ATI 9700Pro Not so fast after all! Just hype?

[Socio]

I had a GeForce 4600ti which died, so today I replaced it with the ATI 9700 (believing all the hype!)and installed the cat 3.1 drivers.
I set the performance for D3D and OpenGL to optimal which was similar what I ran my 4600 at.

I ran the UT2003 benchmark, I was totally disappointed, I only got about one full point higher on the flyby score and 2 points lower on the bot score compared to the 4600. This thing is barley as fat as my old 4600 how the hell can it be as fast as the FX?

I just hope I can return it.

 

[Don66]

If you haven't already, you may want to do a format and reinstall your OS.
ATI drivers don't really get along with previous video cards and such.
Good luck

 

[Viper96720]

What kind of cpu are you using? Just turn on aa and af it'll look better and blow away your 4600
9500pro link shows that even a 9500pro beats the 4600 with aa and af enabled.

 

[Mem]

You don`t need to reformat,you can use Driver Cleaner 1.0 ,

It is for nVidia and ATI drivers. It will remove anything that is left by the drivers after uninstall.

You can download the new version
here .

The feedback has been very good,the instructions are in the readme me file(once unzipped).

 

[Socio]

Originally posted by: Viper96720
What kind of cpu are you using? Just turn on aa and af it'll look better and blow away your 4600
9500pro link shows that even a 9500pro beats the 4600 with aa and af enabled.

I have a P4 2GHz with 1 gig of ram running WinXP so the 9700Pro should fly but it's dragging it's butt on the ground.


I will try that driver cleaner progy and see if that helps

Thanks

 

[Jayczar]

Originally posted by: Socio
I had a GeForce 4600ti which died, so today I replaced it with the ATI 9700 (believing all the hype!)and installed the cat 3.1 drivers.
I set the performance for D3D and OpenGL to optimal which was similar what I ran my 4600 at.

I ran the UT2003 benchmark, I was totally disappointed, I only got about one full point higher on the flyby score and 2 points lower on the bot score compared to the 4600. This thing is barley as fat as my old 4600 how the hell can it be as fast as the FX?

I just hope I can return it.

You ran one lame benchmark and want to return it?
Install some games, turn up all the eye candy and
enjoy. Even if you have to do a complete reformat
you will be a believer!

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Mem
You don`t need to reformat,you can use Driver Cleaner 1.0 ,

It is for nVidia and ATI drivers. It will remove anything that is left by the drivers after uninstall.

You can download the new version
here .

The feedback has been very good,the instructions are in the readme me file(once unzipped).

Kinda OT but is this program a good way to uninstall old drivers before installing new drivers for the same card? Does this card remove all references to the card from the registry?

 

[Mem]

It`s very good here`s the readme file instructions.

Driver CLeaner 1.0
Copyright (c) 2003 MadCat Software.
All Rights Reserved.

---------------------------------------
First Time Usage for XP/XP SP1
---------------------------------------
ATI:
1. Unplug nic card or modem from net or disconnect
2. Remove ATI driver from add/remove programs then remove CP from add/remove programs
3. Reboot into safe mode (F8 during boot up)
4. On reboot into safe mode winXP SP1 will auto detect and install drivers. Just let it do its thing. If you can cancel out of the auto install hardware wizard then skip the rest and run Driver Cleaner! If you can NOT cancel out of auto detect wizard then...
5. Navigate to device mgr->display adapter->uninstall and/or remove ATI display adapter but do not reboot
6. Run Driver Cleaner
7. Empty recycle bin and reboot
8. Install the new drivers and control panel

nVidia:
1. Unplug nic card or modem from net or disconnect
2. Remove nvidia from add/remove programs
3. Reboot into safe mode (F8 during boot up)
4. On reboot into safe mode winXP SP1 will auto detect and install drivers. Just let it do its thing. If you can cancel out of the auto install hardware wizard then skip the rest and run Driver Cleaner! If you can NOT cancel out of auto detect wizard then...
5. Navigate to device mgr->display adapters->highlight nVidia and click uninstall or remove but don't reboot
6. Run Driver Cleaner
7. Empty recycle bin and reboot
8. Install the new drivers


---------------------------------------
Usage of the program
---------------------------------------
1. Uninstall the drivers through the control panel.
2. You will be prompted to restart the pc, you need to do that.
3. After reboot don't install any drivers.
4. Run Driver Cleaner and select ATI or nVidia and click on clean.
5. Install the new drivers.

