ATI 9800 Pro or 9600XT

[zables]

Umm well i can go upto about $400.00 (Canadian) on a video card and i have narrowed it down to these two contenders... simply put, what would you suggest and why?

[gdorf]

No contest, get the 9800 pro. For the price it'll last you MUCH longer than the 9600xt.

9800 pro: 256bit memory interface, 8 pixel pipelines
9600xt: 128bit memory interface, 4 pixel pipelines

Sure, the 9600xt runs at a higher clock speed, but it has so much less to work with. Thats why, IMO, the 9600xt is the most overpriced POS out there at the moment. With the 9800pro as low as $170 (usd), I don't see why anyone would buy a 9600xt right now.

[goKi]

9800 Pro indeed. I bought the 9600XT. It's still quite good if you want to save some money. For under $600AUD (not sure of canadian dollars), you can get a 9800XT, which would be the best if you could afford it.

[Master Ghaleon]

I would choose the 9800 one, for the fact that its a bigger number then 9600 :D

[zables]

actually, what have you guys heard about the next gen cards that are comming out, i beleive both NVidia and ATI have card that have 16 pipelines if im not mistaken? would it almost be worht the wait for those instead?

[goKi]

I've heard very good things about both. These new cards will be terribly expensive, though.

[sagelink]

With the 9800pro as low as $170 (usd), I don't see why anyone would buy a 9600xt right now.

Are you serious?! $170? I'm going to Best Buy tonight!!!

Wait... is that the price for the 128mb or the 256mb?

[Riku]

9800 because it has pro at the end.:D

[gdorf]

yeah, 9800 pro, but you have to look around for that price. I'd still recommend the 9800pro, because it'll give you the best price/performance ratio. Its a given in the computer industry that, while the newest will perform the best, it won't be the best value. Middle class takes the value.

[biggiy05]

The new cards are gonna run you a good $500 for either an Nvidia or ATI. As for memory goes you dont need 256mb of mem on a vid card what games out there right now need that much to run it? I know HL2 and D3 arent going to need that much maybe down the road but right now no. As for future gaming the 9600xt will play games like HL2 and D3 at medium settings.

[MottZilla]

That reminds me I need to get myself a new video card. :O

[Radium]

I'm in the process of building myself a new pc. I've narrowed my video card I'm going to buy down to the ATI 9800 Pro 128MB. I'm very skeptical though, as I have had nothing but trouble with my dad's ATI 9700 Pro 128MB video card. His card causes his computer to randomly restart and it is a known issue that has yet to be fixed by any driver update or firmware update. I'm just hoping that the 9800 Pro doesn't have any of the same issues. Overall for the moment the 9800 pro will be a decent card untill I can get my hands on one of the new Nvidia cards for my new pc ;).

[EDIT!!] I TAKE IT ALL BACK! I'm going with the ProLink GeForce FX 5900 XT Overclocked to 485/950 kthx... Ok until the next card I find. USD$195.00 @ www.newegg.com