cockmonger

I found this deal through best buy today after rebates...i was wondering if it would be better to get this or to snag a Sapphire 9800. I don't understand a damn thing on those graphics card benchmark tests sorry...he he he...just want to play half-life 2 maybe doom

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Asuka{eve}

$130! wow I would jump on that. The 9800 is significantly more powerfull.

bltzkriegmcanon

Hmm. This is an interesting case. The 9600 XT is a good card, but it pales in comparison to the Sapphire 9800 Pro. Dunno, man, I ain't the expert when it comes to value comparisons. I'd honestly wait for someone like Lasereth, Redjake, or Mr. Deflok to really determine what would be best. I mean, a Sapphire 9800 Pro is like, 200 bucks on newegg, and it'll most definitely run the shit out of HL2, but then, a 9600 XT will run HL2 good as well. You just might not be able to max all the shit out, detail-wise, and you may have to settle for 1024*768 or 1152*864. Also, you have to consider whether or not you'll be restricted by CPU or RAM. Any of those can cause a bottleneck, but the CPU bottleneck would be most severe.

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MooseMan3000

More to the point: a 9600 XT will be outdated much sooner than a 9800 pro. If it were ME, I would go for the 9800, because you'll see SIGNIFICANT increases in performance (definitely worth the $70 extra... you might even find one on sale for less), and you'll be able to play ALL the new games smoothly for a few years at least.

But that's just my opinion.

Lasereth

A 9600XT for $130 at a retail store is definitely a good deal. When you say Sapphire 9800, do you mean 9800 Pro, or 9800? ATI's 9800 non-Pro is sort of lacking in performance (when compared to NVIDIA's 5900 non-ultra). ATI still wins the last generation's videocard war by having the best damn deal on the market, though: the Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB 256-bit. NVIDIA simply doesn't have anything that compares at this price range.

So yes, it is a good deal, but the Radeon 9800 Pro for $200 off of NewEgg is an even better deal.

-Lasereth

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ChrisJericho

Oh I see how it is, Mister Jericho must be an AMATURE.



Back on topic - It depends on how important $70 is to you. The 9600 XT is a good card, but not nearly as good as the 9800 pro mainly due to memory interface being half of the 9800 Pro's (128 bit compared to 256 bit). I believe the core is different and the amount of pipelines is less as well, but I cannot quite remember those numbers.

Also there are reports of the newly made 9800 Pro's having the 9800 XT "R360" cores including the thermal probe. If you get one of these with a black core instead of a shiny core all you have to do is flash the bios and you have a 9800xt. But I digress.

If you have money to spare get the 9800 pro. If you are strapped for cash get the 9600 xt and overclock that mofo !

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