Differences between Radeon 9000 and Radeon 9000 Pro

[nukenuts]

I just bought a Radeon 9000 non-Pro 128MB. Then, I was laughed by my friends for getting the lame card. Under peer pressure, I am now considering of trading in for a Radeon 9000 Pro 128MB. So, this is why I come here today to ask for some expert opinions. Is Radeon 9000 non-Pro 128MB really lame? Should I go for the Pro version?

Here's my system config.
Pentium III 800Mhz w/ 256MB SDRAM
80GB ATA6 hard drive
SB Live! Plantium

I'm not a hardcore gamer, but when I fire up my games, such as Dungeon Siege, I would like them to run at between 25 to 40fps, a range I can play the game at best experience. It is not the case with the Radeon 9000 non-Pro 128MB. DS's still running at 17-20fps. My DS setting is: 1024x768x32 w/ trifilitering and partly complex shadows.

Thanks for your time!

 

[mastay]

9000 Pro is just about as lame as 9000. Also, based on your system rig, there is no point getting something much more powerful since you CPU/Mobo/Ram will be the bottleneck. My advice is to stick with what you have. Radeon 9000 is more than sufficient to run most of the games out there. If you can't run a game, it will be due to your CPU, no vid card.

 

[Rand]

Your missing out on roughly 10-20% performance increase with the R9000 Pro over the reg. R9000. In all other respects their functionally identical.

Given your system I'd probably stick with the R9000... you'd probably see a bit of a gain with the 9000Pro but not as much as might be expected given other bottlenecks in your system.
I'd suggest upgrading the processor... it stands to given you more benefit then the marginal just to the 9000Pro.

If you don't have money for another upgrade then grabbing the R9000 will help out slightly, and if it's only slightly more you might want to consider it.
Honestly, I'd be looking towards a processor upgrade as being more valuable though.

 

[nukenuts]

Do you have any explanations why Dungeon Siege runs below 20fps all the time even with Radeon 9000 non-Pro 128MB?

 

[Mingon]

Basically your cpu limited - going to a radeon 9000 pro will have little effect as your very unlikely to be bandwidth limited on your vid card (the increased bandwidth is the major difference between the cards). Have you tried upping your fsb a notch ? say to 110 and you would see a bigger boost than going to a pro

 

[phlip]

just want to check something quickly, do both of thoes cards come with DVI? doesnt mention it from the place i'm buying from..

thanks