Price/performance

nocatharsis

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May 1, 2004
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Don't have a lot of cash and I want a good video card. I was looking at the Radeon 9600 Pro, but am not sure about what brand to get. I read through the guide and have some ideas, though. I have about $100 to spend - maximum. What would be the best price/performance ratio I could get on a card under this price? Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks.
 

sweatlaserxp

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Sep 7, 2003
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If you trust eBay then you can get a 9500 Pro, which is a kick-ass card, for around $100. I had good luck with the one I used in my friend's computer.
 

pauldh

Illustrious
Otherwise it will be tough finding a new R9600pro for $100. Cheap brands for $110. Better for $130. Refurbished from $75 and up. My advice is to wait and save for the 9600 pro and not buy a cheaper card right now. Better to go $20 over budget than buy a much worse card. Ti4200 is still OK, but IMO it starts to get real with the 9600pro and up.

EDIT: By the way, 9500pro > 9600pro. SO 9600 pro, 9600XT, 9500 pro are all good cards.


ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Pauldh on 05/02/04 10:54 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

pauldh

Illustrious
One other thought. Watch the speeds of the R9600pros. There are cheap ones clocked much lower than the "real" ones. Powercolor EZ version for instance is clocked 400/400 not 600/400. And it is much slower; about the speed of a 9600 Non-pro.


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

nocatharsis

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May 1, 2004
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Ok, so let's talk brands. I see on ebay that most of the 9500 Pros are made by ATI. Is that good? And what does the 400/400 or 600/400 mean? Also, can I overclock these cards and how hard would that be? Thanks a lot.
 

pauldh

Illustrious
Yes Built By ATi (BBA) cards are good. Asus, Saphire, Gigabyte are also good. Powercolor and GeCube are not so good.

400/400 was refering to the Core speed in MHz and the memory Speed. A real 9600 pro is clocked 400 MHz core / 600 MHz memory. The Powercolor EZ model has cheap ram and is clocked 400 core / 400 memory. If you buy the 9600 pro, you want a 400/600 card.

The 9500 pro is clocked different (lower). But it is an 8 pipe card that outperforms the 9500 pro. The 9500 pro is harder to OC, but it can be done. I believe the 9600 Pro should overclock better, although I may get jumped on for saying that. ANyway, if you trust ebay, $100 for a Radeon 9500 Pro is a true bargain. I have a BBA R9500pro; very nice card.


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