Radeon 9800PRO help and alot of other questions!

lostfuze · 02-20-2005, 08:16 PM

Ok, so i'm in a big dilemma and having a hard time finding help. I thought this would be the appropriate forum since it all revolves around the ATI Radeon 9800PRO.

Currently, I have an eMachines Celeron 2.50GHz, 256MB RAM, 60GB HDD, and Intel Extreme Graphics card. My biggest problem is that I do not have an AGP or PCI-E slot in my mobo. So I was just going to go with a FX5200 PCI but figured it would just end up being a waste of money.

Here is my biggest question...

If I buy a new motherboard, case, 512MB RAM, Windows XP and Radeon 9800PRO can I just gut out my eMachines and use the CPU, DVD/CD-RW Drive, and HDD in the new case? Is the CPU and HDD tied to one system, or can I switch it without ANY problems? (This is really important guys, so please give me as much info as you can on whether or not I can do this.)

My next question...

I see a 9800PRO on NewEgg for about $200 -- is this the BEST card in the $200 price range? When I say $200, I mean nothing over $210.

Also...

I've heard something about overclocking a video card, and noticed you have to have alot of fans and cooling to do it or you will fry your card. Is overclocking the 9800PRO safe if I have proper cooling? I only plan on doing this in the future if it doesnt run games like Battlefield 2 properly. Any info on how this works would be great.

Alright, well those are all of my questions for now. If you need anymore info from me, feel free to ask.

- justin

(Oh yea, the reason i'm not buying a whole brand new system - which is the easy way out - is because I only have about $350. I'm starting college in the fall, and money is VERY limited.)

TKD2 · 02-22-2005, 02:57 AM

1 - Gutting out your eMachine will cause problems with the transferal of the hard disk. With a new mainboard your current OS installation won't boot.
Since you say you will be purchasing XP though, I presume you will be reinstalling anyway - so this problem can be ignored.
The other potential problem may be your current PSU which may well be underpowered for an upgrade. Just make sure the case you buy comes with a PSU rated at least 350W
Other than that you will not encounter any difficulties. A cpu, HDD, CDROM can not be locked to a specific system.

2 - The AGP 6600GT video cards are said to be marginally better than the 9800pro and can be had for $199 off newegg. The 6600's have the same feature set as the 6800 models [which themselves are more feature rich than the older 9800 cards] but have 128bit memory instead of 256 - but they are still great cards. The generally accepted heirachy is 9800pro<6600GT<9800xt

3 - It's safe to overclock a card without extra fans if you know what you're doing. This a fairly hefty topic though.

02-20-2005, 08:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
lostfuze Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 2 OS: WinXP w/ SP2	Radeon 9800PRO help and alot of other questions! Ok, so i'm in a big dilemma and having a hard time finding help. I thought this would be the appropriate forum since it all revolves around the ATI Radeon 9800PRO. Currently, I have an eMachines Celeron 2.50GHz, 256MB RAM, 60GB HDD, and Intel Extreme Graphics card. My biggest problem is that I do not have an AGP or PCI-E slot in my mobo. So I was just going to go with a FX5200 PCI but figured it would just end up being a waste of money. Here is my biggest question... If I buy a new motherboard, case, 512MB RAM, Windows XP and Radeon 9800PRO can I just gut out my eMachines and use the CPU, DVD/CD-RW Drive, and HDD in the new case? Is the CPU and HDD tied to one system, or can I switch it without ANY problems? (This is really important guys, so please give me as much info as you can on whether or not I can do this.) My next question... I see a 9800PRO on NewEgg for about $200 -- is this the BEST card in the $200 price range? When I say $200, I mean nothing over $210. Also... I've heard something about overclocking a video card, and noticed you have to have alot of fans and cooling to do it or you will fry your card. Is overclocking the 9800PRO safe if I have proper cooling? I only plan on doing this in the future if it doesnt run games like Battlefield 2 properly. Any info on how this works would be great. Alright, well those are all of my questions for now. If you need anymore info from me, feel free to ask. - justin (Oh yea, the reason i'm not buying a whole brand new system - which is the easy way out - is because I only have about $350. I'm starting college in the fall, and money is VERY limited.)

02-22-2005, 02:57 AM	#2 (permalink)
TKD2 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 152 OS: XP/SuSE	1 - Gutting out your eMachine will cause problems with the transferal of the hard disk. With a new mainboard your current OS installation won't boot. Since you say you will be purchasing XP though, I presume you will be reinstalling anyway - so this problem can be ignored. The other potential problem may be your current PSU which may well be underpowered for an upgrade. Just make sure the case you buy comes with a PSU rated at least 350W Other than that you will not encounter any difficulties. A cpu, HDD, CDROM can not be locked to a specific system. 2 - The AGP 6600GT video cards are said to be marginally better than the 9800pro and can be had for $199 off newegg. The 6600's have the same feature set as the 6800 models [which themselves are more feature rich than the older 9800 cards] but have 128bit memory instead of 256 - but they are still great cards. The generally accepted heirachy is 9800pro<6600GT<9800xt 3 - It's safe to overclock a card without extra fans if you know what you're doing. This a fairly hefty topic though.