Rethink about 9800 Pro/NPro after HL2!

[baldurga]

Hi to everybody,

I would like to set this tread away from Nvidia flaming and joking and focus on the real juice we can get out of it.

After reading Anandtech's review and as some of you remark on other treads, seems that memory bandwith will not be in the future what limits the performance of a GPU. Or at least, will be a "second" bottleneck specially for mid-high end cards.

The reason is raw power executing DX9. Under this perspective, I think that now the 9800 NP model is even more appealing than before. Why? Usually for 9800 models what limits you clearly is memory rating (ns), but you can overclock the core (GPU itself) without problems. Luckily heat is not an issue as the core runs at very reasonable temps.

To sum up, it would better be that buying 9800 NP and overclocking GPU we can get almost the performance of 9800Pro on DX9 games. Time will tell.

My two cents.


Still looking for a <b>good online retailer</b> in Spain :frown:

 

[jmecor]

To sum up, it would better be that buying 9800 NP and overclocking GPU we can get almost the performance of 9800Pro on DX9 games. Time will tell.

As what you have seen in those benchmarks.
YES. Ati is the way to go for now.

We have just to wait what will Detonator FX 50.xx can do in the geforcefx family.

<font color=red>If your nose <b>RUNS</b>, and feet <b>SMELL</b>.
Then you must be born <b>UPSIDE DOWN</b>.</font color=red>

 

[jurians]

hmm i think your right.... just never thought of it....

 

[baldurga]

Sorry, I should have post a link. <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1863&p=11" target="_new">Here it is</A>. It takes you directly to the conclusion page.

Also, AFAIK the new ATI 9800XP will increase core and memory speeds. But if there is not new technology, again, we will be better served with a 9800NP or maybe Pro version (it depends on how prices go down after the new GPU hits the market).

So as far as no new technilogy is introduced to improve efficiency or the core (that's another point that would be worth to pay for) is build in 0.13 process (higher clock, less power requirements and less heat), the best option will be lower version of 9800. In other words, best bang for the buck and also very close to top version when playing DX9 games!


Still looking for a <b>good online retailer</b> in Spain :frown:

 

[TheRod]

We have just to wait what will Detonator FX 50.xx can do in the geforcefx family.

Read the thread about Aquamark 3 benchs with Det 51.75 (I think). You will notice that IQ is very different from ATI to nVidia, in favor of ATI. But, we can't say the DET 50 will necessarly cut much in image quality, because there is no "official" Detonator 50 available. I hope the best for nVidia, they need this to compete well against ATI right now.

--
Would you buy a GPS enabled soap bar?

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

because there is no "official" Detonator 50 available

And people wonder why they didn't benchmark with the Det 50s in HL2. I would say that's a good answer there. Whatever there results would have been with the net Dets nV would have just said, 'Well it's not finalized yet... they arne't official, the official versions will be fine.'

If it's not a certified driver, then it's not worthy of really benchmarking. I do hope that there are improvements with the Det 50s, but from everything we've seen so far (and the Beta is the only non-rumour we've got) it's not looking as promising as promised.



- 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