ati 9800 pro oem vs retail

[alxy_07]

i was just wondering about the two versions of the 9800 pro, the oem vs the retail. I can get the Oem for 30 bucks cheaper than the retail but ive heard that some oems performance is lowered and they do not perform the same as the retail version. Is this true for the 9800 pro oem? or is it the same performance minus the retail box and extras, thanx!

 

[iss]

it depends on who the oem manufactuerer is. personaally I would stay away from power color cards as they are generally lower clocked that the retail boards. sapphire however seem to be clocked at the saem speed as the retail boards.

 

[acidosmosis]

In short, you have to be very careful where you get these cards from if they aren't "Built by ATI". You never know what the actual clock speed is, or if the card was built with lower quality hardware. I suggest buying the Built by ATI cards if at all possible. The card that I have was taken out of a Dell PC and I had to make sure the clock speeds were the same as the retail version and that the card actually is a Radeon 9700 Pro instead of a 9700 or 9700 TX for example.

You can easily get a 9800 Pro for a decent price, just make sure you read all spec's and fine print for the card before you buy.

OEM is usually for companies that sell PC's. OEM's are cheaper and usually come with just the video card and any required cables. OEM stands for "original equipment manufacturer". Since the OEM video cards don't come with all the extras you get it for a cheaper price.

 

[XtR-X]

Moreso, say the same company produced OEM and retail? What's the diff? Well, OEM usually doesn't come bundled with that extra crap and it usually has no retail box, Retail is the opposite. And because OEM doesn't come with bundles of stuff, it's henceforth cheaper.

 

[iss]

sapphire is the only "OEM" card I would even consider buying. sapphire is actually the company that produces ATI's cards for them so the "built by ATI" and the sapphires are actually the same card. this is not the case with powercolor though.

 

[PreservedSwine]

The clockspeeds on all "PRO" cards are identical, whether they are OEM or Built By ATI.

The difference *may* lie in overclocking potential, especially on the memory. Although an OEM card may have identical memory clocks, the RAM itslef may be rated a bit lower than a retail "BB ATI" card.

That is usually quite common for non-PRO models to use crappy RAM, but usually PRO's use pretty good RAM, even PowerColor (they are one company who uses especially low-rated RAM on non-PRO products)

Here's a review

http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/PowerColor/9800Pro/

 

[acidosmosis]

PreservedSwing: Incorrect. Clock speeds are not always the same. It *is* very possible to get a 9800 Pro that is clocked lower. Basically underclocked (one reason your able to get them at a pretty decent price sometimes). Also some manufacturers like to place lower quality hardware on the cards and sell them a bit cheaper. This how idea is pretty pathetic in my opinion because if your going to sell a 9800 Pro underclocked you might as well sell a 9700 Pro or lower end card.

This is especially true when buying off of EBay because you don't know where the card came from. It may have came from a Dell system where someone upgraded their video card to a Nvidia card for example and wanted to sell the ATI card. There is a version of the 9700 Pro which is a "TX".

You have to be careful where you get these cards. This is why I say buy "Built by ATI" cards if possible. Also buy from companies such as NewEgg instead of Ebay unless your wanting a really low price like I did when I bought my 9700 Pro.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Originally posted by acidosmosis
PreservedSwing: Incorrect. Clock speeds are not always the same. It *is* very possible to get a 9800 Pro that is clocked lower.

All PRO cards are indeed clocked the same, this according to Chris Hook, (ATI's PR guy). Additionally, I have NEVER seen or heard about a PRO card having different clocks, whether it be retail or OEM. Clockspeeds are identical. (This doesn't include the occational non-PRO in a PRO box, of course )

If you don't beleieve me, simply ask ATI or any of the AIB's.


But you are quite right about about non-PRO version having great variances in RAM quality and speed.

ALSO, the R9700PROTX is a different model (made for DELL), and is indeed soemthing you need to be sure you don't get. It is not an R9700PRO, it's an R9700PRO-TX, what I wopuld consider a diffeent model, but now we're just talking semantics. Good thing to know, for sure.

But rest assured, all R9700PRO, R9800PRO models (Without "TX" or any other designation) have retail clockspeeds.

A side note: This is not true for ATI's 8500 and earlier models. There were indeed clockspeed differences between OEM and retail models. This of course changed for the "Pro" series of cards ATI has released, and now the only differences between retail "Pro" and OEM "Pro" are packaging and possibly warranty, but not clockspeeds

Also some manufacturers like to place lower quality hardware on the cards and sell them a bit cheaper. This how idea is pretty pathetic in my opinion because if your going to sell a 9800 Pro underclocked you might as well sell a 9700 Pro or lower end card.

Yes, these are the "non-pro" models, which have great variances in RAM quality, speeds, and of course, are sometimes over $100 less expensive:grinthumb

As far as selling retail cards at different clockspeeds, you may be interested in the EVGA5900ULTRA cards, the clockspeeds have been changed, as well as ALL 5600ULTRA's, there are (2) revisons floating around now, older revison 1 cards with lower clockspeeds, and newer revison 2 cards with higher clockspeeds.

How to tell the difference before buying?? There are no identificatin marks on the box. You have to call and ask the retailor what revision of card you are betting....No difference in cost...

 

[XtR-X]

I don't know if this applies for video cards like processor speed but...

Can't you have a lower clock rate with higher multipliers to achieve the same performance?

 

[agissi]

I too believe your incorrect, PreservedSwine. Awhile ago, we had a thread, where someone had bought a Powercolor 9700 PRO. Turns out, because it was from Powercolor and it was an OEM card, they had underclocked it (to make it cheaper I assume...dont see how that works out but yea).

Powercolor is the only brand I know of that does that to OEM cards.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Originally posted by ---agissi---
I too believe your incorrect, PreservedSwine. Awhile ago, we had a thread, where someone had bought a Powercolor 9700 PRO. Turns out, because it was from Powercolor and it was an OEM card, they had underclocked it (to make it cheaper I assume...dont see how that works out but yea).

Powercolor is the only brand I know of that does that to OEM cards.

Occasionally, a non-PRO card ends up in a "PRO" box, either through a dishonest return or a simple mistake......

But make no mistake about ATI's stance on clockspeeds of PRO models. Whether they are retail or OEM, clockspeeds are identical. You do not need to take my word, simply fire an e-mail to ATI, or any OEM you are thinking of purchasing from. I suppsoe it's possible for a little known OEM to put a strange BIOS and crappy RAM on-board. ATI's stance is that for PRO models to have identical clockspeeds as retail.

If I was to buy an OEM, I'd go w/ Saphire 1st, and Powercolor second. Call to be SURE you're getting the retail clockspeeds.

~Swine

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Originally posted by XtR-X
I don't know if this applies for video cards like processor speed but...

Can't you have a lower clock rate with higher multipliers to achieve the same performance?

No, GPUs don't use multipliers.