5200 vs Sapphire 9600

Dungar

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Okay I got a tough decision to make, like alot of people i'm on a limited budget. I currently have a Geforce4 mx 440 8x 64 mb card. I want to upgrade, I was planning on upgrading to the Fx5200 because I could get one cheap ($87 cdn) but upon reading through tom's benchmark tests I realized that besides the 5200 being a direct x 9 card it sort of traded victories with my current card thus probably not offering alto of performance increase (despite it being a 128 mb card)
This is where I'm going to be getting my video card: http://canadacomputers.com/video.html#gra (in canada best prices I can find, with a good rep)
My question is this:
Looking at the benchmarks I see the 9600 (un pro, not SE) does a pretty good performance, yet somehow manages to fall behind on quake 3 Team arena (my card seems to own that for some reason over some of these newer cards)
what I want to know is will the sapphire radeon 9600 128 mb card perform at the levels of this benchmark (or close to it) or will they perform more like the 9200 SE benchmarks? Given that my intended expense was $87, and $139 is really stretching the piggy bank, what would you recommend?
 

markgun

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Here's the problem: the 5200 won't be much faster than your current card (unless you have a GF4MX w/ a 64-bit memory interface). The 9600 non-pro would be a much better choice. If that's too far out of your budget, the Ti4200 would be perfect.

<b>Qui habet aures audiendi audiat</b>
 

Dungar

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I was thinking the 9600 if I can swing it..my problem is this, if you look at that page the sapphire 128 mb 9600 is $139 cdn
however the ASUS Radeon 9600SE 128MB is $135.. so I'm wondering since they're so close in price is the sapphire card any good? or is it really just an unlabelled SE card?
 

sem

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I have an ati made 9600 and its not really that fast, nor did I expect it to be. Looking back I probably shouldve went through newegg instead of being hasty and getting it at a retail outlet. I really wouldnt waste my money on that 5200 I doubt you would see much difference, and if you think because its DX9 youll be able to run hl2 and doomIII etc. youd be very dissapointed in how it performs with those titles. If the radeon is a pro or xt it should be a noticeable improvement. But I still the think the fx5900xt with its 256bit/8pipeline set up is the best overall value in the card market today.
 

Dungar

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Well if the 9600 performs as it says on the benchmarks on this site, then I think it will be fine (as its almost 50%-100% faster than my current card and DX 9 compatible) but I want to know if that sapphire radeon 9600 will perform at that level or if it performs at the SE level.
The only other option is this card: http://www.msicomputer.com/product/vga/vga_detail.asp?model=FX5600XT-TD128
but thats $149 and that'd really be stretching the dollar to acquire. I don't see it listed on the benchmarks on this site (there is a 5600, a 5600 U and a 5600 U (FC)) this is listed on the product page as a 5600XT





<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Dungar on 02/20/04 08:30 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

pauldh

Illustrious
Can you afford to wait? Once the next cards come out, maybe a Radeon 9600 Pro will drop into your price range. That is really where you start buying a card that is ready for future games. The R9600 isn't bad, and does have the DX9 advantage. But it is bordline I bet for HL2, Doom3, etc.

I don't know Canadian pricing, but I wouldn't be surprised if an asus 9600se costs as much or close to a Saphire R9600. But Saphire makes a good card, and they are priced right. I'd be surprised if it is an SE, as that site seems to be specific and list SE, EZ, Pro, etc. But I always like to see more info before buying? can you call them and make sure it is a 9600 non-pro, not an SE? If they can't tell you it is the 128bit R9600 and not the 64bit 9600se, don't buy it, as the se has about only 2/3's the performance of the non-pro.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt
 

Dungar

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The only problem is none of the Canadian sellers currently have a 9600 pro... they all sell the 9600 some the SE, then the next card is the 9800 se or the 9800pro...
Which do you think would perform better, the 9600 pro or the 9600 with 256 mb ram?
 

pauldh

Illustrious
The R9600Pro with 128MB would destroy the R9600 256MB. 256MB in a R9600 or slower card would rarely make a difference at all, and in fact the cards with more memory often have cheaper/slower memory and end up slower.

