• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

9600xt or 9800 pro?

A

AffinitY

n00b
Joined
Nov 1, 2003
Messages
39
I think I need a card to tide me over untill I can get a pci express motherboard and a x800 or 6800gt pciexpress. I have heard good things about both of these cards, and for the price I think I may go for it. But which is better, 9800 pro or 9600xt.. or maybe a 5950? Something mid ranged. Or should I just wait, i have a fx5600 right now, and its pretty crappy :p
 
you should be able to get a 9800pro for a bit under $200 nowadays and its still a very good card, about 30-40% better than a 9600xt
 
AffinitY said:
I think I need a card to tide me over untill I can get a pci express motherboard and a x800 or 6800gt pciexpress. I have heard good things about both of these cards, and for the price I think I may go for it. But which is better, 9800 pro or 9600xt.. or maybe a 5950? Something mid ranged. Or should I just wait, i have a fx5600 right now, and its pretty crappy :p
Click to expand...
I think right now the two cards are pretty much going for the same price.

The 9800pro beats the 9600XT in every area except engine speed (where it looses miserably). However, the 4 pipelines in the 9600XT effectively cripple any chance that this card may have of posing decent competition.

The only reasons not to buy the 9800pro is because, as I mentioned on some other string, the card produces lots of heat and sometimes can damage your system unless you have good cooling. Also, 9800pro has some compatibility problems with Windows XP Office (so if your using that OS you might want to avoid this card).

While it may not be faster, the 9600XT is newer technology (.13 as opposed to .15 as well as using newer insulating technology).

Despite all this, if you have good cooling, the 9800pro is the way to go.
 
GVX said:
The 9800pro beats the 9600XT in every area except engine speed (where it looses miserably). However, the 4 pipelines in the 9600XT effectively cripple any chance that this card may have of posing decent competition.
The only reasons not to buy the 9800pro is because, as I mentioned on some other string, the card produces lots of heat and sometimes can damage your system unless you have good cooling. Also, 9800pro has some compatibility problems with Windows XP Office (so if your using that OS you might want to avoid this card).
While it may not be faster, the 9600XT is newer technology (.13 as opposed to .15 as well
Click to expand...
This is an uneducated post. 1st) The 9800pro is superior to the 9600XT in every way. Including "engine speed", which is mainly based on processor strength. Second, the 9800 pro does not produce enough heat to damage a system. I know of people putting overclocked 9800pro cards into shuttle systems with only 1 fan. 3rd) How can the 9800pro have compatability problems in a 2D program? The drivers for the 9*00 cards are the same! I've ran OfficeXP on plenty of systems with 9800 cards with no problems whatsoever.
 
I believe he meant core/memory Mhz, not raw cpu processing power.

If a 9800pro ran at the clock speeds my 9600xt ran at...it would kick some very serious ass.

back to the thread starter: If both cards are the same price, go for the 9800pro.
9800pro = 8pipes, 256-bit memory bus .15 fab
9600xt = 4pipes, 128-bit memory bus .13 fab.

Even though you can o/c many of the 9600xt's to twice the speed of the 9800pro...the 9600xt cannot keep up at higher resolutions due to the 4-pipe design.

But it's a great budget card.
 
saturnine2 said:
Second, the 9800 pro does not produce enough heat to damage a system. I know of people putting overclocked 9800pro cards into shuttle systems with only 1 fan..
Click to expand...
I didn't say that it would "for sure" damage your system, I said that it can damage your system (there is a big difference). My question to you is; why take the risk?

saturnine2 said:
3rd) How can the 9800pro have compatability problems in a 2D program? The drivers for the 9*00 cards are the same! I've ran OfficeXP on plenty of systems with 9800 cards with no problems whatsoever
Click to expand...
Well I don't know, I'm not a programmer. When I was inquiring about the card, the tech experts at Best Buy just told me that the 9800pro has compatibility problems with Office.
 
GVX said:
Well I don't know, I'm not a programmer. When I was inquiring about the card, the tech experts at Best Buy just told me that the 9800pro has compatibility problems with Office.
Click to expand...

Tech experts at besy buy. lol. Yeah right. Most of the people of who work at places like best buy are simple computer users who like to talk out of their asses about stuff they don't know much about.
 
