Worth upgrading from a 9600 pro to a 9800 pro?

[JTH]

I'm ready to put together a new gaming build. It started off fairly budget but I ended up getting some nice parts (P4P800, P4 2.8C, 2 x 512mb Kingston PC3200 and a Radeon 9600 Pro).

The build is for games like Flight Simulator 2004 and Deus EX 2. What I'm wondering is, seeing as the other parts are fairly solid, is it worth re-selling the 9600 pro (still sealed in box) on Ebay and paying more for a Sapphire 9800 pro? Will I really see the difference in games like Flight Sim 04?

Thanks, JTH :)

[fedz]

Yes, I'd definitely try it, especially with the games you're trying to play. You're looking at about £80 for the 9600, and about £140 for the 9800. Do it if you're prepared for the price jump.

:) fedz

[JTH]

Is the Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro Atlantis a good card? I will definately notice on games like Flight Sim, yes?

JTH :)

[kram 2.0]

Actually, I disagree with fedz - I think that the Radeon 9600 Pro is fairly decent as it is. It's benchmark is only slightly off of the 9800 pro - if you're going to run total max settings, then maybe, but the 9600 pro is quite decent. I would definately wait until the card has seen its age (until AGP slots are extinct) then buy a new PCI Express card whenever it may come out. Flight Similator 2004, if I know correctly, is a fairly resource demanding game. However, I think that the 9600 Pro can handle it - after all, it is pretty powerful in itself. If you need to, you can overclock it to 9600XT speeds, which will definately be able to handle the games.

Hope that helps,
kram

[JTH]

Okay kram, thanks a lot for that! I didn't particularly want to upgrade but I figured after spending so much money on the other components that there was no point having a weak link.

JTH :)

[Jaggannath]

Don't bother, the 9600 is more than functional

[fedz]

Yeah, on second thoughts I agree. The 9800 will only be able to show off its true potential in future releases. Leave it for the moment.
:) fedz

[JTH]

Thanks for all the advice :)

[Staren]

Ya, I would only worry about a 9800 if you where going to go for the big next gen games like Everquest 2 or DOOM 3. Other then that the 9600 will be more then powerful enough.