Radeon 9800 128 vs. 256

[Jadewolf5675]

I have been looking into purchasing a Radeon 9800XT for a while now, and I was wondering how big of an impact the extra 128 ram would be? Its a big step up in price and I was just curious if it was worth it. I always though 256 ram on a video card was bit over kill. What do you guys think>

 

[Shuzer]

As is, 256MB of RAM on a video card really isn't worth the extra buck. There's nothing (for now) that takes advatage of the extra RAM, it would be more future proof, but I don't believe the cost to benefit ratio is worth it

 

[hyenolie]

actualy, the 9800xt compared to the 9800 both versions 128 and 256, is not only about quantity of ram, i dont think the xt comes in 128 ram either, but you get faster core and memory rates, someting like 50 mghz faster core and 70 mghz faster mem, i am in the same position you are in, after a lot of research, i decided to go with 9800xt, and not the 9800pro 256,
so i think you need to look into your options a little more, as for performance, i definitly think youll get a little more frames with the 9800xt than the pro,

 

[Shuzer]

I figured he meant 9800 Pro 128 vs 256 myself

 

[Asus]

I would pay no more than 5$ for 256mb vs 128mb right now. You really can't future proof since when you need 256mb you will probably also need a faster card.
The 150-200$ difference between 9800Pro 128mb and 9800XT 256mb is not worth it. Throw that money saved towards a different upgrade.

Link
At normal res, the 9800pro 128mb even tops the 256mb version. Why?
Because 256mb is useless here and it takes more time to address 256mb vs 128.

Link
If you want to spend 150-200$ extra on ~5 FPS (9800pro 128mb vs 9800XT 256mb) then go ahead.

Even with 4x FSAA/8x AF there are hardly any differences.
Link

A 9800pro 128mb at midrange prices (~200$) is a steal and you'd almost be a fool to pass up the deal.

 

[x84D80Yx]

more memory is just usually for higher AA/AF and higher resolutions when you get more than 256. i think its worth it in the long run, but like hyenolie said you would just get more fps with a faster card than having the same card with more memory.

the 9800pro 128mb at newegg is a great buy right now at a lil over 200 even, and that price will probally go down when the new cards roll out.

wait till the benchmarks come cause the x800SE might be faster than the 9800XT by a bit and is rumored to be $200

 

[umop]

A 9800pro 128mb at midrange prices (~200$) is a steal and you'd almost be a fool to pass up the deal.

That sounded pretty slick :afro: And I couldn't agree more

 

[NYHoustonman]

I probably could.

I'd say, depending on how much you're willing to spend, that you should wait for the new ATI and NVidia cards to be made available. The 9800 Pro is a great value, yes, but only because its price is being pushed down by these new cards that absolutely blow it and its generation away.

 

[Jadewolf5675]

Awesome, thanks alot for the info guys

 

[Direwolf]

The thing is, those new cards do blow this generation away, but they're only need for the next generation of games. Unfortunately, we're barely into this generation. I think buying a next gen card when it comes out, when prices are highest, is foolish. By the time you need it (which likely won't be for quite a while), there price will be MUCH lower.

 

[NYHoustonman]

He mentioned buying a 9800 XT/Pro256. Either of those is around the same price point as the 6800, which will be alot faster.
Far Cry murders any video card out right now at anything near full quality without AA/AF, but the new generation handle the game with ease. Considering this, I think it's worth it to go with one of the newer cards, at least if you're willing to shell out that kind of money.

 

[staddydaddy]

I have a pro256. If I was in the market to buy another one, I would seriously consider the XT. The pro256 has slower ram compared to the pro128 so I bet the ram speeds would be even fast with the XTf (and even more with the on board overclocking).

 

[gh0st]

buying a graphics card with more ram is not a better deal. they use MUCH worse ram in the 256 version than in the 128 version. but it would be better for video editing and rendering

 

[hinson]

So what's the big difference between 9800XT and 9800Pro besides the clockspeed and pixel fillrate?

btw I have a 9700 is it worthwhile to upgrade to 9800 Pro? The frame rates only differ by 20 fps and I am not sure if it is a big deal or not. Please advise.

 

[NYHoustonman]

So what's the big difference between 9800XT and 9800Pro besides the clockspeed and pixel fillrate?

btw I have a 9700 is it worthwhile to upgrade to 9800 Pro? The frame rates only differ by 20 fps and I am not sure if it is a big deal or not. Please advise.

Clock speed and memory speed is about it.

Not at all. At the very least, wait and save up for either Nvidia's new card or ATI's new card.

 

[hinson]

Clock speed and memory speed is about it.

Not at all. At the very least, wait and save up for either Nvidia's new card or ATI's new card.

That will cost a lot.
Anyway 9700 still supports directx 9
i hope it will work well with HL2 at max detail

 

[NYHoustonman]

That will cost a lot.
Anyway 9700 still supports directx 9
i hope it will work well with HL2 at max detail

It should work at least decently.

And you don't necessarily have to spring for top-of-the-line; the 6800 may cost as low as $299, although I'm not entirely sure.

 

[Johan_Tayn]

buying a graphics card with more ram is not a better deal. they use MUCH worse ram in the 256 version than in the 128 version. but it would be better for video editing and rendering

actually, the 256Pro has a higher memory clock speed. :upstare: However, it uses DDR2, which has higher latencys(my Sapphire R9800 Pro 128 has 2.8ns memory) than DDR, so they raised the clock speed by 10mh IIRC, but you will only see the difference if you play Far Cry on outdoor levels.

That said, the 9800 Pro 128 is a much better OCer and will equal or pass XT levels @ stock cooling and beyond if you upgrade the cooling. That will be my personal choice.