different 9800 pros?

[The Terminator]

Which card would you buy? Sapphire Radeon 9800PRO ATLANTIS 128MB DUAL (LITE) OR MSI ATI Radeon 9800PRO Plus 128MB TD128?

which would you get and why? Either better for overclocking etc?

 

[GuNzABlaZiN]

Definately go with the MSI, or rather, check this out: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-127-127&depa=0

It's basically an underclocked XT for like a $100 cheaper, overclocks to XT speed no problem on stock cooling.

Errr, newegg doesn't ship in Canada and the only Canadian site that has it is http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=12289&vpn=RX9800PRO-TD128 &manufacture=MICROSTAR

I'm getting the same card, just read the reviews on newegg.

 

[blahblahblah]

Linkage please.

You want to double check and make sure the 9800 Pro you are getting has a 256 bit memory bus (its different than video RAM). The 128 bit memory bus is much slower than the normal 9800 Pro.

 

[The Terminator]

Ya, i checked both blahblahblah. Both have 128 mb ram and 256 bit interface.

 

[blahblahblah]

If they are the same, I would base my choice off of cooling systems (chances are they use the same heatsink/fan solution) and bundled software.

 

[bosox188]

Get the MSI one. Like GunzaBlazin said, it's really an underclocked 9800xt, and it has good cooling.

 

[The Terminator]

I checked product reviews on the saphire and MSI, both said they had great OC success. I think Im gonna go with the saphire becuase it was cheaper by a few bucks. Cant wait.

 

[bosox188]

Ok sapphire's good too, but really it's just a few bucks.

 

[The Terminator]

Thanks for the help.

 

[B.Calhoun]

This might sound kinda noobish but what is overclocking? i hear so much about it

 

[The Terminator]

overclocking is increasing the mhz or ghz of a cpu or gpu to make it faster. You get better performance for nithing altouhgh you can overheat and damage them sometimes, thats the downside.

 

[blahblahblah]

This might sound kinda noobish but what is overclocking? i hear so much about it

Most computer hardware can operated *safely* above its stated speeds. Overclocking is making a component run faster by increasing the speed of the component to take advantage of this additional headroom. The benefit is that it makes that component run faster. The downside is that overclocking creates additional heat which reduces the life of your components and may cause the component to die (if you are not being careful).

Overclocking is about 99% safe if you take the time to learn about overclocking and are patient when you do overclock.

 

[B.Calhoun]

Ah i see so it depends on how much u increase the mhz/ghz untill u see a change for the better in proformace. Anyone here every destroy one of the computer parts due to overclocking?

 

[GuNzABlaZiN]

The MSI card I listed has much better overclocking abilities and it comes with the R360 core, I'd pay a few $$ for better performance. The sapphire card might have a R350 core which sucks for OC'ing.