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$500 for a Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB???

mykismet

Junior Member
Hi ppl,

Can you imagine paying $500+ for a Gigabyte Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB??? What do you think of it? Good deal or rediculous.
 
no
first of all $500 is way too much for a graphics card, second of all 256mb is too much for todays games and tomorrows games, 128mb is enough
 
Welcome to the forums mykismet. 256MB video cards are largely a waste, and not worth their horrendously inflated price tags. A 128MB 9800 Pro will run you about $300 (I think) and perform similarly. The small bit of future-proofing that the extra memory gives you isn't worth the $200 that you could spend down the road on a card that will walk all over the 9800s.
 
Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress
Welcome to the forums mykismet. 256MB video cards are largely a waste, and not worth their horrendously inflated price tags. A 128MB 9800 Pro will run you about $300 (I think) and perform similarly. The small bit of future-proofing that the extra memory gives you isn't worth the $200 that you could spend down the road on a card that will walk all over the 9800s.
I bought mine for around $380 but that was months ago. And the 256MB cards are a total waste of money, with VERY minimal performance increase. By the time 256MB is necessary the R9800Pro will b obselete, just like a GF4 TI4200 128MB, that card is low end now.
 
Welcome,
I refuse to spend such large amounts on hardware full stop, mainly due to the fact it'll become useless within a few years 🙂
 
I've been contemplating whether i should get a 256 card (when the XT are released) or stick to 128. I'm just waiting for some reviews that compare them to 128 but at higher resolutions. I play at 1920x1200 and higher only, so the extra memory might be worth it.
 
Originally posted by: Moralpanic
I've been contemplating whether i should get a 256 card (when the XT are released) or stick to 128. I'm just waiting for some reviews that compare them to 128 but at higher resolutions. I play at 1920x1200 and higher only, so the extra memory might be worth it.

why just 1920x1200?

3840x2400 is the only way to fly
 
The extra memory is worth 'something' at higher res, but it's not much. I heard the card runs hot, so I'm quite happy with 128m until they get a few generations going and are comfortable with the heat level. 😉
 
you'd be a fool to buy the first 256 card to hit the markets. wait, or get a good car now for $200. unless you have $500 to spend on a card that wont work any better on existing games (5-10% isnt worht the extra $300)
 
man...if you can afford a top of the line card i got the 9800 Pro 256mb for 30 bucks over the cost of a 128. Dont let all these jealous bastards talk you out of it...Its a solid purchase ESPECIALLY if you find a deal.
 
I think it is a complete rip off, given that the card doesn't perform much better (if there is any improvement at all) than a 128 MB model of the same card.
 
It wouldn't be wort it to get a 256 because by the time we will ACTUALLY need that, everything will be switched over to PCI-Express and AGP will be obsolete. So anyone who bought a 256 r9800 pro is not very smart with their money
 
Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress
Welcome to the forums mykismet. 256MB video cards are largely a waste, and not worth their horrendously inflated price tags. A 128MB 9800 Pro will run you about $300 (I think) and perform similarly. The small bit of future-proofing that the extra memory gives you isn't worth the $200 that you could spend down the road on a card that will walk all over the 9800s.

Couldn't have said it better myself...

That $200 is going to by you a WHOLE new card.

Not worth it AT ALL.
 
Thanks for your opinion ppl. I might consider a 128MB version but any ideas on how it will perform in new games like Half-Life2 & Doom3? I will most likely to play in 1024X768X32bit with all bells 'n' whistles enabled and also at least 4X AA enabled.
 
Originally posted by: 50
It wouldn't be wort it to get a 256 because by the time we will ACTUALLY need that, everything will be switched over to PCI-Express and AGP will be obsolete. So anyone who bought a 256 r9800 pro is not very smart with their money

Same here.:beer:😀
 
Originally posted by: mykismet
Thanks for your opinion ppl. I might consider a 128MB version but any ideas on how it will perform in new games like Half-Life2 & Doom3? I will most likely to play in 1024X768X32bit with all bells 'n' whistles enabled and also at least 4X AA enabled.

If you want to play Doom III and HL2, wait for the games to hit the shelves before you buy a card specifically for those games. Cards will be cheaper, and faster cards will be out if you want to take that plunge.
 
Cheaper alternative:

Sapphire Radeon 9800 NP OEM from newegg/mwave/allstarshop for $250, flash it with PRo bios.


256MB is a waste, there are NO titles that will benefit from it YET.
 
I only got one because I didnt have to pay extra for it, its going back though when 9800XT 256 comes out 🙂
 
I believe the 9800TX is just the next update to the 9800. It will offer better performance via GPU and memory Clock speed and possibly more feature rich. I doubt that there will be any improvments to the accual Processing unit for the fact that ATI has now switched to a 24 month cycle, i think! so every 24 months they will come out with new graphic cards with new extentions in the GPU and the others will just be updates to the current release.

EDIT: 256MB is not needed in any current games because it is not supported, but will be use in doom3, HALO, HL2, etc. Now knowing that, 256MB probably wont be needed because the bottleneck will be the GPU not memory. HL2 ate up the 9800 pro (hl2 fps @ 60 with all eyecandy on) and the 5900FX U (hl2 fps @30 all eyecandy). With all the updates of products coming out in the next several months, best bet is to wait and see how performs the best.

All information is recalled from memory and is not Guaranteed to be 100% accurate! 😉
 
I thought it was 12 months? so the 9800XT is the 6 month product and the spring 2004 product will be the successor to the 9800 line
 
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