9700-9700 Pro questions

[ginfest]

Hi,
I've been dying to get on the ATI bus but hoped for an "under $300.00" more like $250.00 price. It seems that the 9700 is closer to my price and although the 9500 is supposedly a great low-cost alternative it has some "stripped down" features like the 128 vs 256 memory bus etc. that I don't want. Seems to me that the 9700 has all the features of the "Pro" just lower clocked.

Can the 9700 be OC and if not, how much performance loss from the 9700 Pro? Can the 9700 realize the AF/AA benefits of the "Pro"?
These are the kind of questions I'm considering b/4 I buy any comments or suggestions welcome.

TIA,
Mike G

 

[Ben88]

It looks like you might be able to overclock the 9700 to pro speeds. I would wait a couple of weeks to see how things iron out.

 

[bikinistud]

ya within the next few weeks there should be a reliable way of overclocking that 9700 to 9700 pro speeds. I have been hearing that all it takes is a bios upgrade. Anyway, the difference you will see between the 2 could differ from game to game but it is not a $100-$150 difference. So go with the 9700 and you should be set.

 

[Slappy00]

just remember that ATI might be wise to that BIOS hack and have lower quaity memory for the 9700

so the core might be able to clock, but not the memory

just speculation... but they would have to be dum-asses to have the same memory, with just lower clock speeds

 

[rbV5]

just remember that ATI might be wise to that BIOS hack and have lower quaity memory for the 9700

9700=3.6ns memory
9700pro=2.8ns memory

 

[AnAndAustin]

The Rad9500PRO can handle AA and AF with the tiny perf hit just like the Rad9700PRO so the Rad9700 is more than capable. The Rad9500PRO can run ALL current games in a good res with full AA and AF so I don't think you'll find the full Rad9700PRO truly worth the extra over the Rad9700.

In terms of o/c'ing the Rad9700 to 9700PRO type speeds, it shouldn't be all that difficult nor technicly limited and some users have successfully hacked or flashed the BIOS as described below, but do note that it's not as simple as flashing the 9700PRO BIOS over the 9700 BIOS, what you need to do is edit the BIOS or flash a pre-edited BIOS which will allow sw to dictate the clock speeds. Of course success and attainable clocks will vary as implementations of 9500PRO and 9700 will, esp with the inevitable variance in the implimented memory by the various manufacturers as well as the obvious natural variations.

Warp11: "I did a comparison of the 9700Pro BIOS, the 9700 non-pro BIOS, and the 9500Pro BIOS and was able to find the one hexidecimal value that is keeping the 9500Pro and 9700 non-pro from overclocking. Address Line: 00000070h, Originally: 44 76 4E 37 91 08 02 10 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00, Edited: 44 76 4E 37 90 08 02 10 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00. ATi is setting the same hex value on the 9500Pro and 9700 non-pro to keep them from overclocking. I tested this change on both a 9700 non-pro and 9500Pro and it works. All of the overclocking utilities functioned correctly...Rage3D Tweak works great with it!" To fix the checksum you can change byte 0xcfff from 6e to 6f.

Rage3D thread

 

[kylebisme]

were i buying a card today i would go for the 9500pro or maybe the 9700 if i was feeling loose with cash. granted i dont regret buying my 9700pro as it has done me much good over the months but it is more power than i still realy need.

 

[Emultra]

I'd wait until GFFX comes out to benefit from the probable price drop of the Pro.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: Emultra
I'd wait until GFFX comes out to benefit from the probable price drop of the Pro.

I agree.
Waiting for the next big thing doesn't usually pay, but right now, the R9700 is the only big thing it seems, and priced thereafter.
When the GF FX comes out, it'll probably best the 9700 in most/all areas, and be damn expensive, but it'll hopefully drive down prices of the R9700 a bit.
It's still too damn expensive for a toy.

 

[TheWart]

Well, you could wait for the GeforceFX, but then you might as well wait for the R350 then too.....

 

[Slappy00]

Well, you could wait for the GeforceFX, but then you might as well wait for the R350 then too.....

and on and on it goes

 

[ginfest]

Thanks for all the replies, great food for thought.

I'd wait until GFFX comes out to benefit from the probable price drop of the Pro.

My thoughts exactly but I don't think that I can hold out until GF FX is released and am pretty sure I'm ready to go 9700.

I had set limit of around $250.00 to spend which falls in line with the 9700 prices at Newegg, I'm off to order!

Thanks again,
Mike G

 

[AnAndAustin]

Would you mind getting one for me ... in fact I'd be hugely happy with 'only' a Rad9500PRO

 

[TheWart]

Ginfest, I really hope you enjoy the card, it is amazing!

Be sure to get those DX9 Demos from the ATI site!

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: Emultra
I'd wait until GFFX comes out to benefit from the probable price drop of the Pro.

i dissagree, here is my logic from another thread:

i don't see that happening this time if the fx going for 600-500 retail sence currently the 9700s are at 400-300 and a 9500pro is only 200, all retail. ati doesnt realy have to drop its prices to compteate, at least not unless the fx is way more than nvidia hyped it up to be which is just realy an abusrd notion to entertain.

 

[Budmantom]

Is the 9700 the same as the 9700tx that is being sold with the Dell 8250's?

 

[AnAndAustin]

Knowing Dell I would imagine the 9700tx is actually a slower clocked std 9700 ... but you never know

 

[Budmantom]

Thanks AnAndAustin. 263/350

 

[john3850]

i just got a oem 9700pro . clock 300 mem 275 3.6 infuron ,how can i tell if it is a pro,receipt says pro,serial # says built by ati. most non pros clock are 275.

 

[kylebisme]

pros are 325/310

 

[TheWart]

Yes, just wanted to confirm what the last poster said about clock speed.