Need Advice!

[Comkilla]

Okey im set to buy a Radeon 9800Pro tomorrow, i found a greate price and i want know if its an okey card or if its one of those "DONT BUY" ones like the PowerColor...

Club 3D Radeon 9800Pro 128Mb

Anyone with experience of it?

thanx

 

[Asus]

I would suggest looking for a different brand.
My friend just got a ATI Radeon 9800Pro 128mb Retail from his local Best buy for 300$.

 

[Comkilla]

bump

 

[Unreal]

I would definately not get that. It sounds weak, and will have really crappy ram chips on it. Get a Hercules if you want the best, or a saphire is pretty good, but pricey. I have a Gigabyte card, and it runs fine. I used to have a hercules 9800 pro, and it was very very good, and stayed very cool.
I thought powercolour were an ok card, but I`d stick with the better brands for something like a 9800 pro, since its a great card.

Go for any of these: Hercules, ASUS, Saphire, Gigabyte

 

[Willber123]

i agree i have a hercules and its great

 

[Unreal]

The one with the blue led fan? Its a really good card, plus it overclocks so well, maybe even the best overclocking radeon 9800 pro, cause it has ramsinks all over it, and a good fan. They are a little pricey though, or they were, but they might be as cheap as a sapphire now.

 

[Meteor_of_War]

I saw the ATI radeon 9800 Pro the other day @ my local Best Buy for $300 after a mail in rebate for $50.
Not a bad price for a damn good card.

 

[Comkilla]

Okey the Herc is acually avileble from the same store i had in mind for a good price aswell. Anyone know the diffrences between the Connect3D and the Hercules?
Cuz i know both of em are suppose to be greate cards but currenty the Connect3D is a bit more expensive.

 

[Asus]

I would dive for the hercules...
Better card...better price...copper heatsink for great cooling/stability.
Blue led...hey looks even better.

 

[Shuzer]

Connect3d 9800 pro:
380mhz Engine
680 mhz Memory

Hercules:
380mhz Engine
680mhz Memory

They're both clocked the same, so they're the same card. When it comes down to it, I'd go with the Hercules, as it's a more widely-known brand.

The heatsink/fan on the Connect3d card looks to be the ATi standard.

However, the Hercules card has their own version, a copper heatsink

I dunno if that will help you decide on your purchase, but they're both good cards. Probably about the same quality, either would be a good purchase.


Edit: Asus summed it up quicker than I did lol

 

[Asus]

Although...Best Buy I hear has a great deal.
ATI 9800Pro 128MB Retail for 350$
-50$ (mail-in-rebate)
-50$ (free HL2 voucher)
basicly its ~250$ for the card if you consider 50$ of that paying for HL2.
Yes it's in there, my friend bought one...he was surprised.

 

[Krusty]

I've have a Connect3D 9800 Pro, got it the first day it was out, and it's superb.

At the end of the day overclocking these cards is pretty pointless, and they're all ok at stock.

Cash is cash is cash.
Go for the cheapest option!

Krusty

 

[Sideshow]

Nothing wrong with Club3d

 

[Comkilla]

Okey final question is there any way to turn of the blue led on the herc fan cuz i have a modded comp with a window and i have a controller for all the other lights in the comp so i can turn em all of when i go to bed. Is there any way to do this without cutting cables?

 

[Willber123]

The one with the blue led fan? Its a really good card, plus it overclocks so well, maybe even the best overclocking radeon 9800 pro, cause it has ramsinks all over it, and a good fan. They are a little pricey though, or they were, but they might be as cheap as a sapphire now.

yeh it is the one with the blue LED, very cool
i havent yet tried to overclock it because...well... im scared i dont want to break the card cos i payed about £300, which is like 500US$
wow, i really do live in rip off britain ;(

 

[Asus]

The LED is most likely part of the fan wiring. I doubt you could mod it easily without cutting.

 

[Unreal]

Originally posted by Willber123
yeh it is the one with the blue LED, very cool
i havent yet tried to overclock it because...well... im scared i dont want to break the card cos i payed about £300, which is like 500US$
wow, i really do live in rip off britain ;(

Hehe, I live in scotland mate. I bought this card when it was first released and it cost me 370 quid! It wasnt working properly though, so I took it back, got a refund and now I have a gigabyte card. I really want that Hercules back. It scored quite a bit higher in 3dmark2003 too...

 

[Willber123]

yeh its well good, altho i get this crappy tear in my screen :s think its my monitor, o well.
us britains should stand up and fight against low american prices!:cheers:

 

[Meteor_of_War]

Originally posted by Asus
Although...Best Buy I hear has a great deal.
ATI 9800Pro 128MB Retail for 350$
-50$ (mail-in-rebate)
-50$ (free HL2 voucher)
basicly its ~250$ for the card if you consider 50$ of that paying for HL2.
Yes it's in there, my friend bought one...he was surprised.

I already pointed that out...
didnt know you could get a voucher for HL2 even when buying a non-XT radeon though.

 

[Comkilla]

Okey ive been checking out reviews now and i must say im surprised. I've heard that PowerColor is a crap card, acording to all the reviews it's faster clocked and better... whats all this about?
And hell its cheap too!

 

[Comkilla]

NM just found out that there are 2 versions of the card and the oc'ed one is rare as hell....

 

[Asus]

I believe it is a special deal through Bestbuy.
It prints off a rebate form for the "Free Half Life 2 - ACTIVATION KEY". There is nothing in the box.
Offer date: Oct 26th through Nov. 1st 2003.
Postmark date: Dec. 1st 2003

 

[Meteor_of_War]

Originally posted by Asus
I believe it is a special deal through Bestbuy.
It prints off a rebate form for the "Free Half Life 2 - ACTIVATION KEY". There is nothing in the box.
Offer date: Oct 26th through Nov. 1st 2003.
Postmark date: Dec. 1st 2003

Well now i'm a little pissed as i bought an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro from Best Buy for $350 after the $50 rebate in the last week of September (still thinking HL2 would be released for the 30th). Damnit why didnt i wait.;(