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Power Usage

To measure power usage, we used a Kill A Watt P4400 power meter. Note that the above numbers represent the power drain for the entire benchmarking system, not just the video cards themselves. For the 'idle' readings we measured the power drain from the desktop, with no applications running; for the 'load' situation, we ran a demanding part of 3DMark06.

The 55nm process of the Asus EAH3870 pays dividends here with a nice and low power requirement. Funny to think that this HD 3870 saps a over 100 Watts less than a HD 2900 XT in 'load' conditions. The box requirements state a minimum power supply of 450 Watts -- that seems about right. The Asus HD 3870 TOP has about the power usage numbers as a 8800 GT 512MB.

Conclusion

If the 8800 GT did not exist, then the HD 3870 would be rocking every PC gamer's universe. For around $250, you can get the power previously reserved for video cards in the over-$400 range, not that long ago. For $250 USD, the HD 3870 delivers the performance that generally bests the HD 2900 XT, and is comparable to the 8800 GTX. Not that bad at all! The Asus EAH3870 TOP can deliver a solid gaming experience, for a fair price.

But it's not all roses, because this card's primary competition, the 8800 GT, does exist -- and herein lies the problem for the HD 3870. While the  HD 3870 did shine in a few of the benchmarks, such as Call of Juarez, both of our 8800 GT's tested seemed to just out-edge the HD 3870, most of the time. At maximum resolutions with AA, often both 8800 GT cards we tested would have about 10 frames a second advantage over the Asus EAH3870 TOP. Ten frames a second is not a huge deal -- but when two cards are priced fairly similarly, this difference can make or break a choice between two closely-matched cards.

There has been all sorts of stock and price fluctuations recently, for video cards. Whether to go with a Asus EAH3870 TOP might come down to what is available where, and at what price. With a great bundle including an excellent game, the Asus HD 3870 T.O.P would have looked great under any Christmas tree last week. However, whether to go with this video card over another, for many, will probably be down to what price is offered, by what retailer, on any given day.