ATI 9800 SE 128mb vs ATI 9600 Pro 256mb

[Method]

Hi, I am looking at getting a not too expensive video card, and have narrowed it down to the ATI 9800 128mb or the 9600 PRO 256mb, but do not know which to get. Any other suggestions also are good, but I am looking to spend around $150, and will be using it for gaming....mainly BF1942 and possibly HL2. If anyone can please help me with which would be better, I would appreciate it.

 

[link]

the 9800 would be the better card to have in my opinion because no apps really take advantage of the 256 MB. one other thing to consider is that ati is giving away copies of HL2 with the purchase of the 9600 XT that will be coming out soon so if you can wait till then you'd kinda kill 2 birds with one stone and the 9600 xt sounds like a great card and for about what you want to spend.

 

[Crashman]

The last guy made a mistake in not noticing you said the 9800SE, which is basically Rev. 2 of the 9500 Non-Pro.

The 9600 Pro will eat it for lunch. In fact, if you want to save a bit of money, the 128MB 9600 Pro would easily eat the 9800SE for lunch.

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[Crashman]

He said 9800SE, not 9800. The SE uses the 9500 NON-pro parts, except that the VPU is a hacked down 9800 rather than a hacked down 9700. Since it only has 4 pipelines and operates at a much slower clockrate than the 9600 Pro, the 9600 Pro will eat the 9800SE for lunch and spit out several FX5200's from it's glaring teeth.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
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[link]

ah, your right. i overlooked that se in the title. i would still say the 9600 xt would be worth waiting for if he were also wanting to play HL2

 

[sargeduck]

I think what the two chaps above are saying is: "get a 9600Pro 128MB". 256 ram is just marketing. AT this point right now in time, graphics cards don't need the extra ram. They will in the future, but right now they don't. save the extra money, and just buy a 9600Pro with "only" 128MB.

Error: Keyboard not attached. Press F1 to continue

 

[Crashman]

9600XT isn't worth the extra money either, it's just a standard 9600 Pro that's been overclocked. The performance gain is marginal, the price is higher, and nearly any card can be overclocked.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
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[link]

the reason a 9600 XT card would be worth $200 is because it is coming with a free copy of HL2. he said he may play that. if that is the case the card would essentially cost $150. the price point at which he is after. so, he can either take a $150 9600 Pro or a $150 "overclocked" 9600 Pro that albeit marginal, will beat the performance of the 9600 Pro, and without voiding the warranty. in my opinion of course

 

[Crashman]

Of course! I just got a free AIW 9600 Pro, and it kicks butt, clocks the GPU to 500MHz without breaking a sweat, and comes with faster RAM! And in addition to the AIW features, it includes a cert for free HL2!

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[HardWareBoss]

Heck my TI4200 beats the FX5200 all day long.

 

[HardWareBoss]

How the heck did you get that for free?

 

[link]

ah, that explains it all. your defending your own personal purchase. i understand. considering that ati is giving away the HL2 game to promote there new xt cards, i doubt you have the right info on your cert for HL2. if your right though, ati giving you nearly $300 worth of stuff for free is the best deal. i stand corrected, this guy should go out and have ati buy his card for him, come to think of it i should too. your so smart, did you think of that yourself?

 

[scottchen]

As far as I've heard, the 9600XT uses 3.3ns memory while 9600pro use 2.86ns memory.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.575G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800np @ 432/760 -SB audigy -120G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[link]

look, if this guy is getting HL2, the cards will cost about the same. the xt is the better card, it is no secret. he can have the better card for the same money. about the memory, check these addresses

http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9600/radeon9600pro/compare.html

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031015/index.html

 

[scottchen]

those links tells me what?

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.575G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800np @ 432/760 -SB audigy -120G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[link]

all the info that matters

 

[scottchen]

i'm saying pro's 2.86ns memory is rated for 350mhz, therefore it could be overclocked to 350mhz. The XT which uses 3.3ns memory is rated for 300mhz so in theory there's 0mhz memory headroom.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.575G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800np @ 432/760 -SB audigy -120G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[link]

i totally see what your saying, all the info and benchmarks show you that the xt out performs the Pro is all i am saying.

 

[scottchen]

I'm sure ATI did some optimizations on the core, perhaps more voltage, made the core being able to run faster. maybe on the memory also. the point is the memory both run at 300mhz default, but XT is alrdy in theory at its maximum memory frequency. While the 9600pro still in theory has 50mhz overclocking head-room.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.575G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800np @ 432/760 -SB audigy -120G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[scottchen]

If you're not an overclocker or modder then the extra money for the XT is worthy, however many of us here likes to mod cards, and like the idea of getting something more for free. So if you're looking for card around 150 dollars 9600pro's still on top of my recommendations list.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.575G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800np @ 432/760 -SB audigy -120G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[Schmide]

I got the HL2 upgrade with my AIW 9600 pro.

Dichromatic for your viewing plesure...

 

[scottchen]

HL2 isn't released yet right? I thought it's going to be released sometimes next April, at least that's what gamespot said.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.575G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800np @ 432/760 -SB audigy -120G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[Crashman]

I'm writing reviews for another site. Doh!

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<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[link]

i totally dig the pro, however, after considering the free HL2 the 2 cards are nearly the same price. if you want to over clock the pro so that you can get the performance of a card that cost the same, well, that would be somewhat redundant and unnecessary.

 

[link]

your right about the release, unless some other douchebag steals some more code. what is the HL2 upgrade the other guy mentioned?