Buy this 9700 Pro?

[HansSvetty]

They claim it's ATI made but I dont think so. Its got a wierd fan, looks like some mem sinks, samsung ram I hear is good...still could you check it out and give an opinion? I wonder if it has the potential to reach 9800 speeds, and by what means. A modded bios?

Here is the URL: CompuTerra ATi Radeon 9700 PRO 128MB 8X AGP

Or, more directly, here are the specs from there copied below:


ATi Radeon 9700 PRO 128MB 8X AGP 30 days warr
Brand: ATI Technologies Inc
Product Specification

Warranty
30 Days
Manuf. name
FIC A97P
Package Contents
1 Graphics Card
1 S-Video cable
1 Composite cable
1 S-Video / Composite adapter
Setup CD and Power DVD
AGP Interface
AGP 2x/4x/8x
Core Engine
ATi RADEON 9700 Pro
Core Clock
325Mhz
Memory Type/Size
128MB Samsung 2.8ns BGA DDR SDRAM
Memory Clock
310Mhz DDR (620Mhz)
Memory Bandwidth
19.8GB/s (256-bit)
RAMDAC
400Mhz
PCB
Layers 8
Max Resolution
2048 X 1536 X 75Hz
Dual Display
Dual VGA, Dual DVI, VGA+DVI

 

[boyRacer]

Their reseller rating isnt too good... i would rather get one from the FS/FT forums.

 

[Evdawg]

It looks good, but u only have the 30 day warranty. But, theres always ways around that with ATI, or the company u bought it from. I think it looks good, i got mine for 250 retail box with some goodies. Go for it, 9700 is a GREAT card, you wont be dissapointed

 

[HansSvetty]

I did not know about the Reseller Ratings site. Very informative. Gives me pause, as it does you, to read the customer reviews for CompuTerra.

I am looking forward to better visuals in IL2 Forgotten Battles; the 9700 Pro seems to be just the item. My Ti4200 can't keep up at high resolutions, even with no AA or AF, and my system is fairly good- Barton 2500, Gig of Corsair XMS, Asus A7n8X, etc.

How about this one from All Star Shop

It is the "Sapphire RADEON 9700 PRO ATLANTIS 128MB DDR AGP8X"

I've had good luck ordering from them before. Fast, no troubles. Still, I don't know about the memory on this one, do you? I'd like to go for an overclock to 9800 speed somehow, and am seeking a good candidate for that neat trick.

 

[EarthwormJim]

I'm not sure about this but I think all 9700pro's have 2.8ns memory.

 

[HansSvetty]

Thats the sort you need to overclock I believe. Good news.

Or perhaps its bios flashing that is done with these? I must do some research.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: HansSvetty
Thats the sort you need to overclock I believe. Good news.

Or perhaps its bios flashing that is done with these? I must do some research.

bios flashing is done with a 9800, there are no mods for a 9700 pro

 

[HansSvetty]

Good to know. It must have been the 9500 flashed to 9700 that I had read about--I think it was in a listing on eBay.

 

[HansSvetty]

Shady,

I just did a bit of research, and found this sticky post at Sysopt Mod 9800 bios to 9800P

So it seems from responses to the thread over there that converting a 9800 to a 9800P via bios mod works pretty well for the most part, however, success is dependent on the Samsung memory rating it would seem.

Interesting to begin learning about these tricks.

 

[Keysplayr]

It looks as though the manufacturer of that card is FIC. It says so in the product specs. So it's a powered by ATI board.
This is of course if you didn't find this out already. Didn't read all the posts.... forgive..

Keys

 

[Viper96720]

All your doing when going from a 9800 to 9800Pro is increasing the clock speeds.

 

[HansSvetty]

Thats the whole point, isn't it?