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Topic: OK final decision time.. (GFX card)
Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-13-2003 09:42:14 PM
Friday I will either get:
Geforce FX 5600 With 256MB
Or:
Radeon 9600 Pro with 128MB DDR

I can't afford to go any higher right now and I find myself forced to upgrade.

Given these two choices which would you go with?

[ 08-13-2003: Message edited by: Azizza ]

"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
Katrinity
Cookie Goddess!
posted 08-13-2003 09:47:24 PM
quote:
Azizza said this about your mom:
Friday I will either get:
Geforce FX 5600 With 256MB
Or:
Radeon 9600 Pro with 128MB DDR

I can't afford to go any higher right now and I find myself forced to upgrade.

Given these two choices which would you go with?


I was told to go with the Radeon 9500 Pro, Az. Supposed to be better than those two and quieter.

Cookie Goddess Supreme
Furry Kitsune of Power!
Pouncer of the 12th degree!
"Cxularath ftombn gonoragh pv'iornw hqxoxon targh!"
Translated: "Sell your soul for a cookie?"
Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-13-2003 09:49:02 PM
I assume you mean the 9600 Pro

I am not as worried about sound as I am compatability and stability. I have often had issues with ATI in the past. Supposedly they have gotten better but I want to be 110% sure.

"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
Burger
BANNED!
posted 08-13-2003 09:50:03 PM
Neither.
http://www.compusa.com/buildyourown/product_info.asp?product_code=302165&pfp=BUILDYOUROWN

c'mon, you can scrounge a spare little bit of change from the couch, the car, and the sidewalk.

otherwise, if you're forced to choose one of those two, then go with the 9600.

Bite me.

No, Really. Bite me.

Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-13-2003 09:55:22 PM
quote:
There was much rejoicing when Burger said this:
Neither.
http://www.compusa.com/buildyourown/product_info.asp?product_code=302165&pfp=BUILDYOU ROWN

c'mon, you can scrounge a spare little bit of change from the couch, the car, and the sidewalk.

otherwise, if you're forced to choose one of those two, then go with the 9600.


The 9500 Pro is better than the 9600 Pro??? I am now confused.

ANd yes an extra 20 bucks is nothing. Although the nVidia card is considerably cheaper than both.

"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
GDJacks
Pancake
posted 08-13-2003 09:55:48 PM
quote:
Check out the big brain on Azizza!
Friday I will either get:
Geforce FX 5600 With 256MB
Or:
Radeon 9600 Pro with 128MB DDR

I can't afford to go any higher right now and I find myself forced to upgrade.

Given these two choices which would you go with?


The FX5200 and FX5600 are crap from what I hear, they don't or just barely beat out 9600 and 9800. So my vote would have to be ATI on this one.

Burger
BANNED!
posted 08-13-2003 09:59:03 PM
quote:
Azizza got all f'ed up on Angel Dust and wrote:
The 9500 Pro is better than the 9600 Pro??? I am now confused.

ANd yes an extra 20 bucks is nothing. Although the nVidia card is considerably cheaper than both.


the 9500 is a 9700 pro that's been crippled severely. The 9600pro is a 0.09 micron chip that was designed from the ground up for low heat and power. It's a mobile chip that they also sell in a desktop flavour. The 9500pro behaves like a desktop chip, the 9600pro almost does, but you can tell taht it's still not up to snuff.

also, the 9500 overclocks like a motherfucker.

Bite me.

No, Really. Bite me.

Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-13-2003 10:00:43 PM
5200 Is crap. 5600 with 128 comes in behind a bit. but double the RAM supposedly helps.
Also I just did some checking and found out that PNY does not use the stock cooler. The one they use is smaller and quieter than the reference design.

If the PNY Card even comes close to the performance of the ATI boards mentioned above then I will probably stay with them.

"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-13-2003 10:02:38 PM
OK I hear you Burger. So now it is between the PNY card and the one you posted. If the ATI card worth 40 bucks more for someone who ernjoys games a lot but is not a Hardcore gamer like some others here.
"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
Burger
BANNED!
posted 08-13-2003 10:02:47 PM
quote:
From the book of [PPZ]Kamikaze Gerbil, chapter 3, verse 16:
The FX5200 and FX5600 are crap from what I hear, they don't or just barely beat out 9600 and 9800. So my vote would have to be ATI on this one.

ummm, nope. the 5200 performs about the same as an 8500/9000/9100/9200, and the 5600 splits the difference between the 8500 and the 9500.

Bite me.

No, Really. Bite me.

