Radeon 9800 128 mb or 256?

Which is better....the radeon 9800 pro 128 or radeon 9800 pro 256?? I noe the 256 is supposed to be better... but which is more worth it for the money if one is just 25 bucks more than the otehr.

[MIK3]

Hm. I would have to go with the 256mb if its only 25 dollars more. However I don't work with ATi so I wouldn't know. I would wait until someone posts that has worked with ATi. Too bad CiK had to leave. He would have provided some valuable information here.

is the 128mb version using DDR-II ram?

im not sure if it uses ddr 2 ram.......and for the aiw.....dont ya think it is a waste of money since it performs the same as pro...but just has some extra TV features?

depends on if you need it or not
each person has their own needs of things

Well according to the tomshardware review it is not worth the extra cash.
http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic...604/index.html They said it barley get's any more FPS within 10 I think at the highest resolutions then the 128meg version. They also said the 256 meg version is using the DDR2 mem which they said runs very hot. If the review is correct just go with the 128meg version save some cash and unwanted heat.

i posted something a while back comparing the 128 and 256 ati 9800's, i don't remember for what site. Anyway, i remember thinking that the insignificant gains on the benchmarks could not be worth more the $5. However, most of the games out now would never use 128 megs of video ram, so it would be expected for the fps to not change much. Doom 3 and some of the newer games that shoujld be coming out MIGHT prove differently, but then, there will probably also be a new round of vid cards out by then as well, so trying to prepare for that is useless. I'd go with the 128 myself and spend 25 on summer reading material (or toward a game for the non-ubergeeks out there).

very good suggestions!
very informative and just what i need to know as well

thanx!

I agree with your statements.
Since the 256 mb card is about $100.00 higher than the 128mb version, I can't see what the advantage would be with the games we have at present and coming this year.
The game writers are certainly not going to write a new game IE:oom3 and make it to not run in most of the systems we are using at present. Doom 3, Half Life 2 and the such will run on the Radeon 9500's as well as the 9800 line without going to the 256mb card.
The only advantage of the 256mb card would be in CAD work or photo editing, the 256mb version may be a great appliance in that arena.