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AMD A6-1450 APU "Temash" Review
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Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2

The Mobility Radeon X3870 X2 combines two Mobility Radeon 3870 graphics cards (on MXM boards) onto one laptop in Crossfire (CF) mode. Therefore, the combination has a power consumption of roughly both cards combined. While the total available VRAM has been doubled, the effective VRAM is actually half of the combined total as each card must store the same textures and data onto their own respective onboard VRAM chips.

Depending on the application, the performance of the Radeon X3870 X2 about 0-40 percent above a single Mobility HD 3870 and is even a bit above the GeForce 8800M GTX SLI solution. Most, if not all, DirectX 9 games can run fluently in high resolutions and detail settings. More demanding DirectX 10 games, such as Crysis,  will only run acceptably well on medium to high detail settings with lowered resolutions.

As with all multi-GPU solutions, the HD 3870 X2 may suffer from a phenomenon known as micro stuttering. See here for an overview of the term and why it happens.

Hardware features that can be found on a single Mobility HD 3870 have been preserved in the Crossfire combination. As a result, the dual GPU setup can take advantage of Avivo HD in order to aid the CPU in decoding videos.

The power consumption of the Mobility 3870 X2 can be up to 110 Watt when including the MXM boards and VRAM chips. AMD specifies that the HD 3800 series can draw up to 33-55 Watt per card.

ManufacturerATI
Mobility Radeon HD 3800 Series

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 640@660MHz

Mobility Radeon HD 3850 320@580MHz

CodenameM88-XT CF
ArchitectureRV6xx
Pipelines640 - unified
Core Speed *660 MHz
Shader Speed *660 MHz
Memory Speed *850 MHz
Memory Bus Width256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR3
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 10.1, Shader 4.0
Current Consumption110 Watt
Transistors1332 Million
technology55 nm
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement01.09.2008
* The specified clock rates are only guidelines for the manufacturer and can be altered by them.

Benchmarks

3DMark Vantage - P Result no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 6625     avg: 6894.5 (19%)     max: 7164 Points
3DMark Vantage - P GPU no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 6498     avg: 6498 (18%)     max: 6498 Points
3DMark 06
0% 100%
min: 11290     avg: 13435.3 (46%)     max: 14820 Points
3DMark 05 - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 17271     avg: 19187 (52%)     max: 20175 Points
3DMark 03 - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 53261     avg: 55111 (37%)     max: 56330 Points
3DMark 2001SE - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 35136     avg: 37542.5 (61%)     max: 39949 Points
PCMark Vantage - Gaming Score 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 4473     avg: 4473 (17%)     max: 4473 Points
Cinebench R10 - Shading 32Bit
0% 100%
min: 4357     avg: 4357 (40%)     max: 4357 Points
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailled information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Crysis - GPU Benchmark
Crysis - GPU Benchmark (2007)
low:
67.7  fps      Compare
med.:
36.6  fps      Compare
high:
30.9  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Crysis - CPU Benchmark
Crysis - CPU Benchmark (2007)
low:
84.1  fps      Compare
med.:
37.3  fps      Compare
high:
30.1  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
World in Conflict - Benchmark (2007): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Call of Juarez Benchmark
Call of Juarez Benchmark (2006)
high:
66  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
The Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion (2006)
high:
60  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark (2005): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Doom 3
Doom 3 (2004)
low:
191  fps      Compare
med.:
191.7  fps      Compare
high:
190.3  fps      Compare
ultra:
181.8  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo (1999): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...

For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List

Notebook reviews with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics card

Alienware M17: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300, 17.1", 4.5 kg
  Review » Review Alienware M17 Gaming Notebook

  External Review » Alienware M17

Schenker CXG7: Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100, 17.0", 4.5 kg
  External Review » Schenker MySN CXG7

» Comparison of GPUs
Detailled list of all laptop GPUs with a short description. Classified and sorted by performance.

» Benchmark List
Sortable and restrainable list of all GPUs with benchmarks (e.g. 3DMarks).

» Notebook Gaming List
Which game can be played with my graphics card.

Class 1
GeForce GTX 590
Radeon HD 7970
GeForce GTX 660 Ti
Radeon HD 7870
GeForce GTX 580
Radeon HD 6970
GeForce GTX 570
GeForce GTX 480
GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Radeon HD 6870
Radeon HD 5850
Radeon HD 7770
Radeon HD 7770
GeForce GTX 460 768MB
Radeon HD 6790
Radeon HD 5770
GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Class 2
GeForce GTS 450
Radeon HD 4850
Class 3
Radeon HD 5670
GeForce GT 240
GeForce GT 430
Radeon HD 5570
GeForce GT 220
Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5
Class 4
Class 5
Radeon HD 4350
GeForce G 107M *
Chrome9HD *
PowerVR SGX554MP4 *
Mali-T604 *
Class 6
PowerVR SGX543MP4 *
Adreno 320 *
PowerVR SGX543MP3 *
PowerVR SGX543MP2 *
PowerVR SGX545
PowerVR SGX544 *
Adreno 305 *
Adreno 225 *
Vivante GC4000 *
Mali-400 MP4 *
VideoCore-IV *
Adreno 220 *
Vivante GC1000+ Dual-Core
Mali-400 MP2 *
PowerVR SGX540 *
Adreno 205 *
Adreno 203 *
GC800 *
PowerVR SGX535
PowerVR SGX531
PowerVR SGX530
Adreno 200 *
Mali-200 *
unknown *

* Approximate position of the graphics adapter

> Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > FAQ / Tips / Technics > Comparison of Laptop Graphics Cards > ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2
Author: Klaus Hinum (Update: 2013-01-16)