9600 pro vs 9800 pro

frosty · Post by **frosty** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 1:23 pm

I prolly have the money to go either way, but if I get a Ati 9600 fanless or would I be better to go with the 9800 pro with a zalman cooler?

Gaming with Q3, UT2003, Rune & Serious Sam

Tia

frosty

Post by **Rusty075** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 2:12 pm

For the games you're talking about, the 9800Pro is about twice as fast as the 9600.

How about the 9600Pro? It's about midway between the two, performance-wise, but would not dump as much heat into your case.

frosty · Post by **frosty** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 2:28 pm

So I would really be dumping heat it I went with the fool 9800 pro I shall look to the 9600 pro then. Thanks Rusty. : )

1911user · Post by **1911user** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:14 pm

Take a look at this review. It covers the cards you're thinking about and shows their performance in 10-15 popular games.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1890&p=1

For gaming performance, a fast video card is important so I'd vote for the 9800 pro. It's currently a good buy for serious 3D gaming at higher resolution and will also have a longer "useful" life for playing newer games, if that's important. At $200-$210, the price is probably stable for awhile. With the newer Zalman HP-80 heatsink (grey model) and a quiet 80mm fan, you should be quiet and fast. The 256-bit data bus and 8 graphics pipelines are (silently) calling to you.

EDIT1: If you look at 9600 pro cards, make sure they are not the pro "lite" version. Those have the gpu/mem at 400/200 instead of 400/300 for a real pro 9600.

EDIT2: Another temptation...

Newegg has retail 9700 pros for $183 shipped. It might be a good card to split the difference between a 9800 pro and 9600 pro. I have underclocked mine to 240/240 in the past which would make it run cooler, but decided that in 2D mode the heatsink was only warm at stock speed (325/310).

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:27 pm

XP1700 512ram Maxtor30Decoupled,Ati7500w5vFan 1 IntakeFan5v Exhaust12v all Panaflo 80l's

You won't really be able to exploit a 9800 pro with an XP 1700. Plus the 9600 pro runs about four times cooler.

On that system, I think the 9600 pro is the smarter choice for minimal heat and good midrange DX9 performance. If you're really worried about performance, try this one, with 500mhz/340mhz stock, the highest of any 9600 model newegg carries (all 9600 cards are essentially the same GPU at different clock rates and with different memory speeds):

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 232&depa=0

Otherwise any 9600 pro is a good bet. Definitely get the "pro" though, that +100mhz DDR memory really makes a difference in the game benchmarks. Don't waste your money on 256mb either.

If you see yourself playing a LOT of new DX9-specific titles in the coming year, then that'd be the only reason to go for the 9800pro. And a CPU upgrade

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:34 am

Alternetively, he could get the HIS 9800 Pro, which comes pre-installed with an Arctic VGA Silencer, which will dump all of the heat out of the case by the very design of the cooler.

frosty · Post by **frosty** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 7:46 am

Thanks 1911, Wumpus and Shadowknight, again I am overwhelmed by the kindness shown to me repeatedly here at SPCR. This gives me alot to think over, I was trying to stay fanless, so leaning to the 9600 and not planning to upgrade for a long time. But1911 you sound like a dark temptress in the black thickets with crimson alure of fun w/ the 9800 comments. : )

The reason I am not looking to a new processor is that I finally got UT2003 With the 2225 patch which does not require the cd to be in the drive spinning and making noise. UT2004 has a plethora of cds and will require the disc inserted everytime you want to casual game. I am one of the few I know who is overwhelmed by taking extra’s steps to do this. I know software firms have to do something to stop horrible piracy, I just don’t want to hassle with cds anymore and I just want to sit down and boot up a game and play for an hour without noise and quit. I don’t even play with sound enabled.

I just hope that SeriousSam and Rune and maybe SOFL2 does not require the cd in when gaming. I am not a pirate, I just hate hauling out cds to play a game and I do not plan on an upgrade soon cos I have several hundred in my current rig which should work for now.

