bfg 5900xt v. 9800pro

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I'm an ATI fan, so I'd recommend the 9800Pro
Im quite sure it is slighty more powerful, there isnt a lot between them.
The 9800's can be prone to overheating, although it is quite rare, if possible, if you do choose it, try to get one of the HIS range (they fit excellent coolers), or at least make sure he fan is clear of dust before you put it in.
 
There is nothing at all wrong with the stock cooling on 9800 series ATI cards. Some owners do experience problems due to one or more things:
1) The heatsink has many small pins/fins on it which have a tendency to pack-up dust and debris from the air. Simply ensuring/cleaning this out every 6-8 months should ensure against this issue.
2) The stock ATI fan, if packed with similar dust/debris, can stop spinning- causing the gpu to artifact or encounter errors. If left unchecked, this can cause permanent damage to the GPU and/or on-board memories.
3) More rare, the heatsink is affixed to the GPU with an adhesive thermal compound. If the units encounter heavy shock during shipping/handling, this can jar loose enough to make a poor contact between the heatsink and GPU.

There are after-market coolers, but most 9800 users will encounter NO problems if they inspect their card for proper heatsink fitment prior to accepting (i.e. look to see if the heatsink is ****-eyed or not a flush fit from possibly jarring) as well as keep their PC/PC area clean and vacuumed. Filtered cases also help tremendously as these help trap dust particles drawn into cases by case fans. (Antec cases usually have a front filter/trap that can be removed and cleaned to trap these prior to entering the case).

Hope this helps!
 
Id get the 9800 Pro. I had one with an XP 3200 and could play Half Life 2 at 1600x1200. The 5800 and 5900 series cards werent very good with Direct X 9.
My 9800 ran so hot it would lock up the system. A $12 VGA Silencer cured that and let me overclock it to XT level.
 
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