R 9800 SE vs. 9600 PRO

[Tamas]

Checking this:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/vga-charts-13.html#unreal_tournament_2003
the 9800 SE doesn't seem to be a bad choice, fot it's even cheaper
than the 9600 Pro. (To be more specific:
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800SE OEM 128MB TV
Maybe this one is especially crap for some reason? Costs about $180.
)
But what do you "pro people" say to this? Is the 9,8KSE better or is
there something baaad I can't see?

 

[Burn999]

Looking at the chart you linked, the 9700 Pro (score of 81.7) seems to be a
good deal at $30-$40 more than the 9800 SE (score of 53.2).

 

[Richard]

Got a 9600 Pro 256 from Powercolor for $154

Looking at the chart you linked, the 9700 Pro (score of 81.7) seems to be a
good deal at $30-$40 more than the 9800 SE (score of 53.2).




http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/vga-charts-13.html#unreal_tournament_2003

 

[JimC]

It's something bad you can't see. The 9800SE is similar in performance to a
low end 9600.

 

[Gilden Man]

It's something bad you can't see. The 9800SE is similar in performance to a
low end 9600.

Not always true. There are two versions of the 9800SE: one with a 128bit
memory bus and the other with 256bit. You can see here:

http://www.ocfaq.com/softmod/faq.php

that the cards with an L shaped arrangment of memory chips are 256bit and
those with an I shaped arrangement (i.e. all in a horizontal line) are
128bit. All the All-In-Wonder 9800SE's have a 256bit bus as they need to
have an L shaped memory chip arrangement to make room for the TV-tuner.
As mentioned in that tomshardware.com article, they are testing one with
a 128bit bus. The Sapphire 9800SE is a 128bit version.
Here is a review of the 256bit version of the 9800SE:

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD02NTU=

You can see it performs very well compared to a 9600 Pro. Sometimes the
9800SE's 256bit bus gives it the edge and sometimes the 9600Pro's higher
fill-rate wins out. Further to that, if the card can be softmodded to
unlock the other 4 pipelines then you effectively have a 9800 Pro.
I purchased a Hercules 9800SE AIW 3 weeks ago. I successfully applied
the softmod patch to unlock the other 4 pipelines, making my card
effectively a 9800 Pro AIW, for £150 rather than the ~£270 a real 9800 Pro
AIW would cost. I got mine from www.lowestonweb.com, although I notice
they are out of stock now.
Be warned though. Only on some of these cards do the other 4 pipelines
work perfectly. A friend tried the softmod and he had an unwatchable
chessboard effect during games. He now uses the standard driver and is
thus running with that standard 4 pipelines.
Cheers.

 

[J.Clarke]

Not always true. There are two versions of the 9800SE: one with a
128bit memory bus and the other with 256bit. You can see here:

http://www.ocfaq.com/softmod/faq.php

that the cards with an L shaped arrangment of memory chips are 256bit
and those with an I shaped arrangement (i.e. all in a horizontal line)
are 128bit. All the All-In-Wonder 9800SE's have a 256bit bus as they
need to have an L shaped memory chip arrangement to make room for the
TV-tuner.
As mentioned in that tomshardware.com article, they are testing one
with
a 128bit bus. The Sapphire 9800SE is a 128bit version.
Here is a review of the 256bit version of the 9800SE:

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD02NTU=

You can see it performs very well compared to a 9600 Pro. Sometimes
the 9800SE's 256bit bus gives it the edge and sometimes the 9600Pro's
higher fill-rate wins out. Further to that, if the card can be
softmodded to unlock the other 4 pipelines then you effectively have a
9800 Pro.
I purchased a Hercules 9800SE AIW 3 weeks ago. I successfully
applied
the softmod patch to unlock the other 4 pipelines, making my card
effectively a 9800 Pro AIW, for £150 rather than the ~£270 a real 9800
Pro AIW would cost. I got mine from www.lowestonweb.com, although I
notice they are out of stock now.
Be warned though. Only on some of these cards do the other 4
pipelines
work perfectly. A friend tried the softmod and he had an unwatchable
chessboard effect during games. He now uses the standard driver and is
thus running with that standard 4 pipelines.

