Is a Overclocked Radeon 9600 Pro 'better' than a 9500 Pro

[thatsright]

I ask, as I'm trying to make up my mind, between buying the ATI Retail Radeon 9500 Pro or 9600 Pro. I heard that on some review sites, that a stable, O'ced 9600 Pro will top out a 9500 Pro. If I bought a 9600 Pro I'd like to try to O'c it but just with the software and not with out buying anything extra. It really is a tough choice here between the 9500Pro or 9600Pro, see and the thing is that I'm not really that into games as well.

BTW, this card will be for my next system a ABIT IC7 P4c 2.4Ghz & 512 or 1Gb of 466DDR Ram.

Thanks

 

[Mingon]

what about vs an oc 9500?

 

[Blastman]

A stock speeds the consensus seems to be that the 9500pro is a little faster than the 9600pro, although in this ExtremTech review the 9600pro managed to beat the 9500pro.

Basically the 9600 overclocks better than the 9500, but the 9500 was ahead to start and can be overclocked quite well too. Both overclcoked to the max essentially produced a tie between the cards.

firingsquad

 

[bluemax]

If heat and noise are a concern to you, you might appreciate that some Radeon 9600's will be sold using only a passive heatsink. No fan = no noise. Low power consumption = no plug-ins. Less heat = less worries.

but it IS a little slower. I'd gladly sacrifice the small amount of speed to gain a fast, fanless, COOL card for my Shuttle mini-box!

In a big ol' tower with lots of fans, you might as well get the 9500Pro (but if you can afford that, look around for a 9700 non-pro for just a little more! MUCH nicer!)