Ebay has some cools prices but some cards are not specific about details,
thus = ripped off?

This was not meant to sound like a rant if it did. : )

Thanks again and you gave me some food for thought.

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 9:59 am

I am not a pirate, I just hate hauling out cds to play a game and I do not plan on an upgrade soon cos I have several hundred in my current rig which should work for now.

That's why God created http://www.megagames.com and http://www.gamecopyworld.com

frosty · Post by **frosty** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 1:30 pm

Thanks Wumpus, life just got a whole lot better.

dasman · Post by **dasman** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 3:01 pm

wumpus wrote: If you're really worried about performance, try this one, with 500mhz/340mhz stock, the highest of any 9600 model newegg carries (all 9600 cards are essentially the same GPU at different clock rates and with different memory speeds):

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 232&depa=0

But, it's got a FAN on it!?!

Dave

Tobias · Post by **Tobias** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 12:41 am

The new games, Far Cry, Doom3, HL2, STALKER would run much better with a 9800. I have been running Far Cry for a while with a 9600 PRO and I am not happy with it. I can´t maximise the settings and enjoy all the eyecandy which is one of the big turn ons for this game. (The graphics with the settings I CAN use is the best I´ve ever seen, but I am far from maximising the graphics. It can be even better)

frosty · Post by **frosty** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 9:54 am

I know the feeling Tobias I so want to go with the 9800, but do not want the nosie and heat with it. I don't plan to jump out and get HL2 & Doom soon - I can be happy with SS UT03 and Rune a while, gawd I hate indecision though, I am worse than a women!

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 10:28 am

The graphics with the settings I CAN use is the best I´ve ever seen, but I am far from maximising the graphics. It can be even better)

You can always run a lower res. John Carmack said he fully expected DOOM3 to run at best framerates @ 800x600 on the highest end video cards available when it is released.. there's just a LOT more going on per-pixel with advanced DX9 effects, so higher resolutions are way more expensive than they used to be with, say, the Quake 3 engine.

Far Cry is kinda like that too. I had to drop down to 1024x768 on the 9800 pro when the settings are all "very high".

1911user · Post by **1911user** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 3:00 pm

You beat me to it wumpus. Screen resolution is key to the subject. If you're happy with 800x600, then the 9600 might serve your needs. However, if you like to play at 1280x1024 then the 9600 is just not enough for newer games without turning off every visual effect. For me, that is part of the attraction for newer games. I still remember how good the scenery looked in the original Unreal on a TNT card in 1998. The sky was spectacular.

JohnMK · Post by **JohnMK** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 5:37 pm

Sucks having a 21" LCD. Stuck at 1600x1200 resolution, I pretty much need this 9800 Pro, and I still have to turn down details. It's a tough choice sometimes. Mediocre 1600x1200 quality, good frame rates, or excellent 800x600, good frame rates. There's simply no in-between on an LCD.

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 8:59 pm

yeah, that plus the limited pixel grey-to-grey response times is why LCDs really aren't a great idea for a gaming box. Newer panels are better about this, but it'll probably be a few more years until there is a "no compromises" solution for gaming LCDs..

frosty · Post by **frosty** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 8:57 am

It has never bothered me a whole lot to play at 800 X 600, and it gives fast perf at a good rate. I recall the sky too in UT, and hec the whole engine is pretty. I just installed UT03 this weekend but failed to play it but 2 minutes, what a beauty! Gonna be a great year. If she, UT03 looks this good on a Aold7500 ATI card can’t wait to upgrade this card. But after working off n on all weekend I can truly say my semi silent system is so nice to noisey it up with a whirling fan on a 9800 or even a fan on a high end pro 9600 I think is a dead option. I just can’t justify the noise when I can be such an irritable b!tch.

Plus my next goal is to ditch the 17” crt and get a nice viewsonic somewhere, prolly off ebay and enjoy a nice huge crt eating up my desk space! Thanks for all the help.