Radeon 9800XT, Which brand?

BeatFreak

I've been waiting for a while to get my hands on one and after another dose of dodgy Nvidia drivers I've decided I've had enough.
Thing is most places (komplett, oc.uk etc) are out of stock but there is a few Powercolour cards floating around.
Now I know they are cheaper which is nice BUT I did hear they dont clock as well as the rest, is this true?
My other option is an Asus card, thing about that card is its a good 50 euro(komplett is down atm so cant get exact price) more expensive. Is it worth it? Whats the advantage?
Any help would be very much appreciated I'm dying to order it 8).
Cheers Dev.

PPC

Sapphire all the way, they seem to be the best for ATi cards atm http://www.sapphiretech.com/VGA/9800-xt.asp

+

BeatFreak

Well would you look at who it is. Thanks for the speedy reply, saves me asking you when I get home 8).
So what your saying is throw a backorder in for a sapphire and wait patiently rather than finding any old card just so you can get rid of this piece of sh*t Nvidia (/me kicks geforce) ?
That sounds good I must admit but does mean I have to wait EVEN longer 8(. You sure these asus cards which cost a whole lot more are not super-dee-dooper or sumit? cause thats what the price indicates... Curse my impatience...
Thanks Dev

RE*AC*TOR

I believe the powercolor cards are fine. the "EZ" versions are underclocked, the "brava" versions are overclocked, and the rest as far as I know are the same as normal cards.
There's a 9800pro (powercolor) on Komplett for 320euro, that's about 100 cheaper than the rest - not an ez version - seems a very good deal - i don't know of anything wrong with this card.

RE*AC*TOR

the difference between the 9800pros and 9800xt is completely minimal - save some money and go with the pro.

PPC

Well from what i've seen and heard sapphire are on top.
And ATi are working together with Sapphire so they're bound to have a few tricks up they're sleeve.
Only gripe i have is my gfx fan died on my sapphire

BeatFreak

Naw I've been waiting for this card for a while and I have the money so thats not a problem and besides theres quite a margin in most of the benchmarks at 1600x1200 with 4xfsaa and 8xaniso and the likes which is what I'm looking for.

BloodBath

I was going to post the same topic myself but cheers you've saved me the hastle.

I'm ordering a brand spanking new p.c. next week and I want to get the 9800xt but likewise I'm not sure what brand to go for.

So my choice is between these cards.

card

---

komplett price(euro)

Asus Radeon 9800XT 256MB DDR

---

652.96
Hercules 3D Prophet 9800XT 256MB DDR

---

585.20
Hercules 3D Prophet 9800PRO 256MB DDR2

---

663.32
PowerColor Radeon 9800XT 256MB DDR

---

555.55
Sapphire Radeon 9800XT Atlantis 256M DDR

---

579.07

Does anyone have a link with benchmarks for these cards?
How does the Hercules 3D Prophet 9800PRO 256MB DDR2 perform with the ddr2 memory?



BloodBath

BloodBath

I was going to post the same topic myself but cheers you've saved me the hastle.

I'm ordering a brand spanking new p.c. next week and I want to get the 9800xt but likewise I'm not sure what brand to go for.

So my choice is between these cards.

card

---

komplett price(euro)

Asus Radeon 9800XT 256MB DDR

---

652.96
Hercules 3D Prophet 9800XT 256MB DDR

---

585.20
Hercules 3D Prophet 9800PRO 256MB DDR2

---

663.32
PowerColor Radeon 9800XT 256MB DDR

---

555.55
Sapphire Radeon 9800XT Atlantis 256M DDR

---

579.07

Does anyone have a link with benchmarks for these cards?
How does the Hercules 3D Prophet 9800PRO 256MB DDR2 perform with the ddr2 memory?



BloodBath

bambam

Someone posted a url for a site that described how to flash a 9800 pro into a 9800XT. here it is again : http://www.3dmaxx.net/articles/xtflash/

Deadwing

Has anyone actually tried flashing a 9800pro yet? id be tempted to do it if i could be sure i wouldnt bugger my spankin new card i just paid $350 for!!

CyberGhost

isn't ATI that manufactures Radeons? do other brand copy ATI's technology or something?

K!LL!@N

I've gotten one of those Powercolour cards.
The 9800 PRO.
Have to say i'm loving it so far.
The cost to performance ratio makes me like it even more.
I was originally thinking of just going for an 9600 PRO, or something similar.
I wasn't really sure i wanted to spend €400+ on a PRO.
Then i saw the powercolor and decided to take a chance and thankfully i haven't been disappointed.

If anyones interested, here's what came in the box:

The card itself, obviously.
DVI to VGA converter so you can use two CRT's.
Tv-out cables.
ATI drivers, naturally.
Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness ( not my cup of tea ).
Commanche 4 ( Used in a lot of benchmarks, not had a chance to try it out yet ).
Summoner ( never heard of it, not tried it yet ).
Another disc with some games ( not looked at that yet either ).
This all came nicely packaged in a decent box, with the card placed fairly securely inside.
The box being fairly solid, can be seen as a good thing. I've heard of other cards coming in flimsy boxes, that would likely sustain damage.
The card has a red board, if that makes any difference.

If you're not worried about the money, then by all means go for an XT. I don't think the performance difference justifies the difference in price.

Killian

BeatFreak

Hmmmm this is getting slightly OT... Just as an update to my situation I think I'll go with PPC's advice mainly because I haven't heard anything bad about Sapphire (oh and HL2 of course) But I just rang komplett and the next shipment looks like some time around the 25th which is miiiiilllleessss away. Anyone know any other suppliers with stock?
The alternative is a Hercules, which is in some time next week.... hmmm decisions decisions...
So I'll take it that no-one has bought an 9800XT then?

El_MUERkO

From reading various forums I'd steer clear of the PowerColor version.

j0e9o

Originally posted by El_MUERkO
From reading various forums I'd steer clear of the PowerColor version.

why??

Creamy Goodness

i read on www.overclockers.co.uk forums that ATi signed a deal with sapphire to make all the radeon XT cards and resell them to hercules and powercolor so powercolor should be okay card

j0e9o

yeah but im on about y he shouldn't go for the 9800pro powercolour