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Questions on ATI Cards in General

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  • Questions on ATI Cards in General

    I have quite a few questions about the new generation of ATI Cards. I just got Half-Life 2, Doom 3, and Far-Cry for Christmas and my Radeon 9200, overclocked or not wont cuz it anymore.

    1) What is the main difference between the 9800 Pro/SE and the 9800 XT?
    Besides the price!

    2) I just learned about this X800 and i wanted to know
    whats the difference between that and the 9800 XT performance
    wise?

    3) What brands are best for these cards?

    4) What difference does getting the ATI Silencer make?
    (Note: I do plan on Overclocking)
    And if I get it is it hard to install on the cards?

    2) Wheres the best place i can get these cards cheap.
    I know about www.newegg.com and www.tigerdirect.com, but is there anywhere with better video card prices?

  • #2
    Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

    1)the pro either has faster clocks or more pipelines(the SE has 4 as opposed to the pro's 8), the XT is an overclocked version of the pro.(i advice you to NOT get an SE as it is not that good with overclocking, specially the newer batch, i have a friend who has 1 and its a lot worse than my 9500PRO).
    2)the X800 is faster than the 9800 and its built on another core(smaller i think), it also has 12-16 pipelines(i forgot as to whats the real name) as oppsed to the 9800's 8.(processes more stuff), there is an AGP version and a PCI-E version.(PCI-E is a new videocard bus, which is much faster than AGP bus).
    3)sapphire is a good brand, also ati's is good.
    4) www.omegadrivers.com is an enhanced driver that also comes with a program for overclocking and checkin for artifacts.(i don't know what that ati silencer is though)
    5) www.newegg.com is a good place where to get a videocard, also try www.pricewatch.com .

    some of this info might be wrong(in specs), but most is just from what i remember at this moment(1:40AM sunday january 2nd 2005)

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    • #3
      Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

      he didn't answer number 4 so ill do it... the silencer cools your card more than the stock... = higher OC'in possibility

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      • #4
        Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

        Hows Gigabyte & ASUS any pro's or con's to them?

        Also my motherboard doesn't have PCI Express, is it worth it upgrading my motherboard just for the PCI Express? How much difference does PCI Express to AGP 8x make?

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        • #5
          Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

          "the XT is an overclocked version of the pro"

          why not just buy a pro, and overclock it to an XT ourselfs and save some money?
          The ATI Tool still works with the new cards right?

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          • #6
            Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

            The Xt is guarenteed OC'ed to the default XT of the Pro with it's bigger, better cooling. If you buy the pro, u can flash it and OC some more but you will have to buy the silencer and it;s not garenteed to work. I say gamble and get the pro but make sure there's no yellow pins on the heatsink of the 9800 pro. Unless that's what you want, hen talk to me about getttin a used one for... I don't know... $200.. lol Oh btw... I just lost an ebay auction for a 6800 cuz I fell asleep. It ended less than $200!!!! somebody kill me. Yea... so.. I'm trying to say is scope ebay and look for a 6800 for less than $200. That was a really good deal. Can't believe I fell asleep.

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            • #7
              Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

              What the hell are you talking about yellow pins?

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              • #8
                Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

                those are the old ones that has the R350 core which sux If you do buy a 9800 pro, dont get the old ones, but if u buy it off someone (ebay friend or store) make sure it's not the old ones. Like if you go to a local shop and see a 9800 pro, be sure to know how long they had it on the shelf.

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                • #9
                  Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

                  Originally posted by BigSexy396
                  "the XT is an overclocked version of the pro"

                  why not just buy a pro, and overclock it to an XT ourselfs and save some money?
                  The ATI Tool still works with the new cards right?
                  The XT is not just an OCed 9800 Pro. It has a different core, but many 9800 Pro comes with that core (which makes them underclocked XTs, if they also have XT RAM and boards, which they usually do), and most will overclock to XT speeds or beyond (mine does). I would never, ever get an XT (at least not a new one) at the current prices, though, because nVidia and ATI both offer much better cards for less money.

                  Speaking of nVidia, is there a reason you aren't considering an nVidia card? ATM, nVidia is beating ATI at every price range from $220 on up for AGP cards. ATI still holds the lower AGP cards, but that's not really relevant. If you're considering a 9800 Pro, you should get a 6600GT. If you do get a 9800 Pro, at least get an Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer that you've been looking at, because they help quite a bit. You'll want Acrtic Silver 5 thermal compound with it, but it's easy to install, so don't worry.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

                    I'll definatly get the silencer. The reason why I want to get an ATI Card is because the ATI Tool is so so so so easy to use!!

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                    • #11
                      Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

                      I only know how to overclock with the ATI Tool. Is there anything as simple as the ATI Tool for nVidia Cards?

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                      • #12
                        Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

                        I'm almost defintely sure it's called Riva Tuner. I've never used the program before or even seen a link to downlaod it since I'm an ATI person.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

                          how do you overclock to the 800XT's?

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                          • #14
                            Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

                            You can use the wonderful ATI Tool.

                            Which you can get here and learn about here too.
                            http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

                            You'll also need to install something called "softmodded" drivers for your card that allows you to overclock it.
                            You can get it here http://www.techpowerup.com/softmod/downloads.php

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                            • #15
                              Re: Questions on ATI Cards in General

                              Originally posted by BigSexy396
                              Hows Gigabyte & ASUS any pro's or con's to them?

                              Also my motherboard doesn't have PCI Express, is it worth it upgrading my motherboard just for the PCI Express? How much difference does PCI Express to AGP 8x make?
                              I am also wondering the same thing, could someone help me out plz

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