ATI 9500 and 9700 questions???

[TwoRails]

HI All,

Helping a friend pick video cards and since I'm not an ATI person, I need some help.

First, while looking around at the 9700 cards, there seems to be numerious flavors. Regular 9700, 9700 Pro, 9700 Gold, and a few more I can't remember right now.

The price range difference in the above is $100! I can see a price diff from 9700 to the Pro, but what about (and what is) the Gold?

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Also, if he doesn't go the 9700 route, it seems to be that the general opinion here is to go with the 9500 over a GF 4? Yes?

But.... what about ATI's famous lack of drivers / update issue?? Did they fix that?

Thanks!!

TwoRails

[Alfie]

The pro usually indicates faster memory,that's all I know.
The gold,don't know,what does ATI say?
ATI has improved their drivers and continue to do so.
There are still some grumblings about initial driver release,but updated drivers are appearing on a regular basis.
Just make sure you have the latest drivers downloaded and don't rely on the cd shipped with the card.
If budget allows go with the 9700,if your budget is low look at the 9000 or 9100

[Furius92]

If you aren't getting a Radeon 9700 Pro, get a Radeon 9500 128MB (non Pro). There is a software mod on the internet that will allow you to "activate" hardware on the card that is initally deactivated. This hardware is activated for the Radeon 9700 Pro by default. By using this, you can turn your Radeon 9500 128MB (non Pro) into a Radeon 9700 (non Pro) or Pro if you overclock the card.

You must have the correct Radeon 9500 to do this. First, it MUST NOT be the Pro version. Also, it has to be the 128MB version instead of the 64MB version. If you are unsure, most sites will give you a picture of the card. The correct one will have four memory chips, in two groups of two. One group will be on the "top" of the card and the other on the end. The incorrect version will have all four memory chips on the top of the card in a row. Memory chips are small black sqaures. Hope this helps.

[smokealotapotimus]

Edit: I'm stupid, should learn to read.

[pam123]

Don't do the mod thing. The hardware mod only worked because early cards were using crippled boards that were also used for the 9700. The software mod, where you flash the bios on the card, has a success rate of 50%. Just go over to rage 3D and read the threads on it.
Now that ATI has the built by ATI vs. powered by ATI the various card makers can call there cards whatever they want. Unless the specs differ I would just ignore it.
What you can't ignore is that there are some cards, like the Dell TX that are very good but slower and they're beginning to turn up
at resellers improperly labeled: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=54831
Just keep the basics in mind, the 9700pro is the fastest and most expensive, then the 9700, then the 9500pro, then the 9500 at 128/64.
If your friend's on a budget then the 9500 pro is a good buy and it's under $200 at newegg.
If he can clear the $200 mark the 9700 is a good buy.
The 9700pro is usually around, mostly over, the $300 mark and if the price differs greatly you better take a hard look at the card. "If you think it's too good to be true, you're probably right."
Sapphire's OEM cards are every bit as good as the built by ATI ones, in fact Sapphire built those as well.
HTH

[Floppyman]

Hi TwoRails,

What is your friend planning on using the card for? Unless he wants to play the latest and greatest games and does not want to upgrade for a considerable time down the road, IMHO it wouldn't be worth going with the best/fastest card, considering the price difference. HTH

[Eric H.]

I have a radeon 9500 NP, and did the software mod. Works like a charm. Right now it's overclocked to a Radeon 9700 pro. $300 card for $150. If the software mod doesn't work for you, you can always return it or just unapply the mod, and still have a great graphics card.

[TwoRails]

Hi All,

Thanks for all the replies!! I'll forward this to my friend. He just recently joined PC Mechanic (yippie!) so any future questions for him, will come from him!!


Thanks, again

TwoRails