9700Pro or 9800Pro?

[RSanders]

I was searching through the Video section of the forum for 9700pro. I kept reading topics where people were saying that the 9800Pro would down into the $150+ range.. It is still at $200 basically (NEW).. so I am going to order the 9700Pro from Ebay for $140+shipping. I am on a budget, I have maxed out my budget with the 9700Pro.

Now... should I wait after the holiday's and get the 9800pro (for roughly the same price as this 9700pro with shipping), or should I get this 9700pro? I know the performance between the two isn't a whole lot, but a decent amount I guess.

Eh.. What would you guys do? Get the 9700pro for $155(that is with shipping) or wait till after the holidays because the 9800pro supposedly will be going down in price a large margin(according to posts on here).

 

[2Xtreme21]

Go for the 9700pro. As you said, the difference is minimal and the 9800pro price "going down" is circumstantial at best. I don't think it would drop down any lower than $180.

 

[dguy6789]

The difference between them can be as much as 30%, and as little as 5. Depending on res and aa/af levels. I would do whatever you wanted. Either card will run pretty much any game real well. If you cant wait and must play games now, get the 9700 pro, but if you can wait it out, I would wait for the 9800pro.

 

[edmundoab]

average improvements , not OCed is generally 10%.
well I think the 9800 pro have a better heatsink compared to the 9700 pro.

but its sufficient with stock speeds away. I'd say go for 9700 pro

 

[RSanders]

I bought the 9700 Pro. Now I hope it gets here before Christmas.

 

[edmundoab]

all the best to you, and we hope it will be a great item for you merry christmas in advance!

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
The difference between them can be as much as 30%, and as little as 5. Depending on res and aa/af levels. I would do whatever you wanted. Either card will run pretty much any game real well. If you cant wait and must play games now, get the 9700 pro, but if you can wait it out, I would wait for the 9800pro.

30%? :Q

Theoretical specs puts the 9800P at ~10-15% faster on average, in line with the memory and core clock speed bumps. I know the 9800P core was supposed to have gotten some tweaks, but I don't think that would lead to a speed boost double the theoretical numbers (aside from maybe a benchmark anomaly).

Unless you know a 9800P will OC better (percentage-wise, as an improvement over stock speeds), I wouldn't pay more than ~15% more for a 9800P than a 9700P.

 

[aatf510]

Did you get a brand new 9700Pro from ebay? $140 sounds quite expensive to me.

 

[Pciber]

I just bought a used 9800 pro from ebay, $160 after shipping

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: Pete

Originally posted by: dguy6789
The difference between them can be as much as 30%, and as little as 5. Depending on res and aa/af levels. I would do whatever you wanted. Either card will run pretty much any game real well. If you cant wait and must play games now, get the 9700 pro, but if you can wait it out, I would wait for the 9800pro.

30%? :Q

Theoretical specs puts the 9800P at ~10-15% faster on average, in line with the memory and core clock speed bumps. I know the 9800P core was supposed to have gotten some tweaks, but I don't think that would lead to a speed boost double the theoretical numbers (aside from maybe a benchmark anomaly).

Unless you know a 9800P will OC better (percentage-wise, as an improvement over stock speeds), I wouldn't pay more than ~15% more for a 9800P than a 9700P.

Yes 30%.

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1794&p=3

And keep in mind, those scores you see there are with the 9800 pro DOWNCLOCKED to 9700 pro speeds.

 

[Matthias99]

To be fair, it's only around 30% with maximum AA and maximum *quality* AF (which would be unusably slow with many newer games at some of the settings they tested). With "performance" AF, it's only a 9% difference at most.

 

[LocutusX]

Interesting.

I've always used "Quality" AF, although I tend to turn off AA for most games.

Currently running my 9800Pro with a 9800XT bios, a 20% core overclock and 12% memory overclock.
Wouldn't be surprised if it's "matching" the 6600GT AGP in many games.

Glad I got a 9800Pro instead of a 9700 variant. Since mine uses the XT's R360 GPU, flashing to an XT BIOS enabled certain hardware-level shader tweaks which gave me a free 100-350 points in the newer 3DMarks. Possibly some real-world gaming improvement as well (in something like Far Cry?) but haven't checked.

What's also interesting is that I paid CAD$300 for a built-by-ATI 9800pro retail box in May of this year. But the price hasn't changed!

I don't think I would pay that much NOW for one, seeing as how I can get a 6600GT AGP for $250-300.

 

[Brian48]

The 9700Pro is still a great card. I still have both a 9700Pro and 9800Pro my backup machines. The only real advantage to the 9800Pro over the older card is that I get to run all my games one resolution higher without a performance hit. Other than that, they're pretty much the same. I would say that unless you have a 19" or 21" monitor, you're probably better off with the 9700Pro anyway.

 

[kamranziadar]

9800 pro

 

[Fern]

What's also interesting is that I paid CAD$300 for a built-by-ATI 9800pro retail box in May of this year. But the price hasn't changed!

Yup, bought mine here in the States in May for $200. Whew, glad I did. Got to enjoy Far Cry and D3. Hard to believe here we are in December and the price hasn't come down

 

[SneakyStuff]

Got my 9700p for about $135 on ebay, love it to death, and it runs all my games perfectly, just get whichever one is cheaper, and there ya go (I don't think you'll be unhappy with either one)

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
Yes 30%.

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1794&p=3

And keep in mind, those scores you see there are with the 9800 pro DOWNCLOCKED to 9700 pro speeds.

Thos are outdated scores. Here're more recent ones, with a 9700P, (real) 9800, and 9800P. When the 9800P came out, it used new/beta drivers that had AA/AF efficiency improvements that the 9700P's drivers didn't have. Those improvements later made it into the regular drivers (first courtesy of Omega, then from ATi), so the current differences should be within theoretical specs.

There is the odd outlier, though. I think one of Anand's recent reviews showed the 9700P doing surprisingly badly compared to the 9800P in Far Cry or Doom 3 or something, but that was just one game, and I don't think other sites showed the same difference.

 

[Pete]

Also, to the OP, US$140+ is silly for a 9700P at this point. Get this instead: $215 MSI 6600GT AGP w/VIVO. Stretch your budget, it's definitely worth it (extra speed, less power with 2D, plus VIVO and component out). It'll have a higher resale value, too. The MSI cooler should be reasonably quiet as MSI has been making them that way recently.

Or find a used 9700P for closer to $110.

 

[GreenMonkey]

Yeah, 9800pro prices have been stubbornly stable. A few months back when I got my 9800pro, there were multiple refurbs available on newegg, etc for $145-$170. I got my refurb MSI 9800pro (same core as XT) for $170. Now they are non-existent. Must be all the new games.

I agree that you should save up a little more and get a 6600GT. If you know you won't have the cash, then go ahead and get the 9700pro. I see some auctions in the previous ebay history that ended @ $150ish shipped...if you keep an eye out perhaps you can get one.

 

[agentbad]

i would look around some other forums before you go buy one off ebay. just saw one for 125 and another for 114.