ATI 9800 (SE) ?

[ChewyQc]

What do you think about the ATI 9800se, i know it's a less good version of the normal 9800. Also if you can tell me if the saphire 9800 se, is a good card, because the saphire is a 256-bits, but only got 4 pipelines.

Thanks

Chewy

 

[mrface]

its an ok card but like a lesser version of the 9800

there also seems to be a soft mod to mod it to pro(?) i think(i believe it opens the other 4 pipes?) but at the risk of losing the card.

<A HREF="http://www.cameronwilliamson.com" target="_new">-={Apostalic Alcoholic.}=-</A>

 

[Crashman]

You've been lied to, the Saphire uses a 128-bit memory bus, from their second 9500 non-pro PCB. It sux all the way around, performing significantly worse than a 9600 Pro.

Perhaps they meant to say it has a 256-bit processor? At any rate, even if you hacked it to enable 8 pipes, and even if that hack worked, you'd still have less than half the memory bandwidth of the 9800 Pro.

<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>

 

[cleeve]

Just to clarify, the softmod offers absolutely no risk to the card. You can simply uninstall the hacked drivers if it doesn't work.

It doesn't even void the warranty.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9500 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(hardmodded 9500, o/c 322/322)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>2600+</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 2400+ w/143Mhz fsb)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,055</b></font color=red>

 

[HardWareBoss]

Waste of money.

 

[mrface]

err.. ok i had misconstrued information, thanx

<A HREF="http://www.cameronwilliamson.com" target="_new">-={Apostalic Alcoholic.}=-</A>

 

[King4aDay]

Theres been a lot of discussion about these on UK boards, they seem a lot more common over here than the states.

Hercules for one, and i think a few others now are producing 9800SE AIW cards with 256 bit memmory bus. Theyre normal 9800 AIW cards whith 4 pipelines disabled due to being part of a PCB batch which didnt meet 8 pipeline tests.

They are easily softmodded to enable all 8 pipelines, with no possible damage to the card. Success rates vary but seem to be at least 50%, with more able to softmod with varying artifacts, some of which can be worked around.

When softmodded the cards perform as a normal 9800, plus you get the AIW features, for around £150, which is a bargain. Even unsoftmodded the herc card at any rate is practically identical to a 9600XT.

Heres a link to a review and benchmark..
http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD02NTU

And heres a forum with numerous threads about softmodding the 9800SE AIW...

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=3

hope that clarifies things.