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Radeon 9800 XT Confusion

J

JeffB

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 10, 2003
Messages
283
So I'm finally building my dream machine, and I'm looking through newegg for my Radeon 9800 XT and then I get a huge list of em.

Any suggestions?

The Link

I was looking at the Asus one but wanted some opinions

Asus

In case my system specs matter, here they are:

3.2 Ghz P4 Extreme Edition with 800 FSB and HT
Abit IC7-MAX3 Mother Board
512MB Kingston DDR400 w/ECC
Radeon 9800 XT (TBD)
Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
WD360 "Raptor" 36GB x2
WD2500 "Caviar SE" 250GB x2
Plextor Premium 52x32x52x CD Burner
Plextor DVD + RW
Antec Plus View 1000 AMG Case
Antec 550watt EPS12V
PCI 1394 Firewire Card
Logitech Z-680 Speakers

Jeff
 
You are buying the P4 EE edition?... Go read the Athlon64 3400+ reviews... Half the price, more performance.
 
I almost got the Asus, because I wanted the extra features. However, CompUSA didnt carry it, and I got some big gift cards there, and thats where I bought my XT. I got the BB ATi model.

The [H] review didnt get a very good overclock with the Asus model. But that could just be their card, and not the norm.

About your system, why just 512ram, and why ECC... ? Also, for a top end system.. get a PC Power&Cooling PSU. The best there is, hands down.
 
His links are fine. The first shows all sorts of video cards, with XT's in there. The second is a direct link to the Asus model.
 
Didn't even see that, 512MB is too low for that system. Get at least 1GB. Preferable 2x512. As far as your question, the brand of 9800XT really isn't that big of a deal. Seeing as how price seems to be no object to you, I would suggest just sticking with BBA Retail version.

I think getting the consumer whore version of the P4, aka Extreme Edition, is a big mistake. The Athlon64 is half the price and performs better in games. I think it's a little slower in synthetic and office benchmarks, but how much power do you really need for Office?
 
ditch the p4EE and get a normal p4 with a gig of ram.

and you don't really need ram with ECC, if anything you'll get less performance with it
 
Originally posted by mcryptic
ditch the p4EE and get a normal p4 with a gig of ram.

and you don't really need ram with ECC, if anything you'll get less performance with it
Click to expand...

Yeah, ECC is for servers and stuff. Hook yourself up with some nice pc 433DDR ram... a gig of it plz.
 
Oops, my bad. I forgot to add that I was going for 512MB x4

So thats over 2gigs.

Sorry bout the confusion.

I was thinking about the Athlon 64, but I'm not that big on AMD.

And whats wrong with EE?

Edit: And EEC?

And also, I was thinking of going with dual 3.2 xeon set-up.

Any suggestions on that one?
 
unless you do 3d work or a lot of encoding dual cpus is a waste for games.
 
Originally posted by JeffB
Oops, my bad. I forgot to add that I was going for 512MB x4

So thats over 2gigs.
Click to expand...


If you have the money to burn on what Intel wants for those EE processors, I'd say just buy a vanilla 3.2ghz and get a vapochill/prommy system. You'll be a lot happier in the long run.

The EE's extra bit of cache is not worth the price of admission. Hell, the A64's have something like 2mb cache and are 64bit processors.

As for the 3dCard. Again, if you have money to burn, buy it retail. But I'd HIGHLY recommend going on Ebay. There is a shitload of retail packaged w/HL2 9800XT's (ATI is the normal make) for about $395. Some as low as $375.

If you're going for ram, you may want to check out the Mushkin Level II ram. As I've heard numerous good things about it. That is, if you plan on overclocking or you want aggressive timings.

We're speed freaks with a penny-pinching thought-process here on the [H] :)

Don't forget, if you can hold off for another month till about Feb. The Prescott P4 3.4ghz (as well as the other models) should be out.


BTW, if you do gaming. You'll absolutely love the 680 speakers. I have a set (bought'em refurbished for $190 a few months back) and can't believe the sound quality of them. There's a lot of reviews complaining about the whitenoise, but unless you listen for it, you won't hear it.

<edit>OMG! Dude, don't pay $1k for that processor! I don't care if you have a million dollars, that is outrageous. Intel has some serious price-gouging issues.
 
I've read about those speakers.

Is the bass really that incrediable?
They lack tweeters though, buts that ok with me
 
Ive had them for over a year, and like them a lot. For the money, I dont think there is any other computer speaker set that can match them.
 
Originally posted by JeffB

And whats wrong with EE?

Edit: And EEC?
Click to expand...
the EE's overpriced, that's all.

And there's nothing WRONG with ECC...but it's slightly slower, a bit more expensive, and not as good for overclocking, so unless you're running a server 24/7, I suggest getting the faster, cheaper non-ECC flavor.
 
Mmm k

But I was thinking of doing some 3d work.
Is the dual xeons worth it?
 
Originally posted by JeffB
Mmm k

But I was thinking of doing some 3d work.
Is the dual xeons worth it?
Click to expand...
only if you do a HECK of a lot of 3d work, and your dad's Bill Gates.
 
as for the original question

whichever 9800XT you decide to get they all have the same features, except for the Asus which does NOT have ATI's overdrive

so i'd go for like a built by ATI 9800XT if you want, since you seem to have lots of money
 
overdrive basically overclocks the chip for you, except that all overclocked settings are WHQL certified, and don't void your warranty. However, it won't overclock as high as you can with other software (rage3d, etc)
 
Originally posted by JeffB
What is the ATI "overdrive"?
Click to expand...
just a built in feature that overclocks the card. depending on temp the overdrive has 3 settings
 
True "Dream Machine:"

Don't buy top of the line parts, buy second or third best.

Spend about half as much money, then use it to incrementally update. This way, instead of being obsolete in a year, your machine can still compete with some of the best. ;)
 
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