2 Radeon 9600 Pro's.. different looks and price

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truflip

truflip

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I am thinking of upgrading Vid Cards n I have come town to this one.. however after googling around.. i found this..

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1425

Thats the Retail version i guess selling for $207 Canadian.. while this one..

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1337275&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

is selling for $101.99 Canadian.. this ones an OEM version..

i read in the tigerdirect.ca review that the one they sell is underclocked.. can i overclock it so its the same speed as the legit version?

also what are the main differences.. why do they look noticeably different?
 
It looks like the retail one is a little newer model of the card. The retail parts always cost more, because they include games, drivers, svideo cables/adapters, a warranty, and fancy packaging. Oem's usually are just bare cards with a very short warranty(30days or so).

Normally, cards can oc some, but I didn't like what I read here, "This was certainly good news but we wonder if Gigabyte/ATi artificially limits overclocking like they did with earlier videocards."
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1425

I wonder if this is an "earlier" video card. For the price differnence though the oem is still a good bang for the buck, it (I guess) is underclocked so it's a little slower, but a lot cheaper.
 
yea i agree about the limiting clock speeds.. i searched the net for some benchmark on the OEM version.. to see its actual clock speed.. however all i get is the retail.. hmm.. if its atleast 300-350mhz clock... it should be nicer right? i mean for $101 Canadian dollars..

my budget is around the $100 mark as im not so big on gaming.. jus need something to run NFSU2 and HL2 on a decent setting with decent fps lol

i also found this one..
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1179550&Tab=11&NoMapp=0

256mb but clock speed is only 270 compared to a 400...
id like ur feedback plz...

btw. i shop at tigerdirect.ca mainly because i live in canada and they seem to have the cheapest prices on most parts...

thank you
 
Don't have much time now, will write back later. Just off the top of my head, I think the underclocked 9600 pro would be better. You'd have to dl the drivers and manual before you install if you get oem.
 
hi thank you very much for the links.. the 9600pro looks awesome on the 2nd link.. but the first one.. it ses HIS 9600SE.. thats different to the PRO right? the benchmark shows its inferior to the 5500.. jus wanna make sure..

neway i got something from Gigabyte about the OEM 9600PRO theyre selling...

"Please note that most OEM cards are clocked a little slower, even though it shouldn't be too much slower."

(the full comment/review:
Question to Gigabyte : Tiger Direct is selling this VGA. They describe it as an OEM board. It comes without any support CD or bundled games. It differs slightly from my son's Gigabyte GV-R96P128D. I can't find the GV-R9600PRO-C3 on your website under the ''support'' section. Can you tell me if this oem board is reduced speed or smaller memory bus or any way different from R96P128D?
Reply from Gigabyte : hello, the model you have listed is not listed, unfortunately we do not have any information on the card to assist you. Please provide more information about the card. Please note that most OEM cards are clocked a little slower, even though it shouldn't be too much slower.
Reviewer Comment : Good luck for an updated driver or BIOS. This is slower than my son's legitimate Gigabyte 9600 Pro. He noticed the frame rate difference.)

will there be a significant difference to the "good" version? how much speed am i looking at here? does anyone know? also wut is this guy talking about "gl for updated drive/bios"? will i be having a lot of problems keeping this card maintained n up to date?
 
A 9600 se is a good bit slower than a 9600pro. The order is 9600se<9600<9600pro<9600xt.

As you can see in the guru3d bench, even a 9600(non pro) is beating a 5500 by a good many points.

I think the underclocked 9600pro would still be better than a 9600(non pro), and a 9600(non pro) is better than a 5500, at least that's what it looks like to me.

A standard 9600 seems to be clocked at 325core and 400 memory. It seems that 9600 pros are 400 core and 600(some times it says 300, which is the actual speed, but due to the mem. being ddr(double data rate), it is doubled.) memory, but some have 400mhz memory(which may be what the card you're looking at has). But if it is 400mhz memory, that's the same as a 9600's memory, but it still has a 75mhz core clock speed advantage.

I don't know about the other models. They may not be listed on the gigabyte site since they're oem, or they may be outdated(replaced by a better model).

Oh, about the card you listed on giga-byte.com
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125169
here it is at newegg, read the second review, it's 400, 400 apparantly.

