Dragon Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 Here's the problem I'm having boys and girls. As some of you may have seen at the last lan party, my video card was running at "Halflife" while running Halo. So right after xmas weekend I'm going to order a new card, hoping prices may down a little after x-mas but its really not that important. In the mean time I need to figure out which to get. Choice #1 Just buy the damn 9600xt and be happy damnit! It has some nice ocing and thats about it. Choice #2 Here's where the problems start. I can buy the 9800se and oc it just like the 9600xt but... the 9800 can be modded to a 9800/9800pro by flashing the bios. Of course I'll have to upgrade the cooling. No prob, I've got that one all figured out. Then I'll be able to oc it just like a 9800pro. Sounds like a obvious choice right, wrong. I need to get a certain 9800se. Surprise surprise, all cards are not the same. The cards that have the L shaped memory are the ones that can be modded. The l shaped ones have a 256 bus speed and the I shaped have a 128 which for some reason can't be modded. So I have to make sure I get one with the L shaped memory. That and there's a chance it won't work at all or better yet I could fry the card(but that's a long shot). If it doesn't work and I have a hard time returning it, I could be stuck with a card that doesn't run any better than a 9600pro. Or, I could order one thinking it the right one and get it and its not. Best case, I find one and modded it, it works and I get a 9800pro for half the price. The hardest thing will be finding the right one. I decided to stick with Sapphire for the card. They make all the oem cards for Ati so I think I can trust them. That and I haven't seen any bad reviews of their cards. Sapphire does make the 256 bus card that can be modded so that's no prob. I'm not looking to spend more than $170 on a card, so both fit nicely into the budget. And I should be able to drag at least 2 years out of both cards before I need a new one. So, do you guys think I should try and hunt down one of these cards or should I just buy the 9600xt? Dragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.Ob. Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 Flashing a 9800SE along with modding it are a worthshot, but future versions of ATI vid drivers could render your card scrap, even if you succeed with your mod. I believe that happened with some people that modded their 9500/9500 PRO cards to 9700/9700 PRO levels. I saw a 9800 PRO 128Meg for $299 in Best Buy's ad this past weekend, if that is what you really want. Also keep in mind, completely new video chipsets will be introduced Feb/March.... (not just faster ones like the 9600/9800 series) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted December 10, 2003 Author Share Posted December 10, 2003 Well, the cool thing about it, which I forgot to mention, is the 9800se's are just dumb down pros. Ati took the pro and disabled 4 of the 8 pipelines and called it a 9800se. So all I'm really doing in a way is enabling the 4 pipelines that are disabled. Come to think of it and you can correct me if I'm wrong, all the pros have a 256 bus speed and that's why you can't modded the 128 se cards. I keep thinking about waiting till the new cards and stuff come out but Far Cry should be out in Feb and I really want to play that one. We'll have to see. I'm still a couple weeks away from ordering something so lots of things can happen. Dragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 It's time for the ATi spokesman to finally speak up... If I were U Dragon, I honestly would hold off on getting anew card till either that FarCry game is out & U can see how poorly it runs on your PC or just wait till the new chipsets get out, THEN the cards that U are looking at now will get a reduction in price again. Either way U win & have a good chance of saving a buck or two. As for what B.Ob. said about the drivers causing issues w/ OC cards, I would heed his warning on that. Right now I'm targeting a 9800 Pro sometime soon next year cause I know the prices will be better suited for what I'm looking for. Hope this helps ya. -- Nem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParoxysM Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 If you are wanting a video card for cheap that performs well, grab a refurb one from from newegg.com. I've purchased a number of items from them without an issue. Sometime you dont get all the extra cables or whatever, but I just call the manufacter (like ATI) and they send me one for free. I bought my 9700 Ultimate almost a year ago for $260 when they were over $400 new. I saw them on eBay for $350 used the month I bought it The biggest issue with refurbs @ newegg is they dont last, especially video cards. ou have to be looking specially for them, or you'll miss out. I download a web-content scanning utility that would check every minute the changes of the video card page and notify me via popup/sound when something was added. Using a program like this gives you a 3-5 minute advantage over people refreshing the main refurb screen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted December 10, 2003 Author Share Posted December 10, 2003 or just wait till the new chipsets get out, THEN the cards that U are looking at now will get a reduction in price againThat's what I've been thinking about too but why wait when I can get a 9800pro now for half the price. I was hoping the prices would take a cut after x-mas since that's when I figured I'd pick a new card up. As for what B.Ob. said about the drivers causing issues w/ OC cards, I would heed his warning on that. OCing it probably but modding it will just set the card back to what it use to be. But the smart thing to do would be set the card back to default before loading up new drivers. You can also flash the bios on the 9800 non pros to set them back to the original pro setting. So if I can't find a 9800se I could spend the extra couple bucks and get a non pro. By the way, does anyone have links to info on the new chipsets coming? Dragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.Ob. Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 By the way, does anyone have links to info on the new chipsets coming? When they are just a couple weeks away from being officially annouced, then specs will start popping up on some sites.... I'll remember to stir the rumor-mill for ya when the stew starts to boil.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.Ob. Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 ATI's next wave of cards/chipsets: ATI to mass produce R420 graphics chip in 1Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParoxysM Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 I heard about that someone where...forgot the linkage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted December 19, 2003 Author Share Posted December 19, 2003 I found a forum in one of my random searches Ati stuff and found a guy that worked in the r&d of Ati up until a month ago. He said that with the right cooling the 9800pro and xt can be oced to the specs of the new chipsets that are coming out for Ati. I hope Ati made some inprovements after he left or else that's just plain sad. Dragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wargasm Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 ATI's next wave of cards/chipsets: ATI to mass produce R420 graphics chip in 1Q Cool. I'm sure this will be a great new chipset. Both my ATI cards work great. But I would have labeled the chipset WS420.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 ATI's next wave of cards/chipsets: ATI to mass produce R420 graphics chip in 1Q Nice. I can't wait to see the pricing impact this will have on the current cards & what the new ones are gonna sell for. I should be in the market for a new card sometime during the 1st quarter of 2004. -- Nem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.Ob. Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 new ATI hardware preview shots: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?...&threadid=47613 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurSuiT Posted December 29, 2003 Share Posted December 29, 2003 This Card is the one that supposedly can be OC'd to a 9700Pro but with 256Mb. SAPPHIRE RADEON 9600 Video Card 256MB Current Price $125 with free ship... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParoxysM Posted December 29, 2003 Share Posted December 29, 2003 Zoom Fly is $117 shipped *retail* 3400 reseller ratings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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