should i buy this 9800np 2.8ns?

[sugarkang]

where i live, they are selling non pros.
the only ones i see available are the hercules prophet.

325/290 3.3ns = $300
325/290 2.8ns = $340

i know they're expensive, and i might as well get an XT.
unfortunately, i don't live in the states, so i can't buy stuff from best buy, compusa etc.
if you think these non pros are expensive, you should see the XTs which are going for over $500 in some cases.


because i've read so much about non pros being flashable to PROS... i was wondering:

1. can i flash these cards?
2. how much can i expect to OC them? will the $40 difference be worth it for more OC power?
3. is the hercules 9800 noisy?


i'd appreciate your input guys.

 

[Bateluer]

Those seem pretty dang expensive for 9800nps. You could probably find an online vendor to get a 9800 Pro shipped to you for probably less than 340, depending on where you live.

If you do have to get one of those, the 2.8ns card is the better card. It will likely be able to OC to Pro speeds without too much trouble.

 

[Nebor]

I'd say that the $40 for the memory definitely isn't worth it. Memory speed isn't THAT important anymore compared to GPU power. $40 for 60mhz (that's a guess, I don't know this nanosecond stuff) more on the memory isn't a good deal.

I don't live in your country though, so I can't tell you if that's a good deal or not. No doubt it's a solid card though.

Cooling shouldn't be too loud, you can always replace it if it is.

Some cards can be flashed to pro, some can't. There's really not a point to flash the card to pro. Just overclock it as far as you can. Flashing the card nets no performance gain.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

There are 9800 Pros that cost as much/less than those NP's do online.

 

[Schadenfroh]

you want the one with teh samsung ram

 

[sugarkang]

thanks guys. i was originally asking because i live in asia.
i was cruising ebay for sellers, and yeah the prices are good.
problem is that i don't get any kind of warranty that way.
the other problem is that someone could screw me on my order.

my original thought was that if i could turn my non pro into a pro,
i wouldn't feel bad about paying a little extra to get warranty coverage.
get what i'm saying now right?

besides. to ship a retail box to me might cost somewhere in the $50-80 range.

lastly, no reputable electronics seller will ship internationally. why? because it's illegal to do so.
maybe because of fcc regulations and all that. some international fcc maybe.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Nebor
I'd say that the $40 for the memory definitely isn't worth it. Memory speed isn't THAT important anymore compared to GPU power. $40 for 60mhz (that's a guess, I don't know this nanosecond stuff) more on the memory isn't a good deal.

I don't live in your country though, so I can't tell you if that's a good deal or not. No doubt it's a solid card though.

Cooling shouldn't be too loud, you can always replace it if it is.

Some cards can be flashed to pro, some can't. There's really not a point to flash the card to pro. Just overclock it as far as you can. Flashing the card nets no performance gain.

You're wrong big time about memory speed not affecting GPU power. I found that overclocking the memory from 290 to 380 had an even bigger effect on my 9800np than going from 340 to 420 MHz on the core. Overclocking both core and memory gave even better results, so yes it does help to have good overclocking memory.

That said, both the 3.3ns and 2.8ns Samsung memory on non-pros seem to overclock very similarly. I got my 3.3ns Samsung stuff to 385MHz and I believe Rogodin got his to 405 Mhz, so in this case, although they are rated at different speeds they are in all likelyhood the same chips but just marked differently.

 

[Whitedog]

Originally posted by: Nebor
Some cards can be flashed to pro, some can't. There's really not a point to flash the card to pro. Just overclock it as far as you can. Flashing the card nets no performance gain.

Not correct. Flashing the card to PRO gives a slight increase in the voltage supplied to the memory (and GPU I believe), thus enabling you to clock it higher.

 

[videoclone]

:beer:

Those price's are Great