9800SE for $183? what is the deal..

[camper]

Hi,
I have found an ATI 9800SE @ Mwave.com for $183..
ATI website does not have any info on the 9800SE.
WHat is the deal with this card.. why is it so cheap.. how does it stack up with other cards.. should I pick it up?
I currently have GF4TI4200 64megs <-- kind of sucks

Thanks




P4 2.4b
512ram

[Cornel]

It's a "9800" with only 4 pipelines and with the bus on 128 bits.

[Miknow]

when you say 4 pipelines....Do you think they will hack drivers like the 9500np so they can get all 8 pipes working

[Cornel]

yeah, I heard there is a small chance to enable those pipes... I'm not sure where I read that though so I cannot provide a link
And I made a mistake in my previous post, there are actually 2 versions of 9800 SE, both with 4 pipes but with different bus: 128 and 256 bits
http://www.overclockers.com/tips00460/

[Speed_Mechanic2]

Don't bother buying a 9800SE. You won't get any better performance in DX8.1-less games, even if you unlock the 4 locked pixel-pipelines. A Radeon 9600 Pro will outperform a 9800SE. And only a 9800 NP (or a 9700) offers true R3x0 performance for less then a 9800 Pro.