9800pro now or wait?

[Davegod]

9800pro right now is bit more than I'd like to spend (GBP£240) though I have the money, while 9600XT is well under budget (GBP£120 or so). I'm of the opinion that if I bought a 9600~ then it might be too slow to play HL2, D3, Far Cry etc as well as I want (good, smooth fps at 1024x768 with medium settings). Its a much cheaper card and clearly better value for money, but if it cant play the coming games satisfactorily then its a false economy IMO.

9700pro or 9800non-pro arent good options since the cheapest I can find is almost same price as the cheapest 9800pro (i.e. around GBP£220).

Current card is a GF3ti200, which heavily overclocked is about OK enough for playing Enemy Territory with ultra crappy settings. There's games I want to play now (CoD, Dx2 etc) but nothing I'm really bothered about until Far Cry (feb04 i think?), HL2 and DOOM3.

So I guess the Q really is wether its worth getting a 9800pro now, or waiting for the "9600pro" of the next set of cards? I dont want to spend £240 on something that will be equalled by a £100 part in a few months, but also dont want to wait forever or find out the new card is PCI Express anyway.

Considering 9800Pro is a lot of money and I'd expect to have it at least 18months, in your opinion is it worthwhile buying now or waiting? I am tempted to sod it and buy now, but I keep thinking the price difference is like any two of a new mobo, 120gb hdd or cheap dvd burner. Help me justify me buying, or waiting - please!


fwiw my pc is:
2400xp; 3x256mb PC2100, KT266a mobo, GF3ti200. (any problems R9800pro's with KT266a?)

 

[CJP]

I'd say wait for the next generation of cards (r420, etc.). I've got a Radeon 9800np and like it but I bought it a few months ago so I've gotten alot of use out of it. It shouldn't be long of a wait now I imagine.

 

[Budarow]

Davegod,

I'm in the same boat as you. I've been shopping around for ~6 weeks looking to upgrade a pair of GF3 Ti200s. Based on the "board talk"...I decided not to buy an FX5900NU (because DX9 performance problems), nor a 9800 NP (unless it came with Samsung RAM rated at 2.8ns which means it could be flashed to Pro speeds), but to wait until the 9800 Pro prices drop some more. I paid $106/ea (US) for my GF3 Ti200s (2 years ago) and I just can't justify spending ~$300.00 (US) for 1 video card when in 2-3 months the price SHOULD have dropped ~$100 or so.

As reported at The Register, ATI's R420 is supposed to be announced in March 2004. And nVidia usually announces in February. So if you wait another ~45 days or so...you'll know more about ATI and nVidia next generation part. Plus the prices on the 9800 Pro should drop quite a bit.

I must admit that ATI's cards don't seem to drop in price as much as nVidia's have over the last year or so (i.e., ~1 year after its initial release...the 9700 Pro still goes for around $230.00 US). I hope that trend does not continue. If nVidia can take the speed crown back...I think the pricing will be more aggressive for both companies.

Anyway...I've decided to wait another month or 2 before upgrading based on the above.

Best of luck!

Bud

 

[Davegod]

I'm on the Far Cry beta, so have something to make it worthwhile upgrading for soon.

The oh so slow price drops on radeons have been really annoying, since I think i'd usually go for a top end or second-top end part a while later once they have got reasonable, but that just hasnt happened. Probably great for early buyers though, seeing their cards keep value for so long.

Now have to decide wether to get a 9800pro now, or go for a 9600XT. Cheaper card means can upgrade it quicker - maybe 12 months instead of 18, but faster card means more fun along the way - and more confidence of playing Far Cry/HL2/D3 well, which is what its all about. If it wasnt for this BTX shiazz I'd probably go for 9800pro... I just dont want to be having a expensive vid card that wont even fit into my upgrade options maybe 9 to 12 months from now (total guess).

 

[SilverLock]

I picked up a 5700U for $149 to tide me over; I had to get a new card because I was building a new computer. I had a GeForce 3 Ti200 paired with an Athlon 1800+. Now I have a P4 3.0 with the 5700 and my performance is very good with the current games. I am saving my money for the next generation of cards which should hit this March I imagine.

 

[screw3d]

The slow drop of the Radeon makes me happy with my purchase of 9700 pro. I spent $270 for it and after about a year, I can prolly still sell it off for $200..