Should I return my 9500 for a pro or a 9700 or ??

[Markfw]

This is my dilemma. I just got a 9500 (non pro), and I already had the 3.1 drivers and a Radeon 8500 before, so I just changed cards. After 98 found the new cards and added drivers, I just checked, and the Cat drivers were still there. Then I installed DX9. I ran 3dmark2001se and got 9300, and then 3dmark2003 would lock up, so I booted my 2000 partition, repeated the same procedure, and reran 2001se and got the same score. The I ran 2003, and it worked fine and gave me 1693.

So the question is, are these OK ? How much better is a standard 9500 pro ? (not overclocked) I saw somebody getting like 3000 with 9500 pro. Is that realistic ? What about my score ? Is that realistic or too slow ? I just need help deciding on whether to keep this card. It looks great BTW, even better than the 8500 at the same resolution.

And the lockup on 98 could be that I need to do a scratch install (which I hate, 50 applications later) I may try the delete the hkey_local_machine/enum/* and then the INF files trick.

 

[CurtCold]

Overclock the 9500 to pro speeds, or try the softmod to a 9700 if you have the right 9500. If you want even more p0war then get the 9700.

Either way, as long as it runs your games fine, then I wouldn't worry about 3D mark.

 

[Markfw]

I'm not one to softmod, or OC, I will just spend more money if I need to. The question is, am I seeing a normal score ? Do I have the drivers installed correctly ? What is normal for this card. Someone suggested that I should re-do the driver install, and that is why the test4 shows as unsupported, since it should be supported, and then my scores would also go up.

So, the real question is, what is normal for a stock 9500 ? What is normal for a stock 9500 pro ? In Toms "Toms VGA charts, they look pretty close, but I was seeing 3000+ score on a pro in 2003, and I got 1693. It was also suggested that the missing test4 kills my score, so if I fixed the drivers, and then it said it was supported, I would be really increase my score. How can it work so well on my games, and 3dmark doesn't even know it is a 9500 (even though it says it is in the text, just no test4) ?

Edit: could the card be defective, and the texture doesn't work , and that is why it says unsupported ?

 

[Spicedaddy]

plain 9500 --> 4 pixel pipelines

9500 Pro --> 8 pixel pipelines like the 9700/9700 Pro


The Pro is a much better purchase IMO...

 

[rbV5]

You need a clean driver reinstall, test4 is supported by the 9500, the fact it won't run indicates a problem. Then decide.

 

[Cuular]

plain 9500 --> 4 pixel pipelines

9500 Pro --> 8 pixel pipelines like the 9700/9700 Pro


The Pro is a much better purchase IMO...

from SpiceDaddy

The 9500 plain also has the 256bit memory bus, where the 9500 pro only has 128bit. So depending on what the game stresses the plain 9500 may equal the performance of the 9500 Pro, if it is stressing the memory more than the number of total pipelines. It all depends on what kind of games you are playing, and what part of the card they are stressing.

 

[Spicedaddy]

The 9500 plain also has the 256bit memory bus, where the 9500 pro only has 128bit. So depending on what the game stresses the plain 9500 may equal the performance of the 9500 Pro, if it is stressing the memory more than the number of total pipelines. It all depends on what kind of games you are playing, and what part of the card they are stressing.

Wrong, the 9500 uses a 128-bit memory bus like the 9500 Pro.

 

[Creig]

Not necessarily Spicedaddy. The early 9500 NON-PRO was built on the 9700 PCB and therefore enjoyed the same 256 bit memory path as the 9700/9700 Pro. The way ATI reduced the 9500 performance was to only enable 4 pipelines. Then people started "unlocking" the other 4 pipelines which essentially turned the card into a 9700 with slightly slower memory chips (8 pipelines, 256 bit memory path). This was a short-term bonus only as 9500 specific PCB production was being ramped up. NOW all 9500s are 8 pipeline, 128 bit and aren't moddable.

So it depends on which card he has.

