[Pollux]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...102-268&depa=1

for $209, is the Sapphire 9800 pro a good buy? its OEM, btw...would that mean it doesnt come with all the necessary cables? also, does it overclock well? the BBA version is about $15 more, is it better? what do u suggest here?

[Dragonprince]

Yeah the 9800 Pro's are good cards, for the money they are unmatched. Just realize that unless you OC it games like FarCry will only play good at medium settings on your rig.

[CircuitBreaker8]

Originally Posted by Dragonprince

Yeah the 9800 Pro's are good cards, for the money they are unmatched. Just realize that unless you OC it games like FarCry will only play good at medium settings on your rig.

What are you smoking? Far Cry is like the ONLY game that strains the 9800p, anything else runs smooth as hell with AA and AF. Thats why I find it stupid to buy a new card now when they are 500$+ just to get a higher 3dmark score.

[funnyperson1]

If it is a retail BBA then it may be worth it for the warranty. If it is a OEM bba, then there isn't any difference because Saphire makes many of the "BBA" Ati cards.

[CircuitBreaker8]

Also, to answer your question, yes Sapphire cards are great, and generally OC better than ATi ones in my experience. Check out the 9800p in my sig, I get a max OC of 500/800!!

[Dragonprince]

Originally Posted by CircuitBreaker8

What are you smoking? Far Cry is like the ONLY game that strains the 9800p, anything else runs smooth as hell with AA and AF. Thats why I find it stupid to buy a new card now when they are 500$+ just to get a higher 3dmark score.

What are you smoking? Did you read my post before or after shooting off at the mouth and making personal attacks? I said games like FarCry will only play good at medium settings on your rig. Meaning the XP @ 2200 Mhz. Since I have both pieces of equipment and FarCry I think I might know a bit about it. Also saying FarCry is the only game that strains the 9800 Pro is bull. Try Halo @ 1024 x 768 with details on max and then come back and explain what you've been smoking...

[piper1]

Actually, they are better than you may expect. Sapphire is shipping detuned 9800XT's in the form of 9800Pro's. I purchased that very same board and have since modified it to a 9800XT. This 9800Pro is the 128meg, 256bit version purchased from Newegg. It has the R360 core (versus the 9800pro's R350 core), the XT PWA (P/N 109-A188800-10), and the LM63 temperature monitoring chip. The BIOS was flashed to the official Sapphire released 9800xt 128 r360 BIOS. Read more about it Rage3D


The board prior to any mods:




R360 core! That's dust not scratches on the chip





128meg memory. I believe it's rated at 385Mhz.





Temperature monitoring chip. Overdrive tab does not show-up in the ATI control panel, but ATITool will monitor and display the temperature in your system tray.






Ramsinks installed.





VGA Silencer installed.





ATI Control Panel along with ATITool showing default speeds.





ATI Control Panel along with ATITool showing the the 256 bit memory bus.






Finally, 3dmark2003 score. I was running the card at 429/385MHz on my P4 3.52Ghz Prescott.

[SpaceRangerJoe]

I ordered that card this afternoon. Sapphires seem to be give you the best chance of getting the r360 core without getting an XT. I say it is definately a good buy.

Piper - Nice first post man.

[piper1]

Thanks, just sharing the love

[Dragonprince]

Originally Posted by piper1

Actually, they are better than you may expect

They are good cards. Mine OC'd to 415/350 with a VGA Silencer and I was not even trying to max it out. None of this changes the fact that his rig will have an impact on how well the card performs. The 9800 Pro wont operate at its absolute best unless it sits in an AMD64 rig, a P4 3.4Ghz+ rig or a massively OC'd Athlon XP rig at 2.5 Ghz+. None of which he has.

[piper1]

Originally Posted by Dragonprince

They are good cards. Mine OC'd to 415/350 with a VGA Silencer and I was not even trying to max it out. None of this changes the fact that his rig will have an impact on how well the card performs. The 9800 Pro wont operate at its absolute best unless it sits in an AMD64 rig, a P4 3.4Ghz+ rig or a massively OC'd Athlon XP rig at 2.5 Ghz+. None of which he has.

