digitalwanderer said:
I agree with ya on the 9500 Pro, but I understand why ATi did it. The 9600 is a LOT cheaper to make, so they're able to put an affordable & good product on the market. (The 9600 while not as good as the 9500 is STILL nothing to sneeze at! )
You must be richer than me, I'm recomending a good vanilla 9700 as the card to get right now if'n you're on an extreme budget like I usually am. Same bandwidth as the 9700 & features, just clocked a little lower.....and that's a problem that is FUN to rectify.
But if the price difference ain't much I'd grab a 9700 Pro over a vanilla 9700 fer sure.
Not rich at all, just saved for 2 years to buy the new system.
My wife is the big money maker now. We realized as we got ready to get married that two high profile careers were not conducive to a happy relationship. First marriage for both and I've had my 15+ years in the industry. She is a few years younger and it is her time to shine, so I work out of the house and let her bring in the big-time cash.
Soon the 9500 pro and 9700 pro are going to be hard to find I think, so I'm lucky I got the 9800 Pro.
I was actually going to get the 5800 from Nvidia, based on the fact that I have been so happy with my Leadtek GF3 TI 500, but when I read about how cruddy the card was and how the 9800 Pro was just a faster, slightly more optimized version of the successful 9700 Pro, I figured, why not.
I'm not sure what I want to do with my life, and I'm only 6 months past 35. Worked way too hard for all those years and got burn-out on the tech stuff. Sure have learned a lot though. Still, taking naps, doing my digital photography, a bit of consulting on the side and playing with my computer is a good thing (not a Martha Stewart good thing, but you get the idea).
I've done a ton of different things in my life, just gotta figure what I want to do next I guess.
For now, I'm semi-retired. Or, maybe it is a "career sabbatical". Whatever, I'm lucky to be able to chill for a while and watch my forehead grow as my hair recedes.
w00t!