Powercolor 9000 PCI available 10/25/02

[Mloot]

Got this e-mail from Powercolor today:



Good news for you!

The Radeon 9000 PCI w/DVI+TV+CRT card will be available on 10/25/02. if you
like to purchase from us, please send $109.00 plus $15.00 of
shipping and handling along with your shipping address, we only
accept US. money order or cashier's check.

Please write to:

PowerColor Computer, Inc.
15318 Valley Blvd.
City of Industry, CA 91746

Attn: R9000 PCI


Please see below link to have the detailed spec. of this item.
http://www.power-color.com/html/rv25p-b3.html

Best regards,

Elton

 

[kenclops]

Hell yeah!

I got the same e-mail as well. So... the question begs, regardless of price, will this be a better video card than a Geforce 4 Mx 440 PCI?

 

[Mloot]

I'm not sure which will be better for general gaming. Granted, the 9000 has DX8.1. Begs the question, does DX8.1 support help your fps or just the look of the games? I assume that most people considering either card (9000 or 440) are not going to be playing games at 1600x1200 with all the eye candy turned on. More likely is 800x600 or 1024x768 in most games, with no eye candy. The PCI bus speed (and the card's own limitations) will limit how high anyone can ramp up the resolution and still keep games playable. In my case, I am more interested in fps (because to me, fps, more than how a game looks, will determine how playable it is), so my interest lies in which card is ultimately faster. Powercolor's website lists the 9000 as being clocked at 250/400. My MX440 is clocked at 270/400 stock. Also, based on PC's photos, the 9000 has a passive heatsink. Another question to ask is how well the 9000 will o/c. The 440 comes with a HSF. I have successfully oc'ed my 440 to 295/485 stable. It may have gone higher, but I was nervous about attempting more. Also, I saw little performance increase in my games with an oc'ed card, and saw absolutely no improvement in 3DMark scores, so I now run my card at stock speeds. I am guessing that the PCI bus speed will severely cripple any advantages gained by overclocking. There is little difference in price between the 9000 and the 440. What I am really interested in is Mingon's assessment of both cards. If there is little difference between the two, I'll be sticking with the 440. For those who want to upgrade older PCI cards, the 9000 may be the wiser choice, just for the fact it has newer technology, and will probably age better than the 440. Anyway, that's my $0.02.

Edit: I almost forgot perhaps the most important difference between the two cards. Looks like the 9000 has TV/out along with a DVI jack. The 440 only has TV/out. That alone may decide some people.

 

[kenclops]

I think dual monitors would be great... however, you'll have to buy a DVI to CRT adapter to run a second CRT instead of a DVI.

Here's my thoughts. With a Geforce 4 Mx 420 PCI, I am able to run UT2K3 at 800x600 with all the eye candy and settings at High for World Detail and Player but Normal for Texture; however, framerate at times is a little choppy. I figure that with the increase in core speed and memory, and bandwith, in the Radeon 9000 PCI along with the Direct X 8.1 Support that I should be able to run the game on it's highest settings and achieve a high framerate count.

 

[trikster2]

Well now I'm really undecided.

This card costs nearly twice as much as the 7500LE.

I could upgrade my Duron 1ghz to an XP 1600 and buy the 7500LE for the price of the 9000 alone.

I guess I'll wait for some benhmarks and some impressions of the 2D quaility...........

Seems like it's about time for another PCI card roundup!

 

[kenclops]

I was re-reading the e-mail and I noticed a discrepancy. In the subject header, the date says the 28th, but in the letter it says the 25th. Strange.

 

[Mloot]

Yeah, it reads that way, so I called their office earlier today and was told it would be available "next Friday."


Edit: This is what I'm really want, even more than the 9000:

128mb of PCI shuweeetness!

 

[trikster2]

I just noticed that the picture of the Evil Commando Box on the powercolor web site says:

"Best Buy Edition"

So I guess I'll just wait few weeks and save the $15 on shipping.

This is "powered by ATI" not a true ATI card.

Wonder if the 2D and overal quaility will be as good as ATI cards?

WOW

Pasive heat sink. I like it!

 

[Mloot]

Does "Best Buy Edition" mean that it will be sold at BB, or does it mean that Powercolor recommends this card for being a good value? Also, if BB does sell this card, you almost can guarantee they are going to mark up the price. You might be better off paying the shipping.

 

[GetInMyFatBelly]

How does the Powercolor compare to the Hercules PCI 9000 card?

 

[kenclops]

Sweet Bunny Loafs!!!

A 128 MB Geforce 4 MX440 in PCI! But, that damn price makes it entirely not worth purchasing it. $265.00

EDIT: That's in New Zealand dollars. So, that leaves me with a question: where can we find a Geforce 4 Mx 440 PCI in 128 MB fashion in the U.S.?

 

[Mloot]

As of now, I don't think you can. I have contacted all of the USA Innovision distributors listed on Innovisions website, and none of them are carrying it. Some of them had not even heard of this card. I also contacted that company in NZ and here's the response they sent me:


Sorry No International Orders


All the best for now

Zahid M Jawad

Product Manager



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-----Original Message-----
From: nesquik@juno.com [mailto:nesquik@juno.com]
Sent: Friday, October 04, 2002 3:34 PM
To: Zahid Jawad - Computer Link
Cc: prolink@serv.prolink.com.tw
Subject:


To whom it may concern:

I am very interested in your MX440 PCI 128MB video
card, however, I live in the U.S.A. Can I purchase this card and have
it shipped to the U.S.A? If so, what would be the purchase price and
shipping price? Thank you.



nesquik@juno.com

 

[kenclops]

I've thought about the Geforce 4 Mx 440 PCi 128MB card, and here's a question... with a core such as the one implemented in the Geforce 4 Mx 440 PCI, can such a card benefit from 128MB?

 

[Mingon]

Does it matter ? it wont slow it down and in something like jedi knight it will probably add a couple of fps

 

[EdipisReks]

since PCI cards don't have the advantage of AGP Texturing, the more onboard ram, the better. however, i don't think that a PCI card that costs more than $100 is worth it. afterall, motherboards with AGP slots aren't that expensive, especially for the AMD crowd (a nice SIS K7S5A board might cost you $50).