For all you people that always wanted a ATI AIW9800Pro but you say you cannot afford it.........
Here is your chance.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=...pfp=SEARCH

retail = $399.99
after instant rebate = 299.99
after mail in rebate = 249.99 (final price)


*** note *** - it is sold out at CompUSA website but there may be some left at the local retail stores.

That's an awesome price and I was going to buy one but the price was still too steep for my budget.

They also have a FX 5900SE you can buy from Circuit City for $219.00 + tax and then you get $30.00 MIR.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=...p;pfp=cat3

The card is sweet and I gained over 4,000 benchmark points. Alls I need is some identical PC3200 memory
and I imagine my benchmark scores will be even better.

Jay

Well, you can't compare the ATI AIW9800Pro with the FX 5900SE. The ATI AIW9800Pro has way more features like TV, DVD, audio, video, etc. and is a lot faster. So the way to go would be the ATI Al in Wonder 9800 Pro hands down. Don't waist your $ on the FX 5900SE.

Too late SuperXP, I got the 5900SE and to tell you the truth I'm happy with it.

I'm not too concerned that I won't be able to play Doom3 or HL2 and I do admit the AIW9800Pro is in a league of it's own.

I'm very impressed with the new card and maybe I'll get the nerve to flash the bios on it to make it a 5950 like i've been reading about.

Regards,
Jay

Well, the only reason I don't recommend the 5900SE is because it's a SE. They are all crap. But yes, you can flash the bios to a 5900 Ultra. I'm not sure about the 5950 though, because SE uses cheap memory and a different core. This goes for both NVidia and ATI.

I can't understand why you are comparing not only a slower card to a faster/better card but one that also includes a tuner and editing software. For $250 the AIW 9800 Pro is a steal.

Topper,
I think we all know it's steal, why are you upset? Big deal if it's a better card.

I'm happy with my nvidia and please don't try and start one of those nvidia vs ati wars.

We all know that everyone has their own preferences and budgets.

Jay

Jay,

Just be happy with what you got and dont worry about anything else. You spent your hard earn money on it and there should be no regrets.

Both companys have their lines of video cards that tries to capture every single pricing steps along the way. You just dont have a $100, 200, 300, and 400 dollar cards... nooooooo.... each company has to give you multiple price points in between each catagory of cards which just makes it all soooo confusing for everyone. It is like this card only has 2 pipelines and this one has 8 pipelines... but wait this one over here has 6.5 pipelines, all having different price marks. I think each side is trying to cater say if a person cant afford a 300 card and a 260 is not good enough, they go make a card that is priced 280 so that person would buy it. Really.... just look at both sides, they both have multitudes of cards with multiples of price breaks.

I think folks are just jabbing at you (jokingly in a kind a way) because you bought a card at 219 and for 30 more, you could have gotten a card that is considered way more powerful and has features and software that the other card could no way near come close. It is the stuff you get for the price you pay.

By the way, you had mentioned that you get a 30 Mail in Rebate for that card you got, but when I went on the compusa site to look at that card, there were no signs of that rebate. I dont think there is one. I musta missed it some where along in the site. Not to say there isnt one but I sure couldnt find one.

By the way, I have the AIW9800Pro myself for 6 months now and I love it very much. There isnt a game that I cant play. All the games so far I throw at it, it plays great without any slowdowns, hangs, crash, or all the crazy stuff like folks are having with both sides. Games I am playing at the moment are HALO, Call of Duty, BF1942, NFS Underground, SimCity4, and Empires Dawn of a Modern World. All of these games work great. Of course I had paid a weee bit higher that the going price it is now. Dont worry, on sunday it will go back up to the regular price of 399. CompUSA needed to clear the shelves. Guess too many were sitting on the shelves. I acutally was considering getting another one just because of the price...... but I held off because I have one in my new system and it is not like I was gonna get another system anytime soon. The system I have currently should last me a good bit. But the next system that I do will contain the next generation of AIW XXXXX whatever it will be at that time. Unless, Nvidia decides to come up with a card that is the same as the ATI AIW. I would consider it. But at this time, ATI AIW rules this little corner of the market.


"Dont worry, Be Happy"

I know I could have gotten the AIW9800Pro, but that was after the fact as I had already open the box, installed the card and mailed out the rebate coupon (prints at register).

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&catoid=-...;oid=88374

Actually I didn't take it as someone poking fun at me to be honest.

Jay

BTW, I know that for about another $60 to $70 I could have had a fabulous AIW 9800Pro, but that amount makes a difference to me at this point in my life when you have a huge mortgage and a family to support.
That's less money for me to spend on my next necessary purchase (PC3200 memory).

This is one of the reasons I poked fun at the post one member wrote about his friend spending $7,000.00 on a new rig. That to me would be a total waste and disregard of hard earned money to me.

s**t, even if I had money to burn I wouldn't p**s it away cause I know what it's like to see things I want and need and not be able to get them until after I've burned myself out working like a dog.

Maybe next year, young Daniel will inherit my 5900SE and I'll get that AIW9800 Pro at a very good price and still be able to get the next 2 upgrades on my wish list which are a AMD Athlon 64 cpu and a supporting motherboard.

So you see there is a method to my madness and I'm actually not obsessed with having the best video card on the market right now.
I'm on a very tight budget and a very short leash.

Ohhhh so that is where the Mail in rebate was, at Circuit City. Thought you meant at Compusa. cool.

I know what you mean about a mortgage and family (wife and two very young daughters, 3yrs and 3mths). Extra funds are far and far between these days. And on top of that I just turned 40 last month. No retirement for me thats for sure.

The system that I have now has been in the workings for just about a little over a year in the making. You know, buy a part here, buy another part couple of months later and so on. But finally I have a computer that will last me for 3 or so years. Unfortunately, when I started, it was top of the line stuff or at least the components considered for the time and now it is in the midline pack. Oh well. But...... it still runs really really good. Captures all the video all day long, game play is smooth with high settings turned on, multimedia stuff is great, and most of all, the system is stable.

Im happy and no worries.

My Antique System:

ASUS P4S8X motherboard (Bios-1005 / board rev 1.03)
Intel P4B 2.66Ghz FSB 533
Cosair XMS 512 MB DDR400/PC3200 Cas 2
ATI All In Wonder 9800 Pro 128mb AGP 8X (Catalyst 3.10 / MMC 8.8)
with OTS heatsink from Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer and OCZ Copper Memory Sinks.
Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS series sound card
Logitech Z-680 5.1 (dolby digital/dts decoder) speaker system
Western Digital 120GB Serial ATA 8mb cache X 2 qty in Raid 0 mode - system disc
Maxtor 80GB 8Mb cache ATA133 (master Primary) - backup disc
16x DVDrom (slave Primary)
40x24x40x CD-R/W (master Secondary)
KingWin 450W Black Aluminum Pwr Sup with 4 pwr sup Fans
Zalman 6500B CU Heatsink
Zalman North Bridge Heatsink