9800 Pro Upgrade

[pauldh]

Always been a Built By ATI fan, but went with a Saphire 9800 Pro because of the recent price drops.

Just wanted to share a few numbers from before and after.

With an ABIT IS7 and P4 2.6C, went from a ATI Radeon 9500 Pro to a Saphire Radeon 9800 Pro. These are all stock speeds, no overclocking. (Yet) Cat 4.1's used

3dmark2001se
9500 pro = 13,441
9800 pro = 17,150

3dmark03
9500 Pro = 3,766
9800 Pro = 5,763

Aquamark3
9500 pro = 31,060
9800 pro = 42,446

I am happy with the results, but was even happier to see how far cry demo improved. Played fine before at 1024x768 all settings on high, but glad to see an improvement. I used the full version of FRAPS and found I could start from one of my save points (just before planting the explosives) and backtrack back outside. I benched about a 1 minute clip that was roughly 75% outside/25%inside, encountering 2 enemies and stopped in the exact same spot each time. I found I could average within 1 fps re-running this same route a few times, so it seemed to be a good spot to start compared to the beginning where the enemies react differently and fps average was 3-4 fps off on different runs.

1024x768x32 all settings High
Radeon 9500 pro = 49 fps
Radeon 9800 pro = 68 fps

1280x1024x32 all settings on very high
Radeon 9500 pro = 28 fps
Radeon 9800 pro = 41 fps

Anyway, I am happy because although the 9500 pro was a great card and ran everything flawlessly, I can now enjoy mixing AA/AF and play at the 1280x1024 resolutions in more games. Unreal 2 was averaging over 80 fps at 1280x1024 highest settings with 2X/8X enabled. haven't tried it with 4X/8X yet.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9500 Pro, Santa Cruz, Antec 1000AMG, TruePower 430watt

 

[Black_Cat]

I'm getting the same scores that you have but with a stock 9700 Pro. Why? I have my 2.8C overclocked to over 3.3GHz. Overclock that 2.6C and watch the sparks fly!

Okay, brain. You don't like me, and I don't like you, but let's get through this thing and then I can continue killing you with beer. -- Homer Simpson.

 

[arussell]

Black Cat, although video cards are the most important part of a system for gaming, the rest matters too. Your CPU is 700mhz faster not to mention the FSB being run at ~944mhz, and, because of this, you prolly have faster ram also, prolly PC3700 or PC4000 running at DDR472 speeds. Thats why .

BTW, I also picked up the Sapphire Radeon 9800pro from newegg(retail version even, only $4 more, I got lucky, newegg got them in yesterday, already sold out rofl). I can't wait for it, and the rest of my new system to get here.

EDIT: Eh..just noticed that you were kinda answering your own question I guess Black Cat hehe. Ill just leave my explaination there tho just to make myself look good .

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by arussell on 02/05/04 11:48 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Black_Cat]

Eh..just noticed that you were kinda answering your own question I guess Black Cat hehe.

Too many times I find I'm talking to myself.

The point I was trying to make was to overclock that P4C. In fact, everyone who has a P4C should overclock it. He could still get a good overclock with that PC3200 RAM if he runs it asynchronously.

Okay, brain. You don't like me, and I don't like you, but let's get through this thing and then I can continue killing you with beer. -- Homer Simpson.

 

[rgw]

what does the retail version provide besides a fancy box ? =)

(I ordered the sapphire 9800 pro oem/bulk a few days ago)

 

[arussell]

To be honest, I don't exactly know lol. Usually better support, a lot of times OEMs have crappy warranties. Also, OEMs don't have xtra software a lot. Maybe im just hoping for all that stuff hehe, either way, it was only an extra $3.

EDIT: And if I paid $3 more for real box over a white box...well, least I got a perty box to stare at .

System on the way:
Antec Sonata Case w/380W PSU
Athlon 64 3200+
MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R
1 GB Mushkin PC3500
Sapphire Radeon 9800PRO
WD Raptor 74 GB
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by arussell on 02/06/04 02:24 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[pauldh]

Mine was the retail box too. Came with drivers CD, Power DVD, redline OC utility, and Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness. I think all of these except Tomb Raider are in the white box too. But for a few bucks, (1 year) warranty should be easier to utilize if need be.

I am not OC'in because I spent big bucks on Corsair low latency PC3200. It allows me to run the F1 gaming enhancement on the IS7 mobo. I may try and see what it can do, but unless I need some expensive PC3200 in another build, I won't be upgrading to PC4000 anytime soon. And I won't bother running the fsb out of sync with the mem as it isn't really worth it. I made the decision a while back that I wanted to go this route and keep my NF2/Barton 2500+ system for OC'in. (which also has PC3200)

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9500 Pro, Santa Cruz, Antec 1000AMG, TruePower 430watt