The 9600 Pro is normally the faster card. Official spec for the 9800SE requires a 128-bit memory bus. You may read reviews that show the 9800SE is a better card, but those sites have gotten the rare 256-bit memory version of the card. When I say 128-bit and 256-bit, I'm refering not to size, but to the bus between the graphics memory and the graphics chip.
Both the 9600 series and 9800 series have a 256-bit graphics processor. So you may look up information on the card and see it has a 256-bit graphics processor. Don't let this confuse you, it's refering to the processor itself, not the memory bus.
The 9800SE has half the rendering pipelines disabled. That makes it as powerfull as the 9600 series. But since it's clocked much slower than the 9600 Pro, it performs much worse, assuming you get the standard card with 128-bit memory bus.
So to wrap things up:
1.) The 9800SE officially uses a 128-bit wide memory bus. Because it's clocked slower than the 9600 Pro and has the same specs otherwise, it's a slower card.
2.) Review sites received rare 9800SE cards with a 256-bit wide memory bus, so the performance numbers they show are completely deceiving.
3.) Don't confuse memory bus width with processing power, all these graphics chips have 256-bit graphics chips.
You might consider the 9600XT, now that it's nearly the same price as the 9600 Pro. Be aware that 9600 Pro "lite" cards use slower memory.
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