Good Value Radeon Card Needed! (AGP 8x - DX9 - Dual Display) 9600?

[Wayne Youngman]

Hi all,

I am building another machine for a client. It's a budget model so I can't
be spending silly money on a graphics card, however I would like to have the
following specs:

AGP x8
DX 9.0 hardware
Two Display Outputs (2 monitors)

They don't really play 3D games, but I still would like to have an *entry*
level 3D card for them.

I am thinking of getting the Radeon 9600 128MB (£79.31) or the 256MB version
(£85.19), but just thought I would run it by you folks!.

The rest of the system will be AMD XP2500+, 512MB Dual-DDR PC3200, ABIT NF7
Mobo, WD-SE 120GB IDE, WindowsXP Pro (SP1). . . .

Many thanks,

 

[JAD]

you need 2 monitors? 9600 isn't an entry level card IMO.... How about a few bucks more and get video in (AIW) and give them a TV at
the Computer station? I can play the latest games on a 7500 AIW...>120$ at Mwave and others.

 

[Ben Pope]

Hi all,

I am building another machine for a client. It's a budget model so I
can't be spending silly money on a graphics card, however I would like to
have the following specs:

AGP x8
DX 9.0 hardware
Two Display Outputs (2 monitors)

They don't really play 3D games, but I still would like to have an *entry*
level 3D card for them.

I am thinking of getting the Radeon 9600 128MB (£79.31) or the 256MB
version (£85.19), but just thought I would run it by you folks!.

An *entry* level 3d card does not require AGP 8x, DX9 or 256MBs RAM.

An *entry* level card that will likely be enough for the needs you describe
would likely be a 128MB 9200.

If you insist on DX9 then a 128MB 9600se would likely be enough.

If you go for a 128MB 9600 then you have a low top-end card or a high medium
level card at the very worst.

Ben

 

[Strontium]

-
Wayne Youngman stood up at show-n-tell, in
[email protected], and said:

Hi all,

I am building another machine for a client. It's a budget model so I
can't be spending silly money on a graphics card, however I would
like to have the following specs:

AGP x8
DX 9.0 hardware
Two Display Outputs (2 monitors)

They don't really play 3D games, but I still would like to have an
*entry* level 3D card for them.

I am thinking of getting the Radeon 9600 128MB (£79.31) or the 256MB
version (£85.19), but just thought I would run it by you folks!.

Before I got to this statement, I was thinking '9600'.... Seems like a
good choice, for the purpose.

 

[Scott Smith]

I would personally get the Radeon 9700 PRO over the 9600.

 

[Vellu]

Hi all,

I am building another machine for a client. It's a budget model so I can't
be spending silly money on a graphics card, however I would like to have the
following specs:

AGP x8
DX 9.0 hardware
Two Display Outputs (2 monitors)

They don't really play 3D games, but I still would like to have an *entry*
level 3D card for them.

I am thinking of getting the Radeon 9600 128MB (£79.31) or the 256MB version
(£85.19), but just thought I would run it by you folks!.

Good choice. Stay away from the 9600SE models though, it's much much slower
then a regular 9600. The 256 MB memory might not be necessary for you
either. Even high-end graphic card (9800 and the like) don't fully benefit
from it yet: current programs/games don't require that much. This will
change most likely in the near future though.

 

[Wayne Youngman]

AGP x8
DX 9.0 hardware
Two Display Outputs (2 monitors)

I am thinking of getting the Radeon 9600 128MB (£79.31) or the 256MB version
(£85.19), but just thought I would run it by you folks!.

you need 2 monitors? 9600 isn't an entry level card IMO.... How about a

few bucks more and get video in (AIW) and give them a TV at

the Computer station? I can play the latest games on a 7500 AIW...>120$ at

Mwave and others.

Yes, the PC is going to be used by a skilled *Graphics-Artist* using Adobe
Illustrator with a Wacom graphics tablet. On his set-up at work he uses
*dual-display* so it is part of the brief given to me. As regards the
TV-in-PC, that is taken care of with a separate DVB-T card. I looked at the
quality of AIW TV display and I found it lacking. . .

Before I got to this statement, I was thinking '9600'.... Seems like a
good choice, for the purpose.

