Radeon 8500LE/8500 128

[digl]

Is there any difference between them besides the support for flat panels?
the LE also has 128mb DDR memory, and the same DAC speed and according to the website the main difference between them is the DVI-I output

[WD_ToRMeNt]

I think that's it, the GPU should be the same. 128 Meg off DDR mem on a video card... damn.

I think I read something about new driver technology that allows the RAM on the video card to be used like system RAM when not doing something highly graphic such as gaming or CAD.

I haven't a clue if has even gotten past the "hey that's a cool idea" stage.

[Wacky_Baccy]

Originally posted by digl
Is there any difference between them besides the support for flat panels?
The LE also has 128mb DDR memory, and the same DAC speed and according to the website the main difference between them is the DVI-I output

AFAIK, all of the 'LE' versions (64 or 128MB, etc.) have lower GPU core speeds. The fact that you say the main site lists them as having equal core speeds is very odd, because, as I understood it, the whole point of the 'LE' naming system was to be for differentiating between the normal non-LE cards (275MHz) and lower clocked (and therefore cheaper) LE versions (250 MHz)...

From what I've heard, the 128MB LE versions will be ATi branded (unlike the current 64MB LE versions, which are OEM), but still clocked at the original LE's 250MHz.

There isn't really any noticeable performance difference between the LE and non-LE versions in terms of gameplay, but benchmarks obviously show the LE to be slightly less powerful than the non-LE version.

Hope that makes some sense to you :)

[digl]

thanks, It does make sense :)
what is exactly DAC speed? Is it the core speed? because It says Its 400 Mhz

Hey that sounds interesting ToRMeNt
It would give you a lot of additional memory when using non 3D apps

[GUNNER]

Sweet, video cards....

Ok, assume I know nothing, because I don't..;) Aren't the Radeon cards geforce chipsets?

I would like to buy a new card and I'm thinking the GF3 Ti200 will be at a good price fairly soon. Are all the Ti200 cards basicly the same? Just the name on the box is different right?


And if not, who has the best Ti200? Xtasy?

A little help for the knucklehead please.:rolleyes:

[digl]

the Radeon (especially the 8500) is the competition of the GF3
Radeon is from Ati, and all the Geforces from Nvidia, altough comercialized by other companies(they dont make the cards), not like Ati who produces the cards

I think all Ti200 are the same, they could have different memory, but Im not sure

[GUNNER]

Oh, that's right Radeaon is ATI, dooooohhhhh.

So one Ti200 is no different then the other?

[Wacky_Baccy]

You beat me, digl... again :rolleyes: ;)


Originally posted by GUNNER
Sweet, video cards....

Ok, assume I know nothing, because I don't.. Aren't the Radeon cards geforce chipsets?

*dismayed look* ...you're serious, aren't you? :(

OK, here's the deal: nVidia make the GeForce chips, and ATi make the Radeons.

ATi's driver support used to be atrocious, but it has greatly improved since the release of the 8500.

nVidia have excellent drivers, very good cards, and extortionate prices ;)

ATi have good drivers (now), very good cards, and reasonable prices :D

I would like to buy a new card and I'm thinking the GF3 Ti200 will be at a good price fairly soon. Are all the Ti200 cards basicly the same? Just the name on the box is different right?

And if not, who has the best Ti200? Xtasy?

A little help for the knucklehead please. :rolleyes:

I don't know that much about which brand of the GeForce series is best, but AFAIK, there's very little difference between them, and what few differences there are won't be easily noticeable :)

The last time I looked, the Ti200s were at about the same price as the Radeon 8500 (which equals the GF3 Ti500 in performance) so you might want to consider getting one of those, instead. I suggest you ask matt-windu about them, as I'm fairly sure he has one (an 8500), so he could tell you what their real-life performance is like... (Very good, by almost all accounts.)

I'm building a system from scratch (mostly for JKII :D ;)) and I intend to use an ATi Radeon 8500 128MB card in it (if they're out in time...*prays*), so I'm probably biased towards ATi...

