9600 pro....Recommend?

[cefoskey]

With the price of 9500 non pros about $125 and 9500 Pros about the same as 9600 pros, why go for the newer but slower 9600 pro? Im thinking of picking one up at work today, but ive been looking at 9500s for a while now too.

What is the advantage of buying the newer but slower 9600?

"Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my drive?"

 

[sargeduck]

There are a few advantages. One is that you can overclock the 9600Pro alot. There have been a few guys in this forum who have massivly overclocked their card.
Second, it is very low on power. Becuase it is on the .13process, it doesn't take alot of juice to power it (ie. no external power connector). So if you're running a small power supply, this is the card for you.
Third, it is quite. Becuase of the above, it does not need a big fan. Actually, before I got my 9600Pro, I had a geforce 4mx 440. I compared the two, and the fan sizes are pretty much identical! The fan on the 9600Pro is small, compared to the fans on...say a 9500/9700 Pro.
So, if noise, or power is a concern to you, this is the card to get. If not, I'd recommend the 9500Pro.

 

[Willamette_sucks]

The 9500 can overclock too, although not to the same extent, and it is by no means noisy. So if you can pick up a 9500 Pro for about the same price, I would recommend it.
Also you can get a 9700 non-pro for around 200, really a hot deal right now.

"Every Day is the Right Day." -Pink Floyd

 

[marneus]

My order of rating of R9x cards...
9800pro2,9800pro,9800,9700pro,9700,9500pro,9600pro,9500,9600
9100,9200pro,9000pro
This is my take of equivalent performance for the range of cards out now...

the problem with the 9600/pro is that the tricks to enable the full chip of pipelines will NOT work as the chip was designed differently compared to the 9500/pro...

Trust me I know what I'm doing... ooops, grab the cat...

 

[dawgpounder]

Best Buy has been carrying the 9800 non-pro, which they list for 299.00 (US). I had a 9600 pro and returned it for the 9800 nonpro and am seeing a huge difference in FPS on games like Rainbow Six-Raven Shield...Power usage increased without a doubt, but if you got the juice...

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Yeah if you've got the juice, but $299US is TWICE the price. So at the mid-level the 9700Non-pro is a better deal (some have said they found them for ~$200, and for under $200 the 9600Pro isn't bad. I wouldn't add much to the previous posts. The 9500Pro will give you better out of the box performance and also overclocks. The 9600Pro CAN/SOMETIMES overclock like a SummaMaBinch, however that's not guaranteed and not ALL of them (even BBAs) can get near the performance leveling levels to equal an R9500Pro.
So if you have NO power and NO heating issues, then the 9500Pro is your best choice (if not willing to pay the extra for a 9700non-pro). [ALSO, forget moding in the equation, 9500Non-pro ain't worth the LOW success rate, and the 9500pro bios hack etc is equivalent to the overclocking issue. IMO]
If you do have power/heat concerns in this area the 9600Pro is a good choice for it's price, and will run most things. Remember there will be ANOTHER killer card in 2 mths and again in about 5-6 mths, so what is your purchase, for right now (9500/9600) or for tomorrow (9700NP). That would be my view on it. Not that that means much.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK

 

[cefoskey]

Haha I work at best buy and went ahead and purchased the 9600 pro at employee cost yesterday I must say im impressed with its gains over my 8500, but I really wonder if its better getting this retail 9600 pro rather than an oem 9500 pro/non pro. I did get a mighty fine deal since theres a $20 MIR right now too

"Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my drive?"

 

[Dax]

I'm also trying to decide between the 9600 Pro and the 9500 Pro. The 9600 Pro I can get for ~$170, while the 9500 Pro will cost me ~$185. Is the 9500 Pro worth the extra $15?

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Could be. IF you game alo then yes I would say that the $15 would be well spent. The price difference isn't significant. However the 9600pro is a capable card and if you want to save $15 then it's your choice. If you don't have something better tospend it on, get the 9500Pro.
They should both be pretty good with most future and current games. The extra pipelines though may give the 9500Pro and edge in some games in the future.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK

 

[cleeve]

Nice list marneus, except that the 9600 non-pro will kick the 9500 non-pro's ass.

------------------
Radeon 9500 w/256 bit memory bus @ 367/310
AMD AthlonXP 2000+
3dMark03: 3439

 

[eaglei13]

I've decided on the 9600Pro. Now what brand is the best to get? Should I stick with ATI or go for the Sapphire, etc...?
Anyone know of any major differences? Also is the 256mb version worth the extra money?

 

[cefoskey]

I bought the retail ATI card, stick with retail for best stable high clock speeds...i always say.

"Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my drive?"

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

I'd say the ONLY board maker that is better than ATI is Hercules (their software and hardware extras are worth it) IMO. Otherwise go with Built By ATI (BBA) if the prices are close. Afterwards they will mostly be the same and I will just tell you who to STAY AWAY FROM; Powercolor, and GigaCube (terrible IMO).
As for the 256mb, it's not REALLY worth it unless it's a VERY cheap add-on. It will have a very SMALL improvement for things like VERY large resolutions and some 2D apps. However it's true usefulness is questionable because it'll very rarely make any difference to a mid-range card (as it makes little difference for the top of the line either). Also watch and make sure the bigger memory isn't clocked lower (the GigaCube one is clokced a bit lower IIRC). If it's the same clock speed and only $10 more expensive what the heck it may help you in future games, however there has been little to show any advantage in ANY current game review that I've seen.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK

 

[cleeve]

In what way is more memory better for 2d apps, Ape?

I thought it was only good for texture memory and running higher resolutions (and higher resolutions with AA).

That's why I like these forums. You learn something new every day.

------------------
Radeon 9500 w/256 bit memory bus @ 367/310
AMD AthlonXP 2000+
3dMark03: 3439

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

IT's for large resolution on 2D apps. It's more for things like photoshop and such, what I should have said is that it shows improvement only at VERY High res in 3d games (negligeable, but recordable [not really noticable]) and also for Very HIGH res in 2D apps.
I tend to always address this forum as a gaming graphics forum, so I was being a little sloppy (since very few 2D apps require such high resolutions where it would make a diff.) but that's what I meant.

MY bad!


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK

 

[cleeve]

Ah, gotcha.

Dammit! Thought I learned something new...

------------------
Radeon 9500 w/256 bit memory bus @ 367/310
AMD AthlonXP 2000+
3dMark03: 3439