Remember to visit the DriverHeaven website at http://www.driverheaven.net
for the latest version and information.

Btw it works with Win98 as well.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Just wait for Doom 3 or a game that uses Pixel/Vertex shader 2.0 (DX9 games mainly, besides Doom 3 which is open GL but uses DX9 features), you'll be thankful you got the 9700.

 

[CoolLight]

Try run 3dMarks2003, then you will know the difference.

 

[tc17]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024
Just wait for Doom 3 or a game that uses Pixel/Vertex shader 2.0 (DX9 games mainly, besides Doom 3 which is open GL but uses DX9 features), you'll be thankful you got the 9700.

I never have understood reviews promoting the DX9 in video cards. Nvidia already has beta DX9 drivers, and I have yet to see a game not run on a card just because the cards hardware wasn't built for a certain version of DX. Its the drivers that are important to run DX9 games.

 

[TypeM]

Socio, you might be running a little SLOW on the CPU. I hear the 9700 likes the 3Ghz CPU and begs for more!!!

Also, what MB solution are you running? 850E...845PE..E7205???

 

[Duvie]

Go ahead and return it!!! It is likley you are too dumb to run it and blinded by your love for nvidia products only....I see your other threads and it is clear this is an ati/nvidia competition and not just about true performance. This type of crap irks me about this site.

Do you actually own it, o are you just spreading FUD??? It wouldn't be the first time we have ssen ppl do that here....

ATI 9700Pro Not so fast after all! Just hype?

I mean what a rather fast conclusion....It is almost like you didn't even try or wanted to see it fail. You are not one of those idiots who lives and dies by benches are you???

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: tc17

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024
Just wait for Doom 3 or a game that uses Pixel/Vertex shader 2.0 (DX9 games mainly, besides Doom 3 which is open GL but uses DX9 features), you'll be thankful you got the 9700.

I never have understood reviews promoting the DX9 in video cards. Nvidia already has beta DX9 drivers, and I have yet to see a game not run on a card just because the cards hardware wasn't built for a certain version of DX. Its the drivers that are important to run DX9 games.

uh...of course the games will run. If any company made a game that ONLY ran on certain hardware then they'd go bankrupt in a minute. It only makes sense unlike you

 

[blcjr]

Originally posted by: Duvie
Go ahead and return it!!! It is likley you are too dumb to run it and blinded by your love for nvidia products only....I see your other threads and it is clear this is an ati/nvidia competition and not just about true performance. This type of crap irks me about this site.

Do you actually own it, o are you just spreading FUD??? It wouldn't be the first time we have ssen ppl do that here.....

Why diss the site over this? I don't think it is any worse here than elsewhere. On the contrary, I think it is put up with less than at other sites. Take this thread for example. Doesn't seem to be too many buying Socio's contention. Links have been posted back to Anandtech reviews showing a clear difference. Several reasons have been suggested why the difference is not noticable to Socio (I think his CPU is the limiting factor). What more do you want?

 

[Duvie]

No obviously I am not pissed enough to leave the site, but it makes me sick to constantly see this fanboy stuff....

Anyone who knows me knows I recommend amd systems to ppl as much as I recommend P4's...each situation is different and dependent upon their needs. I also have owned about as many ati as nvidia cards in the last 2 years...I go for performance and quality...no favorites...

 

[EmperorRob]

What OS are you guys using that you are having to re-install?

