ATI 8500 question

[ranchhand]

I have narrowed my new card search to the ATI 8500 or the 9000 64 MEG cards. However, I notice that on Pricewatch and Newegg the 8500LE seems to be only listed. Two questions:
#1. Anyone know where I can get a price on the 8500, not LE?
#2. What is the advantage of the 9000 over the 8500? The 8500, even the LE edition, seems to generally have a large and loyal following. Mostly good reports.
Thanks in advance.
Bob the ranchhand

[Ladypcer]

More than LE's here
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=5/topcat_search=1/form_keyword=ati+8500/mode=premgoogle1/ut=d82b73f06a586f29

I'll defer to the experts on the last half of the question.

[prod]

The 8500LE is actually faster in some cases than the 9000.
You have to be carefull when buying an 8500/LE, there are 3 versions running at different speeds 235,250 and 275 Mhz I believe.

[ranchhand]

LP and Prod.... Thanks for the help. I will have to check out the clockspeed of the LE before I order. Man, these cardmakers really make it hard to know what you are getting!!

[James]

http://www.pricescan.com/home.asp

[ImaginAsian]

Get the 8500 over the 8500LE or 9000. It will be faster then the LE for sure and faster in some cases then the 9000. The LE is a slower version of the 8500 and the 9000 is a crippled version of the 9500.

Stick with the RETAIL version of any ATI card or else you get lower clocked speeds with the OEM versions.

I had the 8500 and it was a great card and at $80 now, that's a good buy.

[ranchhand]

Thanks to all!
Imagine, do you have a source for those 8500s at $80?
I'll order right now. Pricewatch advertised the 8500 for $72, but when I got to the site they listed it as the LE model. :grr:

thanks all again!

[ranchhand]

Well, I was just about to order the 8500, and then this:

http://www.bananapc.com/Products/product_info.asp?product_id=6392&classif_id=

a ATI 9000 for .... $58.00?? Pricewatch registers these as dropping in price.

OK, what do you think between an 8500 at over $100, or a 9000 for $58?

Anyone ordered from this "bananapc.com" outfit, are they straight-up?

Thanxx

[James]

RH,that's not a retail card,it's not made by ATI,it is a crippled version of the 9500 and bananaPC???

Think Looney Tunes ;)

Ya get what You pay for! :)

[ranchhand]

Makes sense. Thanxx!

[ranchhand]

Hey, I'm sure you guys know about this site already, but I really enjoyed reading through it, and it's presented very clearly. Notice the benchmarks of the 8500LE compare to the full 8500! Ver-r-r-r-y close! That must be the reason that the LE gets such great reviews. Heck, the LE bases at 225, and my Gainward Garbagge/Puke Nvidia MX 400 bases at 170!! If I try to use the overclocker "CardExpert", it crashes the drivers.

http://tech-report.com/reviews/2002q3/radeon-9000pro/index.x?pg=4

Thanks for everyone's help again, you guys are the greatest!

[ImaginAsian]

no probs ranch, so what did you decide on the 8500 LE?

and yep, that's one of our affiliate sites!

[ranchhand]

Hi Imagine....

Yeah, I ordered the 8500LE from Newegg, hope to get it this week. If you guys are interested, I'll post back after I've used it for a while and tell you what happened.

Thanks

[ImaginAsian]

only post back after you OC the bad boy hehe

did ya get some ramsinks for the card? they'll help you OC the memory nicely...

[ranchhand]

Good idea, I'll check it out. Overclock da' sukka' til she Smokes!