 

[Markfw]

Well, I just got the card the day I started this thread from newegg. The latest is that I re-installed windows using the FAQ version for "how to survive a motherboard update" where I re-installed everything, sound, 4in1 drivers and all. I still can't get test4 to work under 98se. HOWEVER, I changed my partitions around to give me 15 gig free space, and loaded XP into that, and under XP, test4 works ! I now get 2533 for a score. How is that for a XP2400+ CPU and a regular 9500 ? Is it working OK now under XP at least ??

 

[selfbuilt]

Sounds right on ... 3DRage reports 2511 for the 9500 nonpro with P4 - 3.06 GHz. I'd be happy your score on an AMD 2400+.

 

[Markfw]

Thanks selfbuilt. There is one new change. I just got some Geil PC3200 C2, and I am running it at 333, but at CAS2 and the most agressive timings possible. Maybe that helped.

 

[kylebisme]

its because you were useing the wrong drivers. the r200 and r300 are compleatly differnt chips and need differnt drivers. the catlyist drivers are a package that include seprate drivers for the differnt cards as needed.

 

[selfbuilt]

I think all of this confirms a point. Everyone complains about glorifying 3DMark benchmark scores as an end on to themselves (to which I agree), but in this case I think it's doing what it is supposed to - namely, letting you know if your system is properly configured for optimal performance. Glad it worked out!

 

[sxr7171]

Originally posted by: Creig
Not necessarily Spicedaddy. The early 9500 NON-PRO was built on the 9700 PCB and therefore enjoyed the same 256 bit memory path as the 9700/9700 Pro. The way ATI reduced the 9500 performance was to only enable 4 pipelines. Then people started "unlocking" the other 4 pipelines which essentially turned the card into a 9700 with slightly slower memory chips (8 pipelines, 256 bit memory path). This was a short-term bonus only as 9500 specific PCB production was being ramped up. NOW all 9500s are 8 pipeline, 128 bit and aren't moddable. So it depends on which card he has.

So what you're saying is that physically the 9500 and the 9500pro are the same card and that a regular 9500 with softmod becomes a 9500pro? Is there any risk of artifacting at all?

 

[Spicedaddy]

The early 9500 NON-PRO was built on the 9700 PCB and therefore enjoyed the same 256 bit memory path as the 9700/9700 Pro.

You still had to mod it...

NOW all 9500s are 8 pipeline, 128 bit and aren't moddable.

They're still 4 pipelines, and from what I've seen the 4-->8 pipelines hack works about half the time.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: sxr7171

Originally posted by: Creig
Not necessarily Spicedaddy. The early 9500 NON-PRO was built on the 9700 PCB and therefore enjoyed the same 256 bit memory path as the 9700/9700 Pro. The way ATI reduced the 9500 performance was to only enable 4 pipelines. Then people started "unlocking" the other 4 pipelines which essentially turned the card into a 9700 with slightly slower memory chips (8 pipelines, 256 bit memory path). This was a short-term bonus only as 9500 specific PCB production was being ramped up. NOW all 9500s are 8 pipeline, 128 bit and aren't moddable. So it depends on which card he has.

So what you're saying is that physically the 9500 and the 9500pro are the same card and that a regular 9500 with softmod becomes a 9500pro? Is there <EM>any </EM>risk of artifacting at all?

Yes, there is the risk of artifacting. There is evidence that the 9500 non-pros are binned R300 parts as a result of having defective pipes and/or were unable to hit Pro clockspeeds (evidenced by failed softmods and the inability to OC as high as Pros). The successful softmods are from 9500 cores with no defects, the failed softmods are from cores which were neutered for a reason. Otherwise, all the 9500/9700 series cards are still R300 cores.

Chiz

 

[dxkj]

I'm not one to softmod, or OC, I will just spend more money if I need to.

boo =)

Unless you really notice a difference in games I wouldnt worry about it, and yes i've seen a few scores equivalent to yours with a 9500