got a Radeon 8500LE....anyone know about it?

[apu95]

i just bought the 8500LE from ebay yesterday (local pickup so i have it now ) and i wanted to hear some opinions. i have it installed, BUT, the ---daisies--- that sold it to me "forgot" to say it didnt work, so im waiting on their warranty to get a new one. anyways, what have u heard about the card?
i looked at the FAQ in the ati.com page and found this in the card's FAQ:

Q15:      Which displays does the RADEON

[gregor7777]

I've used several versions (brands) of the 8500 and 8500LE and all of them worked with the TV alone connected. I did however, if memory serves me, have to set up the TV (just click the TV icon under displays in the control panel) first then I could use it without the monitor installed.

[shadowdrak]

I have had good experiences with my 8500.  Pretty good video card as long as you got it relatively cheap.  You can use pretty high quality settings on most games, and it got pretty high 3dmark scores when it first came out.  Is the LE the one with extra memory?  ATI generally has better tv out support than nvidia, so it should do what you want.

[Nephus]

I have the 8500DV on my system.. nice card.  I mainly use it for the composite inputs though... living in a cramped apartment and being able to hook your gamecube, xbox, and ps2 up to your computer instead of having a TV helps... especially when your roommates are hogging the TV.

[gregor7777]

I have had good experiences with my 8500.  Pretty good video card as long as you got it relatively cheap.  You can use pretty high quality settings on most games, and it got pretty high 3dmark scores when it first came out.  Is the LE the one with extra memory?  ATI generally has better tv out support than nvidia, so it should do what you want.

The original 8500 came out with 64mb memory and was clocked at 275/275. LE versions were made with both 64 and 128 mb (128 is a bit more common these days) at were originally clocked at 250/250 but can vary wildly now.

[Tiger-Heli]

I have had good experiences with my 8500.  Pretty good video card as long as you got it relatively cheap.  You can use pretty high quality settings on most games, and it got pretty high 3dmark scores when it first came out.  Is the LE the one with extra memory?  ATI generally has better tv out support than nvidia, so it should do what you want.

The original 8500 came out with 64mb memory and was clocked at 275/275. LE versions were made with both 64 and 128 mb (128 is a bit more common these days) at were originally clocked at 250/250 but can vary wildly now.

ATI's numbering is fairly misleading.  The 8500 LE is basically a lower-clocked 8500, but the 8500 was a very good card, probably better than the 9000 or 9200.  (I use a 9200 personally).  I would expect your card to be roughly the same as a 9200, i.e. better than a 9000, but not as good as a 9600.

[dogg0]

i use it with the hdtv dongle to connect through component input

[johnnysmitch]

I had an 8500 (non-LE), and it unfortunately DIDN't output to tv w/out a monitor attatched.  I ended up getting a rage fury pro from ebay (it cost me like a whole $10 w/shipping   ) to get my machine up and running...