Anyway, HTH, and dont let benchmarks fool you! ;)

[digl]

You beat me, digl... again


LOL
I was checking all the time, because I saw you were online and I was waiting for the answer to my question above, which you didnt answer, I guess you did see it :(

When should the 128mb one be out?
Im doing some research about Radeons, because my mom will go to the USA on May, and I must decide which video card I want :D
now with the GF4 out prices may drop, but Im not sure yet what will the prices be on May. The GF4 ultra wont be out by that time, thats for sure, so ther is no way I would get a GF4 Ti4600
I must decide between GF3Ti500 or some Radeon

[Wacky_Baccy]

Originally posted by digl
I was checking all the time, because I saw you were online and I was waiting for the answer to my question above, which you didnt answer, I guess you didn't see it :(

You mean the DVI one? I don't know how, but it slipped my mind when I replied, and I didn't remember afterwards - sorry :(

I'm not sure about the answer to that, but, in the UK at least, there is no difference in DVI capability between the LE and non-LE models - they both have it...

When should the 128mb one be out?
Im doing some research about Radeons, because my mom will go to the USA on May, and I must decide which video card I want :D
now with the GF4 out prices may drop, but Im not sure yet what will the prices be on May. The GF4 ultra wont be out by that time, thats for sure, so ther is no way I would get a GF4 Ti4600
I must decide between GF3Ti500 or some Radeon

I would recommend the Radeon 128MB (which will almost certainly be out by then - I've heard early March, but I'm not sure...) partly because of the new type of memory it will be fitted with (BGA - Ball Grid Array... don't ask, I've no idea why it's good, but I know it is :D).

It should also still be cheaper than the Ti500 in May, which is another plus :) (and I think ATi is bringing out a new card in the next few months, which will push prices even lower :D)

[GUNNER]

Wacky, there are just to many Video cards out for me to keep up. I didn't even know they had a Gefocre 2 Ti200 till just a few weeks ago.


So the Radeon 8500 is like a GF3 ti500? Hummmm..

I know the Radeon had a lot of problems with running counter-strike and had major driver issues.

[Wacky_Baccy]

AFAIK, the R8500-128MB will also incorporate some hardware adjustments, which should fix those probs running some games :)

The drivers will be much better (they're not bad now), as ATi have had enough time to 'practice' on the R8500-64MB, and immensely improve their skills in that area ;)

[GUNNER]

There are a bunch of 8500 cards.. I just saw a 8500LE ,8500DV with tv tuner 8500 with DVI output.

I thought I just read the LE cards are stripped down, right?

[digl]

Originally posted by Wacky_Baccy
You mean the DVI one? I don't know how, but it slipped my mind when I replied, and I didn't remember afterwards - sorry :(

lol no I meant this one "what is exactly DAC speed? Is it the core speed? because It says Its 400 Mhz"

I thought I just read the LE cards are stripped down, right?

Thats exactly what I want to know
the only difference between the LE 128 and the normal 128 - according to their site - seems to be the support for flat panels, which I dont care about, and they have a difference of US 100 according to their site also

[Wacky_Baccy]

Originally posted by digl

lol no I meant this one "what is exactly DAC speed? Is it the core speed? because It says Its 400 Mhz"

Oh... right :D *sheepish look*
AFAIK, DAC stands for "Digital to Analogue Converter", and is the thing that changes the digital signal from the rest of the vid card into something that your monitor can understand and display :)
The faster it (the DAC) runs at, the faster your vid card can send data to the monitor.

Thats exactly what I want to know
the only difference between the LE 128 and the normal 128 - according to their site - seems to be the support for flat panels, which I dont care about, and they have a difference of US 100 according to their site also

Hmm. last time I looked, (not long ago) ATi were only bringing out the standard 8500 and the LE 8500 with 128MB RAM (I should have guessed they would update the whole range - no idea why I didn't :rolleyes: )... I guess I missed a lot in a few days. DVI should cost a bit extra, but I wouldn't have thought all that much...

