9800 NP vs 9700 Pro

[No Limit]

Hi,
I am in desperate need of a new vid card as my ti4200 is getting a little rusty. I am very interested in the 9700 pro but I can get the 9800 Non pro for about $80 less. Looking at the ATi site the specifications for the 9800 are better than the 9700 pro with smooth shader 2.1 instead of 2.0 (not a huge difference) with the memory clock being much higher for the 9800 at 580 opposed to 310 for the 9700 pro. Am I overlooking something here or is the 9800 simply faster for a lot less money?

 

[SidewinderX]

make sure that 9880np that is so much cheaper isn't a 9800SE. That card is very very poor compared to the 9800np

 

[No Limit]

It looks to be the non SE, I would never buy that BS.
http://www.adamant.com/ItemInfo.asp?PrdAbr=VCATI-566&DB=Products

 

[No Limit]

Looking at benchmarks now and only found this one to compare the 2 cards directly:

http://www.driverheaven.net/articles/aquamark3/index2.htm

Anyone have any other benchmarks comparing these 2? If the benchmark above is accurate the .4 FPS lost with the 9800 might just be worth the $80 you save especially when you won't be able to see the difference.

 

[Shuzer]

That has to be a Radeon 9800SE, seeing as the cheapest 9800 on pricewatch is $265 (other than the one you linked to)

I would guess it's a misprint.. although, I'd e-mail them and ask if it's a 9800 or a SE though.. wouldn't buy it without a quick e-mail to them if I were you, seeing as how they don't list the core/mem clocks or anything

 

[MetallicA]

Originally posted by Shuzer
That has to be a Radeon 9800SE, seeing as the cheapest 9800 on pricewatch is $265 (other than the one you linked to)

I would guess it's a misprint.. although, I'd e-mail them and ask if it's a 9800 or a SE though.. wouldn't buy it without a quick e-mail to them if I were you, seeing as how they don't list the core/mem clocks or anything

NEVER buy an se i have a 64mb 9200 se and its such a pos.what the hell does se stand for anyhow? shit edition? probably

 

[No Limit]

I emailed them, will let you all know what they said. Does anyone have a link to benchmarks comparing the 2 cards?

 

[crabcakes66]

i cant provide a link......but i have seen a few benchs comparing the two


i will say that the 9800np is SLIGHTLY faster overall than a 9700pro.....it has an updated chipset with updated features...and that right there would be the selling pont for me.....also dont forget than a 9800np can reach 9800pro speeds....a 9700pro cant do that

i own a 9700pro btw....there are a few cases that a 9700pro is a little faster....but for the most part the 9800np is your best bet

 

[No Limit]

Cool, thanks for the info. I would love to flush the card to pro speeds but I am way to scared to blow my money. Besides, there aren't any games that really need that type of speed.

 

[Mac]

Originally posted by No Limit

with the memory clock being much higher for the 9800 at 580 opposed to 310 for the 9700 pro.

your mistaken on that memory speed. the 9800np has a memory speed of 290 x2 (ddr) = 580

9700 pro = 310 x2(ddr) = 620

so the memory of the 9700 pro is faster, but the 9800np can be overclocked easily to pro speeds. a 9700 pro cannot.

pro speeds = 380/340 btw.

i have a 9800np flashed with pro bios at 475/380 clock speeds (With watercooling) on air i was able to get it to 430/340

so as you can see even with stock cooling you can get a 9800np to be just as good as or significantly better than a 9800pro. that is the best bang for your buck imo.

btw, ddr means double data rate in case your wondering. and the double means you multiply the clockspeeds by 2 to get the ddr speed. you were comparing the 9800np's ddr speed to the 9700pro's clock speed which is inaccurate. just wanted to clear that up.

so 9800np = 324/290 or 324/580 (ddr)
9700pro = 324/310 or 324/620 (ddr)

 

[NSPIRE]

I never did like numbers...