Radeon 9700 owners, why do you put up with it?

[Noid]

Hi...

Many of you know that my 9700pro OEM is running at 94 FSB. And I think I'm only limited by my Northbridge.
(I have a waiting order to Newegg for a few Crystal orbs ... one should do good work on my NB)

And .. there are others here (who use NF2) that have thier 9700pro's at 94fsb or higher.

As for the CAT drivers... As ATI stats in the agreement before you download ...

"we dont recommend updating drivers if your not experiencing problems" ... or something to that effect...

I reverted back to 2.5 cats. ... that was my choice ... One should always have a method to revert back to previous settings...

ALSO ... my 7500 ran fine at 94fsb also ... I moved it to my old P3box (click links below)

My 7500 had outstanding performance also ... not as powerfull as the Nvidias that were out during my use of the card.
But I still think the high FSB it handled,, matched the MegaPixel processing of the Nvidias.
(a GforcePro is in a box in a closet)

 

[BFG10K]

I am a little amazed at what ATI has pulled off with the ATI Radeon 9700.

So am I, even more-so when I see how well the 9700 Pro does against nVidia's still unreleased GeForce FX.

It seems to be incompatible with most of the nForce 2 boards,

I don't think so.

it wasn't compatible with the SIS 648 boards when first released,

It's not ATi's fault that flaky vendors don't know how to stick to the AGP spec properly. ATi tested their boards on unreleased Intel chipsets with AGP x8. That is the gold standard and anything below it is the motherboard vendor's fault, not ATi's.

I suppose you think the GeForce DDR was at fault when flaky motherboards also caused problems with it?

For instance, there is a thread in here about a guy with an Epox 8K3A, 400 watt Antec P.S., and a 9700, and the thing posts a garbled mess. People are telling him it's the power suppply. Yeah... right.

And it could well be. The wattage is not the only thing that a good power supply needs.

And yet, people will swear by this card, and I can't understand why.

Because it's the best card I've ever used.

What is the point of having the fastest card if it won't even run on your system?

But it does run, and quite well too.

Or if it won't even post because your AGP bus is a couple MHZ out of spec?

If you run anything in your system out of spec you have absolutely no right to complain about any problems you might have.

And lastly, why do you put up with those ATI drivers?

The drivers are great. I won't pretend that they don't have issues but they do work extremely well for the most part. Plus each new release squashes more and more of the remaining bugs.

 

[nRollo]

"ATi tested their boards on unreleased Intel chipsets with AGP x8. That is the gold standard and anything below it is the motherboard vendor's fault, not ATi's."

YOU LIE BFG10K! THE GOLD STANDARD OF MAINBOARD CHIPSETS HAS ALWAYS BEEN SiS, WITH ALi A CLOSE SECOND! Who needs that Intel crap?! SiS motherboards are far more full featured, stable, and reasonably priced on top of that!

And the tech support! They have a van in an alley down by Fisherman's Wharf, you drop off your board in the morning, pick it up in a few weeks!

Have you seen their new ad campaigns?
"SiS- for when Mom just won't raise your allowance"
"SiS- they all look the same in the case anyway, right"
"SiS- If you deserved better, you wouldn't be reading this ad"

 

[bunnyfubbles]

lol, good stuff. Ali all the way

 

[Spicedaddy]

Radeon 9700 owners, why do you put up with crappy threads like this?

 

[nRollo]

"Listen up fellow tech-heads. My grandma just gave me $100 for my birthday, and I decided to blow the whole wad on a new motherboard. I figure, "I'm studying for the A+, I need the best hardware I can buy, right? "
So I hit Pricewatch.com, a secret buyers club for technicians, and see this:
The Big Kahuna
Well I jump, and get it running great with my V5. My rich buddy Paul bring over his R9700, and it won't work on my top of the line mobo. WTF?!'

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Originally posted by: Rollo
"Listen up fellow tech-heads. My grandma just gave me $100 for my birthday, and I decided to blow the whole wad on a new motherboard. I figure, "I'm studying for the A+, I need the best hardware I can buy, right? " So I hit Pricewatch.com, a secret buyers club for technicians, and see this: The Big Kahuna Well I jump, and get it running great with my V5. My rich buddy Paul bring over his R9700, and it won't work on my top of the line mobo. WTF?!'

