Disappointed with Radeon 9800 Pro 128 Meg

HannibalX

Diamond Member
May 12, 2000
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Bought the card yesterday. I always buy the best performing last gen hardware (mostly because I am cheap). System is an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ with 1 GB ram, 5.1 Gamer SBLive and the new 9800 Pro.

I knew it was going to be fast but I expected it to be faster. To be honest it isn't much faster than the Geforce3 it replaced. I expected huge gains and what I got was pretty big gains. Does that make sense?

I am not bitching, the card performs very well and I am very happy with it. I almost bought a 9700 Pro instead because it was about $50 less - GLAD I didn't seeing as the 9800 Pro didn't meet expectations.

Anyone have similar opinions? Or completely different opinions?

Haven?t played Doom3 or HL2 with the card yet so that will be the real test.


 

Imyourzero

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2002
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Originally posted by: Trinitron
Anyone have similar opinions? Or completely different opinions?

Haven?t played Doom3 or HL2 with the card yet so that will be the real test.

I haven't had any direct experience with the 9800 Pro, but from what I've read it's a very solid card. I *did* own a 9700 Pro though, and it was a GREAT card. It was enough to run Doom 3 smoothly at 1280x1024 with all details on (CPU was a P4 2.53 at the time), which impressed the heck out of me. In fact, the only reason I was able to talk myself into shelling out the dough to upgrade to a 6800 GT was because I have a 2001FP and I wanted to be able to run Doom 3/HL2/Far Cry at 1600x1200 (which obviously it did). Now I'm back in the ATI camp...I traded the 6800 GT for an X800 XT and it runs everything so darn well that I have absolutely no urge to run it at PE speeds.

The 9800 Pro should have a decent life left as long as you don't expect to run everything at 16x12. Newer games will run, obviously, but will require toning down the detail and backing off from the high resolutions a bit.
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
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It should crush a GF3 in every way. You sure you didn't get a 128bit one?
 

EvilRage

Senior member
Dec 20, 2004
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I have a 9800XT and it runs HL2 and CS:Source smooth as hell and pretty as hell too, in 1280x1024, with most of the advanced video features off. Even so, both games look really nice. Can't wait to see how they look with my new 6800GT PCIe =D (just got e-mail confirm from chumbo, should be arriving friday! w00t)
 

HannibalX

Diamond Member
May 12, 2000
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Originally posted by: Bozo Galora
so, what does it score 3dmark 2001

I'll let you know when I get home and do some more tests. I haven't had a chance to play with it much really. Max settings in Deus Ex 2 made it choppy in certain areas.
 

Imyourzero

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2002
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Originally posted by: wolfman579
Send it back and get an X800 cheap off ebay. ;)

You shouldn't ever use "cheap" and "eBay" in the same sentence...

:recalls PS2's selling for $600 and pre-release date copies of Doom 3 selling for ~$200:
 

Patrick Wolf

Platinum Member
Jan 5, 2005
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Originally posted by: Imyourzero
Originally posted by: wolfman579
Send it back and get an X800 cheap off ebay. ;)

You shouldn't ever use "cheap" and "eBay" in the same sentence...

:recalls PS2's selling for $600 and pre-release date copies of Doom 3 selling for ~$200:

I just saw today someone sold an MSI Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition, original box, all extras included, for $450. The guy had a perfect rating, return policy, all the good stuff. I could have saved $88 if I would have waited and bid on this one. :|
 

sniperruff

Lifer
Apr 17, 2002
11,644
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if i have a 9800pro i'd be sure as hell get HL2. on the other hand my GF3 Ti500 will probably do as well as any card on counter strike 1.6
 

imported_DaveA

Senior member
Oct 20, 2004
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Originally posted by: wolfman579
Originally posted by: Imyourzero
Originally posted by: wolfman579
Send it back and get an X800 cheap off ebay. ;)

You shouldn't ever use "cheap" and "eBay" in the same sentence...

:recalls PS2's selling for $600 and pre-release date copies of Doom 3 selling for ~$200:

I just saw today someone sold an MSI Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition, original box, all extras included, for $450. The guy had a perfect rating, return policy, all the good stuff. I could have saved $88 if I would have waited and bid on this one. :|

then theres the fs/ft forums here and at hardforum. i bought a bfg 6800 ultra from a guy for 400 dollars shipped. brand new never opened.
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
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I loved my 9800 Pro.. my 6800GT obviously had gains over the 9800, but it was a great card while I had it... beat HL2 with it. not a hiccup. Beat NFSU2 with it also, ran that game too too.

Nary a problem.

I think you will be happy with the 9800. I noticed massive gains over other PC's in my house, one equipped with an 8500.. the 9800P walked all over it... give it some time, you'll begin to see the improvements as you play familiar games :p
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
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Aug 22, 2001
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My first experience with a 9800p was going from a 5800U. I wasn't impressed till I starting playing FarCry with it and watched areas that were slide shows on the Big U run silky smooth. If you had moved from a card that did ps2 poorly like my 5800U to a 9800p the performance differences in such instances would have duely impressed you too.
 

HannibalX

Diamond Member
May 12, 2000
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Originally posted by: KamiXkaze
9800 pro is the lowest card you want to have when it comes to playing doom3,hl2 and, far cry


KxK

Really? Someone in this thread said he ran it with a 9700 and did just fine.
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
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Originally posted by: Trinitron
Originally posted by: KamiXkaze
9800 pro is the lowest card you want to have when it comes to playing doom3,hl2 and, far cry


KxK

Really? Someone in this thread said he ran it with a 9700 and did just fine.
All a matter of personal preference, or what your LCD's native res is ;) I have seen D3 on my friends 8500 and it looked surprisingly good even @8x6

 

nineball9

Senior member
Aug 10, 2003
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I too am using a 9800 pro, 128M. Worked fine while playing DX2 on my 3.0c system.

Try turning off AA and AF or set them to "application preference". Try different settings for vertical sync too.

3DMark03 is heavy on video card use and allows for easy benchmarking. (I have not tried 3DMark05).

Good luck!
 

Gurck

Banned
Mar 16, 2004
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1) Is it a 128bit card? Not ram amount, but memory bandwidth - to save on manufacturing costs, some scummy companies such as Sapphire made a 128bit version, called it a pro, and enticed people who knew no better to buy it by shaving a few bucks off the price. It's a castrated 9800, not worth the money it costs.
2) Did you run driver cleaner before installing the card? This is especially important when switching between nvidia & ati cards.
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
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I went from a Radeon 8500 that played every game up until farcry at 1600x1200 decently. For me there was practially an infinity times difference (quality, speed etc) when i moved to the 9800pro for Half life 2 simply because the Radeon 8500 couldnt handle the game at anything better than 10 fps.
 

dennisjai215

Banned
Apr 16, 2004
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buying a xp 3200 was the first mistake you did buying the best "last gen hardware" amd64 2800 was always cheaper and it performed a shietload better than xp does in gaming.. hell in everything
 

HannibalX

Diamond Member
May 12, 2000
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A little update.

3D Mark 2001 score is 12954. The card is an ATI built card, not a knock-off brand. It is not the 128 bit card.