Which 9800 Pro should I go for ?

[Iva]

HIS IceQ 9800 Pro 128 or OEM 9800 Pro 256Mb ? Which do I go for guys they are around the same price the HIS card O/C better but I intend to keep this card for at least 2 years & most high end cards are 256Mb ... I am sure this will help when games are being geared around higher bandwidth PCI-E busses as the extra VGA Ram will mean less swapping with system Ram. But the HIS is a fast mofo & I get a decent warranty & some games included in the bungle...
BTW I am using a 19" TFT so my native res is 1280x1024 .
Your thoughts would be of interest.
TTFN Iva.
:t

[_Mystical_Night]

if it was me id get the OEM ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256Mb ... who cares about the games ?? just wait until their really cheap and buy them for like $10-$20 maybe cheaper on ebay

just make sure you buy from a place thats good with oems like newegg.com... they even offer extended warrentys on some products for like $4 extra

[rusty4x4]

Usually, the games bundled with some of these cards are really really marginal. I bought a 9600 Pro for my daughter's machine and we got all excited about the TombRaider game that came with it.

The game was a huge disappointment, as were the other titles that came with it. So bottom line: please don't pick a card based on the bundled games.

[Direct1]

I would get the 128 MB version. Usually, the 256 MB versions use slower RAM and no games require that much yet anyway.

ATI RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB DDR w/ CRT, TVO, & DVI - OEM (http://www.buyxtremegear.com/r9800pro128.html) = $206 USD + $3 to $6 for S/H

or

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-268&depa=0) = $212 USD shipped.

Good luck! :D

[RamonGTP]

Yeah, definatly don't pick a card based on games... Sometimes you get lucky and get some pretty cool games. Games that come with video cards as mentioned are just a gimmick and rarely show the full potential of the card.

I have had nice expierences with games bundled with Audigy2 cards however... My platinum card came with Soldier of Fortune 2, and Hitman 2... My friends came with Ranbow Six: Raven Shield.

[bob05]

Originally posted by _Mystical_Night
if it was me id get the OEM ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256Mb ...

I agree with Mystical Night. The 9800 Pro is fast enough to take advantage of the 256 megs of ram. And unless the maker is using 3.3ns or slower, then you probably won't notice the difference between 2.2ns and 2.4ns anyway. I would go for the 256 meg version. :t

[Yoshi]

The 9800
Pro might be able to handle it, but the games can't, heck the new games don't even really take all the 128MB. Get a 9800 Pro 128MB fro Newegg, wait a year or two then get a 256MB PCI-X graphics card with DX 9.1+ that will be a better card, and games that take 256MB should start popping up around then :t

[_Mystical_Night]

Originally posted by Iva
I intend to keep this card for at least 2 years & most high end cards are 256Mb ... I am sure this will help when games are being geared around higher bandwidth PCI-E busses as the extra VGA Ram will mean less swapping with system Ram.

:p

[Direct1]

Originally posted by Yoshi
The 9800 Pro might be able to handle it, but the games can't, heck the new games don't even really take all the 128MB. Get a 9800 Pro 128MB fro Newegg, wait a year or two then get a 256MB PCI-X graphics card with DX 9.1+ that will be a better card, and games that take 256MB should start popping up around then :t
Exactly. Also, the 256 MB version is $97 more. That cannot be justified for no improvement at all. Good luck! :D

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 256MB DDRII, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -OEM (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-340&depa=0) = $309 USD shipped.

[Iva]

LOL well guys this is looking quite interesting in that we seem to have a bias towards the 256 card with some hard core 128ers making a good point . I am based in the UK so my sources would be UK providers . I recon my best option is to sit tight until the R420 comes out & check out prices then or see if anyone knows where I can get a cheap 128Mb Pro . Thanks every onefor your input time to put up another post.:p

[G]

I went for the Gigabyte 9800 Pro 128MB as it was reputed to be the best around. If you can get the 256MB version for not much more then go for that but it will not make a remarkable different so I would not recommend buying over the odds for it, with respect to the 128MB version.

http://tw.giga-byte.com/VGA/Products/Products_Radeon9800PRO.htm


To buy start from here:

http://www.dabs.com/uk/shopbybrand/gigabyte/ProductView.htm?quicklinx=2LP9

http://www.dabs.com/uk/shopbybrand/gigabyte/ProductView.htm?quicklinx=2MQC

Seems as if the 256MB is now cheaper than the 128MB at Dabs.

G

[bob05]

Originally posted by G
Seems as if the 256MB is now cheaper than the 128MB at Dabs.


Yeah, if the 256MB version is cheaper, then I think that's exactly what someone should get. Why not? :t