Radeon 8500LE or 9000 Pro

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5 Jul 2002
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I am probably going to be getting either an ATI 8500LE or 9000 Pro (both built by ATI) this weekend and was wondering which one would be better and why. I've read that the 8500 will outperform the 9000 in some areas and was wondering why the 9000 is touted as a better card even though it is based on the same technology as the 8500.
I read a review on both of the cards (well one the 8500 wasn't the LE so it had a slightly higher clock rate) but they would have been using drivers from around Arpil or June.... I can't remember the dates of the reviews but somewhere around there.... and I was thinking that maybe the latest drivers might help out the 9000 and make it perform better in all areas. I am kinda leaning towards the 9000 partly because the radeon 8500LE 128 MB card is now a legacy card. Take a look here to see it.
 
well basically the 9000pro is clocked a little higher.. they are not the same card though.. the 9000pro is based on a slightly different core...

they are about equal in performance but perhaps the 8500LE is a little better in terms of raw power...

still the 9000pro is a decent next gen card..

alternatively you can wait for the barebones 9500 (non pro) which should cost around the 8500LE or a little more... and outperform it handily...

the 9000pro is nonetheless a good card.. I handily recommend it over a regular 9000...
 
Thanks.... I was planning on probably going with the 9000 Pro... It's about $60 CAN (not USD) more and I just wanted some other opinions on which one was better from people who have had experience with them.
 
O ya... How easy is it to overclock either card (or which one is better) and does it make a big difference in the performance of the card?
 
oc'ing is always risky... different cards react differently... BUT there is a good chance that you are going to see a minimal gain at best...

ocing normally gives you a few frames more... but you risk instability when air cooling..

the 8500le comes clock @ 250/250 and you should be able to get 275/275 or if your board is well made... perhaps 300/300 is not out of the question... thats pretty nice performance..

the 9000pro comes @ 275/275 but you might be able to get up to around 300/300...

50mhz v/s 25mhz you say ?

well actually the LE is a lower clocked version of the retail 8500 with fewer features... the retail is 275/275

howver the LE has fewer features than the retail.. there are tweaks that allow you to enable SOME of those features... (check out rage3d) BUT the problem is the card is not designed to operate @ the higher clocks with these features.... chances are higher for instability/burnout...

:)
 
Neither actually! Both cards are DX8.1 cards, and that standard will soon become a legacy. So unless you want to buy a new card when Doom3 comes out, you'd be better off buying a DX9 card like the 9500Pro or the barebones 9500. I'm not entirely sure if the basic 9500 is a DX9 card, but it should be since it's based on the same chip. If you're going to upgrade your mobo, definately go in for the Pro version since it has AGP8X support, unlike the basic version.
 
well... for now i've still got a P3 933... so AGP 8X is not gonna happen for me for now.... and they cost a lot more.. i got my 8500LE for $150 CAN and the 9700 (the one i want) is about $650 CAN... so i'll wait for the price to come down and then get a board with AGP 8X
 
Posted by IClimb
Neither actually! Both cards are DX8.1 cards, and that standard will soon become a legacy. So unless you want to buy a new card when Doom3 comes out, you'd be better off buying a DX9 card like the 9500Pro or the barebones 9500. I'm not entirely sure if the basic 9500 is a DX9 card, but it should be since it's based on the same chip. If you're going to upgrade your mobo, definately go in for the Pro version since it has AGP8X support, unlike the basic version.

it is an r300 based card m8... therefore the 9500 is dx9 ready...

the 9500pro outperforms the 4600 handily and has a similar design to the 9700pro... the 9500 (non pro) has fewer texture pipelines... reducing the price AND the speed to around 4400 levels or so... however the reviewed models basically were running with 64mb... therefore the 9500 SHOULD peform close to or at the levels of the 4600... but with nextgen features...

prices in USD should be around 150-200 for the 9500-9500pro respectively...

also heard that ati should have an xmas period pricecut :) across the board...
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
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Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
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