droeblek9

ok, i thought it was gonna be a sapphire radeon 9600xt, but then i decided i could probably sell a gallon or 2 of blood and bump my price range up a little. i'm looking at a powercolor radeon 9700 pro ($202) or a sapphire radeon 9800 pro ($229). both are on newegg. i'm assuming that the price break on the 9800 is b/c it's not a retail package (fer tha luv o god...someone let me know if i'm about to f this up!) both the 9700 &9800 have 256 bit mem interface, and to this noob they look pretty similar w/ the 9800 having #'s that are a bit higher. here's the rub, i keep reading a lot of good things about sapphire, but other than the customer reviews i'm not seeing anything on powercolor. also, is the step up to the 9800 worth the extra $?

Red02

Ok first of foget about Powercolor they suck. My second suggestion can change depeding on if you want to HL2 coupon or not. My second suggestion is this: If you want the most bang for your buck go with the Sapphire 9600XT, you get a pretty kick a$$ vid card with a free copy of HL2 (which im assuming around $50 value). So that means your getting this kick a$$ vid card for like $125.

But if you want the better of them for performance and to hell with HL2 then the 9700Pro is the better of the two to get.

neotheducky

Red, you kinda just contradicted yourself. You said dont choose Powercolor, but then later on you said get the 9700 Pro (which is the Powercolor) if you dont care about HL2.

I would say go for the Saphire 9800 Pro.

aaronrkelly

Buy the best card you can afford - the 9800 pro should be first out of that list.....good card. Ive had a 9600XT and I was a little disappointed. I was upgrading from a GeForce4 MX and there was a serious difference but Need for Speed Underground was still laggy at high resolution.....

Red02

Heh I ment any "other" 9700 i guess i wasnt clear.

Gamma_Goblin

Go for the 9800 Pro. I've got one and love it. Antialiasing never looked so beautiful at high resolutions.. mmmm graphics. Just watch around for deals and if none arise, get a 9600 xt.

Brandon Cisneros

biohazardpc

I have a 9800 pro and kinda wished I had goten a 9800 xt.. But the 9800 pro is an awsome card as long as it is not the se model..

Spc. Forces Bob

yeah, definatly go the extra doe for the 9800pro, make sure it is a PRO though. and dont turn your head away from powercolor, i have one and its a great card, overlocks awesome.

droeblek9

thanks for bein kind to the noob! i absolutely appreciate all of the feedback. one question for red:
why do you dislike powercolor? i' m in no way disputing your opinion, i'd just like some more info on it.
thx again everyone!

Dimazz

I have a powercolor, no complaints about them. Good card. R9000 btw. My R9500 is a Connect3d which is good also, havent tried ocing it yet