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does anybody know whether a Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 Atlantis 128 MB Card or Connect3D ATI Radeon 9250 256MB is better and please explain how because i dont know very much about graphics cards. Thanks.

Well I'm no expert on ATI cards (nVidia guy )  but I would imagine the 256mb card would be the better because it has that bit extra memory to keep its stiff in. They're both for AGP right?

Yes both are agp

Well I took a look at the cards on OCUK and teh impression I got was that the 9250 only has 4 pixel pipelines and 4 vertex shaders (4*4). I think the 9800 8*4, so it would be a littrle faster. It is a lot more expensive, and if they are at all like nVidia's then there is a chance you could soft-mod a 9250 up to the 9800. I have no experience of them - you best bet is to look at the ORB down at www.futuremark.com and see how the benchmarks compare. I think the 9800 will probably come out on top in the end.

For what its worth a good nVidia 6800 will power you nicely as well - the 6800LE (My Card) will soft mod nicely to 12*4 or even 12*6, at the meagre  ;) cost of

The 9800 is a lot faster than the 9250.  The memory speeds, memory bandwidth, clock speed etc are much greater.  Even with less memory the 9800 is much better.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphi ... ts-09.html
This benchmark does not include the 9250 but it does show the 9800, however the 9250 is weaker than the 9200. simply because it is a more budget card, so it uses cheaper memory.

The 9200 none se is almost the same (but not quite) performance as a 9600se.

Not forgetting, anybody looking for a 9800 should really go for a Geforce 6600GT - a FAR better choice.  ;)

Not forgetting, anybody looking for a 9800 should really go for a Geforce 6600GT - a FAR better choice.  ;)

Definetly.  The 6600GT is a much better card in a similar price range.

Definetly.  The 6600GT is a much better card in a similar price range.

Says Hi-D with a Radeon in the box...  ;) 6800's do rock a lot!
Dan  ;D

Says Hi-D with a Radeon in the box...  ;) 6800's do rock a lot!
Dan  ;D

They do indeed, but, I was on about the 6600GT!  ???

I went for the 6800LE, "modified it " via Rivatuner and have a similar level of performance to a base 6800Nu card for 6600GT money.

I would define AGP cards thus,

High end - ATI X800XT

Mid Range - Geforce 6800GT

Cheapskate like me,  Geforce 6600GT / 6800LE / 6800Nu

Ah yes sorry mate... I havne theard much about the 6600's so its good to hear a little. BTW what did you get your LE up to? I managed to get 16 pipes 5 shaders out if it and my scores have gone to a new high of 19691 in Mark01 and 9304 in Mark03. Hows yours? Thats at 2250mhz on the AMD64 225 X 10.
Dan  

Says Hi-D with a Radeon in the box...  ;) 6800's do rock a lot!
Dan  ;D

If i was to build a budget system right now i would put a 6600GT in it.  This generation of Radeons are not that great until you get into the X800 range especially the X850xt PE, but those are really expensive.  ;)

[quote]Ah yes sorry mate... I havne theard much about the 6600's so its good to hear a little. BTW what did you get your LE up to? I managed to get 16 pipes 5 shaders out if it and my scores have gone to a new high of 19691 in Mark01 and 9304 in Mark03. Hows yours? Thats at 2250mhz on the AMD64 225 X 10.
Dan

Only trouble is that doesnt say what you unlocked the card to! I think the Mark01 score is down to the CPU a lot - mine didnt half go up when I OC'd! Theres a guy on OCUK running a 6800LE at 16*6 no trouble. Luck guy lol!
Dan

I'm assuming of course that both of these graphics cards are better than a 128mb nvidia fx5200.

I'm assuming of course that both of these graphics cards are better than a 128mb nvidia fx5200.

Yes, considerably! - they do cost 3 times the price of the FX5200, but offer alot more than 3x performance.

Run 3D Mark 2001 SE & 3D Mark 03 & compare results.

http://www.futuremark.com/download/