Retiring an ATI video card

[Spongebob]

I have an ATI Radeon 9800 nonpro and and ATI Radeon 9500 pro. One of them will be replaced with my new video card in one of my systems. Which of the 2 is better? I always thought the 9800 was better but then again after looking at current prices I'm thinking the 9500 pro might be a bit better since it sells for more.

[AsianBatman]

The 9500 pro probably cost more than the 9800 because it is discontinued and because it is a pro maybe. Correct me if i am wrong.

[Beefy]

I definitely wouldn't go by price alone.. Antiques cost more than things new.. ;)

Over at FiringSquad, they recently did a nice little round up of all ATi cards for Call of Duty. It's as good a benchmark as any other I guess. <a href="http://firingsquad.com/hardware/call_of_duty_ati/page5.asp" target="_blank">Here's</a> part of it, but as you can see the 9800 performs better than the 9500 Pro, especially at higher resolutions...

[Ace07]

How in the world does the 9500pro beat the 9600XT? Why does the 9500pro perform so good to the rest of the cards?

[saburrito]

It has the same exact core as the 9700, except underclocked. (Is it? O_o)

[Sovereignty]

9500 pro has 8 pipelines while the 9600, even the 9600XT, only has 4 still.

[Ace07]

Oh I see...thank you for explaining that. Why did ATI switch back to 4 pipelines after having 8 and seeing how well it did?

[AsianBatman]

They did not switch back to 4 pipeline. The 9600 and 9600xt are budget or mid-range cards. Unlike the 9800xt which has 8 pipelines, is a high-end card.

[Ace07]

So if I wanted to buy a midranged card the best one would be a 9500pro?

[Wiggo]

They went back from the 8 pipelines in the R9500 to 4 pipelines with the R9600 due to the cost of manufacturing (the R9500 cost just as much to make as the R9700).

[stereo55]

Just for your info ...... CircuitCity has the BBA 9800 NP onsale this week on sale for $199 :D .
The sale started earlier this week but can not be purchased online ; you must go INSTORE to purchase . There's a good chance they are sold out by now , so you may have to do a price match at a BB or Compusa , etc . LINKY

*EDIT* DEAL IS DEAD .

[Compgeek]

No actually the 9600xt is a better card then the 9500pro, because it beats the 9500pro in all tests.

[Mista K6]

Dude, did you read the chart? :?: The 9500 Pro spanks the XT in almost every test.

[Compgeek]

No it doesn't!!!!

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031015/radeon9600xt-07.html#unreal_tournament

Check every test!!!!!!

[Wiggo]

I think that the pair of ya are gettin' carried away over nothin' (read what the thread is about). There is very little difference between the R9500P and R9600XT but price wise the R9600XT is the cheaper card and better only if ya play at lower resolutions but if ya play at 1600x1200 then the R9500P is the way to go. Also remember that the R9600XT is basically an overclocked Pro, overclockin' an R9500P will get close to R9700 performance so why are ya's squabblin' over a few frames here and there? :?:

The main fact is that the R9800np is faster than the R9500P.