Radeon 9600 Pro - Comments/Suggestions?

[techfuzz]

I've been looking for a $100 video card and those cards based on Radeon 9600 Pro chipset seem to fit the bill nicely from what I can tell. It will be used in a P4 2.6GHz computer that will be mainly used for playing The Sims 2.

Do you'll think this would be a good buy or should I be considering something else?

techfuzz

 

[dnuggett]

I currently have a 9600 Pro. I am happy with it's performance with my current games (BFV, Far Cry, America's Army, COD), but I have not tried Doom 3 yet. I decided to upgrade it to a 5900XT because the price was right. If you look around you may be able to get into a used 9700 Pro or 5900XT for the price of that new 9600 Pro.

 

[bockchow]

i went with a 9700pro when i was shopping for a 9600. don't kill yourself trying to find one since it's not that huge of an upgrage. the 9600 is still a great card. the 5900 is on the same level too like dnuggett said. it's just a matter of what you can find the best deal on. where are you looking to get it? online retailer or in the FS/FT forum?

 

[DJQuanta]

Take good care in checking the memory speed of the card before you press the "Buy" button. I bought a Gecube 9600 Pro from Newegg that was advertised with 600 Mhz DDR Memory, and when I received it I checked the memory speed and it was only 400 Mhz DDR. That affects very much the performance of the card, a normal 9600 Pro card should get around 3500 Marks on 3DMark2003, mine gets only 2800.

You should be fine with this card, my crippled Gecube plays very nice games like Splinter Cell and Need For Speed Underground 2, although I had to tune down a bit of details in Need For Speed 'because it wasn't smooth enough for a high speed racing game. I don't play much neither FPS like Doom3 or HL2, or The Sims so I can't comment on that kind of games.

 

[LTC8K6]

Unless you are cpu limited, a 9700pro should fairly well crush a 9600pro. 8 pipes and 256bit memory is a huge difference.

 

[thegimp03]

Yeah, I would go with a 9700 pro.

 

[techfuzz]

A quick check of the FS/T didn't turn up anyone selling either card recently so I might be going with an online reatiler.

techfuzz

 

[meltdown75]

I concur, see the card that I ended up with in my sig? That's a result of Mr. Melty making an uninformed purchase decision! But actually the mfg's website stated that the core was 100mhz faster than what it was (said 500, was 400 - sorry 410 - weird stock clock i know)!

This would be my priority list for ya... Go with (in order of budget):

- 9600 pro 128 meg (don't get the 256 meg - slower memory)
- 9600xt 128
- 9700 pro

Having said that, I'm happy with the POS I ended up with (upgraded from a GF2 card) ... I just think about what I *could* have bought is all... for the money.

 

[leigh6]

My niece is using a crappy mx 440 to play Sims 2 and it is fine for her. I cant believe you need anything better than a 9600 to have a swell time playing it.

I am not an expert at all so take this for what it is worth.

Leigh

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: leigh6
My niece is using a crappy mx 440 to play Sims 2 and it is fine for her. I cant believe you need anything better than a 9600 to have a swell time playing it.

I am not an expert at all so take this for what it is worth.

Leigh

I currently have an mx440 in the computer where my fiance plays Sims 2. It plays ok, but in this new computer the added horsepower won't hurt. I budgeted $100 for the vid card which is why I'm looking at the 9600's instead of something like an X800.

techfuzz

 

[dguy6789]

I would NOT take a 5900XT, because as you should know, the DX9 performance is absolutely terrible, while the 9600 pro will play just about any dx9 game at max settings flawlessly.

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
I would NOT take a 5900XT, because as you should know, the DX9 performance is absolutely terrible, while the 9600 pro will play just about any dx9 game at max settings flawlessly.

DX9 Half-Life 2 peformance is terrible. With games like Doom 3 it does ok.

 

[techfuzz]

Seems that I have stumbled upon a good deal for a used 9700 pro that I'll probably be buying instead of the 9600 pro. How much better off is the 9700 than the 9600?

techfuzz

 

[fell8]

If you can get a 9700 pro for a good price, you should probably go for it.

If that doesn't work out, a good low-cost alternative to the 9600 pro is the 128-bit version of the 9550. It is the same core, clocked slower. These things overclock very nicely. I have gotten memory speeds near 9600 pro levels and core speeds that beat it. This from a card that costs 30-40% less.

Sure it's a gamble, but it paid off for me at least.

 

[J S Jackson]

Too bad you can't come up with the extra cash to get a 9800pro or a nvidia 6600gt. But I DO know what it's like to be on a budget.

I'm running a 9600pro right now and starting to feel the need for an upgrade. It's a great card and served me well the last couple years, but it's just not cutting the mustard for Doom 3 and Half Life 2.

 

[Blain]

An ATI card is a good choice, matched up with your CPU.

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: UsandThem

Originally posted by: dguy6789
I would NOT take a 5900XT, because as you should know, the DX9 performance is absolutely terrible, while the 9600 pro will play just about any dx9 game at max settings flawlessly.

DX9 Half-Life 2 peformance is terrible. With games like Doom 3 it does ok.

Doom 3 is NOT a DX9 game, it is open gl.

 

[techfuzz]

fell8, I'm not going to be overclocking it so I wanted to get something that was going to be good at stock speeds. Plus this computer is only going to be for basic computing and some Sims 2 like I mentioned before. Nothing taxing like HL2 or D3 is gonna be played on it for sure.

J S Jackson, I'd rather save my cash for some extra memory or hard drive space. I still have to find all that stuff including a processor now

techfuzz

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: dguy6789

Originally posted by: UsandThem

Originally posted by: dguy6789
I would NOT take a 5900XT, because as you should know, the DX9 performance is absolutely terrible, while the 9600 pro will play just about any dx9 game at max settings flawlessly.

DX9 Half-Life 2 peformance is terrible. With games like Doom 3 it does ok.

Doom 3 is NOT a DX9 game, it is open gl.

Hence me not saying DX9 Doom 3.

A 5900 plays most games just fine, but I would still take a 9700 Pro or 9800 Pro over a 5900.

I mean, my 5900 plays the Sims 2 great (for my wife of course, not me......really).

 

[dguy6789]

But the thing is, opengl is going out, and dx9 is where most new games are headed, hence if you have good dx9 performance, your future gaming experience will be a good one.

 

[Dashwarts]

Originally posted by: techfuzz
I've been looking for a $100 video card and those cards based on Radeon 9600 Pro chipset seem to fit the bill nicely from what I can tell. It will be used in a P4 2.6GHz computer that will be mainly used for playing The Sims 2.

Do you'll think this would be a good buy or should I be considering something else?

techfuzz

I have a pc almost exactly like yours If it's the HP a250n, It'll keep the sims 2 smooth. Surprisingly, for me, this card made the sims 2 run smoother than the original on a 1280X1024 monitor with the game's settings all set as high as possible.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: techfuzz
Seems that I have stumbled upon a good deal for a used 9700 pro that I'll probably be buying instead of the 9600 pro. How much better off is the 9700 than the 9600?

techfuzz

35% faster minimum. It will really show its advantage when you turn on AA/AF.

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
35% faster minimum. It will really show its advantage when you turn on AA/AF.

Is AA/AF game or card/drive specific?

techfuzz