RADEON 9700 Pro @ 300/265 WTF?***UPDATE***

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Baldy18

Diamond Member
Oct 30, 2000
5,038
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Ok I just bought 2 Powercolor RADEON 9700 Pro cards and installed them.

I ran 3DMark2001 and only got 10,000 when I was expecting to get closer to 15,000. So I tried different drivers but that yielded the same results.

So I downloaded Rage3D Tweak Verson 3.6 and it says that the core is only running at 300 and the memory at 265 when they should be at 325/310. So I try overclocking it with this utility and I can only get it up to 325/285. I took the card out and checked it and it only has 3.6ns RAM that is only rated at 275MHz (Infineon brand).

Both of my cards are like this and I'm angry as heck. Anyone else had this problem or have any explanation as to why my cards are like this?
 
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dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
8,558
3
76
only built by ati cards are garrenteed the full clock, but most companies will do something to make up for the slightly less speed Maybe a game or something. And what are your system specs?
 
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Baldy18

Diamond Member
Oct 30, 2000
5,038
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The website for Powercolor stats that their RADEON 9700 Pro cards run at 325/310 same as the actual ATI cards. Also the website I bought them from say the same thing. Boy, are they going to hear from me.:|
 
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Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
21,476
13
81
The website for Powercolor stats that their RADEON 9700 Pro cards run at 325/310 same as the actual ATI cards
Click to expand...


So does the HardOCP review here

The PowerColor 9700 Pro comes stock at the ATI specified speeds of 325MHz core / 620MHz memory (DDR). With 2.8ns of BGA RAM
Click to expand...

I believe there`s no difference between brands ,all 9700 PRO are clocked the same regardless of brand in question which`s stated above.
 
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DoobieOnline

Golden Member
Jan 12, 2001
1,397
0
0
Definitely get your money back and make them pay return shipping while you're at it. I guess the different brands are actually starting to make their own cards instead of Sapphire/ATi doing it for them. I remember reading that ALL 9700 Pros would be clocked at 325/310, but I guess that's right out the window. :(
 
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jreg

Member
Nov 22, 2002
41
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Where did you buy them from and how much did you pay? Those are some strange default clocks, but the 3.6ns RAM makes it look like a 9700 non pro.
 
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Viper96720

Diamond Member
Jul 15, 2002
4,390
0
0
You sure you got an 9700Pro and not a 9700. Even then the clock speeds are weird. All the 9700 previews says it has a clock speed of 275/270.
 
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Killrose

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 1999
6,230
8
81
Pretty bad when you've been trolled by a company selling 9700tx for 9700 Pro :(

I would complain to Ati as well as PowerColor.
 
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filmore crashcart

Senior member
Dec 18, 1999
684
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You must not have read the thread I recently participated in here .... I also had this card from Googlegear. It was listed as a pro and the product link pointed to the pro card with the standard pro 325/310 speeds. When I got the card installed, PowerStrip showed that it's actual speeds were 298/264.5. Not really "Pro" standards. I emailed PowerColor about the card and RMA'd to Google.
PowerColor emailed me back and stated that it was a "Pro" card - it had the same id number and pin config as a Pro, but was running at the speeds you just listed. They also stated that they had the "other" "pro" with the 325/310 arrangement.
Googlegear took the card back after I complained about the somewhat confusing presentation about it being a "pro" card and they are not charging a restocking fee. In the meantime, I got a Saphire 9700 pro refurb from NewEgg that came in today and it is purring along in my case at 325/310 speeds. The only problem it had was that it did not come with a power connector so I had to "make" one out of some connectors from an old power supply.
Do a search on Rage3D forums and you'll find some warnings about this card. It is an actual pro with 3.6 memory.
 
Spicedaddy

Spicedaddy

Platinum Member
Apr 18, 2002
2,305
77
91
Yeah, after reading that thread at Rage3d it seems it's not only gameve.com, but it's always Powercolor OEM cards...


I say we boycott Powercolor!
 
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filmore crashcart

Senior member
Dec 18, 1999
684
0
0
<BLOCKQUOTE>This is the email I got from PowerColor concerning this "pro" oem. Gee, it sured cleared up my confusion!

Quote

<HR>
Ragarding your concern on our ATI 9700 Pro . Allow me to explain , there
is no different between the chips except that the core and memory speed .
the pins out, etc are identical this holds true for ATI 9700 PRO

The board that you got was based entirely on the ATI 9700 PRO chip ID 4E44
chipset design, memory , resistors, etc the only different was core and memory speed.

