Testbed:

Motherboard:
EVGA 680i SLI (Supplied by EVGA)

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo 6800 Extreme edition (Supplied by Intel)

Memory:
OCZ FlexXLC PC2 9200 5-5-5-18  (Supplied by OCZ)
        while testing CL5-5-5-15-CR2T 1066MHz at 2.2V

PSU:
OCZ Silencer 750 Quad Black ( Supplied by OCZ)

Hard disk:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 80GB SATA (Supplied by Seagate)

CPU-Cooler:
Freezer 7 Pro (Supplied by Artic Cooling)

Case Fans:
Artic Cooling - Artic Fan 12 PWM
Artic Cooling - Artic Fan 8 PWM

Futuremarks



Asus's EAH3870 Top is faster than the reference HD3870 card by about 4%. The new mainstream card, 9600 GT, ended up being slower than HD3870, but Zotac’s overclocked 9600 AMP ran really fast. Radeon HD 3870 has a tough opponent and Asus should reconsider the pricing. In Germany and Austria, this card isn’t  easy to find and the only available card in the time of writing this review cost €200, which is too much even with Company of Heroes thrown into the mix.


Gaming



The overclocked Asus card running at 851MHz core and 2286MHz (effectively) for memory outperformed the reference HD 3870 by up to 8%. In this game it managed to beat the reference 9600GT by 29 frames, but only on one resolution and no antialiasing.



Crysis is a scenario where Radeon usually loses, but Nvidia didn’t fare much better, either. Asus EAH3870 proved that it has what it takes to battle overclocked 9600GTs.



F.E.A.R. didn’t benefit from core overclocking, and it’s obvious that getting better performance would require a memory boost, too. Zotac 9600 GT AMP clearly shows that the game can run better if both the core and the memory are overclocked.





Conclusion

With EAH3870 Top, Asus proved that the RV670XT chip can be sold at higher speeds. The card runs at 851MHz, which is 76MHz faster than reference, but the memory was overclocked by only 25MHz. However, the GPU overclocked by about 10% still shows some notable performance increase. Compared to 9600GT, EAH3870 Top scores better and you also get Company of Heroes - Opposing Fronts.

Asus kept the reference cooling and design. As soon as the CrossFireX drivers are out you’ll also be able to combine this card with cheaper HD 3850 cards. This is a DirectX 10.1 card with PCI Express 2.0 interface, so you won’t need an upgrade for a long time.

The only downside to this card is the price – it’s a bit too steep considering the performance it offers. For €200 you can find a reference 8800GT card, whereas the reference HD 3870 is priced at €160.