Graphics Is my Psu going to hold up? (orig: is the 9800 the card for me?)

Is the 9800 the card for me?

will that card keep up with my system or will my system try to keep up with the card?

I was originally thinking about getting an x800 pro but people have said my computer couldent handle it.


AMD XP2500+ OC to 2.5Ghz+
512MB DDR-333 OC to 370Mhz
Abit Kx7-333
SB audigy gamer
40Gb + 60Gb maxtor 7200Rpm

Currently running a 3d prophet 4500 Its really starting to show its age
It was a bargain card when I bought it new

THe card only scored 2519 in 3dmark 2001, It cant run 3dmark 2003

 

The 9800PRO is a great card!
Not even the XT could bottleneck you're system.



Cheers,
Mike

 

When you say 9800....are you meaning 9800Pro? The 9800Pro is definitely a much better card than the 9800. As far as whether or not your machine will run it and take advantage of it...

Your real bottleneck is your motherboard. I believe it is only 4x AGP right? And only supports FSB up to 333...which isn't really a huge deal. And the benefits/detriments of 4x vs 8x AGP can be debated till the cows come home. But let's put it like this...your computer could take a 9800Pro and blow away your current card easily. Then later you could upgrade to say an Abit NF7-S or something similar (nforce2 mobo) and you would be taking full advantage of that card and maybe even get more out of your CPU. BTW...is that a mobile 2500+? Cause holy cow! You're running what....13.5 multi and 185 FSB? Put that in an NF7-S with 200MHz FSB and watch her scream!

 

Your Kyro 2 is in GF2mx territory but minus the nice drivers. You'll see a HUGE leap, even by going for a GF3! 9800Pro is an excellent choice and will match up with your system nicely. 9800nonPRO is also a great choice, they often o/c past 9800Pro speed! Your Barton @2.5ghz is really nice indeed (XP3600+), but the top-end cards are not only over-priced but they still bottleneck on the fastest Athlon64s. You won't get the most out of them but there are still gains there, and when you did next upgrade the CPU+mobo you'd really see X800Pro (or 6800GT) power. I'd suggest 9800Pro though, supreme power for a really good price. When you're ready to next upgrade your CPU+mobo, X800_Pro speed will surely be half the price and you'll probably be after PCIe anyway. AGP4x shouldn't limit you much at all, esp as the new kings tend to have 256MB, the 9800XT certainly wasn't slowed down in AGP4x mode and I doubt you'd notice any diff with the new Kings. My advice, 9800Pro but X800_Pro or 6800GT wouldn't be a waste if you don't mind laying down the cash. Here's some info on how modern CPUs aren't allowing the new Kings to flex their muscles...

X800PRO & X800XT-PE (inc 9800XT, FX5950U & 6800 cards):
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q2/radeon-x800/index.x?pg=8
* Notice how little diff there is between these 2 top X800 cards (l.blue & purple) and this is on an Athlon64_3400+!

X800 VS 9800XT INC CPU SCALING (XP2100+ to XP3200+ AND 64_3400+):
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/x800_pro_athlon_xp/page3.asp
* Notice how close the 9800XT can get to X800_Pro!

X800 VS 6800 (inc CPU SCALING):
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=40&type=expert&pid=5
* Again notice how close the 9800XT can get to X800_Pro!

 

wow. Now I see what people are talking about, there is only a 5-10fps difference between the cards on most tests with a similar cpu setup as mine

Anyway I want to get the 256mb 9800pro and hopefully flash it to an XT
I have no problem with refurbished cards..

the plain Oem 256Mb 231$
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-280R&type=Refurbish



and that asus card 309$
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-121-500R&type=Refurbish

is there any difference besides the fancy fan?


What about the Gforce 5900 or 5950

that looks like one mother of a card
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-125-122R&type=Refurbish

and another asus card
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-121-165R&type=Refurbish

 

The 5900 and 5950 are actually slower in most games, so its not what you are looking for. Also, there is no point in spending so much extra money on a 256 MB 9800 pro. Just get the normal 128 meg version.

 

WOAH the priced droped to 289$ im itching to buy Should I?

Would flashing an plain old 9800pro cause heat problems?

