Which is better deal: 9500 for $150 (w/ possible soft mod) or 9500 pro for $175

[Timmyotule]

Cards at Newegg

How close is the 9500 to the 9500pro at stock speeds and does anyone know the chances of the soft mod working for this Sapphire card?

I'm thinking if the soft mod doesn't work the 9500 will be a bit of a disappointing card (I'd like to get close to two years of use out of it).

Currently I'm about to order a pro but just wanted to check with the experts before shelling out the cash. TIA

 

[Vrangel]

9500 has 4 pipelines, softmod enables 8 pipelines on this particular card.
In case it doesnt work ( checkerboarding ) you can still softmod it to 9800 with 4 pipelines that do work.
And you can still overclock it too. Either way you can make it a better performing card.

 

[Timmyotule]

So are you saying the 9500 can be overclocked to outperform the 9500 pro even if the other 4 pipelines are unuseable(checkerboarded)?

I haven't heard of soft modding to make it a 9800, I've just heard of it going up to the 9700pro speeds. It would seem that if the 4 unlocked pipelines aren't anygood then an OC pro should be able to beat the OC non pro. Is there something I'm missing?

 

[waylman]

get the 9500pro. An overclocked 9500PRO beats anything you can do to a non pro 9500.

 

[Auric]

 

[lazarus000]

Originally posted by: waylman
get the 9500pro. An overclocked 9500PRO beats anything you can do to a non pro 9500.

imo this statement is complete cr@p


my softmodded,driver hack and overclocked my 9500 and doubled it's performance


your not getting that by just overclocking a 9500pro



newegg.com has sapphire 9500np that are red pcb for $165 with free shipping

 

[EdipisReks]

9500 Pro.

 

[pookguy88]

unless u know the 9500np can goto at least a 9500pro then i'd go for the 9500pro

 

[razor2025]

it's basically comes to this

9500 - It's a cheaper gamble. If you get one that can be modded, you've hit the jackpot. (Like me ). If you didn't, its still a decent card for its money. The AA and AF performance is better than 4200 and comes close to 4600 series.

9500 Pro - It's a more expensive assurance. You get what you pay for. There's a good chance of being able to OC the card somewhat, but it'll never be able to catch up to a 9500 modded to 9700/9800. Looking at the bright side, it's significant amount faster than 9500 and there's no gambling.