Crimson Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 ATi and nVidia fan boys aside, what card would you buy if you had ~$225? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Ranger Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 Let me say this much: I found a Gainward FX5900, and a Sapphire 9800Pro. All under $225USD at NewEgg.com. You like that place don't you. That's all I'm gonna say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakebite1967 Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 I agree with Dark Ranger totaly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted February 8, 2004 Author Share Posted February 8, 2004 (edited) I was sort of looking at this. Look at all the stuff it comes with, not to mention free shipping. Does the 5900 and 9800 Pro have DDRII? Edited February 8, 2004 by Crimson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteKnight77 Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 Take a look at the ones on this page. These are 5900 cards and from the looks of things don't come with DDR2 unlike the 5800 cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted February 8, 2004 Author Share Posted February 8, 2004 Click the link WK, it's not working. This is real hard. The 5800, 5900, and 9800 Pro are all great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteKnight77 Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 Try this page for the 5900 (non Ultra). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted February 8, 2004 Author Share Posted February 8, 2004 I think I've got it down to the 5900 and 9800 Pro. Both Gainwards look like they are very overclockable. I know a few people here have 9800 Pro's... can they be overclocked enough to see a difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYR_32 Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 So far with my 9800 Pro (128 Built by ATi) there is nothing that I've thrown against it that it can't handle easily.....it doesn't really need any OCing at all IMO.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted February 8, 2004 Author Share Posted February 8, 2004 NYR, we are very close when it comes to computer specs. (Minus the 3d card) Do you have any benchmark scores you could post? Oh, and with FSAA and AF turned up, is there a big performance hit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYR_32 Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 I haven't run any benchmarks since I installed the 9800....but about AA and AF...I run 4x AA and 8x AF....I didn't notice much of a performance hit when I went up from 2X AA and 4X AF....my games have never run smoother or looked prettier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakebite1967 Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 (edited) i agree i usualy run 8 and 4 and have no fps hit at all and also have not felt the need to try and overclock, i may tho as newer games that challenge my card emerge tho i see ppl on forums that easily overclock their 9800 pros to xt speeds easily Edited February 8, 2004 by snakebite1967 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Ranger Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 I have a fairly stout system, and I don't really have any need to overclock. My rig and video card will do anything I want it to do, and at very high detail levels. Just for some point of reference, I average between 60 and 150 frames per second with any given GR mission. That's with Full Game Detail, Max Shadows, and everything set to High-Quality/4AA/4AF. I am also using Omega's drivers ATM. If you just prefer nVidia, that 5900 will still blow the doors of your 4400. If you favor switching to the dark side though, you'll be impressed. As a side note, I can run some benches for you. I don't really trust benches all that much, but numbers are numbers, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted February 8, 2004 Author Share Posted February 8, 2004 No need for benches, as I see your numbers at AnandTech. This is tough. Looks as if the 5900 offers better frames at the cost of image quality, and is a smidge cheaper. On the other hand, it sounds like the 9800 really comes into its own when the AA and AF is beefed up, and it has better image quality. It's tobad the 9800 Pro built and powered by ATi isn't even close to the Sapphire's price. Is they're a huge difference between the two? (IIRC, ATi uses different RAM, that is better.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakebite1967 Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 (edited) oops double post Edited February 8, 2004 by snakebite1967 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buff Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 I would say the 9800pro. if it was between the 5900ultra, it wouldb e preference. but between those, the 9800pro tends to be better. and, as you said, the 5900 *might* be faster, but at the cost of image quality, you can just castrate the image quality for the 9800 also with the drivers anyways, I only compare equal image quality, so mipmap detail needs to be equal, etc, before I compare them in games. Buff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakebite1967 Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 some of the 3rd party cards do use diferent ram, but generaly as far as i can tell the saphire brands are as good as the BBA cards . the lower price of the saphire card seems aimed at the recent Nvidia price drop and not the fact that the cards are cheaper made. the image quality as far as ive been able to see is better with the 9800 pro card and you are right with AA and AF and high resolutions the ATI card comes into its own, tho the latest reviews of the 5950 cards do seem to indicate that the IQ has improved and all benchies ran seem to favour each brand 50% of the time. if i had waited 6 months id seriously have a hard time deciding on which card to buy, tho i do think id still get the 9800 pro, the quiet single slot cooling the excellent video out quality and overall stability. ATI releases 12 drivers a year now add to that Omegas 12 revisions a year and u have quite a few selections to choose from, so far to be honest i have had no driver related issues. GR and Raven shield look purely amazing from 55 to 230 fps everything maxed with AA and AF. at the end off the day buy the card u would prefer to rely on for atleast another year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SI-Prozac Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 I got the 9800 Pro by ATI 128Mb image quality is superb.... in RVS with Best Peformance ..... compared to Best Image quality is just crazy... the game looks totaly diffrent ... and the same goes for lock on... but i did notice in farcry ( demo ) with AA on @ 8x it slowed down a bit. i was just installing 3dmark 03 so ill have some scores here soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakebite1967 Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 (edited) ok loaded madonion 03 up default clocks adjusted to performance i scored 5595 bear in mind that this is also a cpu dependent test and not just a video card bench i then instaled rage3d and did a small overclock of 401\342 and scored 5759 yes its not a huge diference but dont feel the need to push and or damage a card i cant afford to replace. http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=2034156 now i have seen overclocked scores over 7000 but dont know if this is with default cooling. Edited February 8, 2004 by snakebite1967 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted February 8, 2004 Author Share Posted February 8, 2004 Thanks for the numbers snake. Unless something changes, I think I'll be going with th 9800 Pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakebite1967 Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 np Crimson the card is definitly worth it and i wouldnt want anyone to spend this amount of money on a video card if i didnt feel theyd be happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SI-Prozac Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 My Score here Think my ram is holding me up on some numbers.. and might do a little more OC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakebite1967 Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 ya you can realy see the score diferences with a diferent cpu, nice score Prozac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted February 9, 2004 Author Share Posted February 9, 2004 I found an ATi Radeon 9800 Pro, made and powered by ATi for $216 here. It's not retail, but "bulk". What does that mean? Is it the same as OEM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakebite1967 Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 id jump on that if i was u its a genuine BBA 9800 pro, as far as im aware bulk means simply that they have a room full to sell and they are dropping the price accordingly. thats the exact card i run i cant find any diferences Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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