ASUS Radeon 9600XT/TVD 128MB v ATI 9700 Pro

[panicos70]

Hi Boyz and Girls.

Hope you all had a good xmas.

Have just read the article on the Asus 9600xt/tvd and have a couple of questions.

Firstly is this card better then the one I currently have?

I know that the clock speeds are lower then expected on my card, but no matter how much I try to overclock, the damn thing aint interetsed!!! Artifacts and glitchs galore.

I have run the card on 3dMark2001SE and get a score of 13700ish (after what minimal tweacking my card will allow!)

Having looked at the scores for the 9600xt/tvd they look better even before overclocking has commenced.

Secondly, I want to start putting my camcorder footage onto DVD so if I bought this card will this enable me to transfer the film from my camcorder onto a dvd (with the purchase of a dvd burner obviously)?

Thirdly, can some please explain how the GPU and Core memory Mhz ratings work? If my card is running at 263MHZ (GPU/Memory), then why is the 9600xt/tvd only slightly faster on the 3dMark2001SE scores then mine (given that the GPU runs at 500Mhz and the Memory at 600Mhz)?

Thanks for your help

Panicos

I currently own a Dell 4550 PC. I don't think its bad by any means. Here are the stats:

2.66Mhz Intel Pentium 4
533Mhz Memory (768MB) Ram
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro Core Clock:263Mhz/Memory Clock 263Mhz
30gb Harddrive
Creative Sound Blaster Live! Sound Card

[steve threlfall]

NO an ati 9700pro is much better even after overclocking the xt.

[Byatt]

one thing is certain - the 9600Xt won't get anywhere near the performance of a 9700 Pro - at least, not one running at correct core/mem speeds.

Why not? Well, the 9600XT works on only a 4 pipeline, 128bit archictecture, so memory bandwidth and fill rate are highly reduced. The 9600Xt also runs off a completely different GPU - which can only do, say, three quarters as much work per cycle as the 9700 Pro GPU.

Just checking - the core clock speed of a 9700 Pro should be 325Mhz, and the memory speed should be 310Mhz. If you're getting artefacts above those speeds you should send the 9700 Pro back to dell for a replacement.

On the camcorder issue - well, it might help - if you're camcorder has video out it certainly will...but most camcorders can store video files on the camcorder and then transfer them by other means now - firewire for instance. If you're wanting to record straight to hard disk though, the 9600 XT would be just the job.

[DaftpuNk]

Keep the 9700 for sure!

[panicos70]

Thanks chaps

Could it be that i have a 9700 not a 9700pro? I looked at the card and it looked exactly the same as the 9700pro i saw reviewed on the net (obviously though you can't judge a book by its cover). Would that explain the lower clock speeds?

There is letterally no getting away from the artefacts issue. Jsut tried again with no luck. Whats the best way of checking, exactly, what card I have?

[steve threlfall]

Originally posted by panicos70
Thanks chaps

Could it be that i have a 9700 not a 9700pro? I looked at the card and it looked exactly the same as the 9700pro i saw reviewed on the net (obviously though you can't judge a book by its cover). Would that explain the lower clock speeds?

There is letterally no getting away from the artefacts issue. Jsut tried again with no luck. Whats the best way of checking, exactly, what card I have?

Even if you have a 9700 non pro matey it would still easily outperform a 9600anything by quite a margin. Overclocking or not

[Byatt]

Originally posted by panicos70
Thanks chaps

Could it be that i have a 9700 not a 9700pro? I looked at the card and it looked exactly the same as the 9700pro i saw reviewed on the net (obviously though you can't judge a book by its cover). Would that explain the lower clock speeds?

There is letterally no getting away from the artefacts issue. Jsut tried again with no luck. Whats the best way of checking, exactly, what card I have?

9700s run at 275/270 and are still miles ahead of 9600XTs, as knoxy says.

Where did you get the 9700? They'll be able to tell you exactly what card it is.

[panicos70]

Came with my Dell. Funny thing was that I know for a fact that at the time they were doing Nvidia Cards and I ordered a middle of the road card for my PC as money would allow. The original spec email I recieved from them confirms this.

It was only when I got a little bit more interested in gaming and pc's in general that I found out that I had got a Radeon and a 9700 to boot. So probably shouldn't be moaning.

[Byatt]

Originally posted by panicos70
Came with my Dell. Funny thing was that I know for a fact that at the time they were doing Nvidia Cards and I ordered a middle of the road card for my PC as money would allow. The original spec email I recieved from them confirms this.

It was only when I got a little bit more interested in gaming and pc's in general that I found out that I had got a Radeon and a 9700 to boot. So probably shouldn't be moaning.

Well I'd give them a ring and ask them to explain which card it is, and why the hell it can't perform at stock!

[panicos70]

It was over a year ago and the warranty has run out, so they would probably just tell me to bugger off! I have been played Max Payne 2 on it without any slow down or glitches. I'm just hoping that it will be good enough for when Half Life 2 and Deux Ex 2 come out. Know it doesn't make any difference to gameplay, but I htink that eyecandy adds to the atmosphere. Therefore want to run those games with as much graphical flare asd is possible.

Dammit it, so many wants, so little money!

[DaftpuNk]

Hehe I am in exactly the same situation at the moment too, so many things I want to buy but not enough money Nothing is interesting in the graphics card market at the moment so hold onto that winner and keep on waiting for the next big thing™