is it worth the extra money to spent for the radeon 8500 retail??

[erichui]

ok, i am currently in hk for holiday where i usually lives in hk.
i am looking to get a video card to replace my current Geforce 2 Pro, i got a AMD 1ghz (200FSB) myself with the KT133 motherboard.
i've mainly decided that i will get the radeon instead of a geforce since they provide pretty good performance and also i want Dual monitor support (well i got a spare 17inch monitor and its not a must, but i pretty much want to have it set up|)
now in hong kong a normal ATI radeon 8500 which is OEM with the clock speed of 250/250 cost about 1800 HKD, which is about 230 USD, and also the 275/275 ati retail card cost about 300USD, i wanted to know if its worth the price to pay that extra buying the 275/275 instead of the 250/250????
how much does they cost in america btw? just wondering : (

 

[Spike]

I would say that question is up to you. I am a serious hard core gamer, but my Radeon 8500 runs at 250/500 (OEM speed) and it is working just fine. I actually ordered one that was originally clocked at 230/460, but I am overclocking it to 250/500. The cheapest I have seen the OEM (LE) for is $180 and $240 is the cheapest I have seen for the retail made by ATI. You can get a retail 8500 that is made by power color or some other brand for a little bit cheaper than that ($180 range) but those cards are not actually made by ATI.

Back to your original question... I think it depends on your financial situation. if you have alot of money, go for the retail, but it is not neccessary for you. I was able to play Ghost Recon at 1600x1200 32bit with every setting up to max and it still ran smooth with my 250mhz Radeon, so if that is enough for you, then save the $ and spend it on some chocolate or something

 

[Killrose]

Some of the OEM/LE's will overclock. The real secret to success is the voltage to the ram chips is cut-back and they are run below spec voltage to discourage getting Retail speeds for OEM price. Once modded for extra voltage you can flash the OEM with the Retail Bios (if you can find it on the web). I've modded mine and it runs 280/280 no problems.