I still think a 400, 400 9600pro is better than a 5500, especially for the same price.
 
lol ur a guru man.. neway thanks for the very good information.. hmm i have another question.. i jus found a Ti 4200.. for 6$ less the price of the 9600PRO ... the Ti is still OEM tho.. here it is:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=495593&CatId=0

since the 5500 is out of the competition.. i thot this one would stir it up.. the main specs it showed on the site looks appetizing.. however i dont know the clock speed or nething like that on it.. i jus found it now.. so ill be googling around.. but yea.. id like to hear ur word about it plz.. thank you

PS: i checked the one on newegg.com im guessing thats the normal version? not sure.. but i dont mind being between the 9600 and PRO for 100 Canadian lol
 
hmm.. 9600PRO it is =] thanks a lot for your help.. btw.. 101$ for an underclocked 9600pro.. thats a good deal right?
 
truflip said:
hmm.. 9600PRO it is =] thanks a lot for your help.. btw.. 101$ for an underclocked 9600pro.. thats a good deal right?
Click to expand...

I'd says so, since that's canadian $'s. Seems to be the best deal for your money, IMO.
 
i just ran 3DMark 2001 and got an overall score of 2669 3D marks.. wut does this mean? is it a good score?
 
do u think the 9600pro will play underground 2 with some pretty good settings? at a good fps.. how bout CS:source?
 
I think it should be able to run them, I can't really find any good benchmarks to support it though. I don't think either are extremely graphically taxing though.
 
it being an OEM.. i get jus the board correct? so what kinda cables will i need? i just download the drivers and the manual and bios from the gigabyte website?

how bout if i wanna overclock the card? dont i need a software for that?

sorry if im sucha bother.. but i need to know wut i need so i know how much more i need to spend (cables, dvi stuff, etcc..)
 
Most oems are just bare card, some have some extras. Cables depend on your needs.

I know with nvidia, you can use the "coolbits" registry hack to unlock overclocking options for the card. I have also used rivatuner to oc, that may be worth a shot, it's a free dl, I got it from guru3d.com IIRC.
 
You asked about overclocking. For what it's worth, the retail card comes with software that includes an overclocking utility called V-Tuner II.
 
a 256mb version.. for 30$ more

http://www.oemexpress.com/itemLink.asp?ic=VIDATI-R96R256O

i found this at a local computer store nearby.. so no shipping charges for me (which is about 12$) its $129.99 a 256mb model.. hmm.. what do u guys think? it ses bulk.. so its not bare/OEM.. does bulk mean it comes in a box with softwares.. s-video cables n all that stuff??

the 128mb verison.. id have tos pend $127.22 (with taxes and shipping)

the 256mb (which i can pick up) would total up to $149.50 .. all in all its 20$ more and double the memory.. i dont plan to purchase a new vid card.. till forever.. since id prolly buy a laptop next.. will this card last me a while?

also im a little skeptical about the picture shown.. http://www.oemexpress.com/mmOEM_EXPRESS/Images/VIDATI-R96R256O.gif

is this a very old model? the 128mb one )http://www.tigerdirect.ca/images/SkuImages/gallery/large/TC3H-1020-b.jpg) looks a lot newer.. n persuasive........

EDIT: the price seem to be different on the ad, than in the actual link..
http://photobucket.com/albums/y154/maister/?action=view&current=pricez.jpg

the ad ses 129 but the link ses 159.. :S
 
I'm not sure what they mean by bulk, I'd guess it's similar to bare card/oem, but not sure.

That one picture does look like an old card.

That's odd that the prices are different, hopefully if you want that card, they'll give you the lower one.

Here's a thread you might want to read.
http://www.sapphiretech.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9302

A 9600pro isn't going to last 'forever', but is ok for now. If you can afford it, look at some agp 6600gt's(or maybe a 6600) and see what they're priced at. I'd be a good bit more performance than a 9600pro. In usd a 6600gt can be gotten for about $165, so canadian $200? as a guess, I have no idea what it will actually cost though.

