Radeon's

seanos

Looking at buying new graphics card in next few days ... Overclockers.co.uk probably.
Two manufacturers I'm considering are Hercules [Good, reliable, fast equipment] & Sapphire [Cheap - while still reasonable]

Just like some of your opinions, I looked at fair few benchmarks etc, but unsure of performance, since Better Card Vs. Better manufacturer, and theres always the XT/SE/Pro differences which make it so much more fun ...

Cards I'm considering are as follows:

Hercules 3D Prophet 9600XT 128MB DDR [STR£ 144]

Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 Pro Ultimate 128MB DDR [STR£ 148]

Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB DDR [STR£ 147]

Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800SE 128MB DDR [STR£ 141]

Looking for best performance out of that list, any help/feedback appriciated

Creamy Goodness

Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800SE 128MB DDR [STR£ 141]

it should soft mod into a 9800 pro if not an 9800xt.

Woden

well i'd knock the 9600 pro ultimate edition on the head anyway i'm sure the XT's out perform it. The question is then which XT? well the manufacturer won't make much difference both are well known manufacturers. Therefore if both have the same clock frequencies on the core and the memory i'd go for the one with 256mb of memory.

The question comes down to the whether you want the 9800SE or the 9600XT, tough decision imo but check out this review (if you haven't seen it already) decide what type of user you are i.e. will you attempt a softmod or not and then perhaps you can make a decision

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD02NTUmdXJsX3BhZ2U9MQ==

its worth knocking the AIW version of the hercules is on overclockers for about 160 i think not bad for all those extra features.

seanos

Thanks a lot Dataisgod

That is pretty much info was looking for I think.

Of course any more opinions gladly welcomed

I''m still trying to decide between the three [excluding Ultimate edition] ...
Still like the Hercules brand, however for approx same price can get double the memory ... vs overclocking a 9800SE [which not too keen on doing, since site you mensioned hints that 9800SE defective 9800pro chips - also not a big fan on spending money, being college bum, so don't want to have to upgrade if card burns out due to overclocking.]

Ruaidhri

well if you are stuck for like cash you could get the saphire 9600 256MB (non pro)

seanos

Right
/slight/ change of plans heh.

Just ordered :
Hercules 3D Prophet 9600XT 256MB DDR
for 226Euro from Komplett - not much in price diff, and got Hercules w/ 256MB RAM
Granted not too happy about the :
6 pcs
2003-12-23
(unconfirmed)

... fingers crossed, and can always cancel and change mind before they come in stock anyway - at least this way _hopefully_ I am in queue for the card out of the 6 pieces their getting in...

Thanks for info/advise again.

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by Cr3m0
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800SE 128MB DDR [STR£ 141]

it should soft mod into a 9800 pro if not an 9800xt.

Actually its pot luck if it mods or not. Definately no the sure thing you're suggesting. Some of people are buying 4 or more then selling the ones that don't mod, keeping the one that mods the best and then selling any others that mod for a bit extra.

The mod only gets you to 9800Pro speeds. You have to overclock it to get 9800XT speeds and I'd say its a small minority that can do both.

Otherwises the 9800seAIW unmodified is the same speed wise as a 9600XT. The 9800seAIW are a tiny bit more expensive with more features. If it mods then its the same as a 9800pro.

The 9800seAIW wins hands down even if you don't do the mods and overclocking. Its €230 from OcUK and in stock. Delivery is extra though.

Woden

that review on hexus.net shows however that it doesn't win hands down

"would like to rely on the greater pixel pushing power of 9600XT as a guaranteed means of extra performance"

however i'd get the AIW SE myself and attempt the softmod as the review says even if it doesn't work you still have a mid-range card that performance difference will be almost no different than the 9600XT and you have the AIW features