9800Pro remains popular - will be kept around after introduction of bridged parts. Despite the rumored March introduction of bridged ATI parts, the Inq is backtracking on the cancellation of the 9800Pro as board partners are still finding that they are still selling well.?
But now it has emerged that ATI will keep this chip alive after CeBIT, as its partners still love them and possibly more importantly, can still sell them. There will be a place for this chip in the future and R430 paired with Realto bridge chip will take its time to completely replace Radeon 9800 Pros.
The 9800Pro remains competitive with a lot of cards and will end up being a better solution than something like the 6600 when comparing both to stock speeds. The 9800Pro does not quite manage to keep up with the 6600GT however. The issue of the bridge chip remains pretty interesting. ATI is adamant that OEMs do not want bridged parts on the PCIe side but since AGP cards are likely not going to be a big OEM volume part, it does not seem to be a critical issue for the add-on board market. Article Link: ATI 9800Pro to stay around
