ATI Radeon HD Refresh: The 3650 and 3450 Arrive

**MIG-31** · Jan 23, 2008, 02:32 AM

Source: Hothardware
______________
When AMD launched the RV670 GPU at the heart of the ATI Radeon HD 3870 and 3850 series of products, they received quite a bit of fanfare due to the product's competitive prices, strong performance, and more manageable power profiles. One of the main reasons AMD was able to bring the Radeon HD 3870 and 3850 to market with these attributes was because the company had migrated their GPUs to a relatively more advanced 55nm process technology. Manufacturing the GPUs at 55nm meant they were more economical to produce, required less power than the previous generation, and could run at higher clock speeds.

LHC · Jan 23, 2008, 06:52 AM

Nice to see AMD is getting their things straight on the ATI side. Now, to just focus that on their CPUs..

IvanV · Jan 23, 2008, 08:01 AM

Well, ATi got their 55nms right and 3850 and 3870 are good products, but I'm a bit disappointed with 3650's performance which does not exceed the one of 2600XT, a card that has been around for awhile and which has never been considered speedy. I can't say that the price is not reasonable, but the card offers less than a half the speed of ATi's next "slowest" card, 3850, so I wish that, at least, they didn't reduce the core clock. Also, the 3400 series will have to be really cheap so I'm afraid ATi won't be making much money on them no matter how many they sell.

Brutality · Jan 23, 2008, 10:03 AM

ATI's case isn't making profit at the moment. They need to strengthen their positions for the upcoming releases so people wouldn't automatically buy nVidia because "it used to be better".

**Mousey** · Jan 23, 2008, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brutality

ATI's case isn't making profit at the moment. They need to strengthen their positions for the upcoming releases so people wouldn't automatically buy nVidia because "it used to be better".

Yup, and with the release of the the HD3850s and 70s ATi were getting back on track, i still think for the price my 3850 is a fantastic card

Now all they need is to reclaim their fair share of the market, and yeah get the CPUs sorted.

mkk · Jan 23, 2008, 10:55 AM

I have to say it's a darn cute card. As a product they simply needed something new in that price range. Costing less to produce it should be one of the real moneymakers.

**Mousey** · Jan 23, 2008, 10:58 AM

If what i've read about CrossfireX is right, do you think the 3650 would be a good crossfire option? If it's as inexpensive as that article reckons i think it could work.

IvanV · Jan 23, 2008, 11:03 AM

Not really, Mousey, two 3650s cost about as much as a 3850, but can't deliver the same performance.

EDIT: As for the moneymaking part, I know that the chief priority right now is probably selling as many cards as possible, but I think that a lineup consisting of a slightly faster 3650 (for a similar price), a slower and cheaper passively cooled 3650 (with a simpler, cheaper, PCB and cheaper memory) and just one 3400 SKU would be more attractive plus bring more money. The slower 3650 wouldn't compete with the faster one because of the lower clocks and low OC-ability (due to passive cooling and simpler PCB), but it would attract media center guys who want to play occasionally and make them buy those instead of 3400s. All that under the assumption that such cheaper 3650s would bring more profit per unit than a dirt-cheap 3400.

**Mousey** · Jan 23, 2008, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IvanV

Not really, Mousey, two 3650s cost about as much as a 3850, but can't deliver the same performance.

Ouch, Looks like the 3850's still the best choice for me then

Oh btw, how much more powerful is a 3870 than 3850?

Zelig · Jan 23, 2008, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mousey

Oh btw, how much more powerful is a 3870 than 3850?

About 15% faster, more if the 3850 becomes RAM limited.

Jan 23, 2008, 02:32 AM	#1
MIG-31 DH News MOD Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 42,574 Rep Power: 185 System Specs	ATI Radeon HD Refresh: The 3650 and 3450 Arrive Source: Hothardware ______________ When AMD launched the RV670 GPU at the heart of the ATI Radeon HD 3870 and 3850 series of products, they received quite a bit of fanfare due to the product's competitive prices, strong performance, and more manageable power profiles. One of the main reasons AMD was able to bring the Radeon HD 3870 and 3850 to market with these attributes was because the company had migrated their GPUs to a relatively more advanced 55nm process technology. Manufacturing the GPUs at 55nm meant they were more economical to produce, required less power than the previous generation, and could run at higher clock speeds. __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here How you can help DriverHeaven by using Digg!

Jan 23, 2008, 06:52 AM	#2
LHC Stingy and Stubborn Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,324 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Nice to see AMD is getting their things straight on the ATI side. Now, to just focus that on their CPUs.. __________________

Jan 23, 2008, 08:01 AM	#3
IvanV DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 3,140 Rep Power: 63 System Specs	Well, ATi got their 55nms right and 3850 and 3870 are good products, but I'm a bit disappointed with 3650's performance which does not exceed the one of 2600XT, a card that has been around for awhile and which has never been considered speedy. I can't say that the price is not reasonable, but the card offers less than a half the speed of ATi's next "slowest" card, 3850, so I wish that, at least, they didn't reduce the core clock. Also, the 3400 series will have to be really cheap so I'm afraid ATi won't be making much money on them no matter how many they sell. __________________ Feed the porkers and don't touch the buttons!

Jan 23, 2008, 10:55 AM	#6
mkk cheap philanthropist Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 3,695 Rep Power: 67 System Specs	I have to say it's a darn cute card. As a product they simply needed something new in that price range. Costing less to produce it should be one of the real moneymakers. __________________ Playing Dragon Age, might forget everything else.

Jan 23, 2008, 10:58 AM	#7
Mousey Bang. Bang. Bang. Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 5,420 Rep Power: 104 System Specs	If what i've read about CrossfireX is right, do you think the 3650 would be a good crossfire option? If it's as inexpensive as that article reckons i think it could work. __________________ Visit hardWIRED - Back up and running, The Wiki is back Who we are, is but a stepping stone to what we can become.

Jan 23, 2008, 10:03 AM	#4
Brutality DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 887 Rep Power: 25	ATI's case isn't making profit at the moment. They need to strengthen their positions for the upcoming releases so people wouldn't automatically buy nVidia because "it used to be better".

Jan 23, 2008, 11:03 AM	#8
IvanV DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 3,140 Rep Power: 63 System Specs	Not really, Mousey, two 3650s cost about as much as a 3850, but can't deliver the same performance. EDIT: As for the moneymaking part, I know that the chief priority right now is probably selling as many cards as possible, but I think that a lineup consisting of a slightly faster 3650 (for a similar price), a slower and cheaper passively cooled 3650 (with a simpler, cheaper, PCB and cheaper memory) and just one 3400 SKU would be more attractive plus bring more money. The slower 3650 wouldn't compete with the faster one because of the lower clocks and low OC-ability (due to passive cooling and simpler PCB), but it would attract media center guys who want to play occasionally and make them buy those instead of 3400s. All that under the assumption that such cheaper 3650s would bring more profit per unit than a dirt-cheap 3400. __________________ Feed the porkers and don't touch the buttons! Last edited by IvanV; Jan 23, 2008 at 11:13 AM.