9600 LE: what is it???

[xbdestroya]

I've been lookign for a good fanless video card to put in my new system, basically as an alternative to the integrated graphics that are going to come on the motherboard. I think I've decided on the Radeon 9600 and soem ATITool usage to overclock it, but in my searched I've come across soem 9600 LE chipset cards as well. As far as I can tell, they are exactly identical to the regular 9600.

Now, in case you think I'm confused and mean the SE version, I'm talking LE. 9600 LE. 128-bit, 325 clock speed. Is there something I'm missing here?

 

[mwmorph]

looks like it has a r350 core from the 9800 series. weird. but seemingly crippled version that cant clock nearly as high as stock 9800pro speeds. also it's got 128bit so it's sorta like a crappier 9800se.

 

[imported_MadMac]

Well the only reference I could find to a 9600Le was on ATI's website stating that ABIT made a 9600LE with 256mb ram. But searching ABITs site I couldn't find that perticular product. Kinda weird.

There seems to be alot of foriegn websites mentioning both a 9600 Le 256mb version and a 128mb version.

Found a tigerdirect 9600Le from Connect3d. Well you go to their site and there is no mention of it. I wonder if these are like 9800's that couldn't handle the clock speed or something.


edited: fixed a mistake

 

[mwmorph]

http://forums.devhardware.com/...on-9600LE-overclocking

SammyXp
I bought a Jetway Radeon 9600LE ($65, at NewEgg) for my non-gaming machine and I'm trying to tweak a little more performance out of it. I ran ATI Tool and the max core speed I can get out of it is 335MHz. It's an RV350 core (according to ATI Tool) so you'd think it could go to well over 400MHz. What would keep it from going higher? I've got fans on both sides, ramsinks, using arctic silver 5, and the card actually feels cool to the touch.
On top of that, the Samsung 3.6ns memory on board won't clock higher than 240MHz without artifacts.

Would flashing my bios to a regular 9600 or a 9600pro help?

System info:
P4 2.0A Northwood @ 2.7GHz (135MHz x 20)
ASUS P4S800
Kingston PC2100 512MB @ 336MHz
430w Mustang Power Supply

The Asus P4S800 is supposed to have a locked AGP/PCI, but I can't find anything in the BIOS setup about it.

 

[xbdestroya]

Yeah I was thinking they might be bogus cores or something else but then I saw this quote on NewEgg and it seemed to me to indicate not only was it as good as the 9600 spec-wise, it assured some good overclockability:

True.Rooster,11/8/2004 4:20:10 PM

I got this card today along with a Thermaltake Giant III Cooler for it. With the Giant III I managed to overclock it to a stable to 500 Core / 500 Memory - I plan on going higher with the memory once I replace the thermal tape on the ramsinks with Artic Silver Paste. Overall I give this card a 5 stars - With upgraded cooling it performs extremely well for the gamer on a budget.

I think I'll play it safe though and get a regular 9600 and go from there - the LE just seems too sketchy.

Unless someone else has a rec though for a decent video card with passive cooling?