Getting new dell: Radeon 9700 tx or pro?

[FortFunFoSho]

Hey everyone!

Bout to get in on the current dell deal and I am curious what graphics card I should get.

They offer the radeon 9700 tx or pro?

Should I bother with the extra $140 extra to get just the radeon 9700 tx? Or would i be better off adding a card after the purchase?

 

[wetcat007]

What is the tx version?

 

[NYHoustonman]

You might as well just add the $140, unless you have another use for the 9700 tx (which is almost definetly a downgraded 9700 non-pro, I would guess) or you think you can sell it, to make it worth it.

 

[edm]

I think the default DELL card is the "64MB GeForce4 MX". Upgrading to the 9700 TX (non PRO) costs $120, while upgrading to the 9700 PRO costs $300.

$180 seems a bit steep imo for upgrading from a NON-PRO to the PRO, since the performance difference isn't a whole lot. I would probably go with the TX (non PRO) and save the $180 bucks.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Nah, in his case, the default card may be the 9700 TX, Dell does have systems like that. And, again, I seriously doubt that the TX is just a non-pro Radeon 9700. I'm betting it's downgraded.

 

[Ferocious]

I read somewhere that the TX only has 4 pipelines.....whereas the PRO has 8 pipelines and a faster clock speed as well.

I'd be wary of buying a card....that you could not research any benchmarks on.

 

[boyRacer]

9700 pro - 325/310
9700TX ~ 263/263
9700 non-pro - 275/270

 

[Budmantom]

The 9700tx is the best bang for the buck, it's clocked at something like263/263 as opposed to 275/275 for non-pro. The default card is like ati rage or somecrap like that. If you don't like it you will have no problem selling it for the $140, my brother-in-law has it and it's a nice card. I too got in on that deal and I too go it, also don't forget the ram 512mb DDR2700 crucial from newegg $70 shipped.

Good luck, I hope you made the right call.
Tom



One last thing, don't get the card if you don't play games but if you do....

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: Ferocious
I read somewhere that the TX only has 4 pipelines.....whereas the PRO has 8 pipelines and a faster clock speed as well.

I'd be wary of buying a card....that you could not research any benchmarks on.

Can anyone confirm this with a link? (about the pipelines)

 

[edm]

Originally posted by: NYHoustonman
Nah, in his case, the default card may be the 9700 TX, Dell does have systems like that. And, again, I seriously doubt that the TX is just a non-pro Radeon 9700. I'm betting it's downgraded.

Even so, the PRO is still a $180 dollar upgrade over the TX. Not sure if it's an actually non pro however, but looking at the specs they provide, it looks like one.