What would yield the best performance gain?

Oh, Veh, let us know how truly fast the Raptor is. I'm planning to buy a 74GB version too....need to make sure it's worth it

Well the Raptors are fast, and Vehementi you are really gonna see a difference. I've had the 36G model since April, and consistantly score over 10k in PCMark memory. It really is a primo HD...

Later....

Benchmarks are Benchmarks, I want to know if you actually see I difference - not in numbers. Can you tell its faster? Or do the numbers just say it is.

Ok agissi, the numbers say it is, good enough? Seems I was wrong about the 9800 Pro, and now the Raptor HD. Glad you are policeing me here, since I'm giving such bad advice... :rolleyes:

BTW, do you run a Raptor?

Radeon 9800 Pro performance relative to 9700 Pro @ at 1280x1024x32 ...







However, I don't feel you'll notice the difference in games, as even a 9600 Pro is fast enough for most games these days.

That is a fair difference, but do you think that extra 15% is worth the extra $100? I wouldnt.

As long as you're averaging more than 25-30 fps in games, then paying more for a better card is a waste, but nice if you can afford it.

Yup your absolutly right. Most of the time though I'll get a better card then whats needed, so games in the future wont make me go buy another.

The eye doesnt see any faster then 24FPS. So a card that does 60FPS is just as good in the game as a card that does 24FPS.

There is one small thing that you probably haven't considered. The way games work, means that any input from your game controller (e.g. joystick, mouse, keyboard, etc.) is only read once each frame. Higher fps means that games become more responsive to input devices, which may make a difference when fragging online. You'll have the edge over any of your opponents that have slower hardware, even though visually you won't notice too much difference.

An edge? Yeah maybe, but not much. I think your ping will have a much higher toll on that edge then your hardware.

guys, guys, it's all relative to what your interestes are if it's worth it. I'm interested in OC'ing and benching as well as gaming. In my case I'm willing to spend for the fastest, it's worth it to me. Was the same with cars, motorcycles, trucks, and now these machines we play with. IMHO, there is no right or wrong, depending on what you want...

Later....

" Yup your absolutly right. "