whats the deal with 9800SE ? is it worse than the 9800NP ?

[ZL1]

Hi

guys Im looking at buying a new card for about $150, checked newegg out and saw a Saphire 9800SE for about 150
but Im wondering whats the deal with SE, is it worse than 9800NP ? alot ?

please advise


Thank you
Dan

P.S. how about TI4600s ? MSI 4600 is about the same price and I kinda like MSI cards

 

[nCred]

Yeah, it´s a lot slower then the 9800np, has less pipelines or something.

I would suggest a 9600 pro/XT.

 

[klah]

9800SE only has 4 pixel pipelines. Performance is similar to 9600Pro.

Benchmarks comparing all current cards here: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/digest3d/index.html

 

[Chadder007]

Whoa!.... 9600SE really sucks on those benches. Most of the time below the 9200. lol

 

[earthman]

Get one with the L-shaped memory and soft mod it.

 

[randumb]

ATI's SE cards are like Intel's Celerons.

 

[Blastman]

There are actually 3 versions of the 9800SE ? according to ocfaq and more than that according to a little web searching?

The typical prices I?ve seen ?.

9800SE ? 380/340?. ? ? ? ? ? ?256bit bus? $220 (?) ? (= 9600pro?s performance)
9800SE ? ? 325/270 and 380/300 ? 128bit bus ? ~ $165 - 177 ? (much slower than 9600pro)
9800SE ? ? 325/250 ? ? ? ? ? ?128bit bus ? ~ $145 ? TSOP memory
PowerColor 9600pro ?400/300 ? ?? ? ? ? ? ?.$145

If you look at one of digilifes latest articles they tested both a 256bit and a 128bit 9800SE. The 128bit 9800SE was clocked 325/270 and was slower than a 5600 (nu) in almost all the benchmarks on that page. I would peg a 9600 faster than a 5600, so this would definitely put the 128bit model (325/270) slower than even a 9600 (325/200).

I would really avoid 9800SE?s unless you are thinking of softmoding.

 

[suklee]

is it worse than the 9800NP ?

YES

 

[Johnbear007]

for 200$ your best bet is a 5900 non ultra

 

[petery83]

SE's seem to be the worse of their classes

 

[ZL1]

Originally posted by: Johnbear007
for 200$ your best bet is a 5900 non ultra

yeah I was thinking about that, however there are 2 problems, one its a bit over my cash limit and 2 Ive recently had some terrible problems with nvidia drivers and Im pissed off at nvidia
anyone know if 5900 is smooth when it comes to drivers ? if it is I might stretch the extra $50


Thanks
Dan

 

[yhelothar]

yes... i haven't had one single problem with nvidia OFFICIAL WHQL drivers.. whereas beta 53.03 has been a bit unstable
stick with official drivers, and i can't see you having any problems

 

[ZL1]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
yes... i haven't had one single problem with nvidia OFFICIAL WHQL drivers.. whereas beta 53.03 has been a bit unstable
stick with official drivers, and i can't see you having any problems

dont do this, I know what Im doing and Im no anti-nvidia guy either, my all time favorite card is the tnt2
Ive tried a bunch of different drivers and Im still having problems (with 4 cards)


D