Ok, thanks. Seems like the *Cheapest* option for some modern graphics
silicon.

I would personally get the Radeon 9700 PRO over the 9600.

I'm sure that true for a seasoned gamer who knows his OpenGL from his D3D,
but the 9700Pro is just wasted money from the budget, as I'm aware that 3D
graphics are very low of this clients brief. The reason I want to get
something half-decent is so I can load up a basic 3D game like Quake3 or
Unreal and get them addicted to fraggin MUHAHA!!!!.

Good choice. Stay away from the 9600SE models though, it's much much slower
then a regular 9600. The 256 MB memory might not be necessary for you
either. Even high-end graphic card (9800 and the like) don't fully benefit
from it yet: current programs/games don't require that much. This will
change most likely in the near future though.

Ok thanks. I think I just saw something like a 64bit data bus on the
9600SE? (256Bit on 9800, 128Bit for the 9600). The only reason I was
thinking of getting the 256MB version was that the price difference is about
£6.00 lol, and also it would give my client some *braggin rights*, I mean
you don't expect to get a 256MB graphics card on your first budget PC do you
.

The main thing here is that I go ATI, I was an nVidia man for the past
several years, but since joining this group and speaking with the likes of
*Strontium* and others I bought myself a tasty Sapphire Atlantis 9800, I
been a big ATi fan since then. .

Thanks all for comments. .

I'll be back!
--
Wayne ][

Barton (AQXEA) XP2500+ @ 2.2GHz (10x220) - 1.775vCore
CoolerMaster Aero 7 Lite - 3,200rpm
ABIT NF7-S v2.0 (BIOS d20)
512MB Dual TwiSTER PC3500 @ DDR440 1:1 (2.0,3,3,9 - 2.8v)
Sapphire Atlantis 9800 - 3.3ns Samsung (325/290 Default)
WD-SE 240GB (2x120GB) SATA RAID-0 (NTFS - 16k Stripe)
Antec SX630II Mini-Tower Case Inc 300w PSU
2 x CoolerMaster 80mm Blue Neon Fans
WinXP PRO inc. SP1
nVidia Unified v3.13
Cat 3.7 - DX9.0b

 

[JAD]

ahhh IC when you finally get all the pieces then better advice can be given, Although I have heard that the TV quality with ATI is
not acceptable I guess I must be used to it. When I was first getting serious about graphics, illustrator >>>flash (director), the
7500 Radeons were state- of- the- art, it did and still does VERY well. I have a 9700 pro also and its better, but also much more
expensive.

 

[Ben Pope]

I would personally get the Radeon 9700 PRO over the 9600.

In practice, is it still possible to purchase these? Do you know of
anywhere carrying stock?

Ben

 

[J. Clarke]

In practice, is it still possible to purchase these? Do you know of
anywhere carrying stock?

A few places still have them but they cost about that same as Best Buy
charges for a 9800 Pro so there's not much point.

 

[Wayne Youngman]

ahhh IC when you finally get all the pieces then better advice can be

given, Although I have heard that the TV quality with ATI is

not acceptable I guess I must be used to it. When I was first getting

serious about graphics, illustrator >>>flash (director), the

7500 Radeons were state- of- the- art, it did and still does VERY well. I

have a 9700 pro also and its better, but also much more

expensive.

Hi,
thanks for more feedback. So you say the 7500 is working well in
Dual-Display?. My suppliers are carrying allot of Radeon 7000 and Radeons
9200, don't really see the 7500 about. I wish there was a webpage listing
the radeon family specs in a simply to read chart!

Yeah 2 display is part of the brief, and I am hoping that the 2D quality is
good. I think the 9600 looks like a good *entry* level card for a modern
value PC. Also in the back of my mind I am thinking of Microsoft's next O/S
build (Hornblower) which uses allot more 3D, like the desktop will be
Direct3D, rendered icons with Anti Aliasing etc, so I figure that any
machine I build should last 4-5 years easy, so I want to keep them a little
future proof.

 

[JAD]

AA18510 ATI RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB 8XAGP DDR (OEM - POWERED BY ATI) Detail Specs $199.00 YES

1110854 ATI RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB AGP(8X) W/DVI & TV-OUT (Retail) Detail Specs (*While Supplies Last!) $172.77 YES


Your right Ben the ATI versions are disappearing....

