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Question about 9700 and 9800s

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Nemo

Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2003
Location
Modesto, CA
Okay, this is probably a pretty simple question, but I'm pretty new to ATI cards and haven't been following their development very closely. Can someone give a quick rundown of the differences between the 9700 np, 9700 pro, 9800 np, and 9800 pro, please? Is the only difference between all 4 cards clock/memory speeds? Do the non-pro cards overclock up to pro speeds easily? Is there overlap? Like, do the 9700 pros outperform the 9800 non-pros?

Thanks in advance...I gotta plan for the big HL2 upgrade. :)
 
The difference, although extremely minor, is in the chip architecture itself. The 9800/9800pro has a few enhancements added, mainly to help shader performance. Other than the 9700-9800 difference, the only other differences are in clock speeds.

The 9700pro is about 2% faster than the 9800nonpro, although the 9800 tends to overclock a lot better.

Yes, you almost always can easily overclock up to pro speeds.

All in all, I'd reccommend the 9800np. Best $250 card around. If you have money to burn, you can get a 9800pro, but remember that the only difference will be slightly higher clock speeds.
 
Before I went out and bought my 9800np, I first softmodded my 9500np into a 9700np*, then overclocked to somewhere between a np and pro to get a sense of whether or not the speed increase would be that substantial. And it was ;) I'd say that for $250 a 9800np is your best bet, unless you can find someone who will sell you their 9700pro for $200, or find a 9800np on eBay for less than $250.

*I get artifacts when I softmod, but the card runs/benches just like the real thing.
 
Thanks, guys. I'm leaning toward the 9800np now. I notice from pricewatch that the 9700 Pro runs just a bit more expensive... would the 9800 np overclock better than the 9700 Pro (I mean generally, I know each individual card has its own characteristics)? Is there really much disadvantage to getting the 9700 Pro instead of the 9800 np?

Man, I bet ATI is rubbing its hands in anticipation of HL2 hitting the shelves and several million gamers all saying at once "Wow, I need a better video card!" :D
 
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