ATI 8500 Pro?

[Compscott]

I might have a chance to get a good deal on a R8500 Pro card. Are they worhtwhile? SInce I have never owned a ATi card before I don't know about where teh 8500 rates among the current boards. What would its performace be like compared to say a standard GeForce 4 TI4200? Is the 8500 Pro a good overclocker? What is a good average price for an 8500 Pro these days?

Thanks for the info.

 

[Brian48]

I've never known the R8500 to be referred to as "Pro" so I'm assuming you're refering to the full fledge, retail R8500s that are clocked at 275/275. It's a great card, but it's still not as fast as a ti4200 in anything other than 3dmark2002/2003. I've got a 128mb one overclocked at 301/301 and my ti4200 running a default is still significantly faster than it across the board. I'd place it in between a GeForce3 ti500 and a GeForce4 ti4200 in terms of performance.

With that said, I still think the R8500 has more than enough power for most of today's games. UT2003 runs VERY at 1024x768 using MAX settings. DVD playback and image quality is simply superb. In fact, I just ordered another 128mb R8500 the other day for one my various backups.

 

[NEVERwinter]

yeah. It's still have enough powr to run tiday games and possibly games at near future. Except if you're a speed freak who wants to get 100+fps in every game.. hehehe.... but it will make you happy. I think a R8500 128M is about $85.... search on pricewatch.com

 

[Brian48]

Forgot to mention, I don't think there's an "average" price for a "real" R8500 these days, especially the 128mb version. ATI has stopped selling them a long time ago so it would not compete against their budget R9000 line. Those that are still on the shelve in some remote corners of the country are still priced at $199.95. I got mine off e-Bay for just over $80 in like-new condition.