ATi 8500LE 128MB Dilemma

[chuck232]

Well, although Futureshop is not a prime place to get computer parts, the best deal I could find was the R8500LE 128MB RETAIL for $249CAD. That's about $160USD. I mean it's not great, but it's the best I can hope for. The price definitely won't go down after the R8800 is released cause this is already down from the $329 about 2 weeks ago. I can't find a better price here.

Now my question is. Does all Made by ATi Radeon8500 128MB Retail cards come with the 3.3ns RAM I've heard so much about? This could really be a deciding factor. If it does have the 3.3ns RAM I'm hoping to get the RAM to ~300MHZ DDR.

One other thing, these are my system spces. Please feel frree to tell me if this would be worth it.

P4 1.4GHz Willamette 256KB L2 cache 423 Socket
256MB PC800 RDRAM
40GB Maxtor 7200RPM HDD
RadeonAIW 32MB
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! 5.1

P.S. I only have a 250W PSU, could that not be enough for this card? I have a Dell computer (GRRR...) so I dunoo if a new PSU would fit into the allotted area.

What's the deal with lampshades, I mean it's a lamp, why would you want a shade?

 

[phsstpok]

I know I'm too late and you aleady purchased the 8500LE 128MB.

The 3.3 ns memory is Hynix's SGRAM and is not BGA. It's low density requiring 8 chips for 64MB, which means 64MB 8500s only. I think it's only on the OEM 8500 64MB but I'm not sure of this.

Aren't the Retail 8500's (128 MB) using 3.2 ns BGA memory? I'll dig for an answer.

Sorry about being too late.

<b>I have so many cookies I now have a FAT problem!</b>

 

[WingDing]

According to anandtech.com, ATi are about to drop their prices again ahead of the release of the NV250. Might be worth hanging on a bit if you haven't bought already.

Sex is great but it's no substitute for the real thing.....

 

[phsstpok]

Thanks, but I purchased a Radeon 8500LE 64MB OEM (which turned out to be an 8500 OEM, not LE, from Newegg.com about a month ago. I only paid $99 USD. At about the same time I noticed Newegg had lowered their prices on the other ATI cards by about 20% during one weekend so I assumed a big price drop was coming but I couldn't wait. The customers' comments about the overclockability of the above card were too good to resist.

The card is default clocked at 250/275 and my own overclocks to 275/300 without additional cooling. With a little help (propped up case fan) it overclocks to 300/325.


<b>I have so many cookies I now have a FAT problem!</b>

 

[chuck232]

Well I got the 128MB version with 3.6ns (GRR... would've have gotten either the 3.6ns or 3.3ns) BGA SGRAM. I'm pretty sure it's BGA cause it's those little squares and it looks exactly like it does in the reviews.

I also bought this card after a price drop form $329CAD to $249 and I'm protected for the next 30 days I believe with the Futureshop "30 day Price Guarantee." Basically it means if the prices for this product drops within 30 of purchase, I get that money back. So if ATI does drop prices I'll be getting some more of the green stuff back.

What's the deal with lampshades, I mean it's a lamp, why would you want a shade?