ATI 9600 Pro 256?

[AC0603]

So it's time to upgrade my video card. Before posting I read most of the forum discussions on this topic and have come to the conclusion that an ATI 9600 Pro card is good for me. I was shopping online and I noticed that there are a few cards out there with 256 MB of memory, instead of the normal 128. For example: PowerColor. Are these cards worth the extra money? I have an Athalon 800MHz processor on a GA-7ZX motherboard. I don't plan on doing intense gaming, but I enjoy some of the not quite so graphics-intensive games (SimCity4 Rush Hour for example). Also as far as ATI partners does anyone have a preference, GigaCube, PowerColor, etc.

Thanks in advance for any info.

~Adam

 

[Blastman]

Originally posted by: AC0603

Are these cards worth the extra money?

No.

fti ? ...

Powercolor 9600pro 128MB ??EZ? ? 400/200 ? $132
Powercolor 9600pro 256MB ? ? ? ? 400/200 ? $151
Powercolor 9600pro 128MB ? ? ? ? 400/300 ? $145

Better off to go for the 128MB 9600 pro. It has 100mhz faster memory and that makes a big performance difference ---- it will run games significantly faster than a 9600 256MB. 256MB is just not needed on a midrange card. 128MB is plenty and they are a little cheaper than the 256MB models.

Some 128MB 9600pro?s are also clocked 400/200 and are called ? ?EZ? or ?Lite? ? versions. They are a little cheaper than the 9600 pro?s which run about $150. It?s better to spend $10-20 extra and get the true 9600pro clocked 400/300.

I should also note, I don?t know what type of graphics card you are using now, but with only an Athlon 800 your CPU is going to be severely limiting your frame rates. If you already have an ATI 7500 or MX440, the majority of your games will not run much faster on a 9600pro. Although, if you ever upgrade your system, the 9600pro would be a nice upgrade.

 

[Blastman]

Also as far as ATI partners does anyone have a preference, GigaCube, PowerColor, etc.

Both seem good to me. I don't like the Gigabyte 9600pro as they use 3.6ns memory instead of the faster 3.3ns stuff like GigaCube, and PowerColor.

 

[AC0603]

Ok, thanks a lot for your help.