9500 pro alternative

[gpw11]

So, I was planning on ordering a Saphire 9500 pro, but it seems that NCIX is out of stock and not too sure when they'll be getting them back in. Now I'm thinking I may need an alternative. I could always go for a retail 9500 pro, but I don't really want to spend that much cash. Would it be worth it for a plain 9500, or do they have poor performance? What about the 9600?

Also, if anyone knows any good and cheap online stores that service Canada with Saphire oem 9500 pros in could you let me know.

My system specs currently are:

-Athlon Xp 1800+
-Geforce 3 ti 200
-512 MB pc2100

Now, with those specs would I see a performance drop between the 9500 pro and the 9500/9600, or would the CPU bottleneck it to the point where it wouldn't really matter untill I upgraded?

Thanks for your time.

 

[lazarus000]

newegg has the sapphire 9500 non pro for 165 bucks(free shipping) ... the old pcb that can be soft modded to 9700 pro levels.

bulletpc also has the sapphire 9500 non pro for 149 bucks(with $9 shipping)


158 at bullet
165 at newegg

i paid the extra 7 bucks for Newegg reliability

 

[gpw11]

Yeah, thanks.

Newegg aparently only ships to the US, so that's not going to work. Is BulletPC fairly reliable?

 

[dnoyeb]

I think he was asking for a 9500pro. a non-pro 9500 is a crap shoot if it will get to 9700 levels. Especially now that they dont make the old pcb anymore.
probably better luck on ebay.

 

[Viper96720]

The newer 9600 is better than the 9500. It overclocks well also if your into that. Otherwise wait for the new 5600Ultra from Nvidia.

 

[EdipisReks]

i would suggest the 9600 pro, if you can get one for a decent price.

 

[gpw11]

Hmmmm....should I just go for the 9600 pro even if I can grab the 9500 pro? I was under the impression that the 9500 pro was much better at stock - and I don't really want to overclock untill I have to.

Did they change something with the 9600 pro since reviews, or do I just have bad info?

Thanks again.

 

[tkdkid]

Originally posted by: Viper96720
The newer 9600 is better than the 9500. It overclocks well also if your into that. Otherwise wait for the new 5600Ultra from Nvidia.

Really? According to all the articles I've read this is far from the truth. Can you back this up?

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: gpw11
Yeah, thanks.

Newegg aparently only ships to the US, so that's not going to work. Is BulletPC fairly reliable?

try these:

canada computers
vibe computers
pc canada

 

[chsh1ca]

I was recently quoted by a supplier on the R9600Pro, and it came in at $17 more than the R9500Pro (I'm thinking it has to do with price drops or something).

 

[rjain]

The 9600 is better than the 9500, but the 9500 Pro is better than the 9600. You can still get 9500 pros from some vendors, but prices are going up... about $170-180 last I checked.

 

[sinensis]

Prices are going up for the 9500 Pros. I just got one at Newegg at $177 before they went up again
I bought the Sapphire 9500 Pro Retail.

Like you, my computer was XP1800+ 1 gb PC2100 DDR, GeForce 3 Ti200 128 Mb

The improvement was staggering, the 9500 Pro was a lot better than the 9500 non-pro (64 Mb) that I tested.

 

[Pete]

Tyan just released their 9500 Pro model, so they might be more easily available than others. Try searching for one.

9500P is faster overall than a 9600P, tho. Tho you can OC a 9600P, you can OC a 9500P, too--and due to the 9500P's core being basically double a 9600P's, every one MHz you OC a 9500P core is equal to 2 MHz on a 9600P. The 9600P is no slouch, though.