of PriceGrabber leads you to the stock speed ASUS HD3870, even if you specify details for the TOP version. The listings do show that you are going to pay at least $210 for one of these 'slower' cards. Digging around the web a bit more finds that Newegg.com has the TOP version in stock for about $250. Comparing this price to all the other 512MB HD3870 cards in stock reveals that it is the most expensive choice by $25. With some other models costing as little as $170, you are paying a premium of up to $80 for a $20 game, some overclocking that you might be able to do yourself for free, and a decent bundle of accessories that you may or may not actual want. While I can't vouch for the performance of these other brands, many are based on the reference design and should perform similarly when overclocked manually.

If you can find a good deal on this card it is definitely worth considering, as the price is the only obstacle to this card being considered highly recommended. Given the solid performance and the generous bundle of accessories, the 512MB ASUS EAH3870 TOP Overclocked Radeon HD3870 graphics card earns the rating of "Recommended".


Pros:

» Solid performance
» Overclocked speeds out of the box
» Decent bundle of accessories that includes a copy of "Company of Heroes - Opposing Fronts"
» Two slot cooling solution gets the heat out of your case
» Supports 4-way CrossFire configurations

Cons:

» Fan is loud at full speed, and seems to get there more often than other cards tested
» GPU would not overclock beyond the factory settings
» Priced considerably higher than other 512MB HD3870 cards

Special thanks to ASUS for providing the ASUS EAH3870 TOP Overclocked Radeon HD3870 Graphics Card to Bigbruin.com for review!