ATI Radeon 9800 pro

[downy]

Hey guys, I am after a nu gfx card and I was wondering what is value for money atm. I know the 9700 pro is good and by the time I get some money i might have enough for the 9800 pro. Is it worth me spending that xtra bit for the 9800 prop honestly, or should a get a 9700 pro for the mo and hold out for beefy card next year sometime.

DownY

[catattack]

If I were you I would get the 9800 pro.

[TooNice]

I'd (well have), gone with the 9700 Pro myself.
The 9800 series is more of a refresh, and you are paying a lot more for not that much performance gain.
(From the reviews I've seen, the 9800XT leads the 9700Pro by 20% or more in very, very rare occasions - most of the time, you are looking more like 10-15%, and thats the XT).

I would expect next gen products to bring far more than that...

[Stewart]

Now that the 128mb versions of the 9800pro cards are under 300 notes, I'd go for one for one of them.

Well, I have, in fact. The Sapphire version.

In my opinion, the 9800pro 128 is still the sweet spot between power and value.

9800 non pro - About £200.

9800pro 128 - About £280.

9800pro 128 Ultimate - About £320.

9800pro 128 All-In-Wonder - About £350.

9800pro 256 - About £370.

9800XT - About £380.

9800pro 256 Ultimate - About £400.

Not a bad selection. The worst deal has to be the bog standard 9800pro 256. More than an All-In-Wonder, but with all the nice Wonder stuff replaced with 256mb of RAM, that you don't need at the moment.

[Stringent]

Its OK if you HAVE that kind of money! If you do send some my way ...

[Austin]

The 9800 series is mostly just a 9700 series with a few little optimisations. Firstly AA+AF is enhanced although it's still fantastic on 9700 cards. Secondly there's the mysterious T-buffer which should come in to play when DX9 games arrive (DX7/8 games with some DX9 bolted on are unlikely to be sufficient). Nothing that would warrant paying much extra for that's for sure. Since the 9700 and 9800 cards are all so similar clock speed is by far the most significant factor...

9800XT . . (0.15) 412/365 256bitDDR 8pipes 23.4GB/s 3.5Gp/s
9800PRO (0.15) 380/340 256bitDDR 8pipes 21.8GB/s 3.2Gp/s
9800 . . . (0.15) 325/310 256bitDDR 8pipes 19.8GB/s 2.6Gp/s
9700PRO (0.15) 325/310 256bitDDR 8pipes 19.8GB/s 2.6Gp/s
9700 . . . (0.15) 275/270 256bitDDR 8pipes 17.6GB/s 2.2Gp/s
9600PRO (0.13) 400/300 128bitDDR 4pipes 9.6GB/s 1.6Gp/s

Likely O/C'ed speeds:

9800XT . . 412/365 to 430/370 (not enough info to go on really)
9800PRO 380/340 to 400/370 = 23.7GB/s 3.37Gp/s
9800 . . . 325/310 to 380/350 = 22.4GB/s 3.04Gp/s
9700PRO 325/310 to 370/350 = 22.4GB/s 2.96Gp/s
9700 . . . 275/270 to 350/310 = 20.2GB/s 2.80Gp/s
9600PRO 400/300 to 530/360 = 11.5GB/s 2.12Gp/s

Given price diffs the 9600PRO is not bad at all but the 9700 and even 9700PRO should be top choices IF you can find them. Otherwise 9800 makes the most sense. Of course nothing is guaranteed when o/c'ing but as rough averages I think it's useful as a decent guide.

EDIT: Of course you may want to wait for the 9800PRO using 0.13mu to come out (9900 series?) as core clock should be MUCH higher. It's quite an easy update and would require minimal redesign, I'd imagine 9900=500/340 9900PRO=580/365? Perhaps we may get 8 pipes on a mid-range card once again too.

[bouncin]

i can get my pro up to 425 core 370 mem without it playing up but if ur gonna overclock id get a herc as i believe u get the ram sinks as these cards memory get pretty hot

[Austin]

Originally posted by bouncin
i can get my pro up to 425 core 370 mem without it playing up but if ur gonna overclock id get a herc as i believe u get the ram sinks as these cards memory get pretty hot

That thing must rock! I wish I had the cash for something like that ... have you found anything that can push it yet, even with max AA+AF, details and res I bet it flies.

[orgasmo]

Personally Rory i would thing of your finances and go for a 9700 Pro and wait until after HL2 / Doom3 are released next spring, then upgrade again.

Most people with a good head for money will say never get the top of the range stuff, get the one down.

Your call though matey.

[bouncin]

yep it does fly along nice and comfy on most stuff. but i have had to knock the mem back to 365 as i noticed a few sparklies when benchmarking this morning.

sadly i cant link to 3dmark 03 to show u this as i once used a generated registration and now it wont let me use the online result browser even at these timings it still only scores 6300 though. also im not sure if the sound tests may be knocking down the score a little.

but heres a link to 01 so as you get some idea what it can do. take into consideration the chip speed isnt running at full overclock just a high fsb

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7146348

[downy]

WOW! Nice one you guys, I didnt think I would get much of a reply. Haveing checked my finances recently, I have decided that it might be best to go for the 9700 inthe next month, sell my RAM and upgrade to two 512Mb DDR and wait the big daddy gfx cards to come out next year. Seems sensible that way .

Thx a lot for your replies, nice one!

DownY