I'm thinking an AIW9700 or a Sapphire 9700Pro, but can't really afford a 9800Pro with that 8% increase in performance for an extra $70.00!! I can find an OEM refurb 9700Pro for $136.00 Shipped and a AIW9700 (Non-pro) for $140.00 Shipped ( Lacking hard-to-find remote ofcourse, but still being a great deal with Tivo features and all) or I could get a crap Shapphire 9600XT for $116.00 Shipped. Questions: 1. What difference in performance would I see between the AIW and the Pro 9700? 2: Would I be able to reach 60FPS at 1280x1024 in Farcry? 3: I tried DoomBeta at a friends on his 9600SE and it was kinda slow, would Doom3 or HL2 even be playable at any respectable res with lowest settings on either card or both? 4: I can get a 9800Pro for $210.00 with a very minimal difference in performance from a 9700Pro. Whats the best deal for the money?

Thanks.

I would suggest for a budget the 9700Pro. But if your looking to playing HL2 or Doom3 I would hold off save up some more and get a 9800pro and mod it to the 9800XT.

I see barely a difference in benchmarks between the 9800Pro and 9700Pro and read only an average 4FPS difference between 9800pro and 9700Pro, but I'm assuming what your saying is the 9700Pro can't handle those games. ( Jesus christ, I play Farcry on a GeForce FX 5200 non-ultra) Is 30% extra price really going to get me 30% better performance? ( Thus making it the same value) Probably not. From what I piece together, at that price, the 9800Pro should be getiing 23000 3DMark2k1 marks stock as opposed the the 9700Pro's 17500 stock speed. If you could verify that, i'd be happy to agree that the rediculous extra cash is worth it.

Sapphire's stuff is sweet, since its generally an ATI card with a Zalman cooler factory installed, but i have to say that AIW cards rule. I love my AIW9800, and my friends love their 8500DV and 7500s.. Update to the lastest drivers and the things run great. Except with dual monitors... Best of both worlds, find a Sapphire AIW 9700.

Quote: Originally Posted by konai_konai666 I see barely a difference in benchmarks between the 9800Pro and 9700Pro and read only an average 4FPS difference between 9800pro and 9700Pro, but I'm assuming what your saying is the 9700Pro can't handle those games. ( Jesus christ, I play Farcry on a GeForce FX 5200 non-ultra) Is 30% extra price really going to get me 30% better performance? ( Thus making it the same value) Probably not. From what I piece together, at that price, the 9800Pro should be getiing 23000 3DMark2k1 marks stock as opposed the the 9700Pro's 17500 stock speed. If you could verify that, i'd be happy to agree that the rediculous extra cash is worth it.

Price/performance is generaly an inverse exponential instead of a linear progression. Here's a graph, i make a lot of graphs...

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Posted a half hour ago in another thread:

Quote: Originally Posted by pimp_joose You can get the Sapphire 9800SE on the cheap and using the drivers from Omega Corner you can soft mod it to a 9800XT.

The Sapphire 9800SE goes for $91-$131 on Newegg.

Softmod to XT? It's actually to Pro, I know because I have softmodded my Powercolor 9800SE to Pro. The option in Omega drivers is only SE to Pro. You can however overclock it then to XT speeds. Check this out.

Edit: N/m I just read all up and am very exited to order a 9800SE, just need to get paid now..

Quote: Originally Posted by Spectrum Softmod to XT? It's actually to Pro, I know because I have softmodded my Powercolor 9800SE to Pro. The option in Omega drivers is only SE to Pro. You can however overclock it then to XT speeds. Check this out.

My 9800se to 9500pro

"9800SE BLACK PCB I shaped memory 4 pipes 128 bit Turns into the equivalent of a 9500 Pro but with an R350 core "

Is that better than my current 9800se?

yes it will perform better.

I am not sure if I softmodded it, is there a way to find out besides benchmarking?

I downloaded this: softmod.wxp-w2k-catalyst-8-03-040610a-016126c.exe and installed it.

I was gonna buy the red PCB Sapphire 9800SE for $90.00 shipped, but started to get a bad feeling about it, and it dissappeared in a snap too! Too bad, the 9800SE might even be down to $100.00 flat shipped refurb if I wait long enough. Still can't afford till maybe another two weeks when i'm paid.

sorry for hijacking your thread but I guess this can be sorta helpful to you too. After doing the softmod of my 9800SE BLACK PCB I shaped memory I used to get ~11700 @2200mhz on 3dmark2001 and after doing the softmod I got ~13100@2100mhz. Thats a huge performance increase huh?

thats alot better yes. I would suggest overclocking her now. Search back in the videocard forum a bit till u find my overclocking video guide. I bet we can get u to 15000 if we try ahrd enough

Um, y'know, lets just forget about the refurb 9800SE. I'm going for the used ATI ( Not sapphire) 9800Pro. Thanks for bringing me to my senses, I almost thought a 9800SE could be a pro.. But pro's are just better qualified as being a "Pro".

Your choice, but the 9800SE can be a Pro and mine is. The formula for it:
+ + =

With the possibility of the 6800LE being released sometime soon, I would wait, as it is only $200 for 8 Pipelines, PS3, and SM3

~Bob

Quote: Originally Posted by khellandros66 With the possibility of the 6800LE being released sometime soon, I would wait, as it is only $200 for 8 Pipelines, PS3, and SM3 ~Bob

- Sheesh!! -Yeah.. Uh-huh.. Rrrright, i'll buy another nVidia card really soon.. Not likely, just give me a try with a $150 ATI Rad9800Pro, then i'll decide if I feel like another second-rate nVidia ordeal again..

rofl u bought the 5200 dude. What did you expect? You get what you pay for dude, u payed sh*t and thats what u got.

I had a 5200, I payed nothing and got nothing.