Short answer for all questions is YES, and may i add it's a great choice of cards. I just put this X800 XT-PE in mine and i'm amazed at how much faster it is than my 9800 XT:smileyvery-happy:

Just a couple things to remember, remove the drivers from add/remove programs first, shut down the comp remove old card, insert new one and boot up, let the card be recognized as new hardware found, when the box for new hardware wizard comes up do cancel. Hopefully you have already downloaded the newest Cat 4.12's from Ati, just double click the zip folder and follow the instructions to install, do a restart, go to the driver control panel to set your desktop resolution and make any other nessary adjustments and your good to go.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask, Good Luck:smileyhappy:

1Bowtie is completely right. I have an x800 Pro in my 8300 and it works great. Even with many other devices, the PSU is fine. The card performs great, and I am very happy with it. And like 1Bowtie said, remove any previous drivers. I would use a program called Driver Cleaner to make sure that you do a complete uninstall and then install Catalyst 4.12 from the ATI website. You won't be dissappointed with the performance. Heres a link to Driver Cleaner:

http://www.drivercleaner.net/

Also, on a side note, 8300s are pretty poorly ventilated, and although I've been told that it is nothing to worry about, I installed an ATI Silencer heatsink on my x800. My system runs a lot cooler now. Not a necessary thing, but something to think about. Heres a link to that:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=35-186-116&depa=0

Message Edited by anuraj1 on 12-19-2004 12:59 AM

Hi anuraj1

Thanks for the nice words:smileyhappy: I've got Driver Cleaner dl'd but never used it. I always just use the Ati uninstall feature and it seems to work fine for me. As far as cooling i'm running stock Dell and my card is 41c with overdrive on and no overheating prob's. To me there's no one right way to uninstall/install its whatever works best for you as long as it works without prob's.:smileyvery-happy:

thanks guys, im definatly going to order this card. i will also pick up the enhanced ati cooler becuase i dont want to overheat anything, also i might be able to clock the card higher with RIVA tuner with that on!

Riva Tuner didn't work that well for me, but I use a program called ATI Tool that works great. Overclocking is easy with it, and with the ATI Silencer, the heat barely changes.

Awesome, if you are familiar with it, then I'd say go with it. The x800 doesn't need any unlocking though. I am sure it was a case of user error with my bad experience with it. Have fun with the new card, you won't be disappointed with its performance.

i used RIVA tuner on my current 9800 pro to overclock it and it worked great, i also used it unlock the card to a 9800XT

Ah you mean flashing a new BIOS. Unlocking for Radeon 9000/9200/9550/9600 cards is required to change the clock speed. What you are doing is flashing a new BIOS to the card to unlock the extra pipelines and unlock some of the potential on it. This can only be done on x800 VIVO cards, and if you are going to do it then I highly suggest getting that ATI Silencer heatsink. With it, you could live without watercooling and phase change cooling. My roommate flashed his Sapphire Toxic x800 Pro VIVO to an x800 XT PE and it increased the performance quite a bit. But he had to underclock it a little to keep it stable.

Message Edited by anuraj1 on 12-20-2004 01:18 AM

yes the X800 pro VIVO does need unlocking, you can unlock it to an X800XT, the X800 pro only has 12 pixel pipelines and the XT has 16 so the extra 4 pipes really bring out the performance, coupled with a nice overlclock you can really get it up to be an X800 XT, dont do this though unless you use water or phase change cooling becuase this mod creates some significant heat!