Peak Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb - Tech Help/Anyone got one?

[Adi]

Hello,

I have recently bought a Peak Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb AGP card over the
Internet. It arrived this morning and just before I tore off the
selophane wrapping, I noticed on the front it said: "128bit memory
bandwidth".

I was expecting it to be 256-bit due to it having an 8-pixel pipeline
- is the 128-bit memory bandwidth referring to something else?

These are the details from the official Peak web site, notice how it
says it has 256-bit and 128-bit in it - can anyone tell me the
difference in what they're reffering to please? Also does anyone have
any experience using this graphics card with specific games - if so,
what games and how good is it?


Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb
The cinematic revolution continues with RADEON™ 9800 Series, the
fastest and most visually advanced 3D performer on the planet. A
supercharged, 256-bit DDR memory interface and a thrilling 8-pixel
pipeline generate the power to deliver real-time, Hollywood-caliber
graphics for the most demanding next-generation games.


Main product features:


RADEON™ 9800 PRO Chipset
128 bit Memory bus width
400 MHz RAMDAC
AGP 8X/4X Interface
DVI-I/TV-Out/D-Sub
DirectX 9/OpenGL 1.5 Support

Many thanks to anyone who can help!

 

[elziko]

supercharged, 256-bit DDR memory interface and a thrilling 8-pixel

128 bit Memory bus width

Seems like a contradiction to me unless I have misunderstood something! I
had this problem when looking for my 9800 Pro. Although cards & boxes are
normally labeled OK the decriptions on websites are never accurate and if
you e-mail them they you get replies like "I'm pretty sure its..". Well from
the sites I contacted anyway.

 

[First of One]

Indeed, these are contradicting descriptions. One relatively sure way is to
see how the memory chips are physically arranged on the card. If they are
all in one row above the processor, the memory interface is 128-bit. If the
chips are in an "L" shape around the the processor, it's 256-bit.

The 128-bit card performs poorly, so I would recommend returning it.

 

[JLC]

Hello,

I have recently bought a Peak Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb AGP card over the
Internet. It arrived this morning and just before I tore off the
selophane wrapping, I noticed on the front it said: "128bit memory
bandwidth".

I was expecting it to be 256-bit due to it having an 8-pixel pipeline
- is the 128-bit memory bandwidth referring to something else?

These are the details from the official Peak web site, notice how it
says it has 256-bit and 128-bit in it - can anyone tell me the
difference in what they're reffering to please? Also does anyone have
any experience using this graphics card with specific games - if so,
what games and how good is it?


Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb
The cinematic revolution continues with RADEONT 9800 Series, the
fastest and most visually advanced 3D performer on the planet. A
supercharged, 256-bit DDR memory interface and a thrilling 8-pixel
pipeline generate the power to deliver real-time, Hollywood-caliber
graphics for the most demanding next-generation games.


Main product features:


RADEONT 9800 PRO Chipset
128 bit Memory bus width
400 MHz RAMDAC
AGP 8X/4X Interface
DVI-I/TV-Out/D-Sub
DirectX 9/OpenGL 1.5 Support

Many thanks to anyone who can help!

Sounds to me like you have gotten a cheaper 128bit 9800Pro. If it says it
right on the wrapper that it's 128bit then I'm pretty sure that's what it
is. Are you in the USA? I've never heard of the brand "Peak" before. How
much did you pay for it? If I where you I'd sent it back for a refund. Then
get yourself a true ATI built card. JLC

 

[First of One]

Someone else once posted a message regarding Peak cards. The P/N later
checked out to be Powercolor.

 

[Adrian.Harper]

Thanks for all the reponses. I also noticed someone had posted about
this card before and was told by Peak it was a 256bit bus - I tried
emailing him but his address is no longer valid

I also found out about the L shape being 256bit, and the I shape being
128bit, so I check the photos on peaks web site (www.peakhardware.com)
and the web page from the retailer I bought it from, which both showed
the card having an L shape memory chips!

At this point I thought 'WAHOO!' as I tore off the shrink wrap, opened
the box and what did I see? You guess it! A card that was different to
the one shown in the photo's and with an I shape memory chips!!!!

So the card is being returned for a replacement 9800 pro with a 256 bit
chip, or if they cant get one then a refund and I'll be popping down my
local comp fair on saturday!

I'm from the UK and paid £123 inc VAT & shipping for this card, so for
£25-£30 extra the 256bit is worth it, is it not?

 

[JLC]

Thanks for all the reponses. I also noticed someone had posted about
this card before and was told by Peak it was a 256bit bus - I tried
emailing him but his address is no longer valid

I also found out about the L shape being 256bit, and the I shape being
128bit, so I check the photos on peaks web site (www.peakhardware.com)
and the web page from the retailer I bought it from, which both showed
the card having an L shape memory chips!

At this point I thought 'WAHOO!' as I tore off the shrink wrap, opened
the box and what did I see? You guess it! A card that was different to
the one shown in the photo's and with an I shape memory chips!!!!

So the card is being returned for a replacement 9800 pro with a 256 bit
chip, or if they cant get one then a refund and I'll be popping down my
local comp fair on saturday!

I'm from the UK and paid £123 inc VAT & shipping for this card, so for
£25-£30 extra the 256bit is worth it, is it not?

Yes it's worth the extra money. Your doing the right thing in returning the
card. And I sure wouldn't buy from them again. With this type of false
addressing you should raise hell with them and get them to sent you a real
9800pro for what you paid for the crap one. JLC