I hope that was a joke.

 

[darkshadow098]

i am actually running the Asus A7N8X Deluxe nforce 2 motherboard with the 9700pro and its runnin perfectly i dont see a problem..

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate

Originally posted by: Rollo
"Listen up fellow tech-heads. My grandma just gave me $100 for my birthday, and I decided to blow the whole wad on a new motherboard. I figure, "I'm studying for the A+, I need the best hardware I can buy, right? " So I hit Pricewatch.com, a secret buyers club for technicians, and see this: The Big Kahuna Well I jump, and get it running great with my V5. My rich buddy Paul bring over his R9700, and it won't work on my top of the line mobo. WTF?!'

I hope that was a joke.

look at rollo's post 3 posts above and then decide for yourself if he is being serious on this thread

lofl

 

[SFang]

192 FSB Asus A7N8X nforce2 board with ATI Radeon 9700Pro. Two month already.

Not a single problem for me.

 

[CurtCold]

Originally posted by: Rollo
"Listen up fellow tech-heads. My grandma just gave me $100 for my birthday, and I decided to blow the whole wad on a new motherboard. I figure, "I'm studying for the A+, I need the best hardware I can buy, right? "
So I hit Pricewatch.com, a secret buyers club for technicians, and see this:
The Big Kahuna
Well I jump, and get it running great with my V5. My rich buddy Paul bring over his R9700, and it won't work on my top of the line mobo. WTF?!'

And why it wouldn't work in that sweet mobo no One knows.....RoFL

 

[Deeko]

I've have absolutely no problems with my card, or the drivers, and I've had it since August.

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

Absolutely no problems here with my Radeon9700pro. Catalyst 3.0a drivers a very stable running any games and apps so far. Chipset is i845D. FSB is 156Mhz, memory is 416 (ratio 3:4).

Cheers
Speedy

 

[Creig]

Radeon 9700 owners, why do you put up with it?

Spoken like a true die-hard Nvidia fanatic. My last four cards have been based on Nvidia chips (GF256 x 2, GF2 GTS-V, GF3Ti200) and now I have a 9500 softmodded to near 9700Pro speed. Why? It's the best bang-for-the-buck, just like my previous four Nvidia based cards were. It's totally stable at 174MHz FSB, runs 380/600 all day long. Plus it's a $160 card that whips a Ti4600 and will hang with the GFFX.

Where's the downside?

 

[Ketchup]

Thank you all ATI owners for your time. Most of you gave me just the answers I was looking for, and I appreciate it. I never said I hated ATI, just that I have been a little disappointed with them in the past. ATI has had a bad habit of releasing video cards before they have good drivers for them, but it is good to know they have sorted things out. I am thinking about buying a 9700 Pro when the R350 comes out, just because I think my GF4 is the bottleneck in my current system.

Forums are a great tool for people with problems to let their voices be heard. The only bad part is, you often do not get to hear of all the success stories, such as the ones assembled here. I am sure there are others out there with the same questions I had, who will find this thread useful. So keep the replies coming.

 

[blcjr]

I am thinking about buying a 9700 Pro when the R350 comes out, just because I think my GF4 is the bottleneck in my current system.

While it may a bottleneck, it is not necessarily the bottleneck. I don't have any experience with P4 systems, but I see from your 3d marks report where you are running with the FSB at 161, and yet in your sig you indicate you have PC3500 memory. Is there something about the P4 architecture, or your particular system, that is limiting how high you can go with the FSB. 'cause it sure seems that with that kind of memory, you could push your FSB a lot higher, and your 3d marks would be a lot higher.

 

[Ketchup]

Thanks for the tip, but my Abit utilizes a 3:4 FSB:Memory ratio. When I am running 161 FSB (actually 161.5) my memory is 215 (DDR 430) which is just barely below spec for this stuff. It is also running Cas2 1T, so it is some very good memory. Unfortunately, my CPU is preventing me from going any higher (it's an older BO stepping chip, dated 6/19). Everything CPU related runs great, it is only in gaming that I wish for more speed. Two of my favorite games, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and Hitman 2, run a little too slow at 1280 x 1024 at max detail.

