Get Radeno8500LE?

[Egrimm]

I've been thinking of getting a new video-card for some time, since the 2d of my MSI GF2 Pro (oc'ed to 245/470) could be better and when I saw the fps I got in AquaNox I thought that maybe now was the time to start looking for a new card. As I don't want to spend that much and have nothing against oc'ing the Ti200 cards and Radeon8500 (probably LE/OEM) seem to fit my price range.
So I have a few questions about the 8500 and especially the LE/OEMs:
- Who make the Radeon8500 OEM? I know a shop that sell one cheaper than most Ti200 and for that price I would prefer the 8500 if it had the good 2d ATI is renowned for.
- How hard/easy is it to OC a 8500LE (=oem) to the speed of a regular 8500?
- How well do the Radeon take a high fsb/agp? I can run my XP1600+ at 160fsb which would make the agp quite a bit out of spec.

 

[Dimitri]

1. Several companies, including ATI I believe.
2. Very easy unless you get a card that has 4ns ram (like I did). Even at 250mhz, much more bang for your buck at $60+ less.
3. No idea since my crap XP chip won't go above 143MHz FSB.

 

[jfunk]

I haven't seen any reviews of the OEM 8500's...I'm interested in seeing what it's clocked at and how it performs too...


j

 

[Egrimm]

I haven't seen any reviews either, that's why I asked here.
As far as I know the Radeo8500LE (aka OEM 8500) is clocked 250/250, 25Mhz less than the retail 8500 (275/275).

 

[Egrimm]

bump for more info

 

[DaveBaumann]

Yeah the LE is pretty much exactly the same as the ATI retail card, the only difference being they are clocked at 250/250 which is 25Mhz lower than the ATI retail boards. It would appear that most 3rd party cards right now are "LE's" (i.e. 250/250), although its said that PowerMagic may have some soon at 275/275 and possibly 300/300. It appears that ATI is manufacturing nearly all the boards at the moment, and shipping the entire board to the 3rd parties.

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