radeon 9500 pro worth it?

[imported_Reck]

What performance increase could I expect in a athlon 1.2ghz system? I have a geforce 3 right now.

Gah it's so frustrating playing games on such a crappy system. In a few months I'm going to add an athlon xp 2600 or 2800 and a new mobo hopefully.

edit:would a 300 watt psu be suitable for a 9500 pro and athlon 2600/2800 xp?

 

[SrGuapo]

I have no idea about the quality of 9500s so I don't know if I can comment on them. Do you have any budget, or just best for the money without getting crazy? If you could get together $120, You may be able to pick up a used 9700Pro. that will perform much better than a 9500.

Originally posted by: Reck
edit:would a 300 watt psu be suitable for a 9500 pro and athlon 2600/2800 xp?

Assuming it is of good quality, definately.

If you are planning on upgrading your mobo/CPU soon anyway, you may want to look at the Radeon xpress 200 motherboard (onboard visdeo about equivalent to a x600) and an A64 3000+: that will cost around $240. That may be cheaper and give you a MUCH better CPU and GPU. You may need some more RAM for the onboard, as I expect you only are using PC2100 now. At a minimum, I would recommend 512 MB of PC3200 RAM (give 128 or so to graphics). That brings your total to ~$300, depending on what deals you can find. Considering the new mobo, video, and CPU you wanted would cost at least $240 (with the cheapest possible mobo), it seems like a good choice.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

We can't say if it's worth it unless you give us a price figure.

- M4H

 

[imported_Reck]

well i was going to get a used one somewhere between 40-60 dollars as the prices have really come down with the release of the newer cards. a 9700 pro? I seriously would not trust that on a 300 watt psu.

all in all though I should have 180 dollars pretty soon. I was figuring on hitting the used market for parts. on ebay you can find awesome deals esp. since no one wants socket a systems anymore.

 

[SrGuapo]

Originally posted by: Reck
well i was going to get a used one somewhere between 40-60 dollars as the prices have really come down with the release of the newer cards. a 9700 pro? I seriously would not trust that on a 300 watt psu.

all in all though I should have 180 dollars pretty soon. I was figuring on hitting the used market for parts. on ebay you can find awesome deals esp. since no one wants socket a systems anymore.

In that case, I guess you are fine. A decent socket A mobo and 2800+ will run ~$150 retail, so hopefully you could get them used for under $100.

 

[kini62]

I had a 9500pro with an Atnlon 2400XP. It performed well on most everything except DoomIII. I read hear that you can soft ware flash it to 9700 pro specs. I never did it though. Overall, given the year it's a good card.

 

[hitmanx2]

40-60 dollars is not going to get you anywhere near a 9500pro used in the FS/T forum here.

 

[imported_Reck]

Originally posted by: hitmanx2
40-60 dollars is not going to get you anywhere near a 9500pro used in the FS/T forum here.

i dont buy used stuff here people ask for waaayyy too much. From what I've seen most people seem to ask for just under a tad what you could get the product for brand new.

I started a new thread looking for a reasonable mobo is ya wanna help me out.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1552794&enterthread=y

 

[Mojo027]

I had a 9500pro from March 2003 until about a month ago. It was a great card, it was just time for me to upgrade. I would definitely get it if it's only $40-60. It will greatly compliment your system.

PS: You CANNOT flash a 9500pro to 9700pro. You can only flash a 9500non-pro (one that has L Shaped ram, which are very rare now), to a 9700pro.