9800 Pro 128 vs 256, is it worth the $60?

[Aphex_Tom_9]

New here, if you know the O2 forums then you've seen me, just want to cover more ground on this question-

The fan on my Ti 4600 died this weekend and i got some nasty overheating while playing farcry, plus it's kinda old, so i decided it was new video card time. I found a 9800 Pro w/256 MB for $286, and a 9800 Pro w/128 MB for $226 on ebay. When i came to my final decision i went for the 256, thinking 'i wont be getting a new card for a long time, so that's a healthy investment right?' future proofing, no? Plus i could do that BIOS flashing thing to make it into an XT (an XT for $286 isn't too shabby right?) So i did the 'buy it now' thing and the transaction went through in 2 minutes, i was locked in. Then i started reading a bunch of reviews on the 256 and realized...there's almost no difference between it and the 128! Performance-wise nothing noticable except a few frames on the hardest tests! There's a possibility it will be useful when tougher games come out, but that wont be for a while. I panicked and tried to cancel the order, asking the guy to sell me the 128 instead (he was selling both). But he said he couldn't do that.

Now i need to decide- should i try to sell it back on ebay (maybe make a little $$) and then get his 128 (and be stuck with this dying card for a week more), or do i just keep it, turn it into an XT and hope it benefits me in the future?

[Absolute Zero]

yes yes yes - go 256

[SewerBeing]

yeah go 256, newer games will use that much.

[Aphex_Tom_9]

ok, so 2 votes for 'keep it"...

[youngbuck]

Personally, there's no way I would have paid the extra money for the 256MB version. In my way of thinking, by the time the games come out that will effectively utilize that extra memory (it's up to you to define effective) you'll want an even newer card by that time.

Also, I see 128MB versions of the card going for 170-180 on a regular basis, so that 226 figure certainly seems steep to me.

So you could resell it and save a hundred bucks, or keep it. I would sell it personally (and maybe make $10 or so like you mentioned), but it's all up to you and your own situation.

-YB

[Yuriman]

I prefer to avoid ebay, and buy from places like excaliberpc.com and newegg.com because normaly people are trying to rip you off on ebay. The price on the 256mb isnt bad, but on the 128mb one it is. If it isnt new, you might as well sell it and buy a new one for about the same price. Either way you will be more than happy, hehe.

[tom10167]

I wouldn't buy a 256megabyte version if it was $20 more...

[ares350]

Im with young buck on this one. it has merit, but by the time its needed, youll be looking to upgrade anyway. at 128mb I think the card is evenly represented, by that no 1 aspect of the chip will be outdated before the rest.

but with 256, youll have plenty of ram but your power will be lacking.

keep things even so you dont pay for things that you end up paying to replace because some other part couldnt last as long.

be like if your mobo, ram and proccessor all came in 1 part, you wouldnt go out right now and buy a setup with 2gigabytes of PC4500ram and a 2000+ xp chip; it would be a waste to throw away all that nice ram you paid for when the proccessor is outdated.

[Overclocker550]

I doubt thered be a noticable fps increase with 256mb but you already bought it, might as well keep that. overclock it before you flash to the 9800xt

[NO LIFE]

You will be very happy with the 256 version. My friend has a 128 and cant play at the resolutions I do. That alone makes me glad to have it.

[Kunaak]

256 megs on a videocard seems to be a small upgrade indeed, but the peace of mind it provides seems to make it worth it to some people.

I personally wouldn't have got it, for 2 reasons, I've never seen a difference using a 256 meg card versus a 128 (i've owned several of either type, and change videocards about every 2 weeks)
and the DDR2 versions that I did try had a tendency to overheat on the ram during Halo and Unreal2003 for me.

[Th0r]

wtf?..LoL..

one week you say that 256 is too much, the next you say you need 256... LoL...

CRAZY!... :P

[ZGOZZ]

yes

[Aphex_Tom_9]

Ive decided to keep it for a month or so, then get the X800 pro when it's $400 or less. I can sell the 9800 256 for $280 at least and my old card for $80, so it'll only cost me $40 more, which i think i can get by then...

[glock19owner]

You do reallize that if that 256 card has DD2 ram and the R360 core...that is a XT just reflashed to a Pro...those are the only cards that the XT flash mod works on...and if it is a true XT...then you can get more then 280.00 for it...

