ATI 9500 PRO vs 9600 XT?

SneakyStuff

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2004
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I think the 9600XT would come ahead in most instances, just because of the faster core and memory, not to mention you can just overclock it. But you can't ignore the 9500 Pro's 8 pipelines, that is TRULY a rarity in the mid-range section. I'm gonna have to say you really can't go wrong with either, both have strong Direct X performance.
 

Concillian

Diamond Member
May 26, 2004
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I think there's no doubt that the 9500 Pro is faster, especially as pixel shading becomes more and more important. The extra pipeline speed of the 9500 Pro has shown advantage over the 9600XT in several benchmarks... this seems especially apparent in games that are heavily shader dependent like Far Cry.

Tom's VGA Charts IV clearly illustrates the point. The only games the 9600XT beats out the 9500 Pro in are Call of Duty and Flight Simulator 2004.
This while the 9500Pro does better in UT2004, Doom3, Far Cry, Joint Operations, BFV, and whatever the last game is (DTM) Race Driver 2 (never heard of it).

You can also se ea trend towards slightly less dependence on memory bandwidth as the distance between the 9700 and 9500 Pro is less significant on many of the newer games. (where the only difference between the two is 128 bit memory on the 9500 Pro and 256 bit memory on the 9700, other wise same physical core, same speeds for core and memory.) Since it's looking like newer games are more pipeline dependent than bandwidth dependent I'd have to go with the 9500pro.

Especially when you factor in that the 9500 pro overclocks, as the 9500 pro is almost guaranteed a t 50MHz overlcock, while the 9600XT is more likely to get in the 70-80 Mhz range (with half the pipelines this is LESS than the 9500pro), I'd have to call the 9500 pro the clear winner.
 

Concillian

Diamond Member
May 26, 2004
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Originally posted by: SneakyStuff
I think the 9600XT would come ahead in most instances, just because of the faster core and memory.

Just the facts:

9500 pro is ~10% faster in fill rate:
9500 pro = 8 pipelines x 275 MHz = 2200 Mpixels/sec
vs
9600XT = 4 pipelines x 500 MHz = 2000 Mpixels/sec

The 9600XT is ~11% faster in memory bandwidth
9500 pro = 128 bit x 270 MHz x 2 (DDR) / 8 bits per byte = 8.64 GB/sec
vs.
9600XT = 128 bit x 300 MHz x 2 (DDR) / 8 bits per byte = 9.6 GB/sec

9600XT is faster in memory, and the 9500pro is faster from pixel pushing standpoint.
 
Jun 14, 2003
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9500pro i have one.....it plays any games i throw at it......it rocks

there is no replacement for displacement.....(forced induction aside)

its aa and af may not be as efficient at the 9600 as 9600 is newer but naff that...the 9500pro jus has more raw power and mine oc'd to 375mhz !!! hahaha
 

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
8,558
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Ok here is how it is, contrary to popular belief

9600XT>9500pro>9600pro>9600>9500

Thats how it is plain and simple. There are a few exceptions once in a while but this is how it goes for the mass amount of games.
 
Jan 31, 2002
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Originally posted by: dguy6789
Ok here is how it is, contrary to popular belief

9500pro>9600XT>9600pro>9600>9500

Thats how it is plain and simple. There are a few exceptions once in a while but this is how it goes for the mass amount of games.

Fixed that for you. ;)

And yes, I've done head-to-head with my 9500pro and a friend's 9600XT.

- M4H
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
11,679
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Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Originally posted by: dguy6789
Ok here is how it is, contrary to popular belief

9500pro>9600XT>9600pro>9600>9500

Thats how it is plain and simple. There are a few exceptions once in a while but this is how it goes for the mass amount of games.

Fixed that for you. ;)

And yes, I've done head-to-head with my 9500pro and a friend's 9600XT.

- M4H

Lol i agree. Even more so if you have the NP w/ L shaped memory so you can softmod to 9700Pro.

-Kevin
 

Cdubneeddeal

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2003
7,473
3
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My vote is for the 9500 pro. Don't let the higher model number fool ya. My old 9500 np non soft smoked my friends 9600xt. Ok maybe not smoked..but it did beat it :)
 

JBT

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
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I had a 9500 Pro, That thing was sweet. I belive it beats the XT in most benchmarks though I think the XT uses less power and produces less heat if thats an issue for you.
 

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
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Originally posted by: SneakyStuff
I think the 9600XT would come ahead in most instances, just because of the faster core and memory, not to mention you can just overclock it. But you can't ignore the 9500 Pro's 8 pipelines, that is TRULY a rarity in the mid-range section. I'm gonna have to say you really can't go wrong with either, both have strong Direct X performance.

Yeah, or at least it was a rairty in the mid-ranged market. Now, it's the standard (6600GT/X700 series/X800SE/6800SE).
 

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
8,558
3
76
Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Originally posted by: dguy6789
Ok here is how it is, contrary to popular belief

9500pro>9600XT>9600pro>9600>9500

Thats how it is plain and simple. There are a few exceptions once in a while but this is how it goes for the mass amount of games.

Fixed that for you. ;)

And yes, I've done head-to-head with my 9500pro and a friend's 9600XT.

- M4H



No you broke it. Look at some reviews. The 9600XT is faster then the 9500 pro. Either you cant read or your lieing when you said you did benchmarks.
 

daveybrat

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jan 31, 2000
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I love my 9600XT in my second computer. I like it for the low power consumption and it's a nice small card that runs cool and quiet. And of course has no problems with any of today's games :)
 
Jan 31, 2002
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Originally posted by: dguy6789
Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Originally posted by: dguy6789
Ok here is how it is, contrary to popular belief

9500pro>9600XT>9600pro>9600>9500

Thats how it is plain and simple. There are a few exceptions once in a while but this is how it goes for the mass amount of games.

Fixed that for you. ;)

And yes, I've done head-to-head with my 9500pro and a friend's 9600XT.

- M4H



No you broke it. Look at some reviews. The 9600XT is faster then the 9500 pro. Either you cant read or your lieing when you said you did benchmarks.

Yeah, if your favourite game is 3DMark. :p

From the THG link above, since the digit-life / ixbt seems to be broken:

9600XT
ePenisMark03
CoD
FS2004

9500Pro
AquaMark3
UT2004
Doom 3
FarCry

Joint Ops
BF:V
DTM Race Driver 2

Games that matter worth a sh!t are listed in italics. ;)

- M4H
 

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,211
50
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I had a 9500pro. It was quite a little powerful card with the 8 pipes. I had a problem with scrolling bands in 2d so I got rid of it. May have been just the revision. It was a BBA 9500pro. I never owned a 9600XT so I can't comment on personal experience. However most bench sites list 9500pro's ahead of 9600XT besides 3Dmoron2003, CoD and FS2004.

9500pro all the way.
 

Concillian

Diamond Member
May 26, 2004
3,751
8
81
Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Yeah, if your favourite game is 3DMark. :p

From the THG link above, since the digit-life / ixbt seems to be broken:

9600XT
ePenisMark03
CoD
FS2004

9500Pro
AquaMark3
UT2004
Doom 3
FarCry

Joint Ops
BF:V
DTM Race Driver 2

Games that matter worth a sh!t are listed in italics. ;)

- M4H

Yeah, if you look I tried that in the third post in the thread. Doesn't help, I guess people don't read. It is funny that people who say 9500pro is faster can provide links but the people who say the 9600XT is faster somehow the 'link' button doesn't work.

Also take a look at what games the 9500pro wins in. Mostly SM2.0 games. So it would appear the 9500pro is also a better card for future games than the 9600XT.