GVX said:
I didn't say that it would "for sure" damage your system, I said that it can damage your system (there is a big difference). My question to you is; why take the risk?
Click to expand...
I dont even see how it can damage a system. They just dont run that hot. You must be getting all of your info from BestBuy. And you ask why take the risk? I took "the risk" because I wanted to play games at a decent framerate. I am running a near silent machine with only 2 14cfm fans expelling heat. My MB temps are 89F while my room is 78F. I have had my 9800pro for over a year now. Please stop acting like you know everything. You obviously dont. Most of us here are beyond the knowledge of Best Buy $5.15 an hour employees. (no offense to any BB employees here :D )
 
There is no way to compare the 9600xt to a 9800Pro. It's like night and day.
The 9800Pro if MUCH faster in EVERYTHING
 
these is no way that the 9800pro could damage a system without there being another part in the equation,like a week psu or the hsf is not working properly.with all the 9800 pro's ive worked with non of them have even broken down or damaged any other part of the system.

i have a early sapphire 9600pro and i do love this card very much but it is a crippled card but if ur on a tight budget it is a good idea to get a 9600xt but if u can afford it get a 9800pro and make sure it aint one of the cheap 128-bit 9800pro's or ur stuck with something as usefull as a cock flavoured popsickle. :p
 
The Batman said:
OMFG MY GT JUST CRASHED RUNNING NOTEPAD!!!!!


:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

ROFLMAO... Everyone in my office glanced over when the coffee came shooting out of my nose.
 
PaintballaXX said:
if ur gonna get a 256 meg 9800 pro u can flash it to a XT anyway right?
Click to expand...
If you have an R360 core, yes. If you have a R350, it will work but you will get bad artifacting in some games.
 
The Batman said:
OMFG MY GT JUST CRASHED RUNNING NOTEPAD!!!!!


:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
lol
i was at a LAN two nights ago and a guy who used watercooling installed SP2 and after he rebooted, he tried opening my computer and it crashed explorer and then the watercooling leaked on his 5950u.

oh yeah, im using a 9800pro and have tried a 9600xt sapphire and the 9800pro is significantly faster as i can run games in higher aa and af than the xt.
 
GVX said:
When I was inquiring about the card, the tech experts at Best Buy just told me that the 9800pro has compatibility problems with Office.
Click to expand...
The "tech experts" at Best Buy know next to nothing about computers and software, in general. All they do is slap a card into a system, and hope for the best - and have no clue as to what to do when any complications occur. In fact, they (at the one in the same shopping centre as where I work at) never knew about the incompatibility issue between the Creative Audigy2 software's startup items and Norton Antivirus 2004 - nor did they know that the only way for NAV's scanner to work at all would be to disable all of the Creative startup items in MSCONFIG.
 
Don't paint all BB employee's with the same brush...

But yeah, I overheard a BB tech explaining that a Celeron 2.6 laptop was faster than an A64 2800+ because "Intel just makes faster stuff." I almost walked over and hit him upside his stupid head.
 
LOL, hands down the 9800 Pro.
Anyone that takes advice from store "tech experts" (ie sales people) don't deserve to have anything with an intergrated circuit in it. lol
 
Rori said:
Don't paint all BB employee's with the same brush...

But yeah, I overheard a BB tech explaining that a Celeron 2.6 laptop was faster than an A64 2800+ because "Intel just makes faster stuff." I almost walked over and hit him upside his stupid head.
Click to expand...
Sorry if I didn't make it clear, but I should have said that BB "tech experts" know little more about the hardware/software than the average consumer would, on the whole (but not all BB "tech experts" are equally lackadaisical).

As for the myth that "Intel just makes faster stuff", their processors are "faster" primarily in clock speed. But much of their "higher-clocked" stuff actually performs slower than AMD stuff clocked one-third "slower".
 
gentlemen. i was just thinking about this same question. had an argument last night over dinner about the nVidia 5x00 cards and the Ati cards and which way i should go now that i'm ready to get off my 5200fx. my friend who leans towards Ati and i talked about what Kyle talked about at the [H]ardworkshop and what a videocard should do for your system performance.

if you are worried about any video card heating up your system to the point of damage, go buy yourself a matching pair of smart case fan II's or 120mm tornado's. give me a break.

on another note; i like the idea of not listening to anyone who is selling me a product or service. if you do, you must be willing to belive the information they gave you might be incorrect. thats the reason the [H]ardforum is such a great service to us all.
 
