R9800SE 256bit $125

cefoskey · Jun 8, 2004

is this a good buy? im tempted but I dont really know the low down on the SE version of the 9800

"Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my drive?"
P4 3.0 HT, Intel D865GBF, 512MB Crucial PC3200 DDR, WD 36GB Raptor 10,000RPM, BBA Radeon 9600PRO, SB Audigy, Hauppage WinTV

Tavelkyosoba · Jun 9, 2004

i normally hang out on the sapphiretech forums, and over there we have warnings going out like crazy to warn people of the cheap 9800 pro's that are actually se's. the retailers can lie about the specs and most people wont know; so i would be wary of it, but i know one person who says he has a 256-bit se, im not sure if he realy does or not though. just be careful.

Woodman · Jun 9, 2004

9800SE only has 4 pipes, instead of the normal 8 pipes 9800NPs/PROs have. The 256bit version of the SE has a chance to be modded into a 9800NP/PRO, tho I ain't certain how it performs unmodded compared to 128bit versions.

SEs suck by the way, about the speeds of low-mid range 9600s I thinks. Check out the VGA3 charts, I'm lazy.

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Update:
AthlonXP 1800+ (1.53GHz) to AthlonXP 300+ (0.55GHz) on air. Underclock successful

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blackphoenix77 · Jun 9, 2004

I think I might buy it, and then after about a month or two, I would try to mod it. You might get lucky, you never know.

ATI 9600Pro 
 AthlonXP-M 2500+ OC'd 3200+ 
 Abit NF7-S 
 2x256MB Corsair PC3200

HardWareBoss · Jun 9, 2004

Don't waste your money on it. New Egg has HIS 9800pro ICEQ for $239.

Snorkius · Jun 9, 2004

239-125=114.

Quite a difference I would say.

If I found the hidden fountain. Drank the wisdom from it's deep.
Would I have the time to save me. Would I have them both to keep...

cefoskey · Jun 9, 2004

are we talking soft or hard mod?

"Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my drive?"
P4 3.0 HT, Intel D865GBF, 512MB Crucial PC3200 DDR, WD 36GB Raptor 10,000RPM, BBA Radeon 9600PRO, SB Audigy, Hauppage WinTV

HardWareBoss · Jun 9, 2004

Why should he waste his money on a hunk of crap. When the HIS is a much better card.

Snorkius · Jun 9, 2004

1) The 9800SE is not *that* bad.
2) Depending on the card (there are 256 bit versions) it could be a really good deal.
3) Not everyone has 239$ to spend on a card.
4) I'm not at all sure how a similarly priced card would compare.

When someone asks if a GF4 for 100$ is worth the money, you don't reply 'a 400$ x800pro would grind it to dust'.

If I found the hidden fountain. Drank the wisdom from it's deep.
Would I have the time to save me. Would I have them both to keep...

TheRod · Jun 9, 2004

From what I see on your signature you have a Radeon 9600 PRO. It is not worth upgrading to Radeon 9800 SE, this card will not be much faster in most games and in some case it will be a bit slower.

We can fairly say that a Radeon 9800 SE is about equal to Radeon 9600 PRO/XT in terms of performance.

Check the THG VGA Charts 3 for a comparison between Raeon 9600 PRO and 9800 SE :
<A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html" target="_new">http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html</A>

MORE ANALYSIS :

Radeon 9800 SE and Radeon 9600 PRO are sold for about the same price. And Radeon 9800 SE have a chance to be modded to 9800 non PRO or PRO. So, it would be smart to buy a Radeon 9800 SE instead of the 9600 PRO. You will get the same or better performance in most situation and might even get a FREE boost if the mod is working in the card.

Shortcut to the 9800 SE modding precedure :
<A HREF="http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=101&var2=0" target="_new">http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=101&var2=0</A>

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What's the AMD Mobile Athlon 64 overclocking potential? It's huge! Humm... Maybe not that huge...Edited by TheRod on 06/09/04 11:46 AM.

cefoskey · Jun 9, 2004

thanks for the link, i am debating on buying one and toying with it for a while. BTW theres a powercolor 9800SE 256 bit and some other brand at newegg for that price.

"Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my drive?"
P4 3.0 HT, Intel D865GBF, 512MB Crucial PC3200 DDR, WD 36GB Raptor 10,000RPM, BBA Radeon 9600PRO, SB Audigy, Hauppage WinTV

TheRod · Jun 9, 2004

I would get this one : POWERCOLOR RADEON 9800SE, 128M/256-bit (R98SE-C3) from newegg. I have read the user review and most of them have successfully softmodded it. There is some cheaper 9800SE cards, but it's not clearly indicated that they are 256bits.

--
What's the AMD Mobile Athlon 64 overclocking potential? It's huge! Humm... Maybe not that huge...

phial · Jun 9, 2004

From what I see on your signature you have a Radeon 9600 PRO. It is not worth upgrading to Radeon 9800 SE, this card will not be much faster in most games and in some case it will be a bit slower.

how can 4x256 be slower than 4x128, even if its clocked lower?

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<A HREF="http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/you.html" target="_new">please dont click here! </A>
<A HREF="http://www.subhi.com/keyboard.jpg" target="_new">This is you, interweb junky</A>

TheRod · Jun 9, 2004

how can 4x256 be slower than 4x128

Humm... Internal architecture / chip design.. I don't really know, I refer to the THG VGA Chart III. In the article we clearly see that the Radeon 9600 PRO/XT get often beated by the Radeon 9800 SE and in other benchmarks the Radeon 9800 SE is slower. Go check the VGA Chart III to see it by yourself.

NOTE : In the VGA Chart III the Radeon 9800 SE use 128bit BUS WIDTH.

--
What's the AMD Mobile Athlon 64 overclocking potential? It's huge! Humm... Maybe not that huge...

phial · Jun 9, 2004

NOTE : In the VGA Chart III the Radeon 9800 SE use 128bit BUS WIDTH.

there you go

so the 256bit version will definately be faster than a 9600pro/XT

-------
<A HREF="http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/you.html" target="_new">please dont click here! </A>
<A HREF="http://www.subhi.com/keyboard.jpg" target="_new">This is you, interweb junky</A>

HardWareBoss · Jun 9, 2004

Don't buy power crap.

Zeekfu · Jun 11, 2004

Cool link to the mod site. I guess it can be kind of fun to try and squeeze something extra out of a cheaper video card.
But...what if you get the "dude my comp won't boot" scenario? You just try to return it as defective? But it wasn't defective so isn't that stealing? What if they don't take it back? If they do...shipping, insurance...shipping new one back....
that zalman cooler is $35 +shipping......

*da monsta overclocka* gonna buy a cpu that is $40 cheaper and spend $30-200+ in cooling so I can overclock it to the speed of the chip that is $40 more. :>)
I'm just sayin'... :>)
peace

phial · Jun 11, 2004

its worth it, if you do it right

-------
<A HREF="http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/you.html" target="_new">please dont click here! </A>
<A HREF="http://www.subhi.com/keyboard.jpg" target="_new">This is you, interweb junky</A>

Zeekfu · Jun 11, 2004

Don't click that it is some derogatory, spam, computer hogging bs sh**- more annoying than amusing really. I'll have to run spybot and see if it put any crap on my comp now.

TheRod · Jun 11, 2004

But...what if you get the "dude my comp won't boot" scenario?

It can't happen with a Radeon 9800 SE, since it's a SOFTWARE-only MOD. If you don't flash the BIOS or alter the hardware, you can't damage your GPU. If you can't boot, you only have to remove the "hacked" drivers in safe more.

--
What's the AMD Mobile Athlon 64 overclocking potential? It's huge! Humm... Maybe not that huge...

R9800SE 256bit $125

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