128 or 256 meg radeon 9800

[Peks]

when the 256 meg version is released, who will buy the 256 meg or will you buy the 128 meg with lowered prices?

 

[CJP]

I've asked about this on a few forums and what people have said is that for today's games you won't see a big difference but for titles released in the next year it might come in handy. Some people too have told me that by the time 256mb is required, the video card will need to be updated anyway. Personally, I've decided to wait until the reviews come in and see what they say about the advantages of 256 MB.

I think if I do go 256MB, I'm going to buy the 256MB Radeon 9800 Non Pro version - I saw a picture of the Sapphire box at Gamers Depot - since I'm cpu limited to 2.6 ghz which would bottleneck me. Also, I just can't afford $750 Canadian for a video card so hopefully the non pro will be alot cheaper.

 

[pjcolon]

The 9800 Pro w/ 256 memory is going to be alot more expensive then you think because the memory ATI is putting on it is DDR-2 which is alot faster and more expensive than the current standard of DDR memory on current video cards. ATI is also making a 9800 Pro with 128 DDR-2 memory.

 

[Lonyo]

The 9800 PRO 128MB will not go down in price, the 256MB version will just be very expensive.

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
The 9800 PRO 128MB will not go down in price, the 256MB version will just be very expensive.

Thats what`ll probably happen. But ive heard from hexus.net that the 9800pro will retail at £300. About the same price as a Hercules 9700PRO at the moment
Will the 256mb DDR2 card, still have the 256bit memory bus? If it does, then theyve gotta increase the memory speeds, or there no point in the DDR2 memory is there.

Can you imagine what sort of frame rates you`d get with:
256mb DDR2 256bit memory @ 1000mhz
380mhz 9800 Core
Dam, that`d be fast. Mentaly fast.

 

[Fallen Kell]

You would only see a speed increase if the memory was the bottleneck on the card. I suspect that is not really the case anymore, but you never know. I'm wondering when the 9900 comes out. Its based on the same R350 chip, but havn't heard much other then rumors. What I was origionally told was that it would be released at the same time, with the 9900 being like an Ultra to the 9800

 

[BoomAM]

I heard that the 9900 is the 9800 with 256mb of memory.

 

[CJP]

Originally posted by: BoomAM
I heard that the 9900 is the 9800 with 256mb of memory.

In the picture from gamersdepot there was a 9800 pro box that said 256mb and a 9800 non pro that said 256mb. You're probably right though that the 9900 will be 256, just clocked even higher.

 

[BoomAM]

Interesting pictures there.
Personally, i think that there will be both 128mb and 256mb 9800 cards. And the 9900 will be a 9800(with 128mb & 256mb) with DDR2 in addition to the 256bit memory bus. Probably have higher clock speeds, and memory speeds as well. This will make the 9900 fall in line with the new naming sceme that ATI have introduced.

 

[CJP]

Yeah, I'd be all for a regular DDR 256 mb version of the 9800 Pro as I'm happy with the performance of the 9800 Pro and I'd like 256mb's but the $500 price on the DDR-2 version is out of reach for me budget wise.

 

[kylebisme]

256mb will give the possibility for more fsaa, as well as support down the road for games that really can use that much memory. over all i say it is like agpx8 on a gefoce4, it is cool but nothing to really get worked up about at this point.

 

[BoomAM]

Apart from FSAA, 256mb is overkill at the moment. Even the 3D goodness that is Doom3, only uses 80mb of texture memory.
By the end of the year, at the very earlyist, will the 256mb be needed. Games just aint that complex yet.

 

[BoomAM]

Oh i forgot.
If you think 256mb is alot (i do), then check out Reactor Critical, they have a news report on a 512mb 3D Labs Wildcat VP990 Pro card.
MENTAL.

 

[CJP]

I'm limited to a 2.6 ghz Pentium 4 for my upgrade. At that speed would 256MB be pointless? People say that it would be good for image quality at high res but from the Doom Alpha even with a 9800 I don't think I'll be playing at that high a res. What do you think?

 

[kylebisme]

yep, workstation cards tend to be a step ahead in stuff like amount of memory.

 

[BoomAM]

2.6ghz P4 limited? Yeah right!!! Im running a 9700pro on a XP1800 w/SDR memory.
Anyway.
I remember a few years back when i was still running my 486, and i saw a workstation card with 96mb of memory, and i was like whoa, thats just daft. Know one can ever use that much memory on a GFX card. And now 128mb is about to become the average amount of video memory. How times move.

 

[CJP]

Originally posted by: BoomAM
2.6ghz P4 limited? Yeah right!!! Im running a 9700pro on a XP1800 w/SDR memory.
Anyway.
I remember a few years back when i was still running my 486, and i saw a workstation card with 96mb of memory, and i was like whoa, thats just daft. Know one can ever use that much memory on a GFX card. And now 128mb is about to become the average amount of video memory. How times move.

Sorry, when I said limited I meant that that was the maximum speed that my motherboard will support, not that it's a slow speed. Thanks for the input Boom.

 

[kylebisme]

i would not worry about that too much; but i still argue that 256mb is not much to get excited about either way.

 

[BoomAM]

Sorry, when I said limited I meant that that was the maximum speed that my motherboard will support, not that it's a slow speed. Thanks for the input Boom.

Doesnt matter. Just a misunderstanding.
By the time 256mb is needed, these 9800/9900 and GF FX cards will be in the bargain bucket at your local computer store!!!

 

[touchmyichi]

I think its useless right now. Maybe in a year or 2 the 256 mb cards will help, but for now its really not necessary. There will probably not be any preformance difference. Besides isn't the 9800 pro 128 mb a screamer already? You'd do better saving that 100 bucks and taking a girl on a nice date.

 

[balder]

I'd rather spend the extra $100 on the card then on a date... at least I will have better luck with the card than with any date.

 

[SickBeast]

I'm wondering when the 9900 comes out. Its based on the same R350 chip, but havn't heard much other then rumors.

I have heard some very solid inside information that the 9900 will double the performance of R300-based cards (9700pro).

Also, Nvidia is supposedly working on the "NV35", which will double the performance of the GFFX 5800 ultra.

My guess is that the ATI solution will be DDR2 based with a 0.13 micron core running at high speed.

The Nvidia card will probably run on the 256-bit bus and will have an 8-pipe layout.

Remember that I'm speculating on alot of this, so please don't flame me

 

[kylebisme]

i think nvidia is dreaming when they say double, and though there might be rumors that ati is going to be double, i do belive that would be dreaming as well.

 

[SickBeast]

I think its useless right now. Maybe in a year or 2 the 256 mb cards will help, but for now its really not necessary.

256mb is very useful for 3d-modeling and such (which I do plenty of). Also, DoomIII is just around the corner, and you can fairly certain that it will take advantage of 256mb.

You're right tho, I don't know of a game right now that uses that much video memory. Simcity 4 maybe?

 

[BFG10K]

It would be nice to have a 256 MB board but unfortunately at this stage it's probably going to be pretty price prohibitive to get one and the benefits wouldn't really be worth it. I'd get the 128 MB version and not worry about the 256 MB cards for the moment, at least not until the next generation of cards and games arrive.