I'm curious--does the 9800SE AIW have a DVI connector? If so, even if
you can't unlock the pipelines that would make it preferable to the 9600
AIW for some situations.

 

[One2Go]

I purchased a Hercules 9800SE AIW 3 weeks ago. I successfully
applied
the softmod patch to unlock the other 4 pipelines, making my card
effectively a 9800 Pro AIW, for £150 rather than the ~£270 a real 9800
Pro AIW would cost. I got mine from www.lowestonweb.com, although I
notice they are out of stock now.

Where did you get the softmod patch from? I just ordered a Hercules AIW
9800SE and it should arrive here in a day or two. Please let me know the
link to unlock the additional 4 pipes.

Tah
One2Go

 

[Gilden Man]

Where did you get the softmod patch from? I just ordered a Hercules AIW
9800SE and it should arrive here in a day or two. Please let me know the
link to unlock the additional 4 pipes.

The best driver to use is the Omega Driver from www.omegacorner.com.
Cheers.

 

[One2Go]

The best driver to use is the Omega Driver from www.omegacorner.com.
Cheers.

Thanks a lot. it was difficult to get the Hercules AIW 9800SE seems like
only vendors with existing stock are able to deliver them. Several vendors
in the UK no longer stock the item, perhaps Hercules no longer makes them.

One2Go

 

[Gilden Man]

Thanks a lot. it was difficult to get the Hercules AIW 9800SE seems like
only vendors with existing stock are able to deliver them. Several vendors
in the UK no longer stock the item, perhaps Hercules no longer makes them.

Seems they disappeared in NA and now the same is happening over here. We
just got in at the right time. Better hope yours doesn't have any
artifacts when the other 4 pipelines are unlocked
Cheers.

 

[One2Go]

Seems they disappeared in NA and now the same is happening over here.
We just got in at the right time. Better hope yours doesn't have any
artifacts when the other 4 pipelines are unlocked
Cheers.

My Interest is in capturing from a VCR and than editing the footage plus
converting them to MPEG2 stream. Everything I have under control except the
capturing part, that will be new to me. When you say artifacts do you mean
on the display or in captured footage?

I don't play games so the speed demon of a graphics card is not essential
for me. Only one complaint, I wish they would have included for the UK the
digital channels. Perhaps that is why they disappeared, they working on a
new card closing down the loop holes and adding the digital TV channels
like the Nebula card.

One2Go

 

[Gilden Man]

My Interest is in capturing from a VCR and than editing the footage plus
converting them to MPEG2 stream. Everything I have under control except the
capturing part, that will be new to me. When you say artifacts do you mean
on the display or in captured footage?

Just when displaying 3d graphics in games, etc. The 4 disabled pipelines
may or may not function perfectly. They only come into play when rendering
textures, so only 3d graphics are affected. Capturing should be fine.

I don't play games so the speed demon of a graphics card is not essential
for me. Only one complaint, I wish they would have included for the UK the
digital channels. Perhaps that is why they disappeared, they working on a
new card closing down the loop holes and adding the digital TV channels
like the Nebula card.

Yeah it's a pain. I don't even have a working TV ariel in the same room. I
only have an NTL digital set-top box, so can only capture whatever channel
is being shown. The box cannot even change channel at a preprogrammed time
(as their analogue boxes could do years ago) and it only outputs in
composite <sigh> I have no idea how the TV-tuner performs on this card

 

[One2Go]

Yeah it's a pain. I don't even have a working TV ariel in the same
room. I only have an NTL digital set-top box, so can only capture
whatever channel is being shown. The box cannot even change channel at
a preprogrammed time (as their analogue boxes could do years ago) and
it only outputs in composite <sigh> I have no idea how the TV-tuner
performs on this card

Not that there is much to watch on anyway. I got sky and found out that the
movies are old, the video is compressed to the point were only a few people
complain and the content most of the time is rubbish. But every now and
than something is worth ecording and it is for those time I wish I could
capture it to the PC. Anyhow have a good one.

One2Go