 

Don't be obsessed with flashing, you can often simply o/c to 9800XT speeds (or better), the 9800XT is only a fraction faster anyway. The FX5900 & FX5950 ($269-299) are decent enough, but as said are rarely up to 9800Pro speeds and have other downsides too, plus they're more expensive! I'd suggest you go with the OEM 9800Pro, the dual fan Asus 9800XT is surely going to be noisier without necessarily superior cooling, pretty though eh? I certainly wouldn't pay an extra $70 for the Asus card.

 

Thanks this has been really helpfull
one more question.

RotoSequence pointed out that I would not get much of a performance increase with the 256meg vs the 128meg.

Is this true? Would 4x agp have anything to do with this?

**EDIT
Im not looking for a bargain card. I want the best graphics my computer can possably render

 

128mb is not currently the gaming bottleneck that everyone makes it out to be , look at many graphics card reviews and you'll see
DB

 

The AGP mode (eg 4x, 8x) can be thought of as the speed at which your gfx card can communicate with the rest of your PC. 4x66mhz=266mhz (AGP4x) which happens to actually be enough, certainly for the 9800Pro/XT. AGP4x speed simply isn't limiting much as ATA100 (100MB/s) isn't limiting for current HDs, in both cases you should find the perf hit is under 1% vs AGP8x and ATA133/SATA150 respectively. The AGP speed/mode is most important when the gfx card's own RAM is full and it needs to access system memory for extra storage space (via AGP Aperture). So with a 256MB gfx card you really shouldn't need to worry about AGP speed, and even on 128MB cards almost nothing is likely to require more memory. When it comes to 128MB vs 256MB (gfx) we're kind of back to 1% perf diff at the mo (if both 128MB and 256MB versions use the same clocks).

Bottom line is SATA, PCIe, 256MB gfx RAM and AGP8x are all more about ensuring things don't begin to become limiting in the future than any real perf gains now, plus it sounds new and fast which is what marketing and developers like. Even when games will expect more than 128MB gfx RAM, a fast 128MB gfx card (eg 9800Pro) will still be more preferable to a slower 256MB gfx card (eg 9600XT). By that time even a 9800Pro may be too slow to run these demanding games anyway.

 

alright ive looked around
I have found that framerate does increase upto 30fps at highrez on the 256mb cards I think im going to drop the extra 20$ for the 256mb version
It might even be a better improvement in my system because my memory bandwidth is the biggest bottleneck

remember my budget goes up to 300$ for a card although staying under 200$ would meen I could get a few extra pizzas deliverd
I would give up the pizzas for a 20fps increase anyday

 

If you're considering spending $289 for the 256MB 9800XT I think you should look at the 6800 128MB for $287, and that's not refurb but a full retail model. X800_Pro and 6800GT are still around $450.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-202&depa=1

http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=544&cid=2

http://www.nvnews.net/articles/geforce_6800_gameplay/index.shtml

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_6800_performance_and_overclocking/default.asp

 

woah! now the 6800 would pretty much bum r@!e the 9800xt?

It looks like the 6800 pulls along side the 6800gt when overclocked
What kind of cooling would you recommend if I were to overclock, that stock cooler doesent looks very big

Also It says it comes with GDDR memory.. whats that?

One other thing.
Will my PSU be up to the task of running all this new stuff

its a 400watt rated at

15A - +3.3V
30A - +5V
15A - +12V
.6A - -5V
.6A - -12V
2A - +5vsb

 

You should be fine to o/c on stock cooling, I think it's the same cooler as the 6800GT has, most likely the single power connector will limit your o/c but if you can get around 400mhz who cares! There should be plenty of headroom in it and even if there isn't stock perf is still good for this price. The 9800XT have VERY little o/c'ing headroom in them, they're pretty much clocked to the max by default.

GDDR memory is Graphics DDR, so normal stuff. The 6800GT and up tend to use GDDR3 which should run cooler and clock higher, but you pay the price for it too. A 400W PSU should be fine (IIRC 350W recommended for 6800GT) but brand really counts for a lot, what brand is it? You can always try it and simply be prepared to upgrade to a 400W from Antec, Enermax, Thermaltake, ToPower, S.Flower (TTGI), CWT, Sparkle, Seasonic, Tagan, Hiper or Fortron.