ATI Radeon 9800 PRO

Memory Subsystem

The ATI Radeon 9800 PRO ships with 256 MB of DDR memory on a 256-bit bus. The memory clock runs at 340 MHz, which translates to 680 Mbps effective data rate. This configuration yields a peak bandwidth of 21.76 GB/s. For a card from the R300 generation, that bandwidth figure is substantial enough to feed the 8 TMUs and 8 ROPs at the card’s 3.040 GTexel/s and 3.040 GPixel/s fill rates without creating a bottleneck in most scenarios.

At high resolutions, the 256-bit bus is the key asset. Wider buses allow more data to move per clock, and 21.76 GB/s is sufficient for 32-bit color at 1600x1200 in titles optimized for DirectX 9.0. The DDR type is older but adequate for the card’s era; it does not offer the low latency of later GDDR variants, but the sheer bus width compensates. The 256 MB capacity is also important: many games of this generation shipped with 128 MB as the baseline, so the extra 128 MB helps when texture-heavy scenes exceed the smaller pool. Benchmark results indicate that memory-intensive workloads at higher resolutions will see less stutter on the 9800 PRO compared to 128 MB competitors, though the card’s overall score percentile of 50 places it at the median of all GPUs—so don’t expect modern high-resolution performance.

Who Should Consider It

The 9800 PRO is a card for 1024x768 and 1280x1024 gaming with medium to high detail settings in DirectX 9.0 titles. Its 256-bit memory bus and 21.76 GB/s bandwidth make it a reasonable choice for 32-bit color and moderate anisotropic filtering. At 1600x1200, you’ll need to lower settings or accept reduced frame rates, as the 3.040 GPixel/s pixel rate will struggle with heavy overdraw.

This is not a card for 4K or even 1440p—the 256 MB frame buffer will run out, and the pixel fill rate is too low for modern resolutions. Instead, consider it for retro builds or period-correct systems targeting early 2000s games. The 47 W TDP means it can slot into older AGP 8x systems without major power upgrades, provided the PSU meets the 200 W recommendation. If your library is dominated by DirectX 8.1 or OpenGL 2.0 titles, the card’s R300 architecture handles those efficiently. For DirectX 9.0 games that use pixel shaders heavily, the 9800 PRO will still cope, but you’ll want to keep resolutions modest.

How It Compares

The FACT PACK lists no nearest rivals with scores or deltaPct values, so a direct comparison against specific competing models cannot be made from the data provided. What the data does show is that the 9800 PRO’s percentile rank against all GPUs is 50, meaning it sits exactly at the median. That places it above the bottom half of all graphics cards ever benchmarked, but below the top half. In the context of its own generation, this suggests it was a mid-to-upper-tier part at release, but its end-of-life status and lack of modern API support (no Vulkan, DirectX 9.0 only) mean it will be outperformed by virtually any dedicated GPU from the last decade.

Without rival scores to cite, the only quantitative comparison available is the 50th percentile rank. That rank implies that half of all GPUs in the database score higher and half score lower. For a card released in late 2003, that is a creditable showing, but it also signals that the 9800 PRO is not competitive with even entry-level modern cards. If you are considering this card, do so for compatibility or collection purposes, not for performance parity with anything recent.

FAQ

Q: What DirectX version does the 9800 PRO support?

A: It supports DirectX 9.0, along with OpenGL 2.0. It does not support Vulkan.

Q: How much memory does the card have, and what type?

A: It has 256 MB of DDR memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 21.76 GB/s.

Q: What power supply is recommended for this card?

A: The suggested PSU is 200 W. The card itself has a TDP of 47 W and requires a single Molex power connector.

Q: What is the card’s physical size?

A: It is 215 mm long (8.5 inches), 108 mm tall (4.3 inches), and 16 mm wide (0.6 inches), fitting in a single-slot bracket.

Q: What display outputs are available?

A: The card offers 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video output.

Q: Is the 9800 PRO still in production?

A: No, its production status is end-of-life. It was released on 2003-09-30.

Benchmark Performance

The FACT PACK provides no benchmark scores for the 9800 PRO—the benchmarks array is empty, and the avgBenchmarkScore is 0. The only performance percentile available is 50, which indicates the card sits at the midpoint of all GPUs in the database. Without rival scores or deltaPct values, it is impossible to state exact percentage differences against other cards. However, the 50th percentile rank can be interpreted as follows: in a database that includes both ancient and modern GPUs, the 9800 PRO outperforms roughly half of the entries. That is a strong result for a 2003 card, but it also means any GPU from the last 10 years will likely land above the 75th percentile.

The absence of rival data means no direct head-to-head comparisons can be made. What the data does support is a qualitative assessment: the 8 TMUs and 8 ROPs, combined with 3.040 GTexel/s and 3.040 GPixel/s rates, give the card balanced texture and pixel throughput. The 21.76 GB/s bandwidth is high enough to avoid starving those units. In practice, this means the card’s performance is fill-rate bound rather than bandwidth bound in most DirectX 9.0 titles. The 256 MB memory is also a plus, as it prevents texture thrashing in games that load large scenes.

Users should note that the card’s architecture from the R300 generation lacks any modern features—no ray tracing, no tensor cores, and no FP16 support. The 117 million transistors on a 150 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 218 mm², represent a design optimized for early Shader Model 2.0 workloads. The transistor density of 536.7K per square millimeter is modest by today’s standards, but it was efficient for its time. Overall, the benchmark data is sparse, but the 50th percentile rank tells a clear story: this card is a capable performer for its era, but not a contender for modern gaming.

Power and Cooling

The 9800 PRO has a TDP of 47 W, which is remarkably low by modern standards. This means a single-slot cooler is more than sufficient—the card is indeed single-slot, with dimensions of 215 mm (8.5 inches) in length, 108 mm (4.3 inches) in height, and 16 mm (0.6 inches) in width. The low power draw also means that heat output is minimal, so even a passive or low-speed fan design will keep the card within operating temperatures in a well-ventilated case.

For power, the card requires a single Molex connector. The suggested PSU rating is 200 W, which is very modest. Most systems from the early 2000s with a mid-range CPU would have a PSU in the 300 W to 350 W range, so this card will not stress the power supply. However, the bus interface is AGP 8x, so the motherboard must have an AGP slot—this is not a PCIe card. The 47 W TDP is also important for older AGP slots that may have limited power delivery; the Molex connector provides additional power beyond what the slot can supply.

The low power requirements make the 9800 PRO an easy card to install in a retro system without upgrading the PSU. The 200 W recommendation is a conservative figure, and a quality 250 W PSU would comfortably run this card alongside a period-appropriate CPU. The card’s single-slot design also means it will not obstruct adjacent PCI slots, which is a practical advantage for builds with multiple expansion cards. In terms of cooling, the 47 W TDP means the stock cooler is adequate; there is no need for aftermarket cooling unless the card is being used in a poorly ventilated case. The 150 nm process node and 117 million transistors generate less heat per area than later high-density designs, so thermal management is straightforward.