Which to get the 9800 or 9700 Pro

[Cane1992]

They have about the same benchmarks and I have found them around the same price.

9800 (regular version not SE) vs. 9700 Pro

Any opinions???

Thanks to any and all replies...

 

[aznThunder]

The 9800 is (very) slightly superior to the 9700 Pro, IMO. For the same price, the placebo effect of having "Smartshader 2.1" would lead me to the 9800.

As always, there's the tripe about "how long are you willing to wait, the new cards are just around the corner!!!!!" Just remember that the new ATi cards could be here in a month, sending the 9800s to the bargain bin.

"I've got a great new idea for a value product-line! We charge the customer the same price, and we give them a slower product!"
"How is that a value?"
"Oh, it's a value for us, of course."

 

[cleeve]

Depends...

If you don't plan to overclock, go 9700 PRO. The 9700 PRO has better rated memory than a 9800 non-pro.

If you plan to overclock, go 9800. the 9800 non-pro's core will usually overclock much higher than the 9700 PRO's core.

As far as the 9800's smartshader enhancements, I've yet to see these make a difference in an actual game. At identical clockspeeds, the 9700 and 9800 are identical. Stock, the 9700 PRO usually has the edge over the 9800 non-pro because the memory is running faster so it has superior bandwidth.

________________
<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]

What Cleeve said.

 

[pauldh]

I agree that they are about identical. We are talking what 1 fps difference between them.

Only thing I question, is the 9700 pro pickier on power supply's? Reason I ask is I had a BBA 9500 Pro. With it and a Antec 350watt, i had stability issues overclocking my XP2500+ to 3200+ speeds. But with a Ti4200 or BBA Radeon 9800 non Pro I had no stability issues. Again it was only when overclcoking and boosting the VCore and DDR voltages. So I assumed the 9500 Pro and 9700 pro may have more demanding power requirements and my Antec couldn't quite cut it. Either that or it was just a fluke. I never tried to disconnect any drives and test it that way as it was really just for some benchmarking. I could be wrong and probably am. But it just makes me feel the R9800 is a bit better than the 9700 Pro, even if not so in performance.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[GeneticWeapon]

Good point Paul. The 9500/9700 Pro's <b>sometimes</b> had problems with power/supplies. My 9500Pro had lines that rolled up my screen(very annoying)

<A HREF="http://rmitz.org/AYB3.swf" target="_new">All your base are belong to us.</A>
<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=2106920" target="_new"><b>3DMark03</b></A>

 

[baldurga]

My vote for 9800. I don't know your budget, but a 9800Pro from serious retailer can be found for $212. Here you have the <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-268&catalog=48&depa=0" target="_new">link</A>

IMO those extra $ are worth.

Hope this helps.


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