Radeon 8500 vs. 9200

[Spiderman]

I have an ~2 year old, AGP 4x, 2.66Ghz P4 system. Will I see any difference
between the 8500 and 9200 on games such as GTA Vice City? Also, are there
any home theater/video/DVD features in the 9200 that aren't in the 8500? In
other words, will I notice any difference between the 2? I already ruled out
the 9600/9700/9800 class since they have features I'll never notice (AGP 8x,
etc).

 

[Spiderman]

Oh, and a follow-up question...the 9200 is a 8x card, will it work correctly
in an AGP 4x slot/motherboard?

 

[Tod]

The 9200 (and 9000) has a slightly stripped down GPU chip of what is in the
8500 (and 8500LE, 9100)
So the 8500 will be a little faster.

You can get a 9600SE for $75 (they will work at AGP 4X)

 

[Spiderman]

I see different branded 9200se and 9600se cards...some brands are much
cheaper than others, for example, the First International Computers version
on amazon.com. Does it make a difference which version I get?

 

[Tod]

Most AGP 8X cards will work in AGP 4X mode.

Oh, and a follow-up question...the 9200 is a 8x card, will it work correctly
in an AGP 4x slot/motherboard?

 

[Tod]

I myself would prefer something like Sapphire.
(who I understand make cards for ATI).
I've had a motherboard made by FIC
(First Interstate Computers) worked fine.
9600SE is the card with the slower 200mhz (DDR400) memory.
other 9600s have 300mhz (DDR600) memory
9200SE I'm not sure.

 

[Darthy]

The 9200 (and 9000) has a slightly stripped down GPU chip of what is in the
8500 (and 8500LE, 9100)
So the 8500 will be a little faster.

You can get a 9600SE for $75 (they will work at AGP 4X)

Yeah... and the 9600se is SLOWER than the 9000Pro/8500...

 

[Darthy]

I have an ~2 year old, AGP 4x, 2.66Ghz P4 system. Will I see any difference
between the 8500 and 9200 on games such as GTA Vice City? Also, are there
any home theater/video/DVD features in the 9200 that aren't in the 8500? In
other words, will I notice any difference between the 2? I already ruled out
the 9600/9700/9800 class since they have features I'll never notice (AGP 8x,
etc).

ATi 9000~9200s are cheaper versions of the 8500s...

A respectable upgrade would be a $130 ATI 9500Pro, minim. (You could
get a GF5900xt for $170 which is a lot faster). Or the ATI9800 for
just under $200 (not the SE version).

You rulled out the 9600~9800? AGP 8x would give you 0-3fps faster...
oh WOW.. geez. If you don't wanna play modern games, keep what you
have.

Your system would need to have some CPU power... like at least a P4
2.2Ghz of AMD 2000+ to kinda get the most out of the card... if you
have a PIII-1000Mhz, you might notice an improvement.

 

[Asestar]

Stick with your 8500.. untill 9800pro/xt or (9700pro) drop in price.
8500/9000pro kick the crap outta 9200se and even 9600se. If you ever see the
suffix "SE" in a cards name, run in opposite direction!

 

[Mike P]

You might notice that the 9200 is slower. And 8x agp isn't a big deal but
dx9 support, and a much higher frame rate are. Is this post a troll?

Mike

 

[Asestar]

You might notice that the 9200 is slower. And 8x agp isn't a big deal but

dx9 support, and a much higher frame rate are. Is this post a troll?

You say that 9200 is slower (actually 9200se is slow, 9200 is a decent card)
, then you say "much higher framerates" ? make up your mind.
Dx9 support is a waste, the games that require/use D3D9 features, will
require at least a 9600/9700 class horsepower! 9200se is way too slow to run
any dx9 game. It is also slower at dx8 games compaired to 8500.

 

[J. Clarke]

I have an ~2 year old, AGP 4x, 2.66Ghz P4 system. Will I see any
difference between the 8500 and 9200 on games such as GTA Vice City? Also,
are there any home theater/video/DVD features in the 9200 that aren't in
the 8500? In other words, will I notice any difference between the 2? I
already ruled out the 9600/9700/9800 class since they have features I'll
never notice (AGP 8x, etc).

The 9200 is a crippled 8500. You will gain absolutely _nothing_ by going to
a 9200--the only valid reason I can think of for replacing an 8500 with a
9200 would be if somebody let the smoke out of the 8500 and you couldn't
find another one, but even then the 9100 would be a better bet.

 

[Mike P]

The first part of my post is replying to the first part of his, comparison
of the 8500 and 9200. Then in his post he rules out the 9500 up cards at
the point he goes into 8xagp.

"And 8x agp isn't a big deal but dx9 support, and a much higher frame rate
are."

That part of my post is refering to the 9500 up cards, in chronological
order with the o.p.

I wasn't clear but you should think before you mouth off, Asestar.

Mike

 

[Asestar]

Hey hey, no need to start picking on me. You quoted Spiderman's original
post in your message, also about compairing 9200 and 8500. I was just trying
to help another person from falling into low-end-dx9-capable-card's trap.
Next time you reply to a specific post, then click on THAT message before
clicking "reply" (and NOT on the main topic). So maybe you should be more
specific about what and to whom you post!

 

[Augustus]

Friend has an Athlon XP 1700 system with a 9200 128 Meg (not an SE). Mine is
a PIII 1133 pushed to 1275 with a 9100 128 Meg with the clocks pushed to
8500 levels. I get better fps and 3D mark scores.

 

[Darthy]

Friend has an Athlon XP 1700 system with a 9200 128 Meg (not an SE). Mine is
a PIII 1133 pushed to 1275 with a 9100 128 Meg with the clocks pushed to
8500 levels. I get better fps and 3D mark scores.

9100 is supposed to be a bit better than 9200/9000

How much better? 1-5 fps?

Software on someones computer can effect performance (Spyware, crap
ware).

Also, on your FRIEND'S system - the 9200 is bottle necked and on YOUR
setup - both cpu and video card are bottlenecked.

 

[Asestar]

Many people underestimate older graphic cards, thinking that 1-2 year old
expensive gfx is sure slower than newest cheap gfx card. It might be true
for meny cards, but for 2 instanses it's not!

1- Gf3 ti200/500 is faster than 5200/5600xt
2- 9100/8500 is faster than 9200/9000..
But you can't really buy a new gf3 or r200 anymore with warranty and all. so
it's back to new ones..

 

[Mike P]

If you mean 3dmark2001 that's very cpu dependant. Even if you mean
3dmark2003 the huge cpu differences will by far more than make up for the
card differences. Same for games, on differing scales. I haven't seen such
an invalid comparison in quite a while...

Mike

 

[Ciccio von Ciccio]

I'd like to flash a pc-card with to use it with an agp mac.
Do you know where can I find instructions?
I'm sure it's possible because I've found many flashed 8500 on ebay.
Do you know if exists a general way when video cards was made for both
world?
TIA
enrico

 

[Ciccio von Ciccio]

I'd like to flash a pc-card with to use it with an agp mac.
Do you know where can I find instructions?
I'm sure it's possible because I've found many flashed 8500 on ebay.
Do you know if exists a general way when video cards was made for both
world?
TIA
enrico