Best 9600XT card...

[wolfram]

I need a video card that replace the crappy SIS Mirage "Graphics" that i have.
I don´t play very much in my PC, i prefer my PS2 and Gamecube, but I want to have nice fps in some games like:
Wolfenstein
Soldier of Fortune 2
GTA vice city
Prince of Persia: sands of time
MS Flight Simulator 2004
Combat FS 1
and other ones.
I´m not interested in Doom 3, or Far Cry, so i choosed the Radeon 9600XT. But the problem is this:
I saw in Newegg these 2 cards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814153012
Jetway 9600XT 256MB and:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102510
Sapphire 9600XT 128MB

which is the best one? any differences between them (memory clock, engine clock)?
I heard that the sapphire card has a faster memory than standard 9600XT (25MHZ more), but, what about the Jetway one?
Any thoughts? Here are my system specs:
Intel Celeron CPU 2.61 GHZ
MSI 661FM2-LSR motherboard
256MB DDR400 RAM
Seagate 40GB drive
FSP Group 300W PSU ATX300-PA
SIS Mirage "Super high performance graphics"
Realtek AC'97 audio
WinXP Professional

Thanks.

 

[jaroddog]

My first thought is this: "Increase your RAM!"... Otherwise, I liked my 9600xt, performance-wise. At first I bought a Sapphire. Even thought it was a stated 9600 Pro and that it had 600 mhz RAM, it came with Ram clocked at 446. I RMA'd it quickly. That's something you have to be careful of with Sapphire, I'm not the only one, look it up. So after returning I got a Rosewill 9600xt which yielded what I considered great performance. I spent $140 on it. After a year of problems with instability (BSoD's) I am now returning it. Since it has just went out of stock at newegg.com (where I purchased), I'm assuming they'll follow policy and give me a refund of my money. Right now I'm using a Nvidia GeForce2 MX 400 (32MB). I'm looking into getting a 6600GT because that seems to be the best bang for the buck right now ($119 with rebates). I hope you'll get something out of this, I know I did.

 

[spyker_C8]

From what I see, the two cards should be the same except for the cooling solution. However, if I were in your situation, I would highly think about getting a 9800 Pro, it offeres MUCH better performance for ~$20 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814140058

 

[jaroddog]

Don't get the card Spiker suggested. It may sound like an ok deal but it is not. It may say that it is a 9800PRO but it is 128 bit interface, normal 9800PRO's are 256 bit. This will yield horrible results compared to a regular 9800PRO. Check it out, you'll not be sorry. That is why it is so cheap.

 

[wolfram]

jaroddog:
Thanks for the suggestion. Of course i will be getting more ram, at least 768MB DDR400, but now I want to toss away the crappy Mirage "Graphics".

Do you guys know something about JetWay? I personally trust more Sapphire. But if the sapphire and jetway cards are the same, then i´ll be getting the jetway one. But, do you know what memory chips uses the Jetway card (samsung, hynix etc.) and if its better or equal to the sapphire one?
Also,
Does the jetway card have the thermal sensor that enables ATI OVERDRIVE?
I tried to find it, but I failed.
Thanks. :giddy:

 

[jaroddog]

Is that so? You trust Sapphire? I'm honesty surprised. All of the cards I have had from them have either been mis-labeled (such as calling a 9600 a 9600PRO) or stuck with Sapphire's notorious low-end cooling solutions. But to each his own, I guess... Regarding Jetway, I've no idea. I've used a few of their products when I interned in the computer tech department at the local highschool and they seemed alright. Then again, I was only their for a year. They could have all went haywire the day I left. Who knows?

 

[Flipi]

From where I am from it seems that Saphire is a much more trusworthy player than Jetway, as I have seen many faulty products from this manufacturer. Saphire on the other hand tends to market their products higher than they are in reality. It happens only for their mainstream products although. If you would ask me, if you are sure about the product, I would deffinitly go for Saphire out of the two. But good deals you can find from good manufacturers and avoid the "trouble giving" ones.

