CC: 9800 NP for $199 NO MIR! Now with Picture of the Ad!

[Sandan]

10AM here in Ohio.

 

[nero2]

Sandan, most 9800NPs are mis-identified by Windows as 9800Pros (including mine). You can see that it's a 9800NP by downloading a program like RivaTuner and checking it's default clockspeeds. You'll see then that you do in fact have a 9800.

 

[Redviffer]

Wow, the deals for these 9800NP just seem to keep getting better.

IMHO, this is probably the very best bang for the buck in the ATi side, along with the 9600NP for under $100.

Cautionary note: make sure your not getting an "SE" one, which it doesn't look like this one is.

Comparison note: 9800NP perform the same as a 9700Pro; in other words, very good.

 

[WinXP]

I got the ATI 9800np at CC last week an price was 249.00 + tax. Went there this morning an did a pricematch for the lower price an got a refund for the difference. No hassle at all.

 

[PClark99]

Fo shizzle mah nizzle, I got the last 9800 at Circuit City in Freehold, NJ.

 

[austin316]

whats better.... 9800np or 5900nu. both are $199.

 

[austin316]

9800 = cc one

5900 = xfx from newegg (2.2 memory or what not)

 

[HQH51]

It is true that the ATI Radeon 9800 non-Pro's memory needs to be a Samsung. It just needs to be a Samsung memory chip, and heck, it can be 3.3ns chips. I can say that you can't just overclock the video card with Rage3D tweak tool to find out if the video card can do ATI Radeon 9800 Pro speeds. That's just plain wrong. Why? Because I've done it. I have overclocked the non-Pro to Pro speeds, and I get massive screen corruptions. Even overclocking the non-Pro to modest gains, but still not reaching Pro speeds, due to 3.3ns chips (~303 MHz rating), the overclocking wasn't near Pro level. So, I flashed the non-Pro bios to a Pro bios, and booted up into Windows. Ran fine. Didn't lock up, no texture corruptions, no signs of bad overclocking whatsoever.

There's a big difference between just overclocking the non-Pro via Rage3D tweak tool versus overclocking the non-Pro via flashing the BIOS. Flashing via BIOS alters the video card's memory operation. I believe it gives the RAM more voltage to achieve higher clock rating (it took my video card rated memory 3.3ns to 2.8ns!). If you learn anything engineering class (electrical), you would know in general, more power means faster clocking (and more heat), but not necessary stable at all times, as there's a limit. As for flashing the non-Pro BIOS, go for it. Only if you have a Samsung memory though. All others, don't bother doing it.

Go to this website and read about it: http://duhvoodooman.com/9800NP/9800conv_1.htm

There are more webpages out there talking about flashing. Search via Google. In general, it's basically if you got a non-Pro card, and have Samsung 3.3ns or faster timing (e.g. 3.3ns, 3.0ns, 2.8ns, etc...) you should give it a shot. Of course, if there's a failure, you can revert back to non-Pro state. Read up on that as well.

Originally posted by: hansmuff
Moddable to PRO: Depends on the memory on the card. Many NP don't go over 310mem or 325mem. PRO speed is 340mem. Try the Rage3D tweak tool before flashing BIOS to find out if your card can do 380 core/340 mem with no artifacts. Even then, why bother? Why risk messing up the card if all you need is to install rage3d and have it clock the card to desired speed after you boot Windows?
Don't forget that the 9800 NP is a PRO with lower clocks and different memory chips (most of the time, anyway). A PRO bios would not get you more pipelines or a 256bit mem path; you already have both on the NP.

 

[HQH51]

Let's just say, if you're into Direct X9 games (Half-Life), you'd go for the ATI Radeon 9800 and forget any nVidia video cards.

Originally posted by: austin316
whats better.... 9800np or 5900nu. both are $199.

 

[RamIt]

Well this sucks. I just got one and it shows up as a 9600XT, has overdrive and all.
Gona check for driver issues before returning it.

 

[RamIt]

Adia shows it as having a 250 core clock and a 297 mhz ddr memory rate.
Anyone have any ideas whats wrong.
I am using the Cat 3.9's off ATI's site.

 

[Breezie]

it doesn't "have" to be samsung to overclock--- the samsung just goes higher -easier- the infineon or whatever can reach near pro speeds too and some people actually got it to reach pro speeds-

CC will most likely NOT carry samsung ram ones unless someone can tell me they got one with it-- and they will most likely NOT have the HL2 coupon- just my two cents~

 

[novon]

Snatched one of the last two at the Lynwood, WA CC, another guy got the other.

