Which Radeon 9600 Pro

[Bolton Gate]

Hi

I have just rebuilt my pc with a asus A7N8X V2 Deluxe, Athlon Barton 2500, 2
x 512MB Crucial PC3200 (in dual channel mode), Western Digital 120GB SATA
HDD 8MB cache at 7200rpm and a Enermax 350W PSU but I have an old Elso
Gladiac GTS 32MB graphics card which I am looking to upgrade.

A friend may be selling me a Gainward Geforce4 TI4600 Golden Edition for £60
but this may not happen. Is this a good card? Will the 4X AGP peformance be
affected when compared to the 8X Radeaon 9600 Pro?

I have been looking at the Radeon 9600 Pro and get confused at some of the
versions out there and their memory speeds. The ones I have found are
branded PowerColor 9600 Pro Bravo priced from £121 inc VAT and delivery from
avco.biz and several brands from overclockers.co.uk.

What is the best option for the money at the momement?

Gigabyte 9600 Pro 128 MB
Saphire 9600 Pro 128 MB
Connect 9600 Pro 128 MB
PowerColor 9600 Pro 128 MB
Tyan Tacheon 9600 Pro 128MB. I have heard that it can be found for £117 but
cannot find the supplier for this price.

I have been looking for days but each time I find a deal they are for OEM's
and quote memory speeds 340 and 400. I though the 9600 Pro specifications
are 400 core with memory speed at (2 x 300) 600.

Any advice?

Bryan

 

[Bolton Gate]

Sorry I meant to tell you I am posting from the UK!

 

[Skid]

Sorry I meant to tell you I am posting from the UK!

I can't help with U.K. prices or avilability, but the Sapphire cards are
generally the pick of the
OEMs, with better quality memory that can usually be overclocked without
much trouble. If you can get that G4 4600, it would be a decent cheap
stopgap until you could save up for a Sapphire 9800 non-pro, which can often
overclock to 9800 Pro and beyond.

 

[John Smith]

A friend of mine did some research on this about 2 months ago and came up
with the belief that the Connect 3D 9600 Pro 128MB on sale at
www.overclockers.co.uk for about £120 was the best card available... at the
time... in terms of performance and price. The 9800s are simply ovver the
top in price. He has two now and they are superb. I also have heard that
Sapphire are excellent cards. OCers sells a wide range of cards.

 

[Col]

Hi all,

I bought a Tyan Tachyon 9600PRO from Ebuyer for £99.95 + VAT and I'm
delighted with it.

Regards,

Col

 

[Shawk]

I can't help with U.K. prices or avilability, but the Sapphire cards are
generally the pick of the
OEMs, with better quality memory that can usually be overclocked without
much trouble. If you can get that G4 4600, it would be a decent cheap
stopgap until you could save up for a Sapphire 9800 non-pro, which can often
overclock to 9800 Pro and beyond.

Had my Sapphire 9600Pro from Overclockers.Co.Uk. Its the genuine article
with 400/300. Its £141 including VAT. Just took a look for you and
unfortunately they're currently out. Nice system BTW.

 

[John Smith]

Shawk,

Does your Sapphire come with a fan or a heatsink? I can't stand fan noise
and my interest in the Connect 9600s is that they have heatsinks although I
think the Pro might have a fan. I would be interested to know what the
Sapphire has.

John.

 

[Shawk]

Shawk,

Does your Sapphire come with a fan or a heatsink? I can't stand fan noise
and my interest in the Connect 9600s is that they have heatsinks although I
think the Pro might have a fan. I would be interested to know what the
Sapphire has.

John.

John,

the Pro comes with a fan - I think all Pro's do? AFAIK only the NP have
heatsinks and you dont want anything less than a 9600 Pro in that system -
9800 be better if you had the money.

Having said that the loudest thing in my system is the PSU fan - cant hear
the Sapphires fan over that (and the PSU is pretty quiet)

Shawk.

 

[Oliver Haslam]

Had my Sapphire 9600Pro from Overclockers.Co.Uk. Its the genuine article
with 400/300. Its £141 including VAT. Just took a look for you and
unfortunately they're currently out. Nice system BTW.

I got a Saphire 9600Pro Fireblade from kimplett a couple of days ago. £150
delivered. The Fireblade is guarenteed overclockable by Sapphire, if you
are that way inclined
Not tried myself yet.

Oli