Member Avatar for J☼E

i am getting a radeon 9800 pro tommorow im paying 2.99 from a store is there a better nvidia card for the same price?

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Dani AI

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Short answer: for the typical street price being discussed, the Radeon 9800 Pro was one of the better buys in its generation. Its real-world gaming performance and driver maturity tended to outclass the similarly priced Nvidia FX-family cards available at the time, while the next major Nvidia refresh (the GeForce 6/NV40 series) launched later and was usually priced above this bracket.

Practical checks when you pick it up (so you do not end up with a dud or the wrong SKU):

  • Confirm the exact model and memory size (many boards came in 128MB and 256MB flavors). The 256MB variants are noticeably better at higher resolutions/AA.
  • Inspect the board for physical damage, bent pins on the AGP slot bracket, swollen caps, or aftermarket soldering.
  • Verify cooler quality and make/model (some factory designs cool better and run quieter).
  • Make sure your PSU and case have the clearance and rails the card needs; AGP high-end cards can stress an older supply.
  • Test in your system before finalizing: install the latest ATI Catalyst drivers, run a short 3D benchmark or a stress-run in a real game, watch for artifacting or crashes, and monitor temps with tools like RivaTuner or ATITool.
  • Keep the receipt and check the return policy in case you see artifacts, overheating, or driver incompatibilities.

If portability to future DirectX 9 titles or bleeding-edge performance is a goal and you can raise the budget or wait, the then-new GeForce 6 series was the next step up. Otherwise, the 9800 Pro is a solid, practical choice. And yes, , that $2.99 gag was funny — @J☼E, glad you clarified — and , hold onto the screws as spares.

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Member Avatar for twilli227

Will you pick me up a couple of them for that price? I don't think you will find a better deal.
2.99 huh? :cheesy:

Member Avatar for Sardukar

Damn, I got ripped, all I got for 2.99 was a bag of screws that said Radeon 9800 on it. Maybe I should eat the restock fee, and get this card instead...

Member Avatar for J☼E

thats $299.99 ewpz

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