I just bought a Radeon 9000 for $74 Newegg, dumb or good?

[AnMig]

ATI OEM RADEON 9000 Atlantis 64mb DDR DVI/CRT/TV out, BULK
Features:
Powered By ATI, Produced by Sapphire
Graphics Controller RADEON 9000 graphics processing unit (GPU)
Memory Configuration- 64/MB DDR, 128-bit memory.
Maximium memory Interface :9.6GB/s with 200MHZ DDR.
Connector - Standard DVI (Flat Panel Display) connector
15-pin VGA connector S-Video/composite connector
Bus Interface - AGP2X/4X
Operating Systems Support
Windows 98SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP Model#: RADEON 9000 64M DDR -OEM Special FedEx Saver Shipping $4.00


I know its not the pro version but it will be replacing a Radeon LE so I am pretty sure it will be faster.
I kind of got swayed by anands articles showing that it is a better card than the GE force 4 mx series.
I also had the impression that it is comparable to the 8500. even better at some benchmarks


did I just make a mistake/ should I have just gotten a 8500 le?
I really had to purchase a video card as I am building a system for a co-worker and was planning to give him the radeon le then put this 9000 in my daughters computer.

anybody have any experience with overclocking the non pro version to pro speeds (250/250) i beleive?

It is also one of those "powered by cards" not made by ATI, anyone have experience with ATLANTIS ?

the good thing about it is it has TV out (which I will probably never use)

The rare posts about this Radeon 9000 card kind of scares me. Is everybody staying away from this card for some unknown reason (at least to me)?

 

[Budman]

Atlantis is the model,the card is made by Sapphire.

I have a 8500LE made by sapphire & it works very well.my mem only runs at 200mhz but other than that it's a good card.

 

[McCarthy]

Hey, it's a new card, of course posts about them are gonna be rare. $74 and you have a groovy-fast new video card and are out the door. That's what it's there for, to be a sub-$100 (and yours was only 3/4 of that) performer for real people. 8500 is a wee bit faster, but I haven't seen any for $74 either. That's kinda the point, no?

Enjoy, and let us know how you like it.

--Mc

 

[Adul]

for 74 bucks who cares great deal

 

[AnMig]

Thanks budman

gave me a little relief with my purchase.
I absolutely love my retail 8500 and just hope the 9000 performs close to it.

My daughters computer was showing choppy video in sims with the radeon le so I hope this 9000 cures it.
I was hoping to migrate my 8500 to her computer once the next gen cards arrive , but a opportunity arose to upgrade her card so I took it.

so I guess sapphire does use good ram on there cards since you where able to clock yours at 200mhz (default for le is 140/140 ? and default for retail is180/180 right?)

peace

 

[CrackRabbit]

Im considering getting one of these as well, am i correct in thinking the Catylist Drivers dont work with this card?
Or am i Smoking Crack?

 

[spanky]

remember to give us benchies when u get the card

 

[AnMig]

My BAd

the retail 8500 speed are 275/275
8500 le 250/250mhz maybe lower depending on manufacturer
9000 250/200
9000 pro 275/250


the 8500 le memory is only 200? dam thats cripling, where you guys able to bring it up to 250 at least? I know its not easy since some people have to do voltage mods to get ther le version up to retail versions.

I wonder if I can get the non pro version to pro version speeds, does not look promising if budmans radeon le is only able to do 200mhz (memory) sapphire brand. They must use inferior ram or maybe its the sneaky undervolatge trick that ati has been pulling on all of us to prevent us from bumping the core and memory speed to retail.

peace

 

[Budman]

so I guess sapphire does use good ram on there cards since you where able to clock yours at 200mhz (default for le is 140/140 ? and default for retail is180/180 right?)

No mine came default 250 core & 200 mem. it's samsung ram.

I can take the core up to 290 easy & the ram will OC to 250mhz.

 

[sparks]

I think the Crucial branded cards are also made by Saphire, so the quality can't be bad (IMO).

 

[bluemax]

I'd have grabbed something MADE by ATI as opposed to POWERED by ATI just for drivers... But it'll still be a good card.
You'll find speeds about equal... 8500 maybe a tiny bit faster, but the 9000 has some additional video features for making DVD and other video playback look a lot nicer. Video recording too, IIRC.

In short, the 9000 is what I'm after. I hope they make a VIVO version... I don't need the TV tuner.

 

[DaveSimmons]

(Sapphire Radeon 9000 non-pro $74)
From the Newegg pic it's fanless, which could make it a better choice for home theater PC or quiet PC than an 8500. Let us know how it works once it arrives.

 

[Budman]

I'd have grabbed something MADE by ATI as opposed to POWERED by ATI just for drivers... But it'll still be a good card.

Just for the drivers??? You can get Powered by ATi drivers strait from ATI, here's the link --> Reference Driver Download

 

[KillerCow]

I just bought a Radeon 9000 for $74 Newegg, dumb or good?

In this industry you can't second guess purchases that you have already made. In two weeks there will be a price drop on what you bought, or something better will come out, or something better will have a price drop, or something else will get new drivers which make it better... yada yada yada. You have to decide what you want "now", look a few months ahead to make sure that the industry won't change, and make your purchase... then you are done.

BTW. the 9000 looks like the best buy in that price range.

I kind of got swayed by anands articles showing that it is a better card than the GE force 4 mx series.

That is all that you needed to know.

 

[Judgement]

If I only had/wanted to spend $74 I would have made the same purchase.

 

[ObiDon]

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Im considering getting one of these as well, am i correct in thinking the Catylist Drivers dont work with this card?
Or am i Smoking Crack?

I got "powered by ATI" Catalyst drivers for a Radeon 7000 from the ATI website. Isn't Catalyst a unified driver set? Maybe the 9000 drivers are in there too.

Oh yeah, the drivers work great! I was kind of worried seeing all the posts about horrible drivers including the ones that come on the CD with the card.

It's nice having ATI drivers that actually work for once. I wish I could say the same for my TV Wonder PCI...