 

[tRaptor]

Originally posted by: Don66
If you haven't already, you may want to do a format and reinstall your OS.
ATI drivers don't really get along with previous video cards and such.
Good luck

Never had a problem, just Uninstall the drivers in Add/Remove Programs Control Pannel.

 

[Bovinicus]

Why does everyone complain about the performance of the ATi Radeon 9700 Pro without AA or AF enabled? Your CPU is going to be holding you back in games unless you have these options on. Therefore, it will not perform any better than a slower video card. That is why you need to turn on the eye candy, that is where ATi has always shined.

 

[tart666]

I ran the UT2003 benchmark, I was totally disappointed, I only got about one full point higher on the flyby score and 2 points lower

Perhaps you should visit this site before buying cards. The perf gap between 9700p/4600 is about 30% on normal settings and 70-100% on high quality. Either way, you should be seeing more than 1pt difference... Re-format.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Socio
I had a GeForce 4600ti which died, so today I replaced it with the ATI 9700 (believing all the hype!)and installed the cat 3.1 drivers.
I set the performance for D3D and OpenGL to optimal which was similar what I ran my 4600 at.

I ran the UT2003 benchmark, I was totally disappointed, I only got about one full point higher on the flyby score and 2 points lower on the bot score compared to the 4600. This thing is barley as fat as my old 4600 how the hell can it be as fast as the FX?

I just hope I can return it.

At least it runs, unlike your 4600!

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: Socio
I had a GeForce 4600ti which died, so today I replaced it with the ATI 9700 (believing all the hype!)and installed the cat 3.1 drivers.
I set the performance for D3D and OpenGL to optimal which was similar what I ran my 4600 at.

I ran the UT2003 benchmark, I was totally disappointed, I only got about one full point higher on the flyby score and 2 points lower on the bot score compared to the 4600. This thing is barley as fat as my old 4600 how the hell can it be as fast as the FX?

I just hope I can return it.

Havn't I seen this message somewhere else? Do you post on Infogrames by any chance?

 

[Curley]

Maybe he should return it for a different card. I have both cards in pretty much the same setups and I can easily see the difference. I believe the optimal performance setting for the ATI card 2X AA. So if the ATI card is getting the same score as the Ti4600 with no AA, then those scores would be close to acurate.

 

[Richdog]

Anyone else think Duvie needs to chill out a little...?

The 9700 is undoubtedly better than a Ti4600, it was meant for AA and AF and without them at regular resolutions you won't see any difference between the cards, just a little better image quality on the 9700. And you do need a relatively beefy CPU to get the best out of it (2Ghz+)...

 

[Dulanic]

Originally posted by: Duvie
No obviously I am not pissed enough to leave the site, but it makes me sick to constantly see this fanboy stuff....

Anyone who knows me knows I recommend amd systems to ppl as much as I recommend P4's...each situation is different and dependent upon their needs. I also have owned about as many ati as nvidia cards in the last 2 years...I go for performance and quality...no favorites...

And you know what pisses me off? Fanboys who come in and flame people because they aren't jumping up and down happy as hell when they dont notice a HUGE EXTREME performance difference between a 4600 and 9700. There isn't going to be a HUGE difference, yes its faster... but the 9700 Non-Pro isnt going to make someone with a 4600 fall to their knees in shock because it performs 1000x better. Yes it should be faster obviously, Id rather a 9700 myself, but obviously he isn't seeing this.... Id be pretty pissed too if I just dropped over $200 and saw no perfomance gain. Why he isn't seeing this I'm not sure... maybe that driver cleaner will help. Now yes I can agree with you he is jumping to conclusions might fast and is making statements of an idiot.... but don't do the same thing as him. Don't act like a fanboy to insult a fanboy.

You are not one of those idiots who lives and dies by benches are you???

I sure as hell live and die by benchmarks of games I play! Now if he was screaming over 3DMark scores I could agree with you.... but guess what hes not, hes looking at a real game benchmark. But I'm sure as hell gonna compare it in games I actually play.