I hope that this will explain a little bit of what is going on.
to access ID
number right click desktop, setting, advanced, option, detail will show all
ATI 9700 pro information such BIOS, graphics chipet , ID number

chip id : 4E44 (id for R9700 pro )
core speed : 297 Mhz
memory speed : 263 Mhz
normal setting for r9700 pro & r9700 non-pro --
chip id : 4E44 4E45
core speed : 325Mhz 275Mhz
memory speed : 310Mhz 270Mhz

also we do have ATI 9700 PRO version Core Speed 325Mhz and Memory Speed 310MHz
<HR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
 
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chizow

Diamond Member
Jun 26, 2001
9,537
2
0
Man, this thread got me worried...had to double check my retail and its 325/310.5. It does look like the OEMs are clocked lower as well :(

Chiz
 
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dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
8,558
3
76
yea boy cot power color, my 9000 pro was supposed to be 275 core 275 memory. they gave me 275 core and 250 memory. so i overclocked my core to 320 mhz.
 
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Baldy18

Diamond Member
Oct 30, 2000
5,038
0
0
Interesting email filmore crashcart thanks for sharing it.

They just don't seem to realize that changing the memory chips and lower the clock speeds invalidate it from being a 9700 Pro. I sure hope that ATI realizes that thing like this make people unsure about buying their products and does something about this.
 
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Angus

Member
Feb 11, 2001
167
0
0
hey, where do you buy it from? can you exchange them?

if you can't, you can actually rma both card to powercolor, since it's not function as it is( which is state on the website and onn the box)

 
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Mk1980

Member
May 20, 2002
131
0
0
Give those sh.t cards back to them, you have far more slower these two from official speed cards, wtf, f..k radeon policy,, no problem with this in GF4ti cards line, they haven`t been clocked lower then specs from Nvidia,, manytimes higher for lucky users
 
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Tab

Lifer
Sep 15, 2002
12,145
0
76
Apollo Graphics has also done the same thing with their Radeon 8500 and 9000 line. Damn b@stards, I bought a Radeon 8500 from House of computers and they told me it has 275/275 clock speeds, it ended up to be 250/220. I emailed them, no respone. Oh well, I just killed their reseller rating on Reseller Ratings
 
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Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
9,640
1
0
PowerColor web site lists an XR9700-C3 "Evil Commando 2, Radeon 9700 Professional Edition" at 325/310, and an XR97-C3 "Evil Commando 2 Radeon 9700 gold" at 275/270. No inbetweens. Strange that. Maybe they made a cost reduced version of the former for some unknown OEM, which some other company sells in retail. These things happen. Not funny.
 
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Baldy18

Diamond Member
Oct 30, 2000
5,038
0
0
Ok I called them and had a very nice discussion with Laurence at GameVE. Turns out they list a Powercolor and a Powercolor Special. Whats the difference you ask? The special (which I bought because it was cheaper and seemed to be some hoiday sale) isn't made by powercolor at all.:Q Never did find out who makes it but it runs well just not at the correct speeds. It would be a good card for someone looking for something cheaper and doesn't mind a slight performance loss but the speeds are missrepresented to make you thing it is something it isn't.

Anyway I got my money back and am exchanging it for an actual ATI OEM with 2.8ns RAM, and getting a small discount for compensation. Their people are very friendly and honest if you talk to them but who knew you would have to ask if the cards they are selling are actually the same as the ones they list.
rolleye.gif
 
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filmore crashcart

Senior member
Dec 18, 1999
684
0
0
Googlegear still has this card and it is still listed as a "pro". But now, they now have the 300 core speed plastered all over the product specs. They still don't list that the memory speed at 264 and the link to the product page still has it at the pro speeds of 325/310. PowerColor doesn't have this card listed on their website anywhere as I can see.
Anyway, I'll get all my money back from Gogglegear when they get the card back (it's on it's way) and I got a NewEgg "refurb" Saphire pro with the correct clock speeds. Believe me, I can tell the difference between the two cards. I wonder, just where does this fall in performance with a 9700 non-pro.... I mean, the core is higher but the memory is clocked slower. The memory on the card I sent back was Infenion 3.6's..... Why make this card if it really performs no better than a non-pro?
 
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