My 9700 will outperform my 5900 in DX9 titles? Oh the agony of it all!!!

As many of you may know, I just bought the eVGA5900. Its an awesome powerful card for games I currently have. E.G. UT/UT2003/Unreal2, Serious Sam, C&C Generals, Giants to name the most played ones. This card offers stunning graphics power, and I just cant believe that the 9600pro nukes it in DX9 titles.

I mean, I believe it, but I don't want to believe it. I still have my Sapphire 9700np. Will my 9700np definately outperform my 5900?
I know some of you will think this is a dumb question because the 9700 beats out a 9600pro. But there is a reason I am asking.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the 9600core enhanced with new shader technology? If so, will it outperform my 9700 in titles that utilize this new shader technology? I was going to sell my 9700 to my friend, but do you all think I should hold on to it for now? Such crap going on in the graphics card industry, mostly on nvidia's part from what I am reading.

So tell me please, should I sell or not sell my 9700np.

Thanks,

GM

 

[nRollo]

This is going to be a war soon.

In any case, the 9700np is a "golden parachute" for DX9. Keep it, or sell your 5900 and get a 9800P.

 

Yup, I knew it.. !@#$%^&*.
Thanks Rollo. I guess I will keep it on the back burner until my 5900 chokes on a DX9 game. Unless some miracle happens.
Crud. I was not counting on being out the money for the 5900 because I was going to use the money from the sale of the 9700 to absorb most of the
cost. Oh well. We shall see I suppose.

But is it true that the 9600's and 9800's have enhanced shader technology over the 9500/9700 series? Just curious.

Thanks,

GM

 

[Corporate Thug]

OC the 9700 NP and you will have a nice DX9 card right there.

sell the 5900 and put the $ towards a new card when the 9700 NP becomes obsolete (and it is FAR from that at this point)

 

[nRollo]

But is it true that the 9600's and 9800's have enhanced shader technology over the 9500/9700 series? Just curious.

Yes it is.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDQ4

* SMARTSHADER 2.1 ? Which gives the 9800 Pro beyond DX9 specs which ATI is calling DX9++. An F-Buffer has been introduced in the R350 core which allows long shader programs to be run much faster then previously and also gives unlimited pixel shader support allowing for a true OpenGL 2.0 compliant VPU.
* SMOOTHVISION 2.1 ? Which is the AA/AF component of the 9800 Pro. This newer version has hardware enhancement of the memory controller for improved AA/AF performance at higher resolutions.
* HyperZ III+ - Which is their Z-Culling technique. The Z-Cache has been enhanced to better handle stencil buffer data for features like shadow volumes.
* The core has been tweaked to allow for higher stable clock speeds.

 

[Richdog]

Originally posted by: Rollo

But is it true that the 9600's and 9800's have enhanced shader technology over the 9500/9700 series? Just curious.

Yes it is.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDQ4

* SMARTSHADER 2.1 ? Which gives the 9800 Pro beyond DX9 specs which ATI is calling DX9++. An F-Buffer has been introduced in the R350 core which allows long shader programs to be run much faster then previously and also gives unlimited pixel shader support allowing for a true OpenGL 2.0 compliant VPU.
* SMOOTHVISION 2.1 ? Which is the AA/AF component of the 9800 Pro. This newer version has hardware enhancement of the memory controller for improved AA/AF performance at higher resolutions.
* HyperZ III+ - Which is their Z-Culling technique. The Z-Cache has been enhanced to better handle stencil buffer data for features like shadow volumes.
* The core has been tweaked to allow for higher stable clock speeds.

Yes with the 9800PRO, but NOT the 9600PRO, that was just rumour. :beer: