radeon 9800 non-pro

[mike88]

in australia..... i came across a power color radeon 9800 non-pro for $500 AUD whereas the pro version usually costs $750+, and a gigabyte 9600 pro costs around $375... is it worth it? is the 9800 non-pro a good card which will last for games like doom 3 or HL2?

thx

 

[JHoxley]

I'd say you were fine...

look around futuremark.com and someones posted the requirements for Doom-3, and the top-quality/high end was a 9700pro with 2.7g's CPU (iirc)...

you're 9800 vanilla should do the trick just fine.

Jack

 

[speeduk]

The 9800 non pro is just a 9700pro basically. Same clock rate with just little software benefits for the 9800...

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6790821" target="_new"> MY RIG </A>
<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=1065087" target="_new"> 3D-03 </A>
<font color=red> 120% overclocker </font color=red> (cheapskate)

 

[JHoxley]

hmm, thats interesting...

so in practice there's little difference between a 9700 pro and a 9800 non-pro..

what are the software differences?

am curious now, cos as soon as I ship my awful FX-5900 I'm gonna be buying an ATI 9800

Jack

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

You'd best ask DAVE. There are supposedly also some slight architecture differences. There were some benchmarks (a long time ago so I doubt I'll be able to find them but check for reviews around the R9800s release) running an R9700Pro with hacked 9800Bios which showed the 9800Pro still perf. better (at equal speeds). The HRDWR tweaks are supposed to be VERY minor, and 99% of the performance differences can be achieved by flashing the bios. However since you are doing more than just 'playing games' you really should ask someone who knows for sure. I know they mentioned something in that review but really I have no idea what it was.
However they are VERY close and it was like only 2 minor diff. from what I remember.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK

 

[cleeve]

I believed the main difference is optimizations for shadows with the 9800.

(I've heard stories that these "optimizations" are actually "fixes" for problems that the 9700 GPU had with handling stencil shadows that caused it to work alot slower than spec'd. But the 9700 works pretty damn well with the Doom3 beta so I don't know how much of a difference it's make)

------------------
Radeon 9500 w/256 bit memory bus @ 367/310
AMD AthlonXP 2000+
3dMark03: 3439

 

[halem111]

so i dont get it what is the diffence between em i heard the 9800 had slower clock speeds why is this shoudnt they be better means its abit more expensive. whats the 9800 like to oc does it go higher than the 9700 pro. wanted a 9700 pro but wud i be wise to go with the 9800 np i have enuf money for both.

 

[cleeve]

I really don't think it matters all that much.

Whichever overclocks better is your best bet, really.
Find out which card has more overhead. This is more based on the manufacturer because they all use different memory.

------------------
Radeon 9500 w/256 bit memory bus @ 367/310
AMD AthlonXP 2000+
3dMark03: 3439

 

[JHoxley]

You'd best ask DAVE

seems like the guy is resident fountain of knowledge round here

to be honest, asking ATI (devrel@ati.com) is usually good enough. I find their honesty* and friendliness quite surprising for a company they're size! I haven't asked them this question, but it would not surprise me to get an answer fairly close to what<i>TheGreatGrapeApe</i> came up with!

I'll still go with the 9800 pro, as long as I can sell my FX-5900

Jack

*not 100% I'm sure, but pretty good track record for a multi-national corporation they're size!

 

[Willamette_sucks]

The main differences are, as Crash said, the optimized z-buffer (optimized to better handle stencil values), and the F-buffer, for super long shader lenghts (although this isnt too important in practice).

Also they say that theyve 'optimized' the various caches. Whatever that does I don't know!

"Mice eat cheese." - Modest Mouse

"Every Day is the Right Day." -Pink Floyd

 

[JHoxley]

Whatever that does I don't know!

haha, good point... in truth, we mere mortals will probably never understand properly what it is the ATI, Nvidia, AMD, Intel (etc...) electrical engineers get up to!!

all we can hope to do is interpret the random press-releases / media hypes and benchmarks into some meaningful order before we part with our cash.

Even that can be wrong, as I found out at great expense with my crappy GeForce FX-5900

Jack