ATI Graphics Cards

[mike_w]

I might be getting a new graphics card, and am looking at the ATI Radeon range. The Radeon 9200 128mb is good for my price range, but is it worth spending £20 more for the 9600 128mb? Also, am I right in saying that there is no difference between the 9600 and 9600pro other than speed i.e. you can overclock a 9600 to be a 9600pro.

[blockers]

Yes it is definatly worth spending the extra £20. You will get a huge performance increase. And yes you should be able to overclock it to PRO speeds.

[misae]

Yes it is worth spending £20 more on a 9600 because you will have a graphics card that will last you a lot longer and is much faster than the 9200.

Yes the 9600 and 9600 Pro difference is only the speed of the core and the memory.

[mike_w]

Thanks for the reply, hopefully i'll get a 9600 and try to overclock to pro speeds (and save £50).

[SilentDeath]

the 9600 XT is exactly the same as the 9600np execpt for minor differences.
minor differences being:
less effective cooling
lower stock voltage for core?
slower rated mem chips

i expect with a small voltage mod you could easly pass the 9600xt but you wil need slightyl better cooling - if you have a drill, a cheap way is to make two holes in a copper cpu heatsink and use m3 bolts to hold it on. (it will still need a fan!)

[RufusKing]

I decided to fork out the extra for mine and go for a 9800SE (Saphire)

How much more can you squeeze out if you overclock, and can you recommend any good tools for it? And any advice

[Spud1]

:/ should have got a herc 9800SE then you mite have been able to softmod

[Dr. X]

I thought the 9600 was a very different card from the 9600Pro? Or is that the 9600SE?

[Rod911]

The 9600np differs from the 9600Pro only in GPU/mem speeds. The 9600SE, on the other hand, is further castrated only offerring a 64-bit memory connection versus 128-bit with the 9600np, Pro and XT.

[BlackSheep]

The 9600np differs from the 9600Pro only in GPU/mem speeds. The 9600SE, on the other hand, is further castrated only offerring a 64-bit memory connection versus 128-bit with the 9600np, Pro and XT.

... how does one go about castrating something further ? (the 9600 must have had a lot of ballz to begin with)

[oshta]

when i did the research 1.5 years ago i got a sapphire 9600pro - very happy with it

[johnnr892]

get ati tool to overclock it

[iMc]

I'm still happy with my 9600pro over a year after getting it. It runs everything I throw at it fairly well 1280x1024 medium settings or 1024x768 highish settings.

Just hoping its ok for HL2