 

[chizow]

He's limited to his FSB b/c Intel's are still multi-locked. With a high stock speed Intel, you're dealing with pretty large multipliers (they still run stock 133mhz FSB, quad-pumped for 533mhz effective). So each increase in FSB would be a significant OC, and if he were to simply sync his FSB to memory, he'd have a virtual fireball on his hands.

Chiz

 

[Brian48]

For instance, there is a thread in here about a guy with an Epox 8K3A, 400 watt Antec P.S., and a 9700, and the thing posts a garbled mess. People are telling him it's the power suppply. Yeah... right.

In regards to this issue (just for clarfication), the problem IS related to the PSU. The Antec pp403x is an outdated design (circa 1997) and the low v12+ (only 12A), is not adequate for today's high end PCs. Intel won't even recommend this PSU for their new line of processors that depend heavily on the v12+ rail. 400w is a lot of power, but it's irrevelant if it's not allocated to the right place. I had the same problem as the original poster.

 

[Ketchup]

Originally posted by: chizow
He's limited to his FSB b/c Intel's are still multi-locked. With a high stock speed Intel, you're dealing with pretty large multipliers (they still run stock 133mhz FSB, quad-pumped for 533mhz effective). So each increase in FSB would be a significant OC, and if he were to simply sync his FSB to memory, he'd have a virtual fireball on his hands.

Chiz

Sync FSB and memory? Are you serious? If I ran FSB in sync, I would lose at least 1,000 3DMarks, unless you meant for my to pull out my majic wand and lower the multiplier on my P4. My score is actually pretty good for a ti4400.

 

[rogue1979]

I am running both ATI and Nvidia in the house. Retail Radeon 8500 128MB @ 312/306, Radeon 8500 64MB @ 300/280, Radeon 9000, Geforce4 Ti4200 128MB @ 300/662, and a Geforce3 Ti200 @ 250/520. Catalyst 2.5 and Win98SE and 2000 Pro for the Radeons, Omega 1.1.82 and Win98SE and 2000 Pro for the Geforces. The ATI's are every bit the equal of the Nvidia's in compatibility, overclocking and image quality.

 

[nRollo]

" ATI has had a bad habit of releasing video cards before they have good drivers for them, but it is good to know they have sorted things out. "

Really? I've used an ATI Mach 32 with 2MB VRAM, a Rage 128, a MAXX, a VIVO, a 32DDR, an 8500 retail, and a 9700 Pro retail. I don't remember glaring driver deficiencies, with the possible exception of some games on the 8500.
What cards are you referring to?

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: ketchup79

Originally posted by: chizow
He's limited to his FSB b/c Intel's are still multi-locked. With a high stock speed Intel, you're dealing with pretty large multipliers (they still run stock 133mhz FSB, quad-pumped for 533mhz effective). So each increase in FSB would be a significant OC, and if he were to simply sync his FSB to memory, he'd have a virtual fireball on his hands.

Chiz

Sync FSB and memory? Are you serious? If I ran FSB in sync, I would lose at least 1,000 3DMarks, unless you meant for my to pull out my majic wand and lower the multiplier on my P4. My score is actually pretty good for a ti4400.

No, I was explaining the reasoning that you're running async and a lower FSB of 161 or whatever. Us Athlon users typically run our FSB and memory frequency in sync at the RAM's rated speed. But yah, if you ran synchronously, you would need nothing more than PC2700 (resulting in a performance decrease that you described).

Chiz

 

[KidChaos]

Thank you all ATI owners for your time.

You jumped on me. Saying "Good for you" and all when I reported satisfaction with my ATi card. Now everybody's puttin the fire on you, so you're changing your tone. Serves you right. Good day, Sir.

 

[daywalker]

Originally posted by: nick1985
nforce2 unstable??? yeah right!

Bios corruptions, problems with overclocking, incompatibility with Creative soundcards, you name it. I have seen tons of examples.

No product is fullproof