Best buy? (not the store)

[MrMiester]

Ive finally managed to muster up about $150-200 to spend on a video card, but im not really sure what to get.
Ive had an 8500 le for the last 2 years, and for the whole time its been overclocked so i doubt it will run much longer, though i will miss ol' faithful

So what card is my best pick right now for that price range or sometime in the very near future?
I was wondering about the 9800's.. Is there an actual difference in hardware between the SE', Pro, and XT? Is there anyhting wrong with an SE i cant just overclock?

thx.

 

[jammydodger]

I think the SE has a 128bit memory bus rather than a 256bit one. The XT comes wih the R360 core, the pro comes with either the R350 or the R360 core.
So if you can afford a Radeon9800pro on your budget.

P4c 2.6@3.25
512Mb PC4000
2x120Gb 7200.7 in RAID0
Waterchill KT12-L30
Abit AI7
Ge-Force4 Ti4200

 

[ytoledano]

www.NewEgg.com has the Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro for 210$ and free shipping, I just bought one from them. I heard that some have the R360 core but mine is R350.
Of course, a day after I got the card all these FX6800U reviews popped up, figures.

Abit IS7 @ 275 FSB, VAGP @ 1.65, OCZ PC4200 RAM @ 550Mhz, P4 2.4 @ 3.3Ghz Vcore @ 1.625, Sapphire Radeon 9800P @ stock, for now.
Thermalright SLK-947U, P3 HS @ NB.

 

[HardWareBoss]

9800Pro is the best vid card for your price range.

 

[sweatlaserxp]

I bought that exact same card a few weeks ago. I removed the HSF to re-seat it with Arctic Silver, and at the time I wasn't aware that there were two different cores offered in this card. Isn't it true that you can't flash an XT BIOS to a 9800P that only has the R350 core? I think that's the one that I have

 

[Willamette_sucks]

You can, but because there are small differences, you will get some artifacting in a few sitations. These artifacts are static (unchanging given the same circumstances) and non-harmful to your card. The only things I've found so far that artifact due to an r350 being flashed to XT are:
3d Mark 03: game tests 2 and 3, and 'ragtroll'
FarCry
Painkiller

Artifacting in both of the above games is rare and mild, but does occur (because of the BIOS flash).

Me: are you saying I can't provide?
Me: cause I know I can provide.
Me: oh and I can provide money too
Rachel: why do we need money when we can just stay in our room and have sex all day?

 

[Nights_L]

Ur 8500 can't handle anymore for you?
cuz my 8500 is still able to do all the games that I'm playing so far, fast and smooth..
new cards are coming, so u might want to wait as well.

 

[sweatlaserxp]

If I'm correct the 9800P core clock is 380, and the XT's default is 412... and the mem clock on the XT is 700.. I don't remember the Pro's mem speed.. is it safe to apply the XT's clock speeds to a plain old 9800 Pro without upgrading to better cooling? I've never tried flashing the BIOS on a graphics card, but I am trying to figure out ways to squeeze more power out of my system.

My other question is what are the names of the new BIOS files, and where do I find them?

 

[flamethrower205]

Or you could just wait till the newer cards come out in a month and save a ton of $$$....

SEX is like math. Add the bed, subtract the clothes, divide the legs, and hope you dont multiply

 

[Willamette_sucks]

The memory is not 700 on the XT. It's 365, in DDR terms that would be 730. The Pro's memory runs at 340 stock (ddr = 680). Yes, most 9800 Pro's can run at XT speeds with stock cooling.

For more information on ATI BIOS flashing refer to my thread <A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=680130#680130" target="_new">here</A>.


Me: are you saying I can't provide?
Me: cause I know I can provide.
Me: oh and I can provide money too
Rachel: why do we need money when we can just stay in our room and have sex all day?

 

[sweatlaserxp]

Thanks a lot man