Hercules 9800 Pro Red Edition

[cryo]

I just bought a Hercules 9800 Pro and, to my suprize, the PCB was red (unlike the traditional Herc blue). On the back of the box it was written "Red Edition". Other than the color of the PCB and the software bundle (Vietcong and HL2 coupon, instead of the original Rainbow six 3: Raven shield), I cannot see any difference in the board. It still has the Hercules heatsinks (both on GPU and memories), so I cannot actually see what the memories are.

I found some rumors on the net (as the PCB being manufactured by a 3rd party, like Sapphire probably; or the PCB being the one used in 9700 Pro etc). I don't have the opportunity to test it right now, but people who have tested it said they noticed no difference (well, a couple complained about the poor overclocking, but I don't know how reliable was this info).

Does anyone knows something about this "Red edition" Hercules 9800 Pro?

Thanks

 

[mrface]

maybe the "red edition" means the PCB would be red???



i dunno. lol.

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

 

[cryo]

geez, never thought of that

I am interested in the "reason" for the red color (yes, i know, because of the dye ), i.e. if the PCB is made by a third party, if it's some kind of "light edition", with not-so-good components on it etc. I have a P/N on the PCB (not the Hercules sticker), but I don't really know how to use it to find something.

 

[cryo]

I made some research based on the PN of the PCB: 109-A07500-00. I have seen this PN on various boards: ATi (BBA), Sapphire, PowerColor and a few others. What I don't know is if this PN is unique for a certain manufacturer (i.e. Sapphire sold those boards to all those producers), and if so, who made those PCB's?

My guess would go for Sapphire / ATi. For the 9700Pro "Red edition", I heard that Hercules, in need of PCB's, bought some lots from ATi (which were probably manufactured in Sapphire's assembly plants anyway). Probably is the same here...

 

[cryo]

C'mon, am I the only one to have a red Herc 9800 Pro? Nobody knows anything?