ATI Radeon 9600 XT vs. Asus Radeon 9600 XT/TVD

[The_Mutato]

Hi,

I just want to know which is better, the ATI Radeon 9600 XT or the ASUS Radeon 9600 XT/TVD. I can get both from www.shoprbc.com/ca for $274 and $278 respectively. I just want to know which is faster/has the most features/other.

Thanks

The_Mutato

Oh ya, I have a mobo that has AGP 4x, NOT 8x. Will this effect performance SIGNIFICANTLY or will it be barely noticable in most games?<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by The_Mutato on 12/12/03 10:09 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Get the ASUS it has better memory, nice overclocking and monitoring features in it's ASUS software, and it has VIVO.

Sorry can't write more, gotta go.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

<b>-NEW PIC IN THGC ALBUM-</b>

 

[Crashman]

I recommend you follow Ape's suggestion.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[addiarmadar]

ASUS has a better cooling solution, therefore better performance capabilities.

Barton 2500+ @ 2200mhz (10x220 vcore @ 1.775)
Asus A7N8X Dlx 440 FSB
1gb Geil GD pc3500 Dual Channel (2-3-3-6)
Segata 80gb SATA 8.5ms seek
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro(420/700)

 

[BirdRobin]

ASUS cooling sink looks more cool...

Who is from singapore? I am.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Now that I have more time, the only other thing to add is that 4X and 8X will make no difference to the R9600 series (even oc'd to hell, believe me I've tried). The only cards it's even statistically noticeable is the top of the line R9800 series with 256mb, and likely the same for the FX5900 series with 256mb, even then it's only noticeable at settings that cripple those cards too. And an increase from 9fps to 11 fps @ 16x12 w 4XAA/8XAF still is unplayable. Under all other situations there is non difference between 4X agp and 8Xagp, YOU will likely see no difference at any settings.

Asus still the choice IMO. They are very nice cards and have wiggle room around the ATI's reference 3,3 ns memory. If you don't overclock that's not a big deal, but considering that there is overdrive who knows how that's affected by the quality of the ram. But if YOU want to overclock it will make a huge difference (about 40-50mhz [times 2 for effective increase]).


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

<b>-NEW PIC IN THGC ALBUM-</b>

 

[The_Mutato]

Thanks for all the info, but one more question. Will I have to use a driver that is different from ATI's?

Thanks

The_Mutato

 

[Vapor]

Interesting that you saw big the difference in the 256MB cards and not the 128MB. Shouldn't the extra VRAM lessen (can store more stuff on card rather than in system memory) the amount of communication between the card and the mobo?

EDIT: BTW, where did you see this review?

Damn Rambus.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Vapor on 12/13/03 08:31 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

I can't remember exactly where it was, they had the two cards (128 and 256) and they had 4X and 8X and Fastwrites enabled and disabled, plus I think they had diff. AGP aperture sizes.

THG did a review of the R9800256, and their results seem to be different (opposite in fact) where the 128mb cards benifited most).

<A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030604/radeon_9800-05.html" target="_new">http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030604/radeon_9800-05.html</A>

I'll see if I can find that article a little later (football about to start [always running short on time]).


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

<b>-NEW PIC IN THGC ALBUM-</b>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Will I have to use a driver that is different from ATI's?

Only if the oem drivers have additonal features that you want.

The reference Catalyst drivers from ATI should work ok with your board, but if you can, always use the drivers your OEM-mfr recommends.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

<b>-NEW PIC IN THGC ALBUM-</b>

 

[Vapor]

Yeah, those results seem logical...the 128MB card would need to store more data in system cache, necessitating the use of the bus. The more bus activity, the more noticable the difference between 4x and 8x AGP. Good to have my thoughts confirmed...I just have to remember to get the most VRAM possible for my next card (unless it's an outrageous 1GB or something like that [512MB is also too much, IMO, but if the GPU is powerful enough, there may be a use for it eventually]).

Damn Rambus.