The Radeon 9800 is a video card designed to boost the performance and looks of your computer games, animations and cinematics. As far as video cards go, the Radeon 9800 is on the upper end of the scale with enough muscle to keep your games humming for the next few years without any problems. That said; remember that technology ages quickly. The casual gamer may want to wait a little until the price drops further, while those into the latest and greatest will find the money well spent.
Radeon 9800 supports the new MS DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.0 standards, two important features to look out for in anticipation of graphic-dense, next-generation computer games. The unit we reviewed had 128 MB DDR memory with 256-bit memory interface, more than enough to support advanced real-time 3-D graphics. Speed is not everything; the Radeon also works by boosting visual quality. The biggest difference you will notice is the smoother lightning and textures, and an almost complete absence of "jagginess" to lines.
Radeon 9800 makes your games and movies look good. But does the difference motivate the price tag? It depends on your preference. If you only play slow-moving strategy games like Rise of Nations, the answer is no. The real value of the Radeon becomes clear when you fire up a flight simulator or a game like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. You may be used to choosing between clunky graphics and playability vs. nice graphics and jumpy gameplay. Now, you can have both without missing a beat.
The physical installation is relatively easy. Yank out your old video card (or, if you have built-in graphic support on your motherboard, disable it) and pop in the Radeon. The card has a built-in cooling fan and requires additional juice, so you have to borrow some from one of your hard drives by using the extra power cable that comes attached to the card. Then attach the monitor plug and you're set. This can be done in less than 5 minutes by anyone with a fleeting familiarity with computer hardware. The card support classic CRT monitors as well as DVI flat-screen and SVID TV output.
I had some problems getting the drivers to work, however. The problem may have had something to do with my previously installed nVidia GeForce 400 MX video card (an older card from a competitor) though the old drivers were removed prior to installation. Fortunately, the Radeon 9800 worked fine on another computer that had not had a previous video card installed. Once on the new computer, installation was a breeze. Insert the CD and follow the step-by-step instructions and you're set.
The Radeon 9800 is a neat but expensive add-on that can breathe new life into an otherwise dull computer. If you play fast and/or graphic-intense games more than once a week, it just may be worth the money.
