ATI 9800se vs. 9600 pro

[SaiyanGoder]

So, I'm putting together a new computer.....it's been a few years, but I still know what I'm doing. Currently, I'm ready to buy my graphics card and I thought I knew which one I was gonna go with....but since last I looked a bunch of new models came out. I'm pretty sure I'm going with an ATI card....specifically either the 9600pro or the 9800se. Recently, it has come to my light that nvidia messes with their drivers to somehow get exaggerated benchmarks on tests. Also, I've heard that in a lot of the games that are going to come out in the near future, and some that are out (DOOM 3 and Half-Life 2), are geared to perform better on an ATI chipset. I'm looking for advice on what to buy. I'm trying to stay under $130.00....I'm currently still in college! Are there any real differences between the 9800se and the 9600pro? or should I go with something else?? Thanks for any help, guys!!

Mobo: Asus A8V Deluxe
Processor: AMD Athlon64FX (939) 3000+ 1.8GHz Winchester
HDD: Seagate SATA 160GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache
Memory: Kingston HyperX PC-3200 400Mhz 512M
SC: Creative Labs Audigy2 ZS
VC: ???
PS: 550Watts

 

[ChipDeath]

Toms VGA Charts:
<A HREF="http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-04.html#3dmark_2003" target="_new">3dmark2003</A>
<A HREF="http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-04.html#3dmark_2003" target="_new">Doom3</A>
<A HREF="http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-09.html" target="_new">FarCry</A>
They're pretty close. The 9800SE wins 3dMark, but they trade places for everything else.

---
"Sex without love is an empty experience...
But as empty experiences go, it's one of the best" - Woody Allen

 

[pauldh]

My feeling is that the 256-bit 9800se is > 9600 pro > 128-bit 9800se. But they are all close and the 9600 pro probably takes some tests. IMO, buy the cheaper of a 256-bit 9800se or a 9600 pro. A 9600XT should be under $130 and it would be a bit faster than these two. But the Best card for under $130 though is going with a refurbished Radeon 9700 pro. Much faster than the others mentioned.

Just to catch you up, or to be confusing, here is my ranking of ATI's DX 9 cards, not including the new X300, X600, X700, X800 series cards:

9800XT > 9800 Pro 256-bit > 9800 256-bit >= 9700 Pro > 9700 > 9800 pro 128-bit > 9800 128-bit > 9500 pro >= 9600XT > 9800se 256-bit > 9600 Pro > 9800se 128-bit > 9600 > 9550 128-bit > 9600se > 9550 64-bit.


<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=3400555" target="_new"> My</A>
<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=8268935" target="_new">Gamer</A>

 

[Crashman]

9600 Pro is faster than the official spec 9800SE, and a bit slower than the non-official 256-bit version.

The standard 9800SE comes on a 9500 Non-Pro card, since it has the same number of pipelines and same memory as the 9600 Pro in that configuration, but is clocked slower, it's a slower card.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

Tom's charts are WRONG because he's using a 9800SE based on the 9700 Pro PCB. The standard 9800SE uses the 9500 non-pro PCB, making it far slower than the 9600 Pro.

The reason we see a few 256-bit 9800SE's and a lot of 128-bit 9800SE's is because it's a hardware-identicle replacement for the 9500 non-pro, which had the same variety.

It's clocked higher than the 9500 non-pro, but clocked slower than the 9600-Pro, and these have otherwise similar specifications.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>