9800Pro Still a good card?

[mettleh3d]

Do you guys think 9800Pro is still a good VGA card?
How many games actually take the 128mb of video memory?

edit: Also, how come there are no 9800xts for sale anymore? Is it becasue the pro can be clocked to an XT anyway?

 

[Mo0o]

I'm using a pro with the XT core and it serves my purposes. Obviously you wont be able to run things on max settings but you get very good framerates at medium settings. I played through part of Doom3, all of HL2 and Riddick w/ this and dont plan on changing for a while.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

We're all fine for the next year or year and a half, then we'll have to start thinking about changing oru resolution, decreasing the detail...etc.

Yeah the pro can be changed to an XT. Get a program called ATI Tool, and there should be a "Dump Bios To File" button. That'll give you all the bios information - and then the first few lines should say somethign like R480 or R490 (I can't remember at the top of my head). If it's an R490 (again, I don't remmeber the number) then it's an XT and you can flash it. If it's the lower of the two numbers then you can't flash it.

Although the 9800Pro os 128MB, it's still 256-bit.

 

[Thorny]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy

Yeah the pro can be changed to an XT. Get a program called ATI Tool, and there should be a "Dump Bios To File" button. That'll give you all the bios information - and then the first few lines should say somethign like R480 or R490 (I can't remember at the top of my head). If it's an R490 (again, I don't remmeber the number) then it's an XT and you can flash it. If it's the lower of the two numbers then you can't flash it.

You CANNOT find the core version in the bios. The 9800pro will show the r350 core in the bois no matter what. The xt uses the r360 core which almost all new pro cards come with now, but may not run at xt speeds. The cooling will need to be upgraded on the card no matter what, you can see what core you have then.

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
We're all fine for the next year or year and a half, then we'll have to start thinking about changing oru resolution, decreasing the detail...etc.

Yeah the pro can be changed to an XT. Get a program called ATI Tool, and there should be a "Dump Bios To File" button. That'll give you all the bios information - and then the first few lines should say somethign like R480 or R490 (I can't remember at the top of my head). If it's an R490 (again, I don't remmeber the number) then it's an XT and you can flash it. If it's the lower of the two numbers then you can't flash it.

Although the 9800Pro os 128MB, it's still 256-bit.

R350 = 9800Pro core
R360 = 9800XT core

Sapphire also made a 128-bit 9800Pro so be careful if you are going to purchase one.

Most people recommend on this forum to get the 6600GT if you can spare the extra $$$ for one. I believe the usual difference is about $30-40.

Im planning to keep my 9800 Pro in my gaming rig for the next 8 months at the very minimum, perhaps even until the end of 2006. Im not having much trouble sustaining 1024x768 or 1280x1024 at low to medium settings but then again, I can play FPSes with ~20 frames minimum quite fine.

 

[Philippine Mango]

bah I'm hearing a lot of bullshit being spoken here... For one thing the only way to know if you have an R360 core is to remove the HSF from the card and inspect it. It will either say R350 or 360, if you've got a 360 then thats what you got which means you'll likely be able to successfully flash the bios on that bad boy to an XT bios (better overclocking). I lost the link to the site at the moment but there was a site with pictures of different video cards and told you which one to buy to get what ever feature. I think there was a particular 9800 card like the 9800SE (but with a specific memory pattern) that could be flashed all the way to an XT.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: Philippine Mango
bah I'm hearing a lot of bullshit being spoken here... For one thing the only way to know if you have an R360 core is to remove the HSF from the card and inspect it.

Oh.... becuase I swear to god I saw this guide last year saying "You can do a 'Dump Bios' in ATI Tool and it'll tell you"

When I checked the dumped bios, it said R350 (thanks for the model number information, it's been a year so I forgot)

 

[Greenman]

Back on topic, the 9800pro is still a good card. I run a 9800pro and a 6600gt and can't tell any differance. Everyone says the GT is better, but you can't tell without bencmarks.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html

 

[apoppin]

Wanna know the truth about flashing a 9800p to XT?

ONLY the 256bit/256MB version of the r360 9800p can be flashed to a "true" xt/

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=92&var2=0">
Radeon 9800 Pro To Radeon 9800XT Mod Guide Rev. 6.0!
</a>

Why no 9800XTs for sale? ATi didn't make very many compared to the regular 9800p - it was way too expensive . . . ANYway i have one and will be selling it pretty soon.