I wasn't replying directly to your post. Just wanted to point out the true capabilities of the card he is looking at

BTW, your right about the performance in Farcry. The rig I'm running the card in is an overclocked Barton running @ 3200+. Even at that speed, along with 640meg of memory, I had to tone-down most options to get a consistent frame rate @ 1024 x 768 x 32.

[NiTrO bOiE]

I had this card. Didn't get a chance to check to see if it was R360 or not, because it died the 2nd day I had it. I'm still waiting on newegg to ship a replacement. I'll post my results in this thread.

[NiTrO bOiE]

My card came today. It's the exact same card. Piper, is there an easy way to remove the heatsink? The lugs on mine are so short, I can't push them with my finger nails like I usually can. And I don't have any needle nose pliers.

[piper1]

Originally Posted by NiTrO bOiE

My card came today. It's the exact same card. Piper, is there an easy way to remove the heatsink? The lugs on mine are so short, I can't push them with my finger nails like I usually can. And I don't have any needle nose pliers.

Maybe a pair of tweezers? Or an unbent paperclip to push the pins out? You will have to pull/push the pins out through the fan-side of the heatsink. Did it come with the same heatsink as mine? FYI, i used needle nose pliers to pull mine out. After you get the two pins off, all you'll have is non-adhisive thermal compond.

[NiTrO bOiE]

I finally got it off with some pliers. Yep, I have the same exact card as you. Same heatsink, same layout. I feel good to have a 9800XT for only $179.

[CircuitBreaker8]

Yeah, I love Sapphire. I originally had a 9800 np 128mb when they first came out. I tried OCing it and I hit my wall at 390/330. I was pretty happy back then.....but I wanted MORE! So I flashed my wonder card to a Pro and my max was 495/387 artifact FREE, but it did 503/800 with some artifacts. I wonder how far I can go if I flash to a XT! w00t!

[itim100]

Man, I got that Sapphire and it can't do crap. Oh well. It maxes at about 420/360, or just too low for me to go ahead and try the softmod.

Also, mine reports no temp chip in ATITool, and reports that it is a r350.

As long as it doesn't artifact at stock speeds...

I just mention this because they might have run out of the good ones or something: I got mine yesterday.

[CircuitBreaker8]

Originally Posted by piper1

Actually, they are better than you may expect. Sapphire is shipping detuned 9800XT's in the form of 9800Pro's. I purchased that very same board and have since modified it to a 9800XT. This 9800Pro is the 128meg, 256bit version purchased from Newegg. It has the R360 core (versus the 9800pro's R350 core), the XT PWA (P/N 109-A188800-10), and the LM63 temperature monitoring chip. The BIOS was flashed to the official Sapphire released 9800xt 128 r360 BIOS. Read more about it Rage3D


The board prior to any mods:




R360 core! That's dust not scratches on the chip





128meg memory. I believe it's rated at 385Mhz.





Temperature monitoring chip. Overdrive tab does not show-up in the ATI control panel, but ATITool will monitor and display the temperature in your system tray.






Ramsinks installed.





VGA Silencer installed.





ATI Control Panel along with ATITool showing default speeds.





ATI Control Panel along with ATITool showing the the 256 bit memory bus.






Finally, 3dmark2003 score. I was running the card at 429/385MHz on my P4 3.52Ghz Prescott.

WHAT?!?!? 7,000 at 429/385?! I get that at 480/390!!! I really need to flash lmao! I can probably get 7,300+ and probably OC more

[piper1]

Originally Posted by itim100

Man, I got that Sapphire and it can't do crap. Oh well. It maxes at about 420/360, or just too low for me to go ahead and try the softmod.

Also, mine reports no temp chip in ATITool, and reports that it is a r350.

As long as it doesn't artifact at stock speeds...

I just mention this because they might have run out of the good ones or something: I got mine yesterday.

ATITool will only report what the BIOS says the chip is. You will need to remove the heatsink to be sure. Also, look for a chip labled LM63. That's the temperature monitoring chip. Again, if the BIOS disables it, you can get it back with a flash to the 9800XT BIOS.

[SantiMun]

I just got my sapphire 9800pro today. I don't want take the heatsink/fan off yet until I get my vga cooler. It's got the hynix memory but I couldnt find the temp monitoring chip. It also has the black plastic mounts instead of the gold metal ones. Does my card have the R360 core or do I have to RMA this thing??