quick question before I buy today - retail 8500le

[mrzed]

I was intending to wait before upgrading, but Future Shop has the built by ATI 8500le on for $100 (canadian - that's about $65 to those south of 49).

The deal seems almost too good to pass up, because I figure it will be at least 6-8 months before the 9500pro (the next noticable jump up, IMO) comes under $200 canadian.

But the Future Shop website lists the memory clock as 400Mhz (200DDR) - this is a boxed ATI product. Has anyone heard of such low memory speeds on a built by ATI card? I figured I'd at least get 230/230, and maybe more.

I may go for it either way, because the price is so nice, but I was hoping somone would be able to give me some hope for better before I go for it.

Also - built by ATI le has no DVI - am I right?

 

[CurtCold]

You might go for the 8500le from NewEgg, it's clocked at 250/225, or somewhere around those specs. At that speed you should be able to overclock to 275/250, or you might get a nice 250/250.

You really have to watch for clock speeds on those 8500's. Personally I would email the company before I bought one (if clock speeds aren't stated) before I bought the card. If you can find one that's at least 250/250 you shouldn't have a problem getting 275/275 which is retail speeds.

*mine came clocked 275/250 and It runs at 300/300 with a heatsink mod, you can also voltage mod the card with the "pencil trick", but unless you have a way to test the voltage, be careful, because you can burn up the card.

Here is the link to the NewEgg card 128MB 8500le, reviewers say it comes clocked 250/200, which you should be able to get 250/250 out of no problem. $$$$88

 

[mrzed]

Well, I'm in Canada, so Newegg is not an option.

I think that for the price, and the fact that this is a ATI retail card, retail warantee, and I can walk into a retail outlet to pick it up this morning, it's a fair deal. I was just hoping someone might give me hope for better than 200Mhz memory.

 

[JSSheridan]

Have a look at some memory speed comparisions. Peace.

 

[tenoc]

Don't forget, that's $100 after MIR.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: mrzed
I was intending to wait before upgrading, but Future Shop has the built by ATI 8500le on for $100 (canadian - that's about $65 to those south of 49).

The deal seems almost too good to pass up, because I figure it will be at least 6-8 months before the 9500pro (the next noticable jump up, IMO) comes under $200 canadian.

But the Future Shop website lists the memory clock as 400Mhz (200DDR) - this is a boxed ATI product. Has anyone heard of such low memory speeds on a built by ATI card? I figured I'd at least get 230/230, and maybe more.

I may go for it either way, because the price is so nice, but I was hoping somone would be able to give me some hope for better before I go for it.

Also - built by ATI le has no DVI - am I right?

The Radeon 9100 64 MB Sapphire is CAD$115 (no rebate) with DVI and 250/230. I paid $125 a couple of weeks ago at the local store.

Edit:

By the way, maybe you should think about it this way:

The Sapphire 9700 non-pro is currently $349.
It's $115 for the 9100 now and $200 for the 9500 Pro in 6 months. That will be $315, for a slower card.

And of course, the Sapphire 9500 Pro is currently $300.

 

[mrzed]

Eug - does your 9100 have 2 RAMDAC's?

I'm likely to stay at one CRT for at least 2 more years. By the time I may have an LCD, I will probably upgrade again.

I went and got the card anyhow. It turns out it's labelled as 230/230, but I'm sure the core is good to at least 250 (not that I've even installed it yet). I figure the 1 year warantee is worth somthing vs. 30 days for the OEM Saphire. Also, I have 30 days to change my mind if I decide I want something better.

I'm low budget these days, so the 9500pro or better was never an immediate option. OTOH, I am running crappy no-name MX400 right now, and the 2d quality is unimpressive. Obviously I am not a bleeding edge purchaser, so i'll probably be happy with this thing for at least one year, more likely 2. By then we'll be another 2 generations ahead, and the equivalent of the 9700 might be only $100 (hopefully I'll be making more money by then too).

Is there any particular driver people would suggest, or should I just use the latest official Catalysts? Also, what utility to use for overclocking? I know I can search for the bazillion posts on these things, but I'm feeling lazy (well, I did search re: the overclocking thing and found no agreement).