AND the 9800p is still a nice card - IF you can get it cheaper than the 6600gt [which outperforms it].

 

[mettleh3d]

in conclusion, the 128mb pro card CANNOT be flashed to an xt. the xt is a 256mb card

 

[Philippine Mango]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy

Originally posted by: Philippine Mango
bah I'm hearing a lot of bullshit being spoken here... For one thing the only way to know if you have an R360 core is to remove the HSF from the card and inspect it.

Oh.... becuase I swear to god I saw this guide last year saying "You can do a 'Dump Bios' in ATI Tool and it'll tell you"

When I checked the dumped bios, it said R350 (thanks for the model number information, it's been a year so I forgot)

Why in the hell would a 9800pro with an R360 core have an R360 bios? If it did, it would be detected as a Radeon 9800XT, the only way to know is by physically inspecting the chip.

 

[Philippine Mango]

Originally posted by: mettleh3d
in conclusion, the 128mb pro card CANNOT be flashed to an xt. the xt is a 256mb card

not true, I had a friend who had a card with an R360 core and flashed it to a 9800XT. It's just a 9800XT with 128MB of video memory.

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: Philippine Mango

Originally posted by: mettleh3d
in conclusion, the 128mb pro card CANNOT be flashed to an xt. the xt is a 256mb card

not true, I had a friend who had a card with an R360 core and flashed it to a 9800XT. It's just a 9800XT with 128MB of video memory.

Yep, and you can even flash the R350's But you wont have the option of overdrive or the temp sensor, and the only real difference is that itll say XT instead of PRO. If you have an R350 best bet is just overclocking it and leaving it at that.

 

[mettleh3d]

what's the point of flashing if I can just OC then?

 

[imported_whatever]

Originally posted by: mettleh3d
what's the point of flashing if I can just OC then?

Flashing opens up some extra features (like temp sensor) and (iirc) increases the voltage

 

[mettleh3d]

Originally posted by: whatever

Originally posted by: mettleh3d
what's the point of flashing if I can just OC then?

Flashing opens up some extra features (like temp sensor) and (iirc) increases the voltage

But Soviet says it WONT enable temp sensor/OD

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: mettleh3d

Originally posted by: whatever

Originally posted by: mettleh3d
what's the point of flashing if I can just OC then?

Flashing opens up some extra features (like temp sensor) and (iirc) increases the voltage

But Soviet says it WONT enable temp sensor/OD

Soviet is right!

It won't do anything [but o/c it] UNLESS it is a 256MB 9800pro.

READ the damn link i posted . . . it is accurate and the naysayers might actually LEARN something . . . .
[maybe not]
:roll:

 

[mettleh3d]

aye aye reading!

 

[Maximilian]

If its an *R360* core then you WILL get the temp sensor and overdrive, even if its 128 MB. Theres a Gecube bios out for a 128 MB 9800 XT, i suggest you use that if you have a 128 MB card with the R360 core. But if you have the R350 core then there is no benefit to flashing as R350 lacks the physical chip that controls overdrive and has the temp sensor in it.

I have R350 and i flashed it, no difference to overclocking my 9800 pro whatsoever. Some even say it breaks it if you flash an R350. Mines fine though.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Soviet
If its an *R360* core then you WILL get the temp sensor and overdrive, even if its 128 MB. Theres a Gecube bios out for a 128 MB 9800 XT, i suggest you use that if you have a 128 MB card with the R360 core. But if you have the R350 core then there is no benefit to flashing as R350 lacks the physical chip that controls overdrive and has the temp sensor in it.

I have R350 and i flashed it, no difference to overclocking my 9800 pro whatsoever. Some even say it breaks it if you flash an R350. Mines fine though.

not true . . . there were only a few - MSI, i think - 128MB Radeon 9800 Pros that used the XT PCB. . . .

99+% of the r360 128MB Radeon 9800p do NOT have the temp sensor at all! NO bios flash will enable what you do not have . . .

Please READ the link i posted.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
We're all fine for the next year or year and a half, then we'll have to start thinking about changing oru resolution, decreasing the detail...etc.

You're already at low res, low settings with a 9800Pro- it doesn't have the power to play modern games at modern settings like a 6800GT/X800XL. 9800Pro users have to enjoy the 10X7 of their ancestors.