Even the 3870/50, lauded as a great value and return to form for AMD, weren't really compelling products in reality. At best they were parity. 3870 ran about $10 more street price than 9600GT and performs almost exactly the same. 3850 wasn't worth owning because far better products (9600/3870) were a stones throw away. Also there seem to constantly be better deals on the 9600. With $30 rebates common, I saw one at newegg for $112 after 30 rebate recently. Which is a pretty insane deal for a card that isn't that much below 8800GT.
And, of course, there I'd have to disagree.
The 3870 was actually a much more compelling purchase for some of my friends that do light gaming and or gaming on an HTPC than a 9600 GT or 8800 GT.
In the end, idle power savings goes a long way when you only game/stress the video card maybe 1-3 hours a day at the most. And when you want to game, it still provided ample power for an enjoyable game experience for most people in most games. About how much time I would expect most casual gamers to spend gaming.
And for a second gen HTPC I recently built. The audio over HDMI is just a godsend. Although I really don't like the fact that over(under?)scan is enabled by default when hooked up to a HDTV over HDMI. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get 1:1 pixel mapping over HDMI.
And for any friends that spend a lot of time gaming, or consider themselves enthusiasts, well the 9600/8800 GT weren't even in the running. It was 8800/9800 GTX all the way.
Back on topic...
If it's true that some 4870's will come with only 1x6 pin power connector, then all I can say is, "Wow!" That would be incredible for that level of performance. However, paint me sceptical until I actually see it. It just seems too good to be true.
I wonder if ATI has been able to make any more gains in idle power consumption.
Regards,
SB
