Testing

     For testing I'll be using a variety of benchmarks ranging from 3DMark to Halo. Let's get started.

Video Card Defaults / Driver Defaults

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Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo

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Call Of Duty

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Halo: Combat Evolved

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3DMark03

     These results are great, but what happens when we max out the video quality settings? For the next test, I will run the card at 1600 x 1200 with all the driver setting maxed out for the greatest graphics detail and eye candy. Now let's see how it handles the benchmarks!

Video Card Max Settings / Driver Max Settings / 1600 x 1200 32bit
- DEFAULT CLOCK SPEEDS -

Overclocking

     Next it's time to see just how much headroom this card has. After a few minutes of tinkering around with the bus speeds using Rage 3D Tweak, I was able to get the video card stable at 430MHz GPU and 387MHz memory. This is a nice overclock from the default settings of 378MHz / 351MHz. As with the last test, I maxed out all the setting again just to see what this baby can do!

Video Card Max Settings / Driver Max Settings / 1600 x 1200 32bit
- OVERCLOCKED -

Conclusion

     The video card held up very well under the strain and pumped out some excellent scores. I have no complaints about the card at all, but I do want to warn people about GPU heat, especially when overclocking. I placed a thermal probe on top the card, just opposite of the GPU. Even through the PCB, the temperatures I was reading were in excess of 60 degree Celsius while benchmarking. This is incredibly hot and I was amazed that the card remained stable. If you plan to overclock this card, I highly recommend that you find a good aftermarket GPU cooler.

     Overall, I really love this video card and I highly recommend it. It delivers a powerful punch and gives the XT version a real run for the money. Due to the new generation of video cards just being released, this one time top end card is now considered a mid range card. However, most people do not run right out and but the top of the line. If you are one of those people and have been waiting to buy a 9800 Pro, now is the time to buy!

The Good:
Once a top end card will soon be available at a bargain price.
Very stable card with a lot of overclocking potential.
Performance near 9800XT levels.
Comes with RAM Sinks.

The Bad:
Poor quality GPU Cooler.
No software pack other than drivers.