so I was thinkin about getting the 2900 pro 1gb card but I havent found any reviews and the card sounds too good to be true for the price of only around $300.

Is this card just an underclocked 2900xt? Im just wonderin whats the catch.. lol

So if anyone has any helpful info on this subject it would be appreciated.


Here are two links:

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100214SR Radeon HD 2900PRO 1GB 512-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
ATI RADEONâ„¢ HD 2900PRO

as far as i can tell, there is no "catch", just ATI quietly eliminating their R600 stock before the release of their new stuff.

from what i have read and observed, the ONLY difference between the pro and xt models is a slight underclock, thats it, same memory, memory bandwidth, stream processors, flux capacitors, blinkenlights, everything.

here is a side by side comparison


Name...............|......2900 Pro..............2900xt

Memory size.....|.........1gb......................1gb

Memory Type....|........GDDR4...............GDDR4

Core Frequency.|........ 600....................740

Memory Freq.....|.........1850..................1650

Steam Process...|..........320....................320


With that said the pro has a higher mem frequency but a lower core frequency, other than that they are exactly the same...


So I think I might have to pick one of these up for christmas. Do you think this card will out perform a 8800 gts 640mb? I had a disscusion on hardocp but there were too many nvidia fanboys.

**bump**

The 2900 Pros are just poor-quality XT cores that didn't make the grade. They'll perform well at stock speed, but don't guarantee on being able to overclock them back to XT speeds. ATi has stated that they are only producing a limited run of these cards; so if you want one, you'll have to be quick. I'm not really sure if they're faster than the 8800GTS 640mb - the cards are pretty different in architecture and tend to take to different games differently. And no game on the market requires 1GB of video memory.

That said, if you're intending on picking up a card for Christmas, there are going to be quite a few new cards appearing next month - we'll have the HD2950 series from ATi and the 8800GT from Nvidia. I'd wait a bit if I were you.

Quote: Originally Posted by reflux That said, if you're intending on picking up a card for Christmas, there are going to be quite a few new cards appearing next month - we'll have the HD2950 series from ATi and the 8800GT from Nvidia. I'd wait a bit if I were you.

Well the 2900 1gb pro just sounds like a kick ass deal... I dont wanna spend more then $350 for a VGA and I bet the new releases will be pricey...

With that said ive kinda been out of the loop; so im wondering what are some different hardware choices that I should look for around the christmas season?

This is the christmas rig I was hopin for:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775
EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel
XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish
mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

So anything you would suggest?

I pretty much want the most bad ass computer I can get for ~ 1200

I already have the optical drives, HDD, Sound Card, Mouse, Two 19" widescreen, and keyboard... so yeah if you have any suggestions or things to look out for that would be great

Make sure you get a G0-stepping Q6600 as they overclock better and are much cooler.

ClubIT Product - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping Kentsfield 2.40GHz 8MB L2 LGA 775 Processor Retail BX80562Q6600 SLACR

Go for a P35 board if you can. Better performance than nforce 6-series now. Asus' P5K and Abit's IP35s are a good choice.

Quote: Originally Posted by reflux Make sure you get a G0-stepping Q6600 as they overclock better and are much cooler. ClubIT Product - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping Kentsfield 2.40GHz 8MB L2 LGA 775 Processor Retail BX80562Q6600 SLACR Go for a P35 board if you can. Better performance than nforce 6-series now. Asus' P5K and Abit's IP35s are a good choice.

Are there any p35 boards that suppor dual x16 for sli?

Quote: Originally Posted by DavidVaini Are there any p35 boards that suppor dual x16 for sli?

There are no Intel boards that support SLi. Only CrossFire works on them. If you want 16x16, the new X38 boards support that.