Buyer beware of 9800Pro 128bit bandwidth Cards

[Bigshot]

Apparently it involves Sapphire cards. What sounds like a good deal may not be a good deal. See this thread:

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33759983

[zoynyne]

Just another notch forward in the trend of deceptive marketing that's becoming more and more the rule rather than the exception.
Sheesh, you have to be like an old penny pinching coot nowadays to make sure your're not ripped off... no matter what company you're dealing with.

[MadMaster]

Just more ways for the industry to get richer on our expense.

[mazaite]

>Just more ways for the industry to get richer on our
>expense.

Yea well that is the POINT of buisness.

[MadMaster]

Exactly the point. But it has gone a little far...

[zoynyne]

>>Just more ways for the industry to get richer on our
>>expense.
>
>Yea well that is the POINT of buisness.

You've identified yourself as a Republican. Move on.

[stabilep]

Why does it matter which party one belongs too? In fact thats a stupid reason to assume he belongs to any party because wether you like it or not THAT is the point of business. Just leave politics out of it.

[RDomine]

"Buyer beware of 9800Pro 128bit bandwidth Cards"

Apparently it involves Sapphire cards
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As detailed in the original post "Optimizing the Radeon 9800 Pro" I have recently (March 7th) purchased a Sapphire 9800 Pro card from New Egg. It was sold with the spec 256-bit. It does not look like the one in the posted linkpicture however. Additionally, it does have a power connection plug unlike the one pictured.
So is this a 256-bit or 128-bit?

[stabilep]

Best way to find out is to download AIDA32 and then in the program goto Display->GPU it should show up under Bus Width.

[rhodges]

Thanks for the headsup!

Just downloaded alda32pe_393 (nice tool) and checked mine. Happy to see that it is a 256 bit card.

It is a Saphire 9800 Pro I bought some time ago, but it looks like it would be advisable for all of us to check specs more carefully on what we are ordering hence forth. I sure will.

Thanks again!
RTH

[Bigshot]

The 128bit cards are clearly marked on the box as a 128bit card. Problem is they're calling them 9800Pro . They're more like a 9500 Pro and certainly not a top of the line performer like the true 9800Pro 256 bit card is. If you buy one off the shelf in a store, it wouldn't be a problem if you check the box if you're knowledgeable; but buying online where you can't see the box cover could be a problem. I know if I ordered one and after opening it seen 128bit on the front of the box, I'd be a bit pee'd and it'd get returned. Problem is most folks wouldn't even know they're not getting a 9800Pro card; but rather something with about half the performance. Just very poor judgment on the part of some marketing department somewhere.

[RDomine]

Yes!

Thanks for the great tip on AIDA32! Out of every aggravation comes something good. This is an outstanding utility!

Now I know my Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro is 256 bit as was spec’ed on the New Egg website. No return, no hassle!