Check this review. You can see the differences between many cards including the R9600XT, R9600 Pro, R9600 Pro EZ, R9600 256MB, R9600, R9600se. It also shows that the PC Radeon 9600 Pro EZ version is a lousy performer too. Avoid the EZ cards just as you normally would an ATI base SE card. The EZ pro is faster than the R9600 non pro or se, but I wouldn't personally trust powercolor unless the price was unbelievable and worth the gamble. If you can wait a few months, you may find a Radeon 9600 pro or XT drop within your price range.

Otherwise post a new thread like Help finding R9600Pro in Canada. Many of the brains on this site are Canadian, and maybe they can help you find a deal. But topics that include FX5200 or R9600 might not attrack the Great ones. :wink:

<A HREF="http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/over2003/" target="_new">http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/over2003/</A>






ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt
 

Dungar

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I'm not going to wait I don't think. If I do the money probably wouldn't last the week.. you know how it is, burning a hole in your pocket and all ;)
I looked at those benchmarks and oddly enough the 9600 128 mb beat the 9600pro 128 mb on a couple benchmarks..over all though the pro won I believe. However getting the 256 mb radeon 9600 is a waste of $22 cdn as it only seems to offer a 1% performance increase over the 128 mb version (which seems odd to me)
I will get that now, and in a few months if and when HL2 and D3 get released and if this card can't handle it, I'll look at getting something new. I'm not the kind of person who needs to have/play the latest and greatest the second it comes out.
Some of my fav games are older games.
 

pauldh

Illustrious
yes, I know how it is.

The radeon 9600 Pro on those charts clocked at (400/400) is the EZ version. The Real 9600 pro is clocked at (400/600) and always beats out the Radeon 9600 non-pro. The EZ is "ezily" not worth buying. Look at the charts again and specifically look at the 400/600 clock when comparing to a Pro.

And i hear you on Older games. I still like many too. Some games are must haves for me right away, but many, I buy a year later when they are cheap. I simply don't have the time/money to buy all the great games as they are released. I am currently addicted to and almost through Unreal 2, which I bought recently for $9.99. And I just bought BF1942 and the expansions, maybe 4-5 months ago, when the price finally went down.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt
 

icy_oblivion

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Depending on where you are in Canada, because shipping differs, there are some places with better prices overall than canada computers.

<A HREF="http://www.ncix.com" target="_new">http://www.ncix.com</A>

<A HREF="http://www.anitec.ca" target="_new">http://www.anitec.ca</A> - these guys usually ship next day and have excellent support because they sell to buisnesses alot

<A HREF="http://www.dangeo.com" target="_new">http://www.dangeo.com</A>

<b>Just because I like AMD or Intel more at a time because of one product compared to another, does not make me a fan boy, it makes me a person who is able to make a decision for myself.</b>
 

Dungar

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I was looking at Ncix.com they have good prices ($3 more on the card, but $10 less on the shipping) for a total of $169 with taxes, shipping and insurance including express RMA if there is a problem for the Sapphire Radeon 9600 128 mb

Anitec does not have that card it does have the sapphire radeon 9600 with 256 mb for $139.99 (Good price for twice the RAM but admittedly on the benchmarks the 256 mb only performed about 1-4% better then the 128 mb ram, and this card is back ordered here) it appears to bea bout $162.99 though

Dangeo has the card but with shipping and what not it comes to $174.

So it appears I'll be going to get from Ncix as that is the cheapest Thus far.
 

Dungar

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Ah I follow you, but i'm still going to get the sapphire 9600 radeon 128 mb (un pro not SE not EZ). According to the guides I've read it adds on average a 50% boost in FPS compared to my current card (all the way up to 80% depending on the game) however it does not take into account turning on additional features that my current card does not have (thus I'll get a better looking image) Thats more then enough for me right now, and if Doom 3 and HL2 finally make it to shelves and the card can't handle it, I'll consider upgrading to a 9800 pro or something of that nature depending on the price and how bad I want to play those games (I'm content to wait, some games I've waiteed a year after their release before playing them)
 

Frintin

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I am sure you will be happy with the new video card. A lot of people have purchased the Saphire Radeons and are using them every day! Even with new cards coming out in 5 months who cares few games now even utilize all the features of current video cards.

Frintin Rocks!
 

pauldh

Illustrious
Once you get the new card, check out much better the FarCry demo looks compared to on your GF4MX.

Enjoy. And follow the advice here on fully uninstalling those NVidia drivers before swapping cards and loading Cat drivers.


ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt