Questions about Radeon products

[Stoerm]

With all the overclocking possible now, I have some decisions to make. And odf course, I wouldn't think of making a multi-hundred dollar computer decision without first consulting everybody here.

~The 9700 Pros can be had for $200ish.
~The 9800 Pros can be purchased new for $300.
~The 9800XTs are, at this time, simply out of my price range.
~The 9800 non-pro is rumored to be flashable to the 9800 pro AND I have an opportunity to get a brand new, in-the-package, retail ATI 9800 non-pro card one for about $245 (including tax and shipping).

Now I don't really need a new video card NOW, but will probably want one before Xmas. I know the 9800 Pros will come down in price eventually, but if that retail non-pro is definitely going to be exactly the same as a pro, it would seem silly to pass up such a deal. Then again, if there is some benefit to having a 9800 Pro, I really don't mind waiting a while longer and paying the extra $50 or so.

So I guess my questions are:

1) Is there any benefit to having a true 9800 Pro over a 9800 Non-Pro?
2) What exactly is so cool about the 9800 XT?
3) How close in performance is the 9700 Pro to the 9800? Should I just forget about that card or seriously consider it?
4) In your very educated opinions, would it be best for me to just hold out for another month or two before purchasing in hopes of price drops and newer cards?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

 

[DoobieOnline]

Hey Stoerm, if you can pick up a 9700 Pro for $200 then you should go for it. The 9700 Pro actually beats the 9800np by a couple of frames per second at stock speeds. Only the 9800np's that have Samsung chips have a chance of being flashed to a 9800 Pro, and most of the retail boxes left out there have Infineon chips. Besides, why pay $245 for performance that can be had for $200? The 9700 Pro will overclock very well if you need it to. The big hype on the 9800XT is "latest and greatest" but that's about as far as it goes. It's an awesome card, but not for $500. The problem with holding off for a month or two is that it will only become more difficult to find a 9700 Pro or 9800np, as most retail channels and online vendors are already OOS. To make a long story short, the 9700 Pro, if you can find it for $200, is by far the best performance/price ratio that you're going to find. 🙂

Doobie

 

[Lonyo]

9700Pro will not overclock as well as a 9800 non-pro.

I have a 9800np that will hit 425+MHz on the core speed, and 330MHz RAM (Infineon 🙁)

But you should wait until Christmas, because the 9800Pro might be closer to $250 then anyway, and you'll get faster RAM, or the 9700Pro might have gone down a bit (they'll probably still be around), or XGI's cards might be an amazing deal (when they've sorted drivers and everything) - because they don't look too bad at the moment, and might be fairly inexpensive. Plus if you're waiting until XMas and don't need a new card, then you might wait and see how long the next cards will be (R420/NV40) and see if it's not worth waiting and using som eextra XMas money to buy one of them a little later (unless they only come out in March or something).

 

[Stoerm]

Yes... I'm thinking that waiting might be a good deal simply because I know the prices will plummet in the next 3 onths or so. However, the 9700 Pros are going to be hard to get ahold of... as will the 9800s. I kind of like fiddling with things like OCing.

I really like the idea of getting a card that is not supposed to run so fast and making it run better than the manufacturer intended. I feel that we are all regularly screwed around with by the manufacturers and it feels like justice to me.

Hmmm....