 

[JAD]

ooops www.mwave.com

AA18510 ATI RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB 8XAGP DDR (OEM - POWERED BY ATI) Detail Specs $199.00 YES

1110854 ATI RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB AGP(8X) W/DVI & TV-OUT (Retail) Detail Specs (*While Supplies Last!) $172.77 YES


Your right Ben the ATI versions are disappearing....

 

[andrewunix]

Thu, 22 Jan 2004 13:15:55 +0000 (UTC), (e-mail address removed) suggested:
:
: Yeah 2 display is part of the brief, and I am hoping that the 2D quality is
: good. I think the 9600 looks like a good *entry* level card for a modern
: value PC. Also in the back of my mind I am thinking of Microsoft's next O/S
: build (Hornblower) which uses allot more 3D, like the desktop will be
: Direct3D, rendered icons with Anti Aliasing etc, so I figure that any
: machine I build should last 4-5 years easy, so I want to keep them a little
: future proof.

Yeah, if Microsoft's UI interface is anything like the current Mac OS, 3D
performance has a noticeable effect on UI performance. That said, at least
on the Mac, anything Radeon 7000 or faster is more than adequate for those
purposes. The 9600 seems to be the best overall bang for your buck in the
mid range right now; I'd go for it.

 

[JAD]

I have my setup (and this will bring flames I guess) using the TV out as a second monitor. just to hold my panels(palettes), the
work space is on the 20" KDS. Not the best, but the panels are easy to see and I don't have to worry about color matching from the
TV (thank god). Anyway, this is a work around, as I didn't want to spend anymore cash for the year. I will be doing a upgrade, not
sure which way I will go.... 'fire GL' I think for this production machine. I mentioned this as you wanted entry level gaming and I
thought that with some TV out and video in, this would round it out quite nicely....now that I think about it, my brother plays most
games with an AOPEN Mainboard with Intel graphics On board, quite nicely I might add, if only I could get the lamer to drop AO-hell.
;^0 This would also do well with graphic production.

Someone here made a great listing of ATI products and their features, knew I should have copied it.....

 

[Dedet]

or you can buy a 9800se(powercolor NOT SAPPHIRE models)

 

[OverKlocker]

In practice, is it still possible to purchase these? Do you know of
anywhere carrying stock?

Ben

newegg has 1 model... $202 isn't bad for the performance gains over
the 9600xt

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-131-199&depa=1

 

[Wayne Youngman]

Hi,

an interesting review on Anandtech,

Fall 2003 Video Card Roundup, Part 4: Budget Shootout:
www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1933

seems like the 9600 is a nice *above spec* budget card.
--
Wayne ][

<Article snip>
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Author: Derek Wilson/Anandtech
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"One thing that we can say for sure about the performance in this review is
that the 9200 SE is consistently low and has frame rates lower than 10 in
quite a few games. The advantage of the card is that it is the cheapest of
the bunch and can be found for about half the price of the 9600 SE or 5200
Ultra cards (which is impressive for this price range). The 9200 SE does
have decent performance in some games, and most games are decently playable
at resolutions under 10x7.

If absolute minimum price is your requirement (and you happen to like one of
the games in which it performed well), the ATI Radeon 9200 SE is the card
for you.

The 9200 is slightly less expensive than the 9600 SE. The games that the
9200 SE did well in were topped by the 9200 in every case, but at this price
point, it may be better to go with the 9600 SE, as it has consistently high
performance, more than either of the cheaper cards. The same can be said
about the NVIDIA 5200 Ultra.

If performance at a low price is what you are after, either the 9600 SE or
the 5200 Ultra is a good choice. The best way to decide is definitely to
look at the games that you will be playing. We recommend against buying the
ATI Radeon 9200 non-pro, as you can get better performance for only slightly
more money.

It is important to bear in mind that, even though two of these cards have
full DX9 support, next generation games won't run very fast on them. The
budget segment, however, is a beautiful thing if you need a stop gap card
while waiting for the next generation of GPUs to come out in the spring.
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