What is a 9600 pro *EZ*?

[hurrikaane]

I've been lookin to buy a 9600 pro.. and I found a model for a good price, but it was a 9600 Pro EZ. I've never seen this EZ model anywhere before.. anyone know about it?

 

[Lonyo]

I believe a 9600Pro EZ is a 9600Pro in terms of core clock speeds, but has slower RAM.
9600Pro 400MHz core/600MHz memory
9600Pro EX 400MHz core/400MHz memory.

It's not really worth it, the extra bandwidth is quite important (look at 9600XT's, the core clock increase doesn't do much, the ram is the same speed, which may be fairly limiting)

The EZ is better than the non-pro, but not worth it unless it's a really good price compared to 9600Pro's.

 

[hurrikaane]

Ha really? That's pretty sly of ATi.

 

[Lonyo]

Actually, it's got nothing to do with ATi.
It's partners are free to do as they please, it just happens that some partners have decided to make these 9600Pro EZ cards, which have slower RAM.
The ATi site doesn't even have the EZ listed.

 

[hurrikaane]

Yes that is true but to let these manufactuers use the Pro name on a card that is not a 400/300 is pretty bad. It's not like the 9800 Pro SE, which ATi has on their site. The retailers selling this card make no mention of the lower mem clock timings.