5600 tale of woe

mason

Distinguished
Apr 26, 2001
12
0
18,510
Hello

I ordered a Gainward 760/Ultra XP "golden Sample".
This I believed to be the ultra rev2 (400/800) considering it's the best 5600 they do.

I received it, installed it + the Gainward Expertool software and looked at the clock speeds (325/550).

Ok, no problem I thought, I can just hit the Advanced settings button and put it into the GS overdrive, I did this and the settings came up as 350/700??

I checked the driver and the card was registered as a standard 5600 non-ultra.

I sent an email to Gainward with the semi product part number and asked why my golden sample behaved as if it where a non ultra.

Their reply:

"According your semi product part number, your card is FX5600, not ultra.
So it works 350/700.
Thanks.

Best Regards,
Gainward Technical Support"

As you can imagine I am not best pleased and the card (hopefully) is going back.

Now its back to choosing a new card. As I cannot seem to guarantee the type of FX5600 I will get I will not be getting another, this cancels out any nvidia product in my price range (£170 max).

From what I have read and suggestions on this message board I think my best bet would be a Sapphire 9600pro, any suggestions?

Gigabyte GA-7va MB
1024 MB RAM
AMD Athlon XP 2000+ t-bredA
SB Audigy
Winxp Pro

My current card is a FX5200 but I play Planetside and need a better framerate hence the upgrade.
 

redstar

Distinguished
Aug 31, 2001
263
0
18,790
"...From what I have read and suggestions on this message board I think my best bet would be a Sapphire 9600pro"

i think you answered your question.

:)
 

mason

Distinguished
Apr 26, 2001
12
0
18,510
Yeah, 9500pro just like the 9700non pro are not easy to obtain :(

Top of my list so far is this card:

Product Description Gigabyte GV R96P128D - graphics card - RADEON 9600 PRO - 128 MB
Mfr Code GV R96P128D
inc VAT £130.00
ex VAT £110.64
 

barnettgs

Distinguished
Aug 13, 2003
85
0
18,630
Avoid any Gainward card as they are playing the 'name' game...they may produce good graphic cards but their cocky names scheme is just awful!

9500 pro may be faster however, you will benefit more from 9600 pro on incoming direct 9x games.