Edit: It costs more than I expected. Seems that 6600gts are about $260 Cdn. Here's the best price I found on a 6600gt, it has a rebate.
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1182887&CatId=0
6600s are only slightly less, about $220.
Here's the cheapest I found, $202
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1240195&CatId=0


Man, are there tons of computer hardware shops in Canada? It seems everytime I've helped a person from Canada, they end up buying from "the shop next door". I don't think I have a hardware shop in close driving distance that sells motherboards/cpus etc. Many places sell ram(even walmart), and cables, dvd drives etc though.

A 6600gt gets about 101fps in battlefield vietam while a 9600 pro gets
about 40. A 6600 gets 61, 9800 pro 78.
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041222/vga_charts-08.html
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-11.html
I don't think that's a too graphically intense game though. About 30-40 fps is pretty good for many games.
Here's the doom3 comparison(more graphics intense).
6600gt: 86
6600: 51
9600 pro: 22
9800 pro: 42
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041222/vga_charts-06.html
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-07.html
It isn't really a great comparison though, the 6600gt and 6600 are pci-e, while the 9600pro and 9800 pro are agp.
Also, and underclocked 9600pro will be slower than a "normal" 9600 pro.
 
i called the store.. 130$ cnd.. its on sale (it was suppopsed to end today .. i dont have cash, yet... but the guy sed the sale will continue.. lol i forget to ask bout the picture) oh yea.. n it comes in a box with software and cables.. i guess that saves me bout 15 dollars in buying cables.. and the hassle of lookign for softwares online right?

anyway.. to answer ur question bout computer shops.. lol there are tons here.. there are 3 good ones i check out a lot for stuff.. and there like tens more of others everywhere in the city.. small shops here n there. lol compared to tigerdirect.ca they are a lil bit higher priced (except for the 3 i like sometimes) anyway..

as much as i wanna get the 6600gt, lol i dont think my budget is enuf.. i limited my self to 100$ (mainly because my tuition is due july 15) ... getting the 130$ one is pushing it.. hmm .. im guessing the 9800 wont be in my price range.. neway i read the link.. i jus need something for a year or two.. i dont play the most recent games.. im mostly a HL2 fan. not hardcore but its prolly the only game i play. (when i have time to play) lol but yea..

thanks again! and those links with the vid cards pretty cool lol thanks
 
I know what you mean about the budget. It's tough to get something that's decent and still have some $ left. I think a 9600 pro would be ok, as long as you don't run at really high screen res(1600x1200+), use high aa/af settings, or expect framerates to be blazing fast on maximum detail. But if you can handle say 1024x768 screen res, no aa/af, and high, or medium detail, you should be fine. Sometimes it's nicer to deal with a shop than a online vendor.
And, if it isn't quite as fast as you like, you could overclock it some, if you're willing to take the risk.

The only other option I can think of for a card is a nvidia 6200. I have a leadtek a6200td, which is actually a 6600 that's partially disabled. I dl'ed rivatuner re-enabled the 4 disabled pipes and oc'ed it some, and I have a good card for $100 usd. It probably is more $ though in Canada.
 
what are the risks of overclocking? melting ur card? (if it gets too hot.. )

so wuts aa/af? wut does it do? i dont mind running nfsu2 on 800x600 res. med. detail.. as long as i get all the shiny stuff (i saw my friends running that game with a Ti4200 n it looks good enuf)

u know, the nice shiny car.. and the wet road look that reflects the lights.. awesome haha *drools* neway .. i think id rather go for a non underclocked 9600pro that has more memory.. for 20 bux more.. hmm..
 
someone plz help

after being lazee.. i finally took the time to look around the net... the card from that comp store with the card that looked old... is this

http://www.sapphiretech.com/awards/image/media_353.jpg

its sapphire's 9600 pro advantage card..i dono wut this 'advantage' stuff is about.. but theres this other one..

http://www.sapphiretech.com/awards/image/media_356.jpg

its jus a 9600Pro.. looks more appetizing to me than the advantage version...

here are the box shots + card shots

http://www.sapphiretech.com/awards/image/media_355.jpg
http://www.sapphiretech.com/awards/image/media_359.jpg

theyre both a 9600 pro card..... (im so confused) but the 2nd one looks more able... hmm.. help anyone?

EDIT:
i called the store n asked the guy to go to the sapphiretech.com site himself so i can show him the cards.. n he said the Advantage is the only one selling .. because sapphire discontinued the normal 9600PRO (which he mentioned is better).... who does that?
 
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