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[RaymondCarver]

It's a toss up currently between getting my brother in law a 9600 Pro with 128MB of 128-bit memory, or a 9800 Pro with 128MB of 128-bit memory.


the 9800 Pro has eight pipelines and slower memory Vs. a 9600 Pro with faster memory.


Discuss.

 

[mrklaw]

can we have one thread at the top for all the 9800 shit?

Just kidding

 

[Kseutron]

9800 pro 128 Mo wins

 

[ravingloon]

http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=704

It barely wins. WTF though. Is this card that much cheaper than a real 9800/9800 PRO? Cause I would rather pay the extra money and get something that wasn't neutered.

 

[RaymondCarver]

wow!

the Power Color 9800 PE uses Hynix HY5DU283222AQ-33 GDDR SDRAM which is rated for a maximum frequency of 300MHz at 2.5 volts.

So, for $130 you get 8 pipelines, and it seems to run just as fast in game performance with 128-bit memory. .... I would say that definitly it's better than a 9600 with 256-bit memory. Woot! I'm getting my brother in law this! We are sooo going to have a lan party. Now I just need a folding plastic table or two.

If you are expecting to buy the 9800 PE and play Doom 3, Far Cry or any other recent game at a high resolution and or high image quality, it’s just not the graphics card for you. On the other hand, if you are building up a new system on a budget and want good value for money graphics performance, the 9800 PE might work quite well for you.

Hmm, well, what do ya know. I'm sure it's better than playing Doom3 on my GeforceIV 4200.

If you are buying the 9800 PE to play Doom 3, it’s going to be sluggish in the High Quality mode which we used for testing.

I kind of figured it'd take > $200 or $300 to play Doom3 flawlessly. Maybe that's money to save for buying an Xbox2 or something. I'd personally rather have more bath products, a lot of bar-b-que supplies, and some gas for a road trip somewhere....and a couple of Gameboy games for said trip.




Oh, and FarCry:

And who doesn't get through a month gaming and not play some QuakeIII?

If my main choice for my brother in law was a 9600, I guess I'm glad that I can get him double the pipelines for about the same amount of money. When it comes down to it, I guess it's all about spending time with him, my sis, and their new baby more than anything. Gaming's not everything, but I had a two hour conversation with a new friend of mine from my Digital and Photographic Imaging classes about how he and I think in terms of science fiction and fact most of the time. It's nice to know the the pretend worlds we play around in can look so good and that the only real limitation is our imagination.

Casual gamer benefit = the 128-bit 9800 cards for around $140

Like the article at Tweaktown says, the low yield of high-end chips has lead to many varients being added to the market. Advantage = everybody.

 

[hooo]

How are those cards as far as heat goes? I want to get a new card for my Shuttle XPC, but I'm not motivated enough to add some extra ventilation to the case.

 

[RaymondCarver]

$5.49 at Newegg Speeze System Cooler, 90 x 80 x 10 mm, Model "4F01B4 Exhauster"

I order these slot coolers ten at a time when I'm building machines. Add two of them if you like, if you've got the room in your case near your videocard.

 

[hooo]

The SN45G . There's not exactly room for an easy addition of slot fans so it's best to just get cooler hardware.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

I put one of those PCI slot coolers right next tomy ol' 9800 Pro, and it didn't do shit for it.

Also, more 9800 Pro threads! I've got so much bile saved up about it!

 

[marsomega]

NO NO NO NO...

If you are going to spend $140 for a video card, I'd say wait and buy a X700 AGP variant. The vanilla X700 is going to hit 149 and on average outperforms the 9800 XT.


X700 Review
VGA Charts 4 for 9800 XT comparissons.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

I kind of figured it'd take > $200 or $300 to play Doom3 flawlessly

Understand that the only reason I'm responding to this is that you used the word flawlessly, as in: does not have flaws. You didn't say "to run Doom3 good," or "well," or "decent for $200." You mused that there might be a solution in the $300 range in which one could not possibly ask for anything more in the realm of Doom3 performance. just so we have the explicit terms clear.

Now, my machine is a P4 3.4 HT, with 1gb DDR, and a 6800GT. It does not run Doom3 flawlessly. I run at 1024x768, with High Quality seetings, V-Synch on, no AA and no AF.
The processor and vid card alone, BTW, cost be over $800, just a month and a half ago.

It's good, it's very very good. But dipping below sixty is a rather common occurance in medium to heavy combat and you can sacrifice fifteen frames everytime you turn of your flashlight. The latter stages of the game really hit up the framerate.

Now I reckon if i switched the P4 for a nice Athlon64, it'd run even better, but not flawlessly. Unless you mistakenly equated flawless performance with a that doesn't dip below 30fps, then you can put the word "flawless" out of your head for another year or more.

 

[RaymondCarver]

got it.


lexicon observed.


vocabulary updated.