You're preachin to the choir Eagle....

Whenever people come to me asking about processors and speeds, I point them at some of the big review sites like Anand and have them come ask me again after they do some reading. For sure, Intel has areas where their processors excel but for 98% of the users I deal with AMD is the best all around choice.
 
[wizard] said:
on another note; i like the idea of not listening to anyone who is selling me a product or service. if you do, you must be willing to belive the information they gave you might be incorrect. thats the reason the [H]ardforum is such a great service to us all.
Click to expand...

LOL... Tell me if you've heard this one:

"We don't work on commission so our job is to make sure that you get the best possible computer for your money."

:rolleyes:
 
Rori said:
LOL... Tell me if you've heard this one:

"We don't work on commission so our job is to make sure that you get the best possible computer for your money."

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

*caugh* lawsuit *caugh* hardocp.com *caugh*

lets stay on subject, i would suggest any one interested in buying a budget card (as in sub $300) go with the Ati 9800pro or the FX5600 ultra. question is how much video memory are you looking for an what software/games are you running?
 
[wizard] said:
i would suggest any one interested in buying a budget card (as in sub $300) go with the Ati 9800pro or the FX5600 ultra
Click to expand...
Nope, the 5600 Ultra is a significant leap below the 9800pro. I think you mean the 5900 ultra.
 
E4g1e said:
...never knew about the incompatibility issue between the Creative Audigy2 software's startup items and Norton Antivirus 2004 - nor did they know that the only way for NAV's scanner to work at all would be to disable all of the Creative startup items in MSCONFIG.
Click to expand...

I never heard about this and I'm using both of these. I've never had a problem using my virus scanner without disabling my creative software.

Back on topic now. There is really no reason to not go with a 9800pro. I just rebuilt my brother's system to something similar to mine, except he's at 2.2ghz and only has 512mb of memory. While I score 19,8xx in 3dmark 2001 (I just can't seem to break that 20,000 point barrier! :( ), he gets 14,5xx. When you start getting into higher resolutions and AA, the performance gap become noticably wider.
 
saturnine2 said:
I dont even see how it can damage a system. They just dont run that hot. You must be getting all of your info from BestBuy. And you ask why take the risk? I took "the risk" because I wanted to play games at a decent framerate. I am running a near silent machine with only 2 14cfm fans expelling heat. My MB temps are 89F while my room is 78F. I have had my 9800pro for over a year now. Please stop acting like you know everything. You obviously dont. Most of us here are beyond the knowledge of Best Buy $5.15 an hour employees. (no offense to any BB employees here :D )
Click to expand...
Your right I don't know much about computers. I would be an extreme n00b compared to most of you people here. However, I'm eager to learn, and am trying my best to further that end.

I accept my mistakes, however, you have to understand that I'm pretty pissed off right now. I was going to buy a 9800pro, but decided not to under the basis of, what I'm learning now is, false information. I'm f*cking pissed; therefore I apologize if I came off as a smart ass.
 
GVX said:
I accept my mistakes, however, you have to understand that I'm pretty pissed off right now. I was going to buy a 9800pro, but decided not to under the basis of, what I'm learning now is, false information.
Click to expand...

1st lesson you may have learned is ask here first, buy later. :p
 
GVX said:
Your right I don't know much about computers. I would be an extreme n00b compared to most of you people here. However, I'm eager to learn, and am trying my best to further that end.

I accept my mistakes, however, you have to understand that I'm pretty pissed off right now. I was going to buy a 9800pro, but decided not to under the basis of, what I'm learning now is, false information. I'm f*cking pissed; therefore I apologize if I came off as a smart ass.
Click to expand...

The lesson learned here is that you don't want to make any purchasing desicions based on what someone working at a retail store tells you.
 
GVX said:
Your right I don't know much about computers. I would be an extreme n00b compared to most of you people here. However, I'm eager to learn, and am trying my best to further that end.
Click to expand...
thats good that more ppl want to learn now a days instead of coming out saying that they know everything :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top