ATI Radeon 9550...

[Fjive]

Is this card like a Direct X 9.0 version of the 9200 ? because I just got it and its slow on Homeworld 2...with AA and some settings to 'High'...thinking should I return the card for a 9600pro/XT....but i'm short on budget...any card that has the performance between this and the 9600pro/XT ?

 

[Fjive]

which is a better upgrade ? another stick of 512 DDR ram or upgrade to 9600XT ?

 

[FreemanHL2]

whats your rig?

 

[halfadder]

9550 uses the same core as the 9600, it's just lower clockspeed and, if I recall correctly, only supports 64 bit ram.

 

[Fjive]

I have...

Sempron 2600+
512mb DDR 400 Kingston Ram
Seagate 120gb 7200rpm SATA hdd
Abit NF7-S2
Gigabyte ATI Radeon 9550 128mb (128-bit)


I have enough budget for either a 512mb ram upgrade or a 9600XT....but which is good for my setup ?
Anyway i've just tried the HL2 demo on my machine, with 800x600...settings are low to medium....things seems to run pretty smooth...

 

[halfadder]

Cool, I didn't realize that there was a 128-bit version of the 9550.

Upgrading to a 9600 XT won't give you a huge boost. The only difference will be faster GPU clockspeed and faster gfx RAM. You already have the same core and you already have the 128-bit gfx RAM. If you want a bargain gfx upgrade, you should consider buying a used 9800 Pro from someone who's upgrading to even newer gfx. Have you tried overclocking your 9550 for now?

1 GB RAM is always nice, so keep the RAM on your wish list. But I think you'll find a faster gfx card would help you moreso. (And I wouldn't recommend upgrading to anything less than a 9800 Pro)

 

[Pciber]

Either one doesn't offer too much much of an upgrade..I'de recomend another 512mb of ram, though, because it will probably give you more of a performance boost.

It might be worth your while to save your money for a bit longer, and go for a 9700/9800 series video card.

*edit* wow, beat me to it, halfadder, will yah?

 

[Fjive]

hmmm...is there a good tool for over-clocking my card ? btw it has passive cooling...but i have 2 case fans...and another dumb question...this is my first ATI graphic card...so urm..how do u check the driver version ? i'm using the driver bundled with Gigabyte, should i switch over to ATI's catalyst ?

 

[Fjive]

hmmm...is there a good tool for over-clocking my card ? btw it has passive cooling...but i have 2 case fans...and another dumb question...this is my first ATI graphic card...so urm..how do u check the driver version ? i'm using the driver bundled with Gigabyte, should i switch over to ATI's catalyst ?

 

[otispunkmeyer]

yes there is it called ATI tool, and it will find your maximum core and memory clocks.

id expect the 9550 to reach 9600 or even 9600pro speeds with little troublem after all power colour were basically over clocking 9550 chips and selling them as 9600's

jus google ati tool, bt id start out manually u know, a 10% increase is a good place to start when ocing

 

[Spikesoldier]

so i guess this is even worse than a 9600LE

 

[memories2002]

No, the 128-bit 9550 is a better buy than the 9600SE.
And yes, youre better off upgrading to ATIs latest catalyst 4.12 drivers from ati.com