Hi there

Still looking for the right card and I think I may have found it in the Club 3D HD3870 Passive version. There are just a couple of problems though:

1. I cannot find any reviews so do not know how effective the heatsinks are. Would also like to know how hot the heatsink gets.

2. I cannot find any pictures of the backside of the card. I would like to see them for the sake of it, but also because I want to make sure it will fit on my motherboard (Intel DP35DP) and not get in the way of the RAM, NB heatsink, or CPU cooler.

So if anyone has this card and could help I would be eternally grateful!

All the best

Max

PS - also, I am not to sure about how drivers work for GCs. Club 3D have no drivers for the card on their website, so I guess I would have to use the Radeon driver from ATI here:

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catal ... radeonx-xp

Is that standard practise for GCs - to use the drivers from the chip manufacturer (ATI/Nvidia)? Or do some manufacturers of cards have their own drivers, and if so what's the difference?

Hi!
Here's the German review of the Club 3D's passive version with pictures:
http://www.silenthardware.de/reviews/vg ... index.html.

Graphics drivers are nothing but CCC's, CatalystControlCenter that is. Some manufacturers just tweak slightly their drivers to have their logo's etc. But Just get drivers from Ati site.

I have used drivers from Ati or nVidia site mainly. I have had 5 or so Club 3D cards and none of them have failed on me or given me any troubles. Yes they're spartan and unknown but so far they have worked flawlessly.

Thanks thejamppa

I'm now working through the Google translation version of the review which is easier said than done! Still, most helpful so thanks a bunch.

There's also a forum discussion about the card and the review:

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate ... %26hl%3Den

First impressions is that it is more or less the same as the Powercolor model, although I am not sure if it is exactly the same.

So any more feedback still welcome, but in case anyone else is interested in this card, I will post back what I find.

Cheers

Max

Powercolor and Club 3D's product lines are pretty identical. I am suspecting that both are subsdiaries of bigger mother corporation and Club 3D is more meant for European sales and PowerColor's another parts... Since both brands release same cooler design and none-reference cards at the same time.

bit like Palit and Gainward belong same group and Zotac and Sapphire.

I have the PowerColor version (called SCS3). Besides a little coil-whine under load and the enourmous dimensions, the card works like a charm. Temperatures never rise beyond 65°C in my setup, where a case fan is casually blowing into the direction of the card. I have it in the top slot of my Abit IP35 and there are no clearance problems, though both neighboring slots become unusable.

Thanks for the help mate....

...and I take it that is the temp of the GPU, and if so, that the heatsink is not too hot to the touch when under load? I'm pretty sure that the Powercolor and Club3D use the same heatsink, as stated above.

Cheers

Max

Yes indeed, GPU temperatures, the heatsink doesn't even get lukewarm.

Thanks Cistron

One more thing - if you (or anyone else) wouldnt mind helping me out...

Could you tell me the dimension from the PCB board to the back of the HS on the backside (oo err) of the GC? As pics speak a thousand words and Im crap at explaining things:



If someone has a 3D Club HD3870 passive to confirm this (I cannot get the Powercolor) that would be great. But as I think they share the same HS, I think the Powercolor dimension should be ok.

Many many thanks

Max

Hi Guys
Thought I'd decided on the ECS 9600GT w Accelero 2 but the bas*&^ds who said they had them in stock have changed their minds! So there don't seem to be any in the UK - how stupid is that?!?

So I'm just bumping this for the dimension if anyone can help out, now that this seems the most likely card I will be getting.

CHeers

Max