X850PRO or X800XT ?

Wondering which of these would be better ... and why you think so. The XT is a bit more than I wanted to spend but I'd go for it if it's worth it.

I don't do much gaming (almost none). I do a ton of encoding/decoding of video. I want VIVO (yes, I realize the PCI-e version of the Pro can't be unlocked - I actually want VIVO).


* Edit: Got another question here also. I've noticed some websites have different versions of the Sapphire X850XT PE:

100101SR
100103SR

What's the difference between these version numbers?

Well the 800XT is a 16 pixel pipeline card and the x850Pro is a 12 pipeline card so I would say the 800XT is better.

BUT, when I went on my adventure finding a unlockable x850Pro I found that the 2 that didn't overclock ran at 540/590 speeds stable so the overclock might make up for the pipelines when compared to a x800XT.

Thanks for the reply Internal. Now that you pointed it out though, I see the pipeline difference between the X800 and X850.

I found an OEM X850 XT PE also for a very good price ... almost seems like a pricing error since it's only $20-30 more than the X850PRO, whereas it's over $100 difference on most sites.

Anyway ... I don't know what all these version number differences means on the X850 XT PE. :x Wondering if there's some chipset difference or soemthing .. one of those annoying unadvertised differences that PC component manufacturers love so much.

If you're just looking to do decoding/encoding then either of those cards should be fine. I have a locked x850pro, but the overclocking ability of this card helps to make up for the 12 pipelines. The VIVO feature is definately a plus. Although gaming clearly isn't your primary interest, this card is not bad at all overclocked. Changing the TRP to 5 clocks in ATI tool gave me a nice performance increase without any noticible temp changes as well.

If you don't mind the extra $20 or so I'd say go with the x850xt pe. If you ever decided to get into gaming you'd definately notice the difference. It'll come with the 16 pipelines out of the box, and it should clock to spec. Don't expect too much overclocking capability from what I understand, however. As for the version differences, there shouldn't be any real difference between them as all x850 xt pe's use the same chipset. They're probably used by the different aftermarket manufacturers to denote different cooling types and whatnot.


Edit: the price on that card is probably lower because it is an oem card rather than retail, and thus will most likely not come with the power adapter (although your psu will probably have one and if not they're like $2) or the vivo-specific cabling (which you will have to buy separately).

Thanks for the info grumperfish. I think I've finally decided on this one based on the feedback here:

SAPPHIRE Radeon X800XL ULTIMATE 100116U Video Card


Chipset
GPU Radeon X800XL
PixelPipelines 16

Memory
Memory Size 512MB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type GDDR3

Interface
Interface PCI Express x16

Ports
DVI 2
TV-Out HDTV/S-Video/Composite Out
VIVO Yes


At $230 USD it seems like a good deal, especially with the stock Zalman cooling solution, 512MB of RAM and the retail package.