[Aphex_Tom_9]

Originally posted by glock19owner
You do reallize that if that 256 card has DD2 ram and the R360 core...that is a XT just reflashed to a Pro...those are the only cards that the XT flash mod works on...and if it is a true XT...then you can get more then 280.00 for it...

Ah, ok, when i get it, how can i tell whether it's an R350 or R360? (aside from taking off the hsf). If it's an R360 i'll flash it and sell it for more then, if not, still 280 :D

[glock19owner]

first of all...see if it has the DDR2 chips...will be hynix and it will have the 22 in the last few numbers on the chip...if they are the DDR2...then you will have to take the heatsink off to make sure...

99% of them that have the DDR2 is the R360 core...but I did see someone post a pic of a 256 with DDR2 and a R350 core...

After seeing that...you cant be 100% sure now...

You will have to take off the heatsink to make sure...you cant tell by the BIOS since the Pro BIOS will read it as a R350 no matter what...

[liquidtrance123]

hmm thnx for this thread :) i've been wondering whether its worth it or not. :p

[Aphex_Tom_9]

Originally posted by liquidtrance123
hmm thnx for this thread :) i've been wondering whether its worth it or not. :p

based on what you see here, what is the opinion you have formed?
(btw- you have a lot of comps!)

[MooMasster716]

Justifing 256mb (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=227352&highlight=moomasster716) Read this fourm its about the same thing , well almost.

[liquidtrance123]

Originally posted by Aphex_Tom_9


based on what you see here, what is the opinion you have formed?
(btw- you have a lot of comps!)

can play smoother at higher res. Also i hear the next gen games the textures are HUGE so you'll need the extra ram

[Aphex_Tom_9]

Originally posted by glock19owner
first of all...see if it has the DDR2 chips...will be hynix and it will have the 22 in the last few numbers on the chip...if they are the DDR2...then you will have to take the heatsink off to make sure...

99% of them that have the DDR2 is the R360 core...but I did see someone post a pic of a 256 with DDR2 and a R350 core...

After seeing that...you cant be 100% sure now...

You will have to take off the heatsink to make sure...you cant tell by the BIOS since the Pro BIOS will read it as a R350 no matter what...

Ahhh...it's an R350 with DDR2! oh well, i overclocked it to 418/742 which is better than XT anyway :D

[Overclocker550]

if you get better cooling you should get the core even higher

[NO LIFE]

Maybe a little vcore mod too? hehe. Its easy. :)

[OBLIVIONLORD]

Farcry for instance is just a taste to what HL2 will offer and the next gen video cards will show the capabilities of 128mb vs 256mb.

Here they are...

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=2044&p=11

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/r420preview/9.html

http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2004q2/radeon-x800/index.x?pg=9

I can find more but, these are sufficent unless you want me to.

In the case with the newer cards the 128mb versions are slower then the 256mb versions. Although you may be able to oc them to match the speed of the 256mb version but, your guaranteed the speed of the 256mb ver with a warranty. We can also include that the 256mb ver is stock at a speed you want to achieve with the 128mb ver but, with the 256 you can oc higher.

Only can we determine how well we can oc either one of these cards untill they are all out on the market where regular people can play around with them.

[glock19owner]

Originally posted by NO LIFE
Maybe a little vcore mod too? hehe. Its easy. :)

V mod...who needs a stinking V mod :D

http://home.insightbb.com/~myglock19/500423.JPG

[Aphex_Tom_9]

Originally posted by glock19owner


V mod...who needs a stinking V mod :D

http://home.insightbb.com/~myglock19/500423.JPG

OK...tell me...right now...how the **** you did that...! (im guessing that's not photoshopped)

[ponkan pinoy]

Haha got a kick out of seeing that pic. "No artifacts detected! Please overclock some more!" :p

A question from a newb: does that program actually exist? Cuz if it does, I gotta have it! :D

[Mr.Guvernment]

^^ it is possible he got a magic card - i may be buying a 9800 PRO that hits 480 with a VGA cooler added for $130. :)

[CPL.Luke]

that program does exist its part of the omega drivers if you look at your start menu it will say radeon omega drivers and the version in that tab just go over and it will be called Artifact tester 5

personnaly I like ATI tool more I feel its more acurate as I have had issues with Artifact tester 5 telling me no fragments and then playing UT2004 and getting fragments, plus cards take time to heat up you can run ATI tools artifact tester indefinetly you have to manually restart it in Artfact tester 5

[Droban]

My vote is no. I think the 256 megs is just a pretty label for that card.