What makes video cards "pro?" Is it worth the extra $30?

[Radio The Legit]

I'm looking to buy one of the Sapphire Radeon 9800 cards. I noticed that there's a $30 difference between the pro and non-pro variants. What are the differences and what is the extra $30 covering? For simplicity, let's just say I'm buying the bulk version.

To add to the details, I'm upgrading so I can play Half-Life 2. Any recommendations for video hardware that fall below $250 are welcome.

 

[slavster]

i recommend 6200 oc or 6600 oc or gt, depending on where you shop. i know in the agp cards, the difference between pro and regular was the extended agp brakcet thingy. there would be a sticker at the end of your agp slot that would say: remove if using pro...or something like that. the pro would generally be able to work on higher clock speeds but im still not very sure of that technology now...you know it keeps changing

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9800/radeon9800pro/compare.html

It's just a little faster. Whether it's worth the extra $30 or not depends on the whole price, I think.

 

[PreservedSwine]

The R9800 "PRO" has faster RAM. It it clocked higher, both core and memory, and has a safe higher overclock than a non-pro. The core is also tested to clocki much higher than the non-Pro.

The non-Pro's, althoug identical, simply didn't meet QC to be shipped as PRO's, so they slapped cheaper RAM on them, clocked them lower, and shipped 'em out the door...

The "PRO's" on the other hand, passed all QC tests at "PRO" clockspeeds, they get faster RAM chips too.

Worth it if you ask me. Never know what kind of RAM you'll get on a non-Pro

 

[Dafriz]

Look up

I just looked at this and basically.. Swine is correct in everyway... depending on how hardcore a gamer u are and if ur willing to pay the money.

and truthfully i think the 9600xt actually runs faster than the 9800 se....

basically this is how the rating of Ati cards go

se (cheap but good), regular(good), pro(sweet), xt(unfreakinbelievable)


thank u and the rating system above has been patented alrdy.. so dont try patenting it..