9800 vs 9700 and pro vs non pro

[kelvinblade]

could someone tell me the difference between 9800 and 9700?

and the difference between pro and non pro?

thanks.

[Speed_Mechanic2]

I'll just tell you some basics here:

The 9700 uses a R300 Core, while the 9800 uses the newer R350 Core.

Usually, in both the 9700 and 9800, the differance between Pro and Non-Pro are just memory clock speeds. In a 9800 Non-Pro the memory clock speeds, and memory chips, are the only thing seperating it from the 9800 Pro. The Radeon 9800 Non-Pro uses either a Samsung 2.8ns, 3.3ns or an Infineon 3.0ns. (2.8ns > 3.3ns > I3.0ns). The Radeon 9800 Pro uses only the Samsung 2.8ns (or am I wrong?).

[Socket eh?]

The R350 is just a tweaked R300. They added an "F-buffer" for a higher instruction count, and a few other small changes.

[da-gokesta]

i know that you can get a lot out of a 9700 pro, i dont know if its really worthwhile when a 9800 pro should overclock just as far. if you have the money then buy the 9800 pro

[kelvinblade]

and its not possible to tell what ram chip a non pro has right? but i might get 2.8ns?

[Speed_Mechanic2]

If you buy a Sapphire Radeon 9800 Non-Pro, now, you will almost certainly get Samsung 3.3ns. But many users have been able to get DDR700+ scores using it after using a Pro-bios, and even sometimes before it. I'm just guessing here, can someone possibly test it?, that a Radeon 9800 Non-Pro clocked to Pro speeds will perform slightly better then a Pro b/c it has lower timings. (at least the Pro-bios has been known to raise memory timings)

BBA, PowerColor, and other Non-Pro's often/sometimes use Infineon 3.0ns memory. This is lousy stuff compared to even the Samsung 3.3ns, horrible when compared with 2.8ns.

All (or at least I havn't heard of any otherwise) Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB's come with Samsung 2.8ns memory.

[Mustanley]

I was lucky enough to get a 9800np with 2.8ns Samsung memory about 2 months ago. I haven't seen anyone post since then who has gotten 2.8ns memory on a np. I think it was probably just the first batch(es) of cards that were juiced with fast memory. Mine came from a Dell Dimension. I got 2 more 9800np cards about 3 weeks ago from Dell PCs both of which have 3.3ns Samsung.

Overclocks on the np cards with 3.3ns samsung seem to be postive. All of the cards I've seen on the forums plus the two I've tested have at least reached pro speeds (mem and core) and most can go higher on the memory overclock with a Pro bios flash.

[tweaker]

Originally posted by Speed_Mechanic2
I'll just tell you some basics here:

The 9700 uses a R300 Core, while the 9800 uses the newer R350 Core.

Usually, in both the 9700 and 9800, the differance between Pro and Non-Pro are just memory clock speeds. In a 9800 Non-Pro the memory clock speeds, and memory chips, are the only thing seperating it from the 9800 Pro. The Radeon 9800 Non-Pro uses either a Samsung 2.8ns, 3.3ns or an Infineon 3.0ns. (2.8ns > 3.3ns > I3.0ns). The Radeon 9800 Pro uses only the Samsung 2.8ns (or am I wrong?).

I just bought a 9800 np and it has 2.8 samsung ram. So I guess that is not a difference in those but the 9800pro does have higher standard clock speeds both gpu and mem. I saved 100 bucks getting the Non Pro but when I am done with the volt mods to the gpu and mem and get the gpu water cooled ( I am also watercooling the ram chips on both sides. More on that later. RadMan and I will post the results when done. Have a look at our 9500pro benchmark on the sig below. We will get 20,000 out of the 9800 np or die tryin!

Have a good one,
Tweaker

[Mustanley]

I can get 20,000 points on my setup, so you may be looking at 21,000 or higher!