I'm afraid I can't really help you much more with that DVI one at the moment - the product specs and names have changed so quickly that I can't keep up with them... :(

But if DVI isn't important to you, then get the LE-R8500-128MB if it will save you spending $100 on something you don't want :)

[digl]

thanks for your answers
I also thaught DAC was that, but video cards have another speeds dont them?
maybe that 275/250mhz you talked about, and they dont mention it at their FAQs

[Wacky_Baccy]

"video cards have other speeds dont they?"

They certainly do - there's the RAMDAC (Random-Access-Memory-Digital-to-Analogue-Converter - in MHz), the Core (250MHz or 275MHz in the case of the 8500s), the Memory Bandwidth (in GigaBytes per second - GB/s), the Memory Speed (in nanoseconds - ns), and there might well be something else, but those are all that I can remember now :D

Very broadly speaking, the higher those figures (with the exception of the Memory Speed, where lower is better) the better the performance you will get... It's not really that simple, though.
Performance also depends on the architecture of the Graphics card, and MegaTexels/s (Million(s) of textured pixels per second) and Triangles/s are better indicators of how well a card will perfom.

There's more, but I'm not so sure about those bits, so I'll leave it at that :D

Rest assured that the R8500-128MB-LE is a very good card to choose, and if the ATi site is correct, and there is no difference in core clock speed between the LE and non-LE models, then I don't think that you'll be able to find a better card anywhere at such a great price :)

[Roger]

Ok, I tried to post this yesterday, but the page got stuck and I went to bed.

Now it seems it's too late. Your mind is poluted with ATi crap...

[Moves hand in front of digl's face] Ati is not the card you're looking for, now move along...

So, what you really want is nVidia Ti200 with 128MB DDR Ram. A great card for a great price.

Gainward/Cardexpet GeForce 3 Ti200 128MB $182 not bad 'ey? And by the time your Mom comes to the US, it will be $120 - $140.

I have the 64MB version and it rocks!

[Moves hand in front of digl's face] Geforce 3 buddy, that's the one you're looking for [just to be sure]

:D

[Wacky_Baccy]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't turn to the Dark Side of the Graphics Market, digl!

http://www.webspawner.com/users/gifstorage/Light%20vs%20Dark%20%2d%20GIF.gif

[Roger]

Your technical ATi trickery is nothing compared to the infinit power of the nVidia Force!

:lightning

[digl]

cool pic Wacky_Baccy :D

I still have time to decide
I have to wait to see the prices in May and new benchmarks, with the latest drivers

[Roger]

:ben:

Digl... use the nVidia... concentrate... use the nVidia...

[Wacky_Baccy]

I thought you might like it :D

And Roger, the R8500 (hey, that kinda sounds like a droid...) is the one with infinite power - not the nVidia nFarce :p

[Roger]

If you're talking about the nForce, that's a chipset/motherboard, not a graphics card.

About the infinite, Geforce 3 and 4 use the nfiniteFX Engine.

Now you again...

[Darth_Lando]

If you can choose between a Radeon8500 and a GF4 get the GF4.

But between the R8500 and the GF3 familey there is no doubt in my mind the R8500 offers not only the best bang for the buck, but the best bang all together.

[Roger]

GeForce 3 or 4... as long as it's no ATi...

Better cards, better drivers, better support. That's nVidia.

Thank you...

[Waves his hand in front of forum readers] Buy nVidia :D

[Sturmgewehr]

Right on. nVidia has much better drivers and chips. I haven't had to test out their tech support.

If you feel like throwing away money and having a video card that will crap out on you, ATI is always there for you.

[Darth_Lando]

Originally posted by Wacky_Baccy


http://www.webspawner.com/users/gifstorage/Light%20vs%20Dark%20%2d%20GIF.gif


LOL! Let me add to this:


http://www.sh004a0102.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/3dfx.jpg


Hehe btw, the R8500 has great driver support (unless you use Linux). If you don't think so you may want to check the NVIDIA PR or just quoting what others have said about ATI in the past. Cuz the times have changed.

[Sturmgewehr]

LOL

Oh man, nice picture. That was funny.

[digl]

lol
another great pic

ATI drivers are supposedly better now, but Im not decided yet
someone has links to R8500 vs GF3 reviews? or to the latest 8500 and GF3 reviews? Iv read some but not with the latest drivers