Burger
BANNED!
posted 08-13-2003 10:06:25 PM
quote:
This one time, at Azizza camp:
OK I hear you Burger. So now it is between the PNY card and the one you posted. If the ATI card worth 40 bucks more for someone who ernjoys games a lot but is not a Hardcore gamer like some others here.

well, what kind of games/settings do you use?

Bite me.

No, Really. Bite me.

Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-13-2003 10:10:45 PM
Right now the most intensive game I have is Unreal II.
I play it in 1280x1024x32 with pretty much everything maxed. Framerates are playable but could be better.
"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
Burger
BANNED!
posted 08-13-2003 10:13:55 PM
quote:
Azizza said this about your mom:
Right now the most intensive game I have is Unreal II.
I play it in 1280x1024x32 with pretty much everything maxed. Framerates are playable but could be better.

9500.

you'll thank yourself later.

Bite me.

No, Really. Bite me.

Chugga
Pancake
posted 08-13-2003 10:28:05 PM
quote:
Burger had this to say about Captain Planet:
the 9500 is a 9700 pro that's been crippled severely.

I dunno what your talking about, but the 9500 Pro is the worse of the two cards. The 9500 Non-Pro, are 50% of the time a 9700 Pro, with 4 of the pipelines disabled via software, and if they are, 70-80% of the time those pipelines are unlockable to give you basically a Radeon 9700 Pro. The 9500 Pro is basically a 9700 with reduced clock speeds.

Also, Az. Go for the 9500, it is actually better than the 9600.

Kegwen
Sonyfag
posted 08-13-2003 10:29:47 PM
quote:
Doomie obviously shouldn't have said:

Also, Az. Go for the 9500, it is actually better than the 9600.

That's what Burger has been saying... So long as you mean pro.

Chugga
Pancake
posted 08-13-2003 11:10:02 PM
Also, ATi is releasing their 9600 AIW, the first changed layout by ATi in a long time, it looks quite nifty. Finally dual monitor support too! Remote Wonder 2 looks pretty spiffy too.
Kildace
French
posted 08-14-2003 03:16:32 AM
Just as a heads up, my 9600 Pro had a lot of issues with a lot of games (including EQ), crashing, graphic artifacts, lines in the middle of the screen, and I had to turn the AGP on my card down to 4x to make it not freeze my comp after 5 minutes.
Mortious
Gluttonous Overlard
posted 08-14-2003 06:15:51 AM
For users on a "no $400+ graphics card, please" budget, nab yourself a 9500 Pro.

How many more threads are we going to make on this subject?

Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-14-2003 01:02:11 PM
Ok guys. Time to add more confusion. I just checked out Toms hardware to get another opinion. And they have the FX 5600 beating the 9500 and 9500 Pro by a good margin.
"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
Katrinity
Cookie Goddess!
posted 08-14-2003 01:07:03 PM
And it was stated in my other thread that Tom's Hardware was being biased in that test. Check other places and you'll see that its off.
Cookie Goddess Supreme
Furry Kitsune of Power!
Pouncer of the 12th degree!
"Cxularath ftombn gonoragh pv'iornw hqxoxon targh!"
Translated: "Sell your soul for a cookie?"
Burger
BANNED!
posted 08-14-2003 01:17:48 PM
the guys at [H]ard are normally right on, and as usual: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDc4LDEy

the 9500pro is king.

Bite me.

No, Really. Bite me.

Suddar
posted 08-14-2003 01:22:31 PM
So wait, the 9500 Pro beats out the 9600 Pro?

Emphasis so you don't think I'm comparing a pro card to a...non...pro card.

Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-14-2003 01:31:34 PM
Hmm read to me like they said they are pretty damn close. I am leaning back towards the ATI right now given that review. But it is still close. It will probably be down between the 9500Pro and the 5600Ultra. Frankly I may well end up flipping a coin in the store.

Same price, Damn near identical performance.

"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
Burger
BANNED!
posted 08-14-2003 01:34:07 PM
quote:
Suddar had this to say about Pirotess:
So wait, the 9500 Pro beats out the 9600 Pro?

Emphasis so you don't think I'm comparing a pro card to a...non...pro card.


yuppers

the 9600pro is a mobile card that they sell a desktop version of (because it's the best damn mobile card on the market) but the 9500pro is a desktop board through and through. That means that they could afford it to run hotter, suck more juice, and do anything necessary to crunsh out frames.

Bite me.

No, Really. Bite me.

