ATI's 9800SE the new 9500?

[Richdog]

I was reading a review of the card and they say, like the 9500 non-pro before it, that you can enable the remaining 4 pipelines to get yourself a fully-fledged 9800. Is this going to be possible with the vast majority of them or will it only be a limited quantity like the 9500? Has anyone seen what price it will retail at? Seems if it's cheap enough it could be the latest essential card providing you get a successful hack... Performance at stock seems to be better than 9600PRO too. I couldn't find it on pricewatch though...

Review at Overclockers New Zealand

 

[funko]

i dont think its cheap enough...

its been availible on pricewatch for a while though... the se's are just listed under 9800 thogh... they're what makes the 9800 category look so cheap....

but after shipping they come just under $200... i think its better to just buy a 9700 for $20 more and o/c that thing into 9800nonpro/pro speeds

 

[joecool]

yeah, i'm really torn about which way to go for a vid card right now - i've got the 9500 np and have unlocked the extra 4 pipelines, but i really want to get a full-fledged top-o-the-line card. should i go 9700 pro? 9800np? or wait for the new line of cards this fall? too darn many choices!!!

 

[modedepe]

I don't think the se is worth it at the current price. I've seen them for around $195. If the thing doesn't mod that's an awful lot for 9600 pro performance. You can get a 9800np which is most cases will get up to 9800 pro speeds, and they only cost $235. So you might save $45 if the thing mods of lose $40 if it doesn't mod. Not as big of a gain if it does mod as you would get with a 9500np that modded, where you might save close to $100.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

If you could mod a 9800SE up to 9800-spec, it'd be awesome.

But until I see that, I will declare 9800SEs the "FX5200" of the ATI lineup. :beer:

- M4H

 

[tenoc]

The 9800se appears to be a way to use up chips that flunk the 8-pipe test.

Thus, the percentage that can be re-enabled from 4 to 8 is likely to be low.

Over-priced as a 9600 Pro equivalent, altho it should wax any FX5200!

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: tenoc
The 9800se appears to be a way to use up chips that flunk the 8-pipe test.

Thus, the percentage that can be re-enabled from 4 to 8 is likely to be low.

Over-priced as a 9600 Pro equivalent, altho it should wax any FX5200!

True, but I'm calling it that because they both use the same marketing style.

nVidia: "OMG checkx0r out teh l33t l33t geForce FX core! (microprint)5200(/microprint) Nu DX9!!!!!1!1!!one!!!1"
ATI: "OMGZ teh RADENON 9800!!!! (microprint)SE(/microprint) Nowz Much Faster0r! Terbo3d mAd tYt3 y0!!!!!1!!1!eleven!!1"

In case you haven't noticed, I hate misleading marketing.

- M4H

 

[Richdog]

Originally posted by: tenoc
The 9800se appears to be a way to use up chips that flunk the 8-pipe test.

Thus, the percentage that can be re-enabled from 4 to 8 is likely to be low.

Over-priced as a 9600 Pro equivalent, altho it should wax any FX5200!

Yeh i'm inclined to agree about the ratio or successful hacks you'd be able to perform. Heh i'd rather have one of those than a FX5200 though, i can't imagine buying anything worse, ugh! :beer:

 

[Blastman]

I just looked through a bunch of benchmarks on the 9800SE and I wasn?t impressed. The 9800SE fared OK in the 3Dmark?s but was no faster than the 9600pro in the actual game benchmarks. In fact, the 9600pro beat the 9800SE on a lot of the game ? benches

3Dmark2001 ?

9800SE ? ? 13,857
9600 pro ? ? 11,767

Those 3Dmark2001 scores in that review, although 17.8% faster than the 9600 pro are inflated. It?s like the same situation with the 9500NP, it could score almost the same as a 9600pro in 3DMK2001, but it was 30% slower in the actual game benches (same speed as 9600NP).

The 9800SE is looking no faster than a 9600pro but more expensive, it doesn?t look like too good of a deal.