Radeon 9800 Pro - 128Mb or 256Mb?

[Sar]

Hi, right I finally got the money to buy a decent GFX card (hurrah for unexpected Tax rebates of nearly £300!), so I'll be getting the Radeon 9800 pro.

Now I can get the 128mb version for £165, or as I found out yesterday I can get the 256mb version for only £15 more at £180.

Is it that much better that it's worth going for?

Reason being I have been asked to stick down a £50 deposit if I want the 256mb one (it'll have to be ordered in), with a particular shop, whereas other shops nearby should be getting in the 128mb flavour next week sometime, and I can just go in and pick one up.

Ta muchly folks.

 

[Ardrias]

Well when I read various tests and reviews before I went and got my 128mb version, the difference was hardly noticeable. I'm quite sure we'll be buying next genereation cards before companies code to utilize 256mb.

Chokepoint in my system seems to be the system RAM, as opposed to GFX card RAM.

I'm just guessing tho.

 

[Escape]

256MB ram will only make a difference if you're running games at very high resolution, even then it's not a big increase. Also, sometimes the ram used on 256MB cards is slower/cheaper than that of 128MB ones.

There're a few benchmarks around and so far as I remember, there's no point in going for 256MB. With the latest generation of cards, 256MB will come in use as you can run games in high resolution at decent frame rates.

 

[SheepCow]

I haven't looked at reviews recently, but when I got my R9800 Pro (128MB) there was no difference and few, if any, games that will actually use the extra VRAM.

 

[Clown]

You can get the 128MB one for a bit less too. I doubt you will notice any difference between the two either. Plump for the cheaper 128MB one.

 

[Ch3tan]

The 256mb version is apparently just a clocked down XT, so it should overclock better than the 128mb version.

 

[Sar]

Decided to go for the 256 mb version - stuck down the £50 deposit yesterday, and it should be in for Thursday.

Now to upgrade the CPU and mobo - should be ok, can get an Athlon Barton 2.8 for about £85, and the mobo is £65.

Then to get new ram ffs, as this ram I have is RDRam. Damn you intel!

 

[Clown]

Get a Barton 2500+, it will let you use the same settings as the 2800+ and even higher without damaging it.

 

[Sar]

By the time I get around to getting the CPU (gonna get a mobo, then RAM first), I'll prolly get the 3k version. Should be cheap-ish by then.

















FREE CLOWN!

 

[Danya]

256MB ram will only make a difference if you're running games at very high resolution, even then it's not a big increase. Also, sometimes the ram used on 256MB cards is slower/cheaper than that of 128MB ones.

IIRC on the 9800 pro the 256MB models have slightly faster ram actually - that's where the differences in speed come from. Extra RAM will make no difference to gaming performance unless you exceed 128MB in use.

Consider at 1600x1200 your frame buffers are going to be ~15MB each, there's usually 2, so unless the game uses 100+MB of video ram for textures and geometry you're not going to see the benefit of a 256mb card.

 

[Sar]

It's still not here!

If it isn't here by tomorrow, a week after the order was placed, then I'll cancel and order the Pro IceQ version from Scan.

Pissed off waiting, being told, "Try tomorrow, the courier delivers up to 3pm".

I was told it would be here by today, at the latest, and that was after being told for two days after it's original arrival date that it wasn't in.

*Sigh*

 

[Sar]

Had to cancel it in the end. Was given 3 different "guaranteed delivery" dates - all of which fell through.

So fuck it, I ordered the 128Mb 9800 Pro IceQ version by HIS last night at 9:15pm - it'll be here tomorrow morning.

Love Scan to bits.

 

[Clown]

175 quid... Mine was 130.

 

[Sar]

The Pro-IceQ version?

Where'd you get yours?

Got mine this morning at 10:15 - have it installed now, and Far Cry looks so fucking beautiful now it's a crime.

And it runs at a higher res and better framerate too, with everything maxed.

\o/ for graphical bling!

 

[Clown]

Just a normal one, the heatsink is only about 20 quid anyway.

 

[Danya]

Just a normal one, the heatsink is only about 20 quid anyway.

Weak clown. Watercool it!

 

[Sar]

My 3dMark01 score nearly doubled - from 6493 with the 56.72 Nvidia drivers to 10111 with the 4.6 Catalyst drivers.

\o/

 

[Danya]

That seems a bit low for a 9800 pro, I'm sure I get around 16k...

 

[Sar]

It's not just the GFX card that make up a 3dMark score, it's the ram, OS, CPU etc.

Basically everything.

I've got a P4 1.9/512/XP Pro btw.

 

[Aada]

are there any free programs that process how good your pc is? 3d mark costs money ^^

 

[Sar]

3DMark is free, unless you're after the Pro version.

 

[dysfunction]

What graphics card did you have before?

 

[Sar]

64Mb Asus Geforce 3

Hence the large 3DMark increase.