3.0 Infineon , going to try overclocking soon.

It really shines in Lock On: Modern Air Combat, which was a slideshow on my old Ti4200 64MB

 

[PoPPeR]

i want this No $

 

[RamIt]

Do the 9800's have a power conector on them?
This card doesn't.

 

[Breezie]

the ones at CC do have the power supply connector

 

[BG4533]

Originally posted by: RamIt
Do the 9800's have a power conector on them?
This card doesn't.

Yes, they have power connectors.

Me and my roomate each just got one, both are Infineon RAM. Also, does anyone know if the Zalman or any other heatpipes will fit on these. My case is near silent and I have a feeling this fan is louder than I want ( I havent installed it yet). Will the Zalmans with a low flow fan blowing near them outperform the stock HS?

 

[Budarow]

Anyone know it the "serial number" on the 9800 NP box makes a difference as to which type of RAM (e.g., Samsung, etc.) will likely be on the card?

Thanks,

Bud

 

[austin316]

is this the card that is having problems with KOTOR? I have an AMD cpu, if that makes a difference.

 

[Ayeffkay]

austin316: I can't find any benchmarks for either of those cards. Someone said this 9800 performs like a 9700 Pro, and if that's the case, the 5900 Ultra beats it. Not sure where the non-ultra stands, but I have another recommendation for the 5900: Atacom.com has the Leadtek 5900nu for 216$ with ViVo, and Newegg has basically the same thing from Albatron for 225. I was trying to decide between those two, now I have a third to pick from, and I have to decide this week :/

 

[austin316]

Originally posted by: Ayeffkay
austin316: I can't find any benchmarks for either of those cards. Someone said this 9800 performs like a 9700 Pro, and if that's the case, the 5900 Ultra beats it. Not sure where the non-ultra stands, but I have another recommendation for the 5900: Atacom.com has the Leadtek 5900nu for 216$ with ViVo, and Newegg has basically the same thing from Albatron for 225. I was trying to decide between those two, now I have a third to pick from, and I have to decide this week :/

from the video forum, it seems that the XFX 5900 for $196 shipped free is the best bet for non-ultra cards. However, I think I'm gonna just go and get the Radeon card.

 

[Breezie]

Originally posted by: BG4533

Originally posted by: RamIt
Do the 9800's have a power conector on them?
This card doesn't.

Yes, they have power connectors.

Me and my roomate each just got one, both are Infineon RAM. Also, does anyone know if the Zalman or any other heatpipes will fit on these. My case is near silent and I have a feeling this fan is louder than I want ( I havent installed it yet). Will the Zalmans with a low flow fan blowing near them outperform the stock HS?

its not that loud compared to the geforce ti series--- and if u were to get a zalman- it will fit the card but zalman reccomends you NOT get the non fan versions of their heatsinks~

 

[nero2]

HOT DEAL.

BG4533: Zalmans will fit fit on 9800s. And *yes*, a Zalman ZM80C w/ a low-cfm fan blowing over it will out-perform the stock HSF. I would take a 9800NP w/ infineon chips over a 5900 any day. Not because the 5900 is bad card (and up until today it was a better deal), but because a 9800 will outperform a 5900 when you start turning up the AA and AF. Without AA and AF a 5900 is faster, but running a game nowadays without AA and AF is a travesty (unless the game has issues with it like Halo). I'm not even going to bring up the supposted issues nVidia is having with DX9. Both cards are plenty-fast, but as it stands right now the 9800 is the better deal.

 

[BG4533]

Originally posted by: nero2
HOT DEAL.

BG4533: Zalmans will fit fit on 9800s. And *yes*, a Zalman ZM80C w/ a low-cfm fan blowing over it will out-perform the stock HSF. I would take a 9800NP w/ infineon chips over a 5900 any day. Not because the 5900 is bad card (and up until today it was a better deal), but because a 9800 will outperform a 5900 when you start turning up the AA and AF. Without AA and AF a 5900 is faster, but running a game nowadays without AA and AF is a travesty (unless the game has issues with it like Halo). I'm not even going to bring up the supposted issues nVidia is having with DX9. Both cards are plenty-fast, but as it stands right now the 9800 is the better deal.

Any idea about the ZM-80A?

 

[iwearnosox]

I have had a ZM80C-HP (no fan) on my 9800 for the past 6 months, it works great and I've overclocked it quite a bit. (425/330.)