THG Graphics Card Buyer's Guide

Radeon 9800

ATI's flagship model of the past few years carries the internal designation R350. The main change from its predecessor, the Radeon 9700 (code name R300), is the increased clock speed, resulting in improved performance (especially when FSAA and AF are enabled). While other details were changed and improved as well, these aren't really noticeable in practice. The chip is produced on an 0.15µ process and consists of 107 million transistors. Its advantage over its smaller siblings lies in its 256 bit memory interface, giving it a higher memory bandwidth, and a full complement of eight pixel pipelines. During the product run, ATI also introduced a 256 MB version featuring DDR II video memory.

With the R360, aka Radeon 9800 XT, ATI once more extended the 9800 product line at the high end. Compared to the Radeon 9800 Pro, the XT ran at even higher clock speeds, and ATI also optimized the architecture. Radeon 9800 XT cards are only available with 256 MB of video memory.

Beware of the Radeon 9800 SE, however. Unlike the rest of the 9800 family, this chip only features four active pixel pipelines and is therefore closer to a Radeon 9600. On top of that, the SE also features a trimmed-down 128 bit memory interface.

Versions:

• Radeon 9800 SE - 4PP - 128 MB - 128 bit - 380/675 MHz
• Radeon 9800 - 8PP - 128 MB - 256 Bit - 325/580 MHz
• Radeon 9800 Pro - 8 PP - 128 MB - 256 Bit - 380/680 MHz
• Radeon 9800 Pro - 8PP - 256 MB - 256 Bit DDR II - 380/700 MHz

Articles:

• Strike Force: The new ATI Radeon 9800, 9600 and 9200 Series
• Radeon 9800 256 MB
• Ready For The Winter Games: ATI Radeon 9800 XT