OEM radeon 9700 pro - Underclocked?

[BobFribber]

Just out of curiosity, are any of the Radeon 9700 pro 3rd party (powercolor, sapphire, etc) OEM boards underclocked?

Every site I've seen says that all the OEM boards are (for once) clocked 325Mhz. the same as retail..... but I'm talking with a retailer who says that the OEM powercolor 9700 pro are clocked at 297Mhz, not 325Mhz. Every website I've checked shows that the powercolor 9700 pro, even the oem, is clocked at 325Mhz, so I think this guy is just WRONG. I don't think he's actually even tested it, I think he's just going by precedent, like on how previous ATI cards, the OEMs were clocked lower.

I would assume that they are mistaken somehow, and either they have the clock speed wrong, or this is actually a 9700 NON-pro OEM, which WOULD be clocked at 300Mhz, but they EXPLICITLY state that it is INDEED a 9700 PRO, along with the appropriate powercolor model number.

Does anyone know if there's any truth to this? Or better yet, anyone OWN an OEM powercolor 9700 pro, who can testify?

Thanks all.

 

[filmore crashcart]

Please read this. He is correct, PowerColor is selling a card labeled a "pro" oem at clock speeds of 297/264. they don't advertise it on there site...... a little bit of deception.
Oh yes, I can testify to this as truth for I bought one of those da** things and had to return it to get a real "pro". Actually, they are cheaper so you get what you pay for.

 

[BobFribber]

Ah... thanks so much! I sorta suspected something was up...the emails I got from the techs at googlegear were mighty suspicious. They're trying to tell me it's an OEM and THAT is why it's clocked lower...nothing doing!

 

[Pacfanweb]

Can't you just clock it back up to normal speeds? If so, would that make that particular card a good deal?

 

[BobFribber]

Well, the fact that you shouldn't have to clock a card back up 25 Mhz in order to make it what it's advertised as being notwithstanding, the ram is too slow for much in the way of OC. Instead of taking a 325Mhz card up 40-50 more Mhz, you end up with a 300Mhz card that struggles to reach its supposed intended clock speed of 325Mhz.
From what I understand, a lot of people are angry at Googlegear and Powercolor for selling them a card that's advertised under a specific name, and giving them a low-rent substitute instead. It's like ordering Coke and getting generic grocery store cola in a coca cola can.

 

[Wolfsraider]

t's like ordering Coke and getting generic grocery store cola in a coca cola can

nice analogy