• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

9800 to 9800 Pro or 5900 to 5900 Ultra Overclock?

G

gramboh

Platinum Member
Hi there,

I'm currently trying to decide between a Sapphire Radeon 9800 and a LeadTek or Chaintech Geforce FX 5900 -- all 3 are around $380-400 CAD. Whichever one I get, I plan on overclocking to the next card level (9800 to 9800 Pro or 5900 to 5900 Ultra). From what I've read so far, the 5900 is an easier go as you only need to OC to core 50MHz whereas with the ATI you need to push both the core and memory up quite a bit, and some of the non--pro cards do not have fast enough memory to facilitate this.

I was wondering if anyone can comment on which OC is generally more attainable? Which has less of a heat problem etc. I've talked to a friend who has a 5900 @ 5900 Ultra speeds no problem and is very satisfied with the performance for the money.
 
The main reason why people get Geforce FX 5900 Ultras is for the 256MB of ram as for the 50Mhz Core is a joke and any Geforce FX 5900 can do this no problem i can get my Albatron Geforce FX 5900 to 500Mhz Core and the ram to 950
thats an extra 100Mhz for free 🙂 on ram and GPU

But the Albatron does have the largest heat sink fan out of all the Geforce FX 5900 cards ....

Leadteck i would say has the smallest heatsink under that Box casing is a small coppy thing thats pathetic .. i guess the two fans make up for it but then again the albatron has 3 fans 🙂 and a larger sink

Pick of Albatron Cooling

Both the Albatron and Leadtek cards are the two cheapest Geforce FX 5900 cards and both come with VIVO .. and free games but Albatrons better cooling is what made me get it out of the two ...

the other Geforce FX 5900 cards i'm guessing are good two but these are the only ones i know come with VIVO
 
Look on the internet for an Gigacube ATI Radeon 9800 it costs $260 🙂 now thats value for money

ohhh by the way have you thought about waiting a month the new Nvidia cards and ATI cards are comming out next month that will bring down price's .... if you must get a card now get the Gigacube 9800 for $260
 
videoclone, correct me if i'm wrong, but isnt only 2 of the 3 fans on the albatron fumctional at all times??? i thought the third fan was part of their backup system, when one fan fails the other kicks in
 
it is your right .... 🙂 ... BUT !!! all i said was the albatron has 3 fans 🙂 i didnt say they all spin lol hehe
 
Yeah, according to their diagram the third one only comes on if one of the other two die. So I'm assuming here that they made the diagram correctly..

As far as overclocking the nvidia should hit ultra speeds easier, for exactly the reason you've stated--some 9800's have the slow ram which won't allow this. If you do get a 9800 make sure you don't get some of that infineon crap. But yeah, if you're mostly concerened which will overclock better you're probably going to be better suited with a 5900.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. That Albatron looks badass. I said Leadtek because I had read that they produced high quality cards (like Gainward). I'm more limited by brand selection since I'd prefer to buy local for in store warranty instead of having to mail order but we will see. I might try to wait it out a month since I don't play any games now that need that fast of a card (until HL2) which is because I'm getting by on a GF2 GTS hehe.
 
I thought the Sapphire cards were better for OC, because they have the same RAM as the pro on their cards, meaning better RAM overclock?
Or am I wrong?
 
From what I've read at rage3d.com some Sapphires have the Samsung ram and some have Infenion. Also some cards seem to have 2.8ns ram and some have 3.3ns. And within each of these some cards OC really well and some don't, it seems to be random luck which is why I'm leaning toward the 5900 since I've yet to read about a card not reaching Ultra speeds.
 
Originally posted by: gramboh
From what I've read at rage3d.com some Sapphires have the Samsung ram and some have Infenion. Also some cards seem to have 2.8ns ram and some have 3.3ns. And within each of these some cards OC really well and some don't, it seems to be random luck which is why I'm leaning toward the 5900 since I've yet to read about a card not reaching Ultra speeds.
Click to expand...
My NewEgg Radeon 9800 (non-pro) came with Samsung 3.3.

 
My Saphire 9800 with 3.3ns memory does 700mhz with no signs of artifacts. I didn't even bother pushing it any higher because there isn't a game i have that lags on this card.
 
get the sapphire 9800np at newegg... those things overclock like magic... pretty much all will hit 9800 pro speeds... if it has samsung ram flash to the pro bios and never look back 😉
 
I believe the only difference between 5900 and 5900 Ultra is 50MHz of core speed. Also I *think* at this time, there are only 256meg ultras available and 128meg non-ultras available (someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but that is what I have seen). Another thing is all ultras seem to use the nvidia reference design/PCB (with the Nvidia logo on the heatsink) whereas the non-ultras seem to have custom heatsink/fan designs.

I've read over at Rage3D that some of the Sapphire 9800's have trouble getting up to speed on the memory side of things, but many people have no issues. I guess lots of people put heatsinks on the RAM using artic epoxy or whatever it is? People say when you OC that card the ram can get very hot otherwise.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top