Redesigned Sapphire 9800 Pro 256MB model?

[Shiranui Gen-An]

I was perusing www.newegg.com and stumbled upon a 9800 variant I'd never
seen before. It says it's a 256MB model, but look at the board:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-340&depa=1
Doesn't look like *any* of the 256MB models that have come out before as it
doesn't have 8 chips on the bottom with the individual heatsinks (dunno how
many chips are on top), it looks shorter (about the length of the 128MB
models) and doesn't have the universal AGP connector. Anyone have any info
on this thing? The price seems reasonable...

 

[Martin]

I was perusing www.newegg.com and stumbled upon a 9800 variant I'd
never seen before. It says it's a 256MB model, but look at the board:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-340&depa=1
Doesn't look like *any* of the 256MB models that have come out before
as it doesn't have 8 chips on the bottom with the individual
heatsinks (dunno how many chips are on top), it looks shorter (about
the length of the 128MB models) and doesn't have the universal AGP
connector. Anyone have any info on this thing? The price seems
reasonable...

I wish Newegg would open up a stall in dear old blighty...

Martin

 

[Andrew Cole]

Read the note guys it says -

Please note: due to manufacturer version updates, pictures may vary from the
actual item. Newer versions of this item may be shipped before the picture
shown is updated.

- as do most on-line shops, pictures mean very little.

Andi.

 

[Oscar T Grouch]

:>Read the note guys it says -
:>
:>Please note: due to manufacturer version updates, pictures may vary from the
:>actual item. Newer versions of this item may be shipped before the picture
:>shown is updated.
:>
:>- as do most on-line shops, pictures mean very little.
:>
:>Andi.

Yep, and if you're lucky like me, the Sapphire in the picture will
turn out to be "ATI Built" like the Sapphire 9700 Pro I bought from
Newegg right after they were released about a year and a half ago. I
found this out when the card died about 2 weeks ago. I went to the
ATI site, plugged in the part number and it came back as "ATI Built"
instead of "Powered by ATI". The card did come in a white box with
Sapphire software so I don't know if Sapphire screwed up, if Newegg
screwed up, or if Sapphire ran out of "Powered by" cards and sent
Newegg "ATI Built" cards (which they manufacture for ATI) to fill out
an order. Oh yeah, and it had an ATI sticker on the fan instead of a
Sapphire sticker that was in the picture on the website. In any case
ATI is replacing it under warranty. I bought an "ATI Built" 9800 Pro
to replace it for my "game" system and as soon as I get the
replacement 9700 Pro back from ATI it will go in my "work" system
replacing the Geforce 3 Ti500 that is in there now.

Oscar

 

[Shiranui Gen-An]

Read the note guys it says -

Please note: due to manufacturer version updates, pictures may vary from the
actual item. Newer versions of this item may be shipped before the picture
shown is updated.

On closer inspection the PCB appears to be the same as that of the
9800XT...I wonder if these are XTs that wouldn't run reliably at the XT
speeds and so are downclocked to 9800 Pro speeds...