9800SE vs 9600 PRO?

[Warden]

Any idea which of these cards is a better card? I have a friend looking to upgrade from a Radeon 7000 and he wants to spend about $85-95. I can pick him up either of these cards for about that price but I'm not familiar with the 9800 SE.

Warden

 

[CastleBravo]

9800 SE is a little better.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-04.html#aquamark_3

 

[Stugots]

the 9800se may be modable to a 9800pro. make sure its a 256bit and NOT a 128bit card. the 128bit cards are modable to 9500pro's. id definetly go with the 9800se

 

[Elios]

the 9800SE is slightly better is about = to a 9600XT

 

[independantvariable]

I can not believe how unreasonable most you people are, listen buy a 9600xt, more and more people have done research to find that softmodding a card eventually leads to premature video card life. And there is also a chance that the 9800se will not even be able to softmod. (Artifiacs rule man!) Do yourself a favor, it is not worth the hastle to push out a couple more effects and a few frames to sacrifice the stability of your system. People can point and cry about how much greater the benchmarks are from a 9800pro to a 9600xt but when it comes down to it benchmarks do not play the games. Save yourself the trouble and get something you can rely on to play games day in and day out.

 

[independantvariable]

the 9800SE is slightly better is about = to a 9600XT

and no the 9800se MAY be equal, but dont even say slightly better, because it is slightly worse.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-04.html

2/3 test on this page alone the 9600xt beats the 9800se

 

[nst6563]

consider the source (gasp...tom's)...but still....a 9600xt is better than a 9800se MOST OF THE TIME when both cards are stock. If the 9800se is able to softmod...it will be better...however, if it doesn't softmod and all you can do is overclock...the 9600xt's usually have a lot of headroom to play with.

They may not be the fastest cards, but they're fun as hell to overclock and mod.

wait a minute...I re-read your original post though...for that price range, get the 9800se. It's faster than the pro, similar to the 9600xt, and has a vague possibility to softmod.

 

[OriginalReaper]

the 256bit 9800 should be a little faster
the 128 bit 9800 SE should be slower

I'd get the 9800 SE 256bit and try to enable all 8 pipes on it.

The test setup on that page says the card benched is a 128bit 9800SE.

 

[CleanSlate]

I'd get the 9800 SE 256bit and try to enable all 8 pipes on it.

This is always the only way to go below 9800pro buying.

~Adam