Mortious
Gluttonous Overlard
posted 08-14-2003 01:34:21 PM
The 5600 Ultra generally requires a more advanced cooling system, so most models are louder.
Suddar
posted 08-14-2003 01:35:20 PM
quote:
Burger spewed forth this undeniable truth:
yuppers

the 9600pro is a mobile card that they sell a desktop version of (because it's the best damn mobile card on the market) but the 9500pro is a desktop board through and through. That means that they could afford it to run hotter, suck more juice, and do anything necessary to crunsh out frames.


That's the stupidest fucking marketing I've ever heard of.

Random Insanity Generator
Condom Ninja El Supremo
posted 08-14-2003 01:35:57 PM
The 9500Pro has been overclocking like all hell and there's supposed to be a BIOS patch for it that will basically make it into the 9800Pro...
* NullDevice kicks the server. "Floggings will continue until processing power improves!"
-----------------------------------
"That was black magic, and it was easy to use. Easy and fun. Like Legos." -- Harry Dresden
-----------------------------------
That's what playing Ragnarok Online taught me: There's no problem in the universe that can't be resolved by the proper application of daggers to faces.
Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-14-2003 01:37:55 PM
quote:
Random Insanity Generator had this to say about Tron:
The 9500Pro has been overclocking like all hell and there's supposed to be a BIOS patch for it that will basically make it into the 9800Pro...

And folks we have a winner.

"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
Mortious
Gluttonous Overlard
posted 08-14-2003 01:40:40 PM
Aye, a so-called "soft-mod", but BEWARE.. it's only reported to work on older models of the card.

See if you can pick up a first revision model of a 9500 Pro from somewhere like e-bay. It should soft-mod to a 9800 Pro pretty easily.

Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-14-2003 01:45:00 PM
quote:
Mortious stopped beating up furries long enough to write:
Aye, a so-called "soft-mod", but BEWARE.. it's only reported to work on older models of the card.

See if you can pick up a first revision model of a 9500 Pro from somewhere like e-bay. It should soft-mod to a 9800 Pro pretty easily.


Yeah I just read the writeup on that. Bleh. Back to the drawing board. I have to get the card tomorrow. I can't go without my PC over the weekend. I have work to do.

"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
Burger
BANNED!
posted 08-14-2003 01:46:32 PM
quote:
Random Insanity Generator had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
The 9500Pro has been overclocking like all hell and there's supposed to be a BIOS patch for it that will basically make it into the 9800Pro...

not quite... the 9500pro only has a 128 bit memory interface compared to the 9800/9700 pro's 256bit wide memory interface. At the same clock, it'll only get half the bandwidth.

Bite me.

No, Really. Bite me.

Burger
BANNED!
posted 08-14-2003 01:48:23 PM
quote:
Mortious stopped staring at Deedlit long enough to write:
Aye, a so-called "soft-mod", but BEWARE.. it's only reported to work on older models of the card.

See if you can pick up a first revision model of a 9500 Pro from somewhere like e-bay. It should soft-mod to a 9800 Pro pretty easily.


And the way you can tell that it's a first gen is that all the memory chips are in a line, as opposed to being spread out around the core.

Bite me.

No, Really. Bite me.

Burger
BANNED!
posted 08-14-2003 03:59:31 PM
HOLD THE MOTHERFUCKING PHONE!!!!!

LOOK AT THIS: http://www.knowledgemicro.com/detail.php?p=PC-R9700&c=fr

(here's their page at resellerratings, not amazing, but definatly a reputable company) http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1551.html

That's a 9700 non-pro that'll beat the fuck out of any of the other cards discussed here, and if you can wait for shipping, then that's definatly a contender!

Bite me.

No, Really. Bite me.

Chugga
Pancake
posted 08-14-2003 04:04:28 PM
The 9500 can only successfully be modded into a 9700 Pro, 9500 Pro can't be brought up to anything except clock speeds of the 9700 Pro, don't forget the 9800 Pro uses Smart Shader 2.1 and HyperZ III+ technology, R9700 doesn't support these new features, thus it won't act as a true 9800 Pro.
Mortious
Gluttonous Overlard
posted 08-14-2003 04:18:02 PM
Burger, if you buy from Knowledgemicro then you're insane.

According the their track record they're awful, and according to "The Better Business Bureau of Silicon Valley" they haven't responded to one single complaint. People have had to go through their credit card companies/banks to force refunds.

Way to give good advice.

Azizza
VANDERSHANKED
posted 08-14-2003 05:45:32 PM
Dammit you people are not helping LOL. My insticnt tells me to buy the 5600Ultra. he reviews seem to put it on par with the 9500Pro for the same cost. N0ot to mention nVidias history of being on top and ATIs history of fucking up drivers. But then you all tell me 9500Pro. Grrr
"Pacifism is a privilege of the protected"
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