Radeon 8500.. to buy or not to buy that is the question!

Hey Guys/Gals.

I've been drooling over the Radeon's bench marks for some time now, and I'm wondering if I should just go out and grab it or wait for the prices to go down..think they are around $350 right now..

I've also heard that I shoudlnt hold my breath for ATI to release actuall GOOD drivers..

But all in all this seems like the best out there.. unless I"m missing something?

Input welcome!

-Trek

You can pre- order one for $299 at www.ebgames.com they have a ship date of 10/2 listed.
You might want to wait until they are released for a week or 2 to make sure there are no problems but its up to you.

I agree with Placid, ATI has a history of making killer cards and screwing up a good thing with inadequate drivers.

I had a problem with a Radeon 64ddr many moons ago and I tried every possible option available to me to fix a wavy issue due to not being compatible with my 21" NEC monitor......ATI's suggestion to me was they would send me a Rage Fury Maxx(that card wans't wavy) as a RMA replacment for my Radeon.........Not the best deal as I didnt need two Fury Maxx's, so I bought a Nvidia card and the problem was solved.

Just for the 'hellovit' I reinstalled the Radeon 2 weeks ago and used thier latest drivers and it didnt fix my isolated problem. So I sold the card to a lucky buyer that got a sweet deal.


I would definitly wait on the 8500 to see what John Q Public has to say about it before I slapped down 300 clams, buts thats my two cents.

I DISagree...I've had no problems with ATI drivers. Maybe you should have read up a little bit at the forums at www.rage3d.com because this "wavy" issue was a problem at first, but as I understand it, it was solved months ago (no complaints about it anymore).

At least you have a reason to be skeptical about ATI's products though. The fact of the matter is, the majority of people who you find complaining about ATI's drivers have never owned an ATI card, or if they have it was a Rage 128 they had years ago.

I'd actually suggest taking a "wait and see" approach. Depending on what games you play the Radeon 7500 might be good enough for you, and then there's the GF3 Ti200. I suspect the Ti200 is going to suck (the GF2 Ti might be better in current games even) but we'll just have to wait and see. The Ti200 is going to have SDR memory by the way...go figure...

ATI actually did a pretty good job w/ the original default drivers for the Radeon when it was first released. Right now, I'm very happy w/ my Radeon 64 DDR VIVO, and wouldn't trade it for the world (Well . . . Maybe a Radeon 8500 ). If you want the new card, and have the money to spend, go for it. I'm sure if there are driver issues, ATI will have most of them fixed by the first driver upgrade.

it's all about the all-in-wonder 8500.

If ya got the cash to spare and want the best..

My opinion is buy it if ya want it...... It is gonna be the card to beat for a while and I think aATI will have their hole driver issue sorted out.

Also no one can touch their 2d and 3d video and ya can take that to the bank......

Cisco kid

GET IT! I AM!

And I'm about tired of this whole driver issue. If you take a look at all the posts in this place that downtrod the ATI drivers you will happen to notice that 99% of them are GForce owners....

All they are doing is repeating what has been said for the last 2 years without even owning the Radeon.

Kingslayer said:

GET IT! I AM!

And I'm about tired of this whole driver issue. If you take a look at all the posts in this place that downtrod the ATI drivers you will happen to notice that 99% of them are GForce owners....

All they are doing is repeating what has been said for the last 2 years without even owning the Radeon.

Click to expand...

i agree i mean why make 20 different drivers, just make one that gives maximum stability and performance...anyone who gets a geforce based card has to go out and look for the best drivers....with ati you just go and download it from ati..there you go....im kinda regretting getting this gf2pro the 2D quality cxompared to my rage fury pro just leaves something to be desired...i hate this fuzziness!!!!