 

[spyker_C8]

Don't get the card Spiker suggested. It may sound like an ok deal but it is not. It may say that it is a 9800PRO but it is 128 bit interface, normal 9800PRO's are 256 bit. This will yield horrible results compared to a regular 9800PRO. Check it out, you'll not be sorry. That is why it is so cheap.

Before you bash my suggestion, at least look at the product description. It clearly states that there is a 256 bit mememory interface

Do you guys know something about JetWay? I personally trust more Sapphire. But if the sapphire and jetway cards are the same, then i´ll be getting the jetway one. But, do you know what memory chips uses the Jetway card (samsung, hynix etc.) and if its better or equal to the sapphire one?
Also,
Does the jetway card have the thermal sensor that enables ATI OVERDRIVE?
I tried to find it, but I failed.
Thanks.

The type of memory a manfacturer uses can/will change from time-to-time so its impossible to say what kind of memory you'll be getting.

As far as ATI Overdrive is concerned, I would just use ATI Tray Tools or ATI tools for overclocking. Both are third party solutions but they both work extremely well.

But as I said, its best for you to save up for the 9800 Pro. It will offer much greater performance than the 9600xt.

 

[jaroddog]

Spyker, please don't be offended. I am only trying to help. Take it from me, you can't always trust Newegg's stats. Just read the reviews from the customers who bought the product. And if you think they are lying, check out apollo's site. They don't even offer a 9800PRO. But they do offer a 9800SE, which is what customers are saying they recieved instead of the indicated card. 9800SE's don't have 256bit memory. That is why they are all dissapointed. Newegg.com makes mistakes like that all the time, and as I incicated, this has happened to me before. I just didn't want to see wolfram make the same mistake, ok? Smile when you can (and trust me, too).

 

[spyker_C8]

Spyker, please don't be offended. I am only trying to help. Take it from me, you can't always trust Newegg's stats. Just read the reviews from the customers who bought the product. And if you think they are lying, check out apollo's site. They don't even offer a 9800PRO. But they do offer a 9800SE, which is what customers are saying they recieved instead of the indicated card. 9800SE's don't have 256bit memory. That is why they are all dissapointed. Newegg.com makes mistakes like that all the time, and as I incicated, this has happened to me before. I just didn't want to see wolfram make the same mistake, ok? Smile when you can (and trust me, too).

Except that some 9800SEs did come with 256 bit buses....

On the same reviews, they also state that with a simple bios flash, they were able to get a 9800Pro...

And I realize that Newegg does make mistakes but they also correct them. If they sell you a product that isn't as advertised, they will take it back and ifyou're lucky, also get a gift certificate for their site(usaually ~10).

I realize that you're trying to give advice but at least make it *good* advice....

 

[wolfram]

Thanks

Thank you very much guys for your help. I´ll be getting the Sapphire 9600XT. I don´t really need more graphics power. In a few monts, I plan to upgrade the CPU, add more RAM, change HDD and get a 17" LCD monitor. The 9600Xt has to be a LOT better than SIS Mirage. And with a 2.93GHZ Celeron D, the games that I have on my PC will run fine. Anyway, I prefer my Gamecube and my PS2, and games like GTA: San Andreas.
Thank you very very much for your help. This is the best site to get help.
THANKS!!!

 

[jaroddog]

Hey, no prob. Enjoy that video card, I know I did. And for spyker, please check out Apollo's site. You'll see what I mean, they don't even offer it as a pro anymore. Besides, a BIOS flash will not increase the memory interface to 256 bit. It will remain 128 bit. You can clearly see from the the shape of the memory layout that that card is 128 bit. It's not something that can be changed. An L shaped layout is required for 256 bit on that card... And how, can you tell me, is that not "good advice?" Who wants a lame 128 bit card (unless it's a 6600GT, that's what I've got my eyes on Oh yeah, or a 9600XT ) Newbies... Go figure...