PtP
24-09-2003, 12:08 PM
Troubled news come from our videolab. Currently there are multiple Radeon
9800SE models in the market that differ just fundamentally! So you can easily be
fooled by unfair traders offering you a bad product. But let's put things in
order.
The clock speeds are 325/540 MHz and everything seems to be good, but! This
card has a 128-bit bus! If you remember, we've posted a photo of PowerColor's
9800SE before. The trick is the PowerColor's model bases on 9700 Pro PCB with
256-bit bus. But Sapphire's 9800SE features 128-bit bus only. What you should
pay attention to first: Sapphire's 128-bit 9800SE have black PCB, while
PowerColor's 256-bit 9800SE have red PCB.
Now the most interesting: currently 128-bit RADEON 9800SE 128MB are shipped
in large quantities, with major OEM shipments via non-official channels, so many
distributors "occasionally forget" to mark them SE. It's clear that the price
and performance difference between 9800SE and non-SE (currently priced about
$240) is very considerable.
So, be warned: if you see a non-Pro, know it's one of the four models:
<UL>
<LI>RADEON 9800 SE 128bit BGA
<LI>RADEON 9800 SE 128bit TSOP
<LI>RADEON 9800 SE 256bit BGA
<LI>RADEON 9800</LI>[/list]
Besides, you can also stumble upon Sapphire's 9800 Pro Lite. This one isn't
tricky at all – the same 9800 Pro with nominal clock speeds, performance, but on
another PCB. But it's price is sometimes $70 less!
As Sapphire told us, 9800 Pro Lite differs from usual 9800 Pro only by the
"lite retail" pack. So the price is mostly reduced at the expense of the bundle.
</P>
9800SE models in the market that differ just fundamentally! So you can easily be
fooled by unfair traders offering you a bad product. But let's put things in
order.
The clock speeds are 325/540 MHz and everything seems to be good, but! This
card has a 128-bit bus! If you remember, we've posted a photo of PowerColor's
9800SE before. The trick is the PowerColor's model bases on 9700 Pro PCB with
256-bit bus. But Sapphire's 9800SE features 128-bit bus only. What you should
pay attention to first: Sapphire's 128-bit 9800SE have black PCB, while
PowerColor's 256-bit 9800SE have red PCB.
Now the most interesting: currently 128-bit RADEON 9800SE 128MB are shipped
in large quantities, with major OEM shipments via non-official channels, so many
distributors "occasionally forget" to mark them SE. It's clear that the price
and performance difference between 9800SE and non-SE (currently priced about
$240) is very considerable.
So, be warned: if you see a non-Pro, know it's one of the four models:
<UL>
<LI>RADEON 9800 SE 128bit BGA
<LI>RADEON 9800 SE 128bit TSOP
<LI>RADEON 9800 SE 256bit BGA
<LI>RADEON 9800</LI>[/list]
Besides, you can also stumble upon Sapphire's 9800 Pro Lite. This one isn't
tricky at all – the same 9800 Pro with nominal clock speeds, performance, but on
another PCB. But it's price is sometimes $70 less!
As Sapphire told us, 9800 Pro Lite differs from usual 9800 Pro only by the
"lite retail" pack. So the price is mostly reduced at the expense of the bundle.
</P>