Radeon 9600 256 mb video card

[Garnettbryant]

I gonna buy me a Powercolor Radeon 9600 PRO 256MB DDR 400/400MHz AGP8X DVI-I Tv-out Retail

cause now I have a Geforce2 card and thats a OOLD , does this the thrick with NBA live 2004, cause the 9800 is little to expensive

Or is there any better card for same price.

[A.I.Rulez]

I gonna buy me a Powercolor Radeon 9600 PRO 256MB DDR 400/400MHz AGP8X DVI-I Tv-out Retail

cause now I have a Geforce2 card and thats a OOLD , does this the thrick with NBA live 2004, cause the 9800 is little to expensive

Or is there any better card for same price.

I'm getting my Radeon 9600PRO 128MB on Sunday.
I think this card is a good one at this price, it will hold the games for a long time.

I read alot of people prefer the Radeon 9500PRO, because it can produce better quality TODAY, but in the near future i think Radeon 9600PRO will serve you better, and you get the 256MB card, so it's even better.

Gefroce 2 64MB, generaly, will play your Live 2004 perfectly on 1024X768, medium or high settings, maybe even with reflections and shadows, too.
And If you think Geforce 2 is old, try my Nvidia's Riva TNT 16MB card.
You will puke from the worse pefromence ever in today's games, although i really loved this card.
It served be perfectly in every game until today, including Live 2003 on everything MAXED. Gotta love it !

[JohnnyKnoxville]

I read alot of people prefer the Radeon 9500PRO, because it can produce better quality TODAY, but in the near future i think Radeon 9600PRO will serve you better, and you get the 256MB card, so it's even better.

Um, no. The 9500 and 9600-series have the exact same options and are from the same generation, so both are fit for the future. The 9500 uses most of the architecture from the 9700-series and was therefor rather expensive to produce, and that's where the 9600-series comes in (which only has the stuff onboard that the card really needs).

The 9500Pro is about 5-10% faster than the 9600Pro though, so if you can still get a 9500Pro, go for it. Prices should be about the same.

[A.I.Rulez]

I read alot of people prefer the Radeon 9500PRO, because it can produce better quality TODAY, but in the near future i think Radeon 9600PRO will serve you better, and you get the 256MB card, so it's even better.

Um, no. The 9500 and 9600-series have the exact same options and are from the same generation, so both are fit for the future. The 9500 uses most of the architecture from the 9700-series and was therefor rather expensive to produce, and that's where the 9600-series comes in (which only has the stuff onboard that the card really needs).

The 9500Pro is about 5-10% faster than the 9600Pro though, so if you can still get a 9500Pro, go for it. Prices should be about the same.

If the are the same and the cards have the same options and the same price ,then why even create the 9600-series ?

i believe the 9600PRO has more options that games' developers will use in the future, than they have in the 9500PRO.
That's from what i understood.

9500PRO currently is better, and is in the same price as the 9600PRO is.
It is better for this days' gaming exprience, but i think in the future the 9600PRO will hold much longer.

That is IMO, of course.

[mashimaro_boy]

get the 128mb version instead.

I believe the 256mb version is clocked slower than the 128mb version.

Also the extra memory is useless in games today. When games start using 256mb of video memory your card will be too slow already.

[JohnnyKnoxville]

If the are the same and the cards have the same options and the same price ,then why even create the 9600-series ?

Because the 9600Pro is cheaper to manufacture -> bigger profit margin.
It might be that the 9600Pro is slightly (~10 bucks cheaper) as you will be hard pressed to find any more 9500Pros.

i believe the 9600PRO has more options that games' developers will use in the future, than they have in the 9500PRO.
That's from what i understood.

No. Trust me on this, the cards are basically the same as they are from the same generation of cards. The 9500Pro is, as I said, a tad bit faster, mostly not noticeable though. This will NOT change in the future.

[A.I.Rulez]

If the are the same and the cards have the same options and the same price ,then why even create the 9600-series ?

Because the 9600Pro is cheaper to manufacture -> bigger profit margin.
It might be that the 9600Pro is slightly (~10 bucks cheaper) as you will be hard pressed to find any more 9500Pros.

i believe the 9600PRO has more options that games' developers will use in the future, than they have in the 9500PRO.
That's from what i understood.

No. Trust me on this, the cards are basically the same as they are from the same generation of cards. The 9500Pro is, as I said, a tad bit faster, mostly not noticeable though. This will NOT change in the future.

OK, I trust you, man.
Anyway, both cards are great.
128MB or 256MB is not a big difference, if you have the money.
Like mashiramo_boy said, 256MB will not help you in today's games.
But it could come in hand, if you would want the card for a few more months later, when it's getting very old.

[bishibashiboy]

Yep JohnnyKnoxville is right.
The Radeon 9500pro is the same chip as the Radeon 9700pro but only has half the bandwidth due to the limitations built into the board itself, not the chip.
The 9600pro is a new chip altogether and was cheaper for Ati to produce than the 9500pro. It actually has half the # of shader units than the 9500pro, however has an overall higher clock speed (400 