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9500 Pro to 9800 Pro 128: is it worth it?

K

KJW

Member
I have a Radeon 9500 Pro running on a P4 2.53 500 FSB system with 512 DDR RAM. I bought a 9800 Pro 128 from Best Buy today for $179. Figuring I can get at least $80 for my 9500 Pro on e-bay, is it worth $100 to go from the 9500 to the 9800? Will I see an appreciable performance increase in gaming? I am particularly interested in how games like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 will play -- it seems that I move from a low-end system to a mid-range system with the 9800 according to the Doom 3 articles I have seen. Finally, is the 9800 Pro crippled at all by not having 256 RAM?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
depends at that price I bet you got a 128bit 9800 which sucks and is not much better than what you got. you can tell by if the memory is in a L arangement or a I arangement
 
the box -- which I have not opened yet -- says ATI Radeon 9800 PRO with 128 MB DDR and 256-bit memory interface. Its an ATI-built board. Doesn't give the core speed of the processor or RAM though. However, if you are thinking its a 9800 and not a pro, it is clearly a PRO card.

But out of curiosity, what shape should the memory be in?
 
If it says 256bit then it is 256bit. Dont worry, youll now if it isn't then if that happens just send it back and get another one.

-Kevin
 
The memory should be in an L shape, 8 chips total. 4 on the front, 4 on the back.

I don't suppose you could provide the model # of the card in this thread? You may have an R360 cored card, if so you can flash it into an XT!! My card is older and has an R350 core. I can't flash it.
 
The model # will be on a sticker on the card itself and also on the outside of the box. It should start with 109-

And I don't think that's what he was getting at, it was probably the cost of the card. That was a really good deal...
 
I don't know how this thread got to be about serial numbers and what not. But to answer your question, yes it's worth the 100 bucks. You'll see a noticable difference and you'll PROBABLY (no gaurantees) be able to play d3 and hl2 in most of it's glory. You're not missing much even if it's an 128mb card. Benchmarks have shown that the extra mem are really only useful for playing at high resolutions (1600x1200) with FSAA/AF on.
 
I asked about the serial # as one can tell with some certainty which core is on the card based on the serial #. If the guy got a R360 core card it is DEFINITELY worth the $100 or so. Well worth it.

🙂
 
Originally posted by: KJW
Is that what FalloutBoy was getting at -- this may not be a 256 bit card?
Click to expand...

Yes. YOu're fine though. I think he misinterpreted your title...the 128 which I believe you meant to represent 128 megs he thought was 128 bit. At least that's what I gathered from reading the posts. The ones at Best Buy I've seen on sale today were the regular 256 bit one.
 
It's a Pro/256-bit for sure. And yes, the upgrade is worth it!

I don't think there even are retail boxed "built by ATI 9800 Pro" cards with a 128-bit memory bus, and Best Buy doesn't sell them even if they do have them.
 
I was at BB yesturday and they were regular 256bit 9800 Pro's 250 - 70 check or whatever. Pretty good deal I thought, but I already have a 6800 GT on order sooo... My 9500 Pro is a great card would I upgrade it for a 9800 Pro probably not. I 'm sure there is a difference but not a HUGE amount IMO. I went ahead and bought the GT cause well I could getit for 301 from CUSA though they still havn't deliverd it yet... and because it should be atleast 3x faster than my current card. The 9800 Pro isn't even twice as fast and probably won't be able to notice an THAT much of an improvment.

Though I guess on reality it depends on your budget. IF you want that little bit more so you can play with highier AA and AF then its a decent deal.

Either way from what I have seen on FS/FT 9500 Pro's have been going for highier than 80. I just saw a couple go for 95.
 
Thank you all for your input, its extremely helpful.

Now for one last question -- do I need to delete all the ATI software/drivers, swap out the cards and then re-install everything, or can I just put the 9800 in and the ATI software/driver/XP OS will correctly recognize it? I just upgraded the drivers so I would hate to waste time doing it again if I did not have to.

Thanks again everyone.
 
I used to have a 9500Pro. I'd say it was worth it to upgrade to a 9800Pro, especially if the cost is only approximately $100. 3dmark03 aside, you'll notice a sizable amount of improvement in performance across the board. Go for it.
 
Originally posted by: KevinH
Originally posted by: KJW
Is that what FalloutBoy was getting at -- this may not be a 256 bit card?
Click to expand...

Yes. YOu're fine though. I think he misinterpreted your title...the 128 which I believe you meant to represent 128 megs he thought was 128 bit. At least that's what I gathered from reading the posts. The ones at Best Buy I've seen on sale today were the regular 256 bit one.
Click to expand...

no I was just looking at the price and thing worst buy was trying to pull something but I see its a BBA and I don't think ATI themselfs are putting out the nuterd 9800s I think its only saphire and a few others.
 
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