Any release date, 9600xt?

stitch

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Jan 25, 2002
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Well, the suspense is just killin' me.

I got a minor pay raise at work, and decided to reward myself with a vid card upgrade... it's true, the GF3 Ti200 is finally showing a touch of age (got a barton 2500+ overclocked to 3200 speeds; the wee GF3 is throttling me back a bit, methinks).

I had finally decided to try and grab a 9800 non-pro, but I must say that the 9600XT looming on the horizon may turn out to be better bang-for-buck, since I will certainly be grabbing HL2--why not go for the bundle?

On the other hand, I don't do hardware upgrades that often, and while I certainly can't justify the $500 for the 9800xt (or even $350 for the 9800pro), I'm having a hard time deciding if the 9800 non-pro is $100 better than the 9600xt will be (I say $100 more because a 9800non-pro runs about $250 these days, plus $50 for non-bundled HL2... heh).

But I'm paralyzed until I see some 9600xt benchmarks. I have heard "later in october", but does anything more precise exist? I know the supplies of 9800 non-pro cards is starting to dry up, but according to their website the 3 Best Buy stores near me still have them in stock, not to mention a few available on the web. Just trying to plan things as I can.

(Aaah, the anticipation of an impending hardware upgrade is almost as much fun as the new toy itself...).

:Stitch:
 

lhgpoobaa

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I would go for the 9800nonpro over a 9600XT.
Double the pipelines and double the memory bandwidth.


<b>I am not a AMD fanboy.
I am not a Via fanboy.
I am not a ATI fanboy.
I AM a performance fanboy.
And a low price fanboy. :smile:
Regards,
Mr no integrity coward.</b>
 

stitch

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I was weak. Since HL2 is delayed (part of the appeal of the bundle) and since NewEgg had a refurbished Sapphire 9800pro for $264, I went that route. Hopefully it'll be here soon--and hopefully the previous owner of the card didn't fry it to the point that refurbishing is no use. But from what you folks say about Sapphire's customer service, I'd be surprised if it had serious problems--and it's not like I need the extra cables/CDs.

:Stitch:
 

stitch

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Uh, er... woot?

(heh--I'll trust Sapphire's repair department then. Let's hope the damage was repairable!)

:Stitch:
 

addiarmadar

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The XT cards are honestly not worth it for such a small increase. Find yourself the 9500 pro 128mb or the 9600 pro 128.

F-DISK-Format-Reinstal DO DA!! DO DA!!
 

stitch

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Well, not that the resolution of this is of interest to most, but Bandikoot, it must not be your old 9800 pro because it runs like a dream. Easily the best $264 I've spent on upgrades in a while. Woot!

:Stitch:
 

lhgpoobaa

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Dec 31, 2007
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LOL yes... i would hardly call a 9800pro "old"
It still kicks a hell of alot of serious ass!
(especially nvidia ass) :)

<b>I am not a AMD fanboy.
I am not a Via fanboy.
I am not a ATI fanboy.
I AM a performance fanboy.
And a low price fanboy. :smile:
Regards,
Mr no integrity coward.</b>