The new card we have in the labs today is ASUS' rendition of the Radeon HD3650 but with a difference. ASUS being ASUS, wouldn't leave the new RV635Pro GPU alone and so the EAH3650 TOP we received is a factory overclocked version of the HD3650. Featuring a dual-slot cooler, a 128-bit wide memory bus and GDDR3 memory, the card certainly looks very promising on paper. We shall take the EAH3650 TOP and pit it against the competition and see if it would live up to the hype generated by its elder breathen.

ASUS says it's 10% faster!

Lets take a look at the basic specifications differences�before we move on.

The yellow DVI port supports HDMI output via a bundled adaptor.

With the cooler taken off, we can have a better look at the card. Solid Polymer caps are used liberally.

The new RV635Pro GPU would normally run at 725MHz but not on this card!

At 1.2ns, the Qimonda rams are rated for 833MHz but do extra duties on the EAH3650.

The Glaciator heatsink uses a 70mm fan which proved to be quiet as advertised on the box.

The base and fins are made from a single block of aluminium. Finishing is a little rough on the base though.

Aside from the usual CD's, you get a breakout cable to get Component Video output, a DVI-VGA adapter and a DVI-HDMI adapter.

Lets move on to the testing setup.

Benchmark Setup

Single Card Tests, Power Consumption Tests

• Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX6850 (3GHz, 333MHzx9)
• ASUS Maximus Extreme - Intel X38 Chipset
• 2 x 1GB Kingston HyperX KHX-11000D3 (1333Mhz, 7-7-7-20)
• ASUS EAH3650 TOP 256MB (800/900MHz)
• GIGABYTE 8600GT Silentpipe II (600/720MHz)
• NVIDIA 8600GTS (675/1000MHz)
• Enermax Galaxy 1kW reV2.0
• Seagate 7200.7 80GB x 2
• Windows Vista
• Nvidia Forceware 169.25

We will pit the Asus EAH3650 TOP against the 8600GT from Gigabyte which is factory overclocked as well as the Zotac 8600GTS set to reference clocks. Games will be run at 1280 x 1024 as that is the native resolution of 17" and 19" LCD panels which most would-be users will be using.

The suite of 3DMark benchmarks from FutureMark are the common yardstick for any gamer or enthusiast across the world; we tested the cards at default settings on the following benchmarks: 3DMark 03, 3DMark 05, 3DMark 06.

In 3DMark 03, the EAH3650 does not fare favourably against the G84 based cards.

The tables turn in 3DMark05 with the EAH3650 closing in on the 8600GTS..

In 3DMark06, the HD3650 takes the overclocked 86GT by a small lead.

Another benchmark that is fast becoming popular is LightsMark 2007 which is meant to test cards for future proofing. Given the segment of the market the cards are in, testing is done at 1280 x 1024 running in Fullscreen mode.

 
The EAH3650 lags behind both G84 cards by a fairly large margin in LightsMark 2007.

Most would-be users of the cards are using 17" or 19" LCDs. Hence, testing was done at 1280 x 1024 which is the native resolution of the LCDs. Tests were run at Medium settings and with AA/ AF disabled as the cards would not be expected to run maximum settings with eye-candy. 3 popular games were used to test the DirectX 10 and OpenGL performance of the cards. We shall look at how the ASUS EAH3650 fares in real world performance - Games. First up, we have World in Conflict.

In World of Conflict, the EAH3650 lags behind both cards by 2 FPS.

In Unreal Tournament 3, the HD3650 takes the lead over the 8600GT but still falls short of the 8600GTS.

OpenGL games have traditionally favoured NVIDIA cards and it shows in the Quake 4 benchmark results.

Overclocking Tests

By editting some configuration files, we were able to use RivaTuner to overclock the Asus EAH3650 TOP even further. After some adjustments, we were able to get the card up to 972MHz / 1071MHz (GPU/ Mem) just with the stock cooler. That's approximately 172MHz up from the already overclocked GPU and memory! The card truly lives up to its Top Overclocking Performance namesake. 3Dmark06 was run to determine how much performance there was to gain.

An additional 1020 points in 3DMark 06 from the clocks!

 Based on the new 55nm process, ATI promises lower power consumption for the GPU. We test the power consumption of the cards at idle and on load using RTHDRIBL to see how true it is.

At idle, the EAH3650 consumes a smidgen less power than the 8600GT(S) even though it's overclocked!

At load, the gap moves on to 10W from the stock 8600GTS and 4W from the overclocked 8600GT!

The 55nm process has not just helped to reduce the power consumption of the GPU but also provided for very good overclocking potential as well!

Conclusion

The ASUS EAH3650 TOP retails at the same price as the stock 8600GT cards but offers more performance. As such, it follows in the footsteps of its elder breathen by offering great bang for buck. Furthermore, ASUS engineers have made use of the reduced power consumption and heat production of the RV635 to provide a faster solution with minimal increase in price to users. With the stock cooler, we were able to bring the card up to yet higher clocks and gain additional performance with an insignificant increase in heat. Although the arrival of the Radeon HD3650 in the market is somewhat late, it would easily fill the gap for light to moderate gaming without breaking the bank. With its low heat production, the card can certainly find its way into HTPC setups and the fact that it is capable of Component and HDMI outputs certainly helps push for it. With its low price, decent performance and great overclockability, one can exchange their red packets for a red card this Lunar New Year.

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