Radeon 9700 pro - best graphics card ever?

[mightynimrod]

I reckon the Radeon 9500 non-pro as it soft-modded to a 9700pro.

Best bang for buck in my opinion.

i opted for a 9700pro anyway but just my two-penneth

[Russ]

u cant soft mod the non-pro 9500 to a 9700pro level, u need a 9500pro

also, i am selling 1 in for sale and trade for 185 if any1 is interested

[Austin]

Sorry but the 9500PRO can NOT be modded to a 9700PRO at all. The 9500PRO used its own dedicated 128bitDDR PCB from the off so it is not possible to find one with 256bitDDR needed to emulate any 9700 series. The 9500nonPRO on the other hand was made on a 9700PCB for a very breif time after its introduction. If it had the 9700PCB and 128MB it automatically had 256bitDDR so all you needed to do then was enable the dormant 4 pipes (as it was a 9700PCB) and then o/c to (or past) 9700PRO speeds. Chances were tiny though and the 9500PRO is a MUCH better card. You can't physically get 256bitDDR as found on the 9700 series but you could make up the speed deficit between the 9500PRO and the 9700nonPRO as getting from 275/540 to around 350/620 was not uncommon (for any of the 9500, 9500PRO or 9700 which were all clocked to 275/540 by default).

The things which seperated the cards were 9500=4pipes, 9500PRO=9500+8pipes, 9700=9500PRO+256bitDDR, 9700PRO=9700+fast clocks.

9700PRO (0.15) 325/310 256bitDDR 8pipes 19.8GB/s 2.6Gp/s
9700 . . . (0.15) 275/270 256bitDDR 8pipes 17.6GB/s 2.2Gp/s
9500PRO (0.15) 275/270 128bitDDR 8pipes 8.6GB/s 2.2Gp/s
9500 . . . (0.15) 275/270 128bitDDR 4pipes 8.6GB/s 1.1Gp/s

BTW People can get a 9700 for £150 which should exceed 9700PRO perf and get VERY close to 9800PRO speeds ... gee I wonder why ATI ditched the 9700 LOL!

http://www.kl1128.fsnet.co.uk/vga.htm

[Russ]

yes, but for the extra money for a 97pro you could easily match 9800pro speeds much easier and safer than a 9700

[Austin]

The 9700 was a 9700PRO clocked lower, very little else seperated them and I haven't heard of anyone who couldn't match 9700PRO speed with a 9700. That was why ATI locked them in the BIOS, they knew what they could do and wanted to maximise sales of the 9700PRO. It was much like the way 4200 easily matched 4400 (now 4800SE) and often exceeded them ... only better for the 9700. If you take things steady (test thoroughly of course) and don't leave it near the ragged edge there is virtually no risk in taking your 9700 PAST 9700PRO speeds. Top card.