X800 Pro versus 9800 Pro in new system build?

[Don Burnette]

My current system specs:

Athlon XP 2800+ overclocked to 3200+ speeds.
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video card, 128 mb, overclocked for 3d to 413 core, 374
mem.
1 gb pc 3200 ddr ram
Asus A7N8X Deluxe version 2 mb

I am planning on ordering the components to upgrade to a 64 bit socket 754
system in the very near future. I will be ordering the components probably
before the end of the week.
I will get the Asus Nforce3 250 GB motherboard, and the Athlon 3400 64 bit
socket 754 processor.

My dilemma at this time, is whether to go ahead and upgrade the video card
to the X800 Pro 256 mb, to realize the real potential of the above, or just
stick with the 9800 Pro, until the newer generation is more available and
cheaper in cost. The X800 Pro is still a pretty pricey card, and if it does
not offer considerably more bang over the 9800 Pro, then I probably should
skip and upgrade the vid card a little later down the road. My 9800 Pro has
been a great card.

I do not want to go with socket 939/Nforce4/pci express just yet, I will
wait and upgrade to that in the next year and a half or so, when it is more
proven. I do not mind upgrading more frequently, as I ain't happy unless I
am tinkerin .

Any opinions on the video card would be appreciated.


Thanks,

 

[JK]

What settings do you use to overclock your 2800+ to 3200+ speeds?

JK

 

[Augustus]

The X800 Pro is still a pretty pricey card, and if it does

not offer considerably more bang over the 9800 Pro, then I probably should
skip and upgrade the vid card a little later down the road. My 9800 Pro
has been a great card.

I do not want to go with socket 939/Nforce4/pci express just yet, I will
wait and upgrade to that in the next year and a half or so, when it is
more proven. I do not mind upgrading more frequently, as I ain't happy
unless I am tinkerin .

Any opinions on the video card would be appreciated.

Is the X800 Pro a better card? Yes. It's definitely a decent jump up. Is it
worth roughly double what a 9800 Pro 128Mb card is? In my opinion no. A 9800
Pro is not a marginal card in any way. If you were going up from a 9600 Pro
or XT it would be a better upgrade. I have a 9800 Pro clocked at XT spec
128Mb on my XP3200+ and there's no way I'd pay $400 to upgrade a card that's
more that adequate. I don't need to run Far Cry at 1600x1200, FSAA, with
everything maxed out.

 

[Joachim Trensz]

The X800 Pro is considerably faster @ default speeds and more overclockable than
the 9800 Pro (I went from a 9800 Pro to an X800 Pro). It overclocks to X800 XT
speeds without any pixel errors or artefacts, @ temps ~ 55°C for me without me
taking any special measures to get it there.

You might want to try to get an X800 Pro Vivo, because that Vivo is probably
equipped with the faster 1.6ns RAM chips the X800 XT uses, and there are BIOS
mods which allow the user to enable all 16 pixel pipelines (as compared to 12
the original X800 Pro has), turning the X800 Pro Vivo into a full blown X800 XT.

Achim

 

[Neon]

I had recently upgraded from a 9800 pro to an x800 pro. Although my
3dmark03 score increased from a 6094 to over 10,000 I didn't notice too much
difference in playing games as the 9800 pro is still a decent card. I did,
however, get bragging rights and my son got a nice upgrade as the 9800 pro
found a new home in his system to replace his 9700 non-pro.
Would I do it again? Sure - its a great card!