[gtfoltz]

Well, the wait is over. Newegg has the Saphire HD 3450 and HD 3650 in stock this morning. Price is $50 and $100 respectively. Good news is the 3450 is indeed passive! Bad news: I thought the 3650 was suppose to be more like $70??? Oh well, what can you expect...


I have been waiting a while for these cards, but I want to make sure it comes with a DVI->HDMI dongle first. If it does, I'm getting one of these asap!

 

[gonthorn]

I am guessing the 3650 price is due to it having 512mb gddr3 memory. I bet a 256mb gddr2 memory model will be out soon that is $70ish.


Gotta love how an extra 50 cents of memory chips bumps the cost 20 + dollars hah.


Anyway, not sure about the HDMI adapter Ill find out later this week as I ordered one today. Regardless since I currently have an nvidia 7xxx series, I couldnt take jittery Blu-Ray playback any longer lol.

 

[mva5580]

Man, I dunno. At first this was DEFINITE buy for me, but I just don't know if the 3450 is going to be able to handle the small amount of gaming that I do on my HTPC.


The only games I play on it are emulated games (not worried about these,) Madden 08 (I fear it won't work, but the sys. requirements suck,) and MVP 2005 (pretty much same as Madden)


I'm undecided. I might just buy it on Friday and see how it works anyway.

 

[gtfoltz]

I'm in the same boat. I thought the 3450 would work for me, but now I'm thinking that a 3650 with 256MB of DDR2 (passively cooled and closer to $70 hopefully) would be a better fit if I ever wanted to play a game. That's why I haven't jumped on it already as well...

 

[mva5580]

Yeah that's what it's sounding like to me and if that's the case, I'm just sticking with what I have (2600 Pro.) It works fine, is (fairly) quiet, and plays all the games that I use without a problem. 50 bucks is a great price, but at the same time I'm not going to buy it just to buy it.

 

[sdheda]

Will these cards be able to handle 1080p output without any problems?


I am looking to spend $150 on a new video card for my HTPC, specifically to handle hardware based decoding of 1080i MPEG2 and 1080p AVC and VC1. I don't do any gaming so it will only be used for video decoding only.


Which one will be best suited for my needs 3450, 3650, or 3850? They are all within my budget, but it would help me to save money to use on other parts.

 

[mva5580]

They can all handle 1080p video.


The only question mark that is with these cards is the 3450 and what it can handle for games in any way. This is pretty much an HTPC "line" of cards, so all the video outputs are no problem.

 

[sdheda]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mva5580 /forum/post/12956410


They can all handle 1080p video.


The only question mark that is with these cards is the 3450 and what it can handle for games in any way. This is pretty much an HTPC "line" of cards, so all the video outputs are no problem.

I remember reading about an issue with MPEG2 decoding in the lower end of the 2600 cards. This caused most people to recommend the higher end 2600XT.


Will the 3450 also have the same problem?

 

[mva5580]

From the previews I've read, they've said the 3450 is just fine. But none of us can know for sure because they're just not out there yet. I'm sure if you hold off for another week or two, you'll start to see reviews on here from users.

 

[mpgxsvcd]

My question is will the HDMI adapter work with these cards?

 

[NathanC]

Hm, i was about to pick up a 2600XT. Would i be better off with the 3650?

 

[Uegis]

How does the 3450 compare to the 2600xt?

 

[Jagercola]

Let me know when someone spots a 3470 in the wild... for all that 1080P+ goodness...


7300GS + Vista x64 = No multi monitor support as the card can drive my monitor and projector separate, but together it's just a constant black screen flicker as it can't lock on to either.

 

[bigpow]

Now I'm not so sure anymore..

Before it seemed like a perfect HTPC candidate, but with 8500GT closing in at $58 (after rebate) - I'm thinking green..

 

[RichB]

I just ordered the 3650. I have a 2600Pro and it works fine, but I have another home for it anyway. I had problems with a 2400 before with BD and HD DVD and the extra $50 was not a big enough deal to try it out.


I draw that line at a card that uses an extra power connector. I figure they probably improved the UVD in these cards. If you wait a bit for the reviews to come in, it may be that the 3450 gets a perfect score on HQV HD.


I should get mine tomorrow or Wednesday.


- Rich

 

[gtfoltz]

Uegis, it doesn't...


The 3450 compares to the 2400pro

The 3470 compares to the 2400XT


The 3650 compares to the 2600pro

The 3670 compares to the 2600XT


The only difference is the 34xx and 36xx cards are fabbed on a smaller process, so they should theoretically be cheaper to produce and generate less heat at the same speed. Also, this new generation of cards have an improved UVD engine that should allow even the slowest card of the bunch (the 3450) to play back 1080p smoothly, which evidently was sometimes a problem with the 24xx series. At least this is the line that AMD marketing has been touting...

NathanC,


There is no reason I can see to get a 2600XT over a 3650 (just the opposite). If there were a significant price difference (i.e. the 2600XT was a LOT cheaper) then maybe. Inexplicably, however, most flavors of the 2600XT seem to still be MORE expensive than the $99 3650, which may be vaguely understandable for the DDR4 versions, but not the DDR3 versions. And frankly, if you are looking at the DDR4 version of the 2600XT, you'd be downright silly to not spend a couple extra dollars and get a 3850 instead. Bottom line, I would not get the 2600XT.

 

[NathanC]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mpgxsvcd /forum/post/12957657


My question is will the HDMI adapter work with these cards?

Sounds like it. From a review:

Quote:
The board features a pair of CrossFire edge connectors along the top edge of its PCB, and dual, dual-link DVI outputs along with a single HDTV / S-Video output. We should also note that the Radeon 3650 supports audio over HDMI as well using a supplied adapter.

http://www.hothardware.com/articles/...Arrive/?page=2

 

[NathanC]



Quote:
Originally Posted by gtfoltz /forum/post/12962130


NathanC,


There is no reason I can see to get a 2600XT over a 3650 (just the opposite). If there were a significant price difference (i.e. the 2600XT was a LOT cheaper) then maybe. Inexplicably, however, most flavors of the 2600XT seem to still be MORE expensive than the $99 3650, which may be vaguely understandable for the DDR4 versions, but not the DDR3 versions. And frankly, if you are looking at the DDR4 version of the 2600XT, you'd be downright silly to not spend a couple extra dollars and get a 3850 instead. Bottom line, I would not get the 2600XT.

Thanks for the info. I'd been looking at getting this MSI 2600XT card, but may have to reconsider. They're both the same price and seem pretty similar.
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814127298

 

[RichB]



Quote:
Originally Posted by gtfoltz /forum/post/12962130


The 3650 compares to the 2600pro

The 3670 compares to the 2600XT

I am not sure about that. The 3650 has GDD3 and the 2600Pro had DDR2 (at least the Sapphire that I bought) so ins't the 3650 DD3 more like a 2600Xt?


- Rich

 

[gtfoltz]

Rich, it all depends on which preview you read--most showed the 3650 getting DDR2. However, true enough, the Saphire 3650 on NewEgg right now does correspond more to what earlier reviews called the "3670" by using DDR3, so I guess they're content to continue messing with our heads...


Like I said, I have decided to wait on a "real" 3650, one that uses 256MB of DDR2. Should be plenty fast for all HDTV tasks, cheaper, possibly fanless, and at least usable for last-generation games (e.g. Half-Life 2).