Radeon 8500 LE vs. Radeon 9000 Pro...

KnowsNothing

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Jun 24, 2002
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I guess it's probably too early to tell, but if I'm looking for the better price/performance card, should I get the 8500 LE or wait for the 9000 Pro.

It sounds like the 8500 LE performs better than the 9000 Pro (from Anand' review) and the 8500 LE is currently ~$95 on newegg.com whereas the 9000 Pro is priced at $129 (I'm guessing that is retail though).

What would you do? Wait for the 9000 Pro to see how it performs and what the street price is, or buy the 8500 LE now (the price might go up ??) ?
 

nardvark

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Jul 3, 2002
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it sounds to me like the 9000 series will be better in the short run, but the stripped down technology will catch up to it. read the part about texture pipelines...sounds like the 8500's will hold an advantage after games use these features more.
so, if you're looking for a card for a year or less, I'd say the 9000 would be a better bet. if you want it for longer, the 8500?
 

KnowsNothing

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Jun 24, 2002
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I definitely want it for the long haul, I am one cheap MF.

The only thing I'm wondering about is if the relase of a new product will drive the price of the 8500 LE up or down.

Intuitvely it would go down, but if ATI quits making the 8500 LE, then scarcity might cause the price to go up. Anyone have any insight?
 

bockchow

Platinum Member
Sep 18, 2001
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i don't think the price will drop much any time soon. ATI is pulling the 8500 line and that will make the cards alot harder to get and since there going to be out performing the 9000 and cost the same or less there will still be a demand for them. but i wouldn't worry about the price going up, the only reason people buy an 8500le instead of a gf4 4200 is because of the price so if it goes up then they'll just buy the gf4.

i'd buy an 8500LE myself.
 

tcc2f6

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Jun 30, 2001
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this may be a silly question, but since I'm wondering I figure I'll ask, it's about the 8500LE, so rather than start a new thread on it, I thought I'd ask here. THe LE's are a bit slower then the regular 8500 right? is there a safe way to get them up to retail speed? I remember a friend has the 7200 and the software was underclocked, so no overclocking of the hardware was needed. I see the cheap price of the LE at newegg and similar places but for some reason am a bit hesitant to take the 'LE'

 

AnAndAustin

Platinum Member
Apr 15, 2002
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:D KnowsNothing, as already covered, Rad8500 & 8500LE are superior to the Rad9000 & 9000pro. The Rad9000 are simply cheaper for ATI to produce and that is why ATI will be ceasing production of 8500 cards. They only want to use the Rad9000 to destroy the inferior GF4MX cards. The Rad8500 or 8500LE are definitely the way to go if you're on a budget and the GF3 cards aren't a lot cheaper.

;) tcc2f6, the Radeon cards do have very discrete methods of flogging cards with secret lower clocks and cheaper RAM. The first is the diff between 'built by ATI' and 'powered by ATI', 'built by ATI' means they are manufactured and sold directly by ATI and these are of the higher quality, faster clocks and better RAM (so better o/c's too). The 2nd method is RETAIL vs OEM. Traditionally oem products are the same as retail but with sw and fancy packaging removed, but with Radeon cards oem versions are also lower clocked and use cheaper RAM, as such they don't o/c as well. However the ones using lower clocks and cheaper RAM should still o/c to the same levels as the reatil or ATI versions, it's just the retail or ATI versions will o/c faster than they are set. The Rad8500LE is in every way just a slightly lower clocked Rad8500 (I think with DVI removed), the perf is usually about 10%, so see how the prices compare, full Rad8500 cards have really come down in price.
 

KnowsNothing

Member
Jun 24, 2002
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Thanks for the advice everyone. I just bought a Radeon 8500 128 MB Retail from buy.com for $136 shipped. Pretty sweet deal in my opinion.

Hopefully a retail 8500 for $136 is worth the extra cost above the OEM 8500 LE that I was planning on buying from newegg
 

AnAndAustin

Platinum Member
Apr 15, 2002
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You should be very pleased with the fastest Radeon8500 card. Perhaps the Rad8500LE would have been a better buy 'bang for buck' as its $40 cheaper, and $20 more would have netted you the better GF4TI4200-128, but in any case the retail Rad8500 is still one heck of a nice card.
 

Kingofcomputer

Diamond Member
Apr 6, 2000
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KnowsNothing, smart choice.

Newegg's OEM 8500 or LE, 64MB or 128MB most are made by Sapphire Tech with an ugly cyber girl picture on the cd.

I've seen Sapphire Tech made Xpert2000Pro requires to use their own version driver, cannot use ATI driver. Not sure about their OEM 8500.

With the current price of original 8500 128MB from buycom, it's not worth to save $30 getting OEM 8500 variants from newegg. That also makes the Hercules ATI cards into an interesting position.