ATI Radeon 9700 nonPro vs Pro

[paxus]

I really don't see what the difference between these two cards are. Right now mwave has the 9700 nonPro for ~$200 while the pro is around $290.

I looked at the specs and can't see the difference. Anyone care to inform?

[sam_fisher]

the pro has higher clocks and faster ram.
the pro has 8 rendering pipelines where the nonpro has 4.
there would be a large margin between the two in most benchmarking apps like 3dmark03 that rely almost souly on the video card.

in my opinion, i would go ahead and get the 9700 pro. that way your set for a while. if you dont have the coinage, you could get a 9500--they are excellent OCers and go to marginally high clock speeds given that you cool it well..
if you do decide to get either, go for the sapphire brand. they're better quality cards as for some companies that i've delt with(like powercolor who sticks 9700 pro bios's into 9700np cards).

happy researching

hope this helps..
sam..

[paxus]

Thanks, Sam.

I did a little more research and came across some benchmarks for the 9700 and 9700 Pro...I saw the different performances and you are right. The 9700 Pro is definitely faster, and much better performer at higher resolutions.

I think maybe another $100 might be worth it.

Is there any way to know whether or not that price is going to drop in the next month or two? i.e. Because of the release of the 9800 Pro, will the 9700 Pro drop some more in price?

[sam_fisher]

i'm pretty sure its going to stay that price for a good while. the 9700p is too popular, therefore the 9800 will be like the 9700p when it came out starting at $400 then working its way down to 299 and cheaper over a year or more's time.
there's not too many people that want to spend 400-500 bucks on a 9800p. so distributers keep the prices up-so they can keep you buy the nads...

or you could wait and spend $500 bucks on a GFX5900 ultra-which puts a hurting on both 9700 pro and 9800 pro.

sam.

[paxus]

I had not realized the GFX5900 was not out already. Isn't that basically the Nvidia equivalent of ATI's Radeon 9800 Pro?

If this new 5900 comes out, perhaps that will drive the ATI prices down in order to compete. Maybe I am just too wishful.
If need be, I will fork over $290 for the 9700p.

[sam_fisher]

i think you'll be surprised with the 9700p and what a truly awesome card it is. its pure muscle. definitley a contendor for a while.

[nodnod]

If you take a look at the review at anandtech http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1821 you will see that the 5900 is marginally faster than any of the ati offererings. Even faster than the 9800 pro.

[NewBlackDak]

Knowing Nvidia, it will be substaintially more expensive too.

[seamonkie]

the only diff between the cards is the clock speeds of the processor and ram, and sometimes the ram itself. thats it, they both have 8 pixel pipelines. i have a 9700np running now and am gladd i didt spend the extra 100 bucks. i planed on overclocking it to 9700 pro speeds, but just havent found a reason to yet...

[lostcarpark]

My understanding was that the target launch price for the GF5900 is $399. The GF5800 will probably drop slightly before fading away into an embarrasing footnote on the pages of graphics card history.

The GF5800 is generally marginally faster than the Radeon 9800p, but it depends on which benchmark you look at. And the difference between the 9700p and the 9800p is not all that great. In terms of value, the 9700p or the 9500p are both hard to beat.

You'll find some benchmarks here.

James

[Dr. Data]

Originally posted by seamonkie
the only diff between the cards is the clock speeds of the processor and ram, and sometimes the ram itself. thats it, they both have 8 pixel pipelines. i have a 9700np running now and am gladd i didt spend the extra 100 bucks. i planed on overclocking it to 9700 pro speeds, but just havent found a reason to yet...

Correct.

In fact there is very little difference between the 9700, 9700pro, and the 9800pro.

Very minor optimizations on the 9800 but mostly clock speed differences between these three.

I plan on over clocking my card to bring it cloder to a 9800 but I dont have any reason to at this time either.

[paxus]

I have a Monitor question when considering the 9700Pro.

The Radeon 9700 has the following features:

- 15-pin VGA connector for analog CRT
- S-video or composite connector for TV / VCR
- DVI-I connector for digital CRT or flat panel
- Independent resolutions and refresh rates for any two connected displays

I am building a machine with gaming in mind. I was under the impression that CRTs were better for fast action gaming rather than opting for an LCD. I thought there was some 'ghosting' that occurred with LCD displays and fast action.

So, is CRT what I want? I thought this is what I wanted, but then looking at the 9700Pro, it has all of these features for S-Video and DVI-I connections. What kind of monitor would you buy for a gaming system?

[lostcarpark]

The advantages of CRT are:
- Faster display (no ghosting)
- Wider viewing angle
- No aliasing when at resolutions other than display's native
- No risk of dead pixels
- Cheaper

Advantages of LCD:
- Flicker free (except on some early VGA interfaces)
- Generally sharper image
- Completely flat display
- More portable
- More energy efficient

Note that LCD displays are much faster than they were a few years ago, and that they display very little visible ghosting. I wouldn't buy one without seeing it working first. In fact, if possible, I'd ask to see the actual monitor I was buying working so I could check for dead pixels.