Whatever the X700 rocks. Let's compare some specs...
ATI Product Comparison
Product Name RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB RADEON X700 PRO
ASIC RADEON 9800 RADEON X700
Technology Features
SMARTSHADERâ„¢ 2.1 HD
SMOOTHVISIONâ„¢ 2.1 HD
FULLSTREAMâ„¢ Real, DivX Real, DivX
Adaptive De-Interlace VIDEOSHADERâ„¢ VIDEOSHADERâ„¢ HD
HYDRAVISIONâ„¢ Yes Yes
Hardware MPEG Encode Assist - Yes
Specifications
Bus Type AGP 4X, 8X AGP or PCI Express x16
Memory Amount (MB) 128 256
Memory Type DDR1 GDDR3
Memory Interface 256-bit 128-bit
Memory Clock Speed (MHz) 340 430
Engine Clock Speed (MHz) 380 425
Pipelines 8 8
Pixel Fillrate 3.04 Gpixels/sec 3.4 Gpixels/sec
Geometry Rate 380 MTriangles 637.5 MTriangles
Display Support
VGA Yes Yes
DVI Yes Yes
Dual Monitor Display Yes DVI-I/VGA
YPrPb Out for HDTV w/adapter optional w/optional adapter
S-Video Out Yes Yes
Composite Out w/adapter included Yes
Multimedia Support
S-Video In - No
Composite In - No
TV Tuner - No
FM Tuner No No
DTV Tuner No
Remote Control Included - No
EAZYLOOK - Yes
Audio Out - No
S/PDIF Out - No
Hmmmm let's see how many catagories the X700 wins in.
-PCI-E means faster transfer rate.
-It has twice the memory, same if using just X700
-GDDR3 RAM vs DDR. No comparison there.
-Memory Clock Speed
-Core Clock Speed
-Pixel Filrate
-Geometry Rate is almost twice as much as the 9800PRO
From what I gather the X700PRO vs 9800PRO isn't really a comparison at all.