Couple ??? about 9600XT

[11427]

Ok, so my Ti4400 moved on to another machine and I have not been impressed with the performance of the new 9600XT. So I decided it was time to clean up Windows (thinking maybe some leftover nVidia drivers causing probs). D/L'd latest 3 in 1's, Catalyst 3.10, etc. etc. Formated and started fresh.
Now I'm still not impressed with the 9600XT but I am wondering if I goofed,... I did not use the install disk that came with the 9600XT, just the latest drivers from ATI and I noticed I have no tabs in my advanced display settings. Is this a problem? Then again I didn't use the disk that came with the motherboard, just the latest nVidia NF2 3 in 1's, is that a prob?
Finally, when overclocking should I use the overdrive feature? I suppose that might be a moot (moot,...is that right ;-) point since I no longer have a tab to enable it ;-)

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Mem]

I did not use the install disk that came with the 9600XT, just the latest drivers from ATI and I noticed I have no tabs in my advanced display settings.

Sounds like you downloaded just the driver,I would download the ATi control panel and install that,remember that there`re two packages,one has both the drivers and control panel as a single install setup and the other lets you download the driver and control panel separately ,up to the user to select which one he prefers.

 

[11427]

 

[11427]

Is there ant reason that I "NEED" the controll panell?

 

[Keysplayr]

I suppose you don't NEED it, but it will give you control over most aspects of the installed ATI driver. AA/AF, Color Correction, Smoothvision control. All things you can play with to improve the IQ or performance of your ATI card or tailor it to a specific game.

 

[11427]

Hmmm,... I guess I should have said that I use Rage 3D Tweak. So is there any advantage to using the ATI control panel over R3DT? or should I have both?

 

[NEVERwinter]

just install both, the ATI control panel is easier to understand and R3Dtweak will display more options if you install the ATI control panel

 

[11427]

Update:
Well I finally just formated my HD and did a fresh clean install using only the latest drivers. Now its nice to have a clean machine again but,.... I still am not impressed with the 9600XT,... ah well I supose it'll do for another year or so.

Mark

 

[Dman877]

Well, the dif between a Ti4400 and a 9600 is not exactly night and day. I upgraded from a Ti4400 (when it died last year) to a 9700 Pro and the difference, while noticeable, was not THAT noticeable except in the very newest games (UT at the time). I guess it might depend on which games you play...

 

[McArra]

Have you finally installed control panel? The point of getting a 9600XT over 4400Ti is DX9 features and specially the ability of using AA/AF with a very good performance and IQ, far superior to that in 4400Ti.

 

[Pete]

The 9600XT should be about even in speed with a 4400 without AA/AF, but should be much faster with. Also, you get DX9 compliance.

But a simple review could have told you that won't see a big speed boost going from a 4400 to a 9600XT if you don't use AA/AF.

 

[Blastman]

As already stated the 9600XT won?t generally be a lot faster than a 4400 unless it?s DX9 or AA/AF. But with just 8AF the 9600XT can be well over 2x as fast as a 4400 ?

THG ? 1024x768 ?8AF ?

UT3

4400 ?? 24.6
9600XT ? 57.2

Nascar

4400 ?? 19.2
9600XT ? 50.5

COD

4400 ?? 43.2
9600XT ?55.1

 

[11427]

Yes, agreed. I did not expect a big improvement. I did think I should see a little difference with AA/AF. Maybe its just me. No benchies, just SOTP.

Mark