Not a Gamer ATI 9600Pro or 9800Pro for dual 2gig?

coolmaccoolmac
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hope some of you can answer quickly as I have to call Apple if I decide to upgrade the video card on my dual 2gig order.



I am not a gamer, is there any reason to get the 9800 Pro over the stock 9600 Pro other than for gaming? Or do I just stick with the 9600 Pro?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    mrsparklemrsparkle Posts: 120member
    I'd stick with the 9600. The 9800 is $300 (US) more. That's quite a lot. I'm sure if you find the 9600 to be insufficient (I doubt you will), you could probably pick up a 9800 in a few months for less than $300.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    ti fighterti fighter Posts: 863member
    actually I bet if they come out with the retail 9800 8X its gonna be like $4something
  • Reply 3 of 11
    zapchudzapchud Posts: 844member
    Unless you're using the graphics-card for other-than-games-purposes, like 3D content creation, you should be more than fine with the 9600pro. It's a decent card.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    cosmocosmo Posts: 662member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Zapchud

    Unless you're using the graphics-card for other-than-games-purposes, like 3D content creation, you should be more than fine with the 9600pro. It's a decent card.



    would the 9800 show any quartz extreme advantages over the 9600?
  • Reply 5 of 11
    zapchudzapchud Posts: 844member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cosmo

    would the 9800 show any quartz extreme advantages over the 9600?



    I don't have any benchmarks, facts, or source to back it up, but I'd guess, given the fact that the 9800 simply is a faster card, it could show some quartz extreme advantages over the 9600, in a few cases. Most of the time, it should be unnoticeable.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    whisperwhisper Posts: 735member
    The 9800 Pro lets you run your monitor in portrait mode instead of landscape mode. AFAIK, this feature is exclusive to the 9800 Pro (and Macs). It's great for reading long documents



    Edit: I should add that I've only confirmed this for the retail model, so if this is a factor for you, call Apple and confirm that it works on the OEM model as well.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    johnjosephbachirjohnjosephbachir Posts: 61member
    the 9800 is right now pretty much the best technology available, and that means that it's going to be overpriced. the difference between a $100 card and a $150 card is going to be substantial, but the difference between a $150 and a $300 card is not going to be nearly as significant. if you buy a $150 card in 16 months you will end up with better technology for less money, and the 9600 is going to be more than enough in the meantime. and probably for 3 or 4 years, for that matter. i've been running a rage 128 for 4 years and its performance is just fine for 70% of what i do.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    coolmaccoolmac Posts: 259member
    We stopped into the Apple Store last night and asked a salesman I trust what he thought.



    He agreed that the 9600 Pro would be just fine but pointed out that if I was going to use dual monitors I might consider going with the 9800 Pro, as dual monitors would be better with a faster card with more memory.



    He also thought it would be cheaper to get it now thinking that if Apple were to offer it as a retail option it would cost more like $400, the Nvidia Geforce4Ti is still $399 on Apples site!



    Since I do sometimes use dual monitors I decided to upgrafe the card. I can add more ram as I go.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    xmogerxmoger Posts: 242member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Whisper

    The 9800 Pro lets you run your monitor in portrait mode instead of landscape mode. AFAIK, this feature is exclusive to the 9800 Pro (and Macs). It's great for reading long documents



    I haven't used ATI in a while, but how does this help if you don't have a monitor that can rotate?



    Nvidia's drivers can rotate in 90 degree increments as well.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    whisperwhisper Posts: 735member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by xmoger

    I haven't used ATI in a while, but how does this help if you don't have a monitor that can rotate?



    Nvidia's drivers can rotate in 90 degree increments as well.



    They do that on the Mac? I never saw an option for that with my stock GF2MX. Anyway, I've got my main LCD in its normal position and my old crappy CRT on its side next to the LCD. Maybe someday I'll get a digital camera and then I can show you.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    It might be nice for me to have faster OpenGL renders, but my Radeon 9000 is pretty quick at delivering some pretty dense models through OpenGL, at least in EI.
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