What to expect with my Radeon 9800 Pro

[UnatcoAgent]

Edit: I've never had a high end card before, it's replacing my Sapphire 9100 so I have no idea what to expect really.

I bought a 9800 Pro 128 card over the weekend with the helpful advice of fellow ATers, I won't be able to install it until tomorrow as I don't have my computer here. I'm curious as to what kind of performance I should be able to expect with games, and namely Doom 3 since everyone is benchmarking off of it.

System is as follows:

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 DDR
XP Barton 2500+ Stock
ASUS a7n8x Deluxe
1 Gig 2700 DDR

I am doubting that I will be able to crank Doom3 to anywhere near full settings, but I am unsure. Any opinions? If anyone has a good benchmarking guide with this card and some recent titles, it would be appreciated.

 

[LordPhoenix]

Amd Athlon XP 3200+
Abit Nf7-S
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
512 Corsair PC3200


^ that could play doom 3 on high on hardop or something.

 

[OMGoddess]

A lot better then what you currently have, but don't excpect mind blowing goodness. Also may I ask why did you buy DD2700?

 

[OMGoddess]

One more thing, what is the most graphics intensive game you've ever played on your 9100?

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: OMGoddess
One more thing, what is the most graphics intensive game you've ever played on your 9100?

Doom 3

I bought the 2700 because that's what I initially had, then it was also on sale. I'm going to try and sell it and then get some higher clocked stuff eventually, but it should do for now.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: LordPhoenix
Amd Athlon XP 3200+
Abit Nf7-S
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
512 Corsair PC3200


^ that could play doom 3 on high on hardop or something.

Add another 512MB of PC3200 and that's the rig I played D3 on. I had the resolution set to 1024, color depth set to 32b, and IQ set to high. It was an awesome gaming experience.

Sabot, is there any chance that you'll set that CPU to 3200+ or are you intent on leaving it at 2500+?

 

[effee]

Expect a good increase in performance above your 9100. But don't expect the best.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: LordPhoenix
Amd Athlon XP 3200+
Abit Nf7-S
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
512 Corsair PC3200


^ that could play doom 3 on high on hardop or something.

Add another 512MB of PC3200 and that's the rig I played D3 on. I had the resolution set to 1024, color depth set to 32b, and IQ set to high. It was an awesome gaming experience.

Sabot, is there any chance that you'll set that CPU to 3200+ or are you intent on leaving it at 2500+?

I'd like to but I have no idea what I'm doing. It's running at 50C idle anyway so I think I'd have crazy heat issues, but as I said, I have no idea what I'm doing. It should still be a great rig to game on though, no ?

I can always return the card in 30 days heheh

 

[Megatomic]

Yes, it'll still be a great gaming machine even with the CPU at 2500+. The AXP is a good gamer by default. Do you have your memory set up to run in DCDDR mode? It doesn't do much but it does help a little and every little bit counts.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Yes, it'll still be a great gaming machine even with the CPU at 2500+. The AXP is a good gamer by default. Do you have your memory set up to run in DCDDR mode? It doesn't do much but it does help a little and every little bit counts.

I actually don't know what that is, if you can give me a link that explains it or anything of the sort that would be amazingly appreciated.

So far I've been very happy with the Barton, the system has been solid as a rock. Once I get my nerve up I'll try OCing. Thanks!

 

[Megatomic]

Put the RAM sticks in the two slots that are farthest apart from each other. Slot 1 and 3. On the 5 different NF2 boards I've used this configuration has always resulted in memory being in DCDDR. DCDDR is dual channel DDR btw...

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Oh god, yes I knew what Dual Channel was, I'm just an idiot apparently. I have 3 dimms, 2x256 and 1x512, it reads as being in Dual Channel mode on POST. Thanks!

 

[Megatomic]

LoL. So, just to be sure... Do you have the 2 x 256 on Channel 1 (the 2 slots that are together) and the 1 x 512 on Channel 2 (all by itself)? That's the optimal way to do it with your memory mix.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
LoL. So, just to be sure... Do you have the 2 x 256 on Channel 1 (the 2 slots that are together) and the 1 x 512 on Channel 2 (all by itself)? That's the optimal way to do it with your memory mix.

I will confirm asap. (not in residence)

 

[Megatomic]

Ok. And what drivers are you using for your Radeon and for your mobo?

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Ok. And what drivers are you using for your Radeon and for your mobo?

I don't even have the card in yet, I'm at home and need to go back to Residence on Monday. I'll be running the latest Catalysts for it, I think I have them on now for my 9100, pretty damn sure.

The Motherboard I'm running whatever it came with, I've never dealt with flashing one so, yeah. Ideas?

 

[Megatomic]

I use my own remix of nForce drivers, no one UDP release has been "good" for me. And I've stuck with CAT 4.9. CAT 4.10 did not include many fixes that ATI provided with the latest beta drivers that will be included with CAT 4.11. When CAT 4.11 is released I'll upgrade to them ASAP.

 

[duragezic]

Should be good. If you need more speed you can overclock the 9800 Pro, and maybe o/c your CPU somewhere down the road. Oh, btw PC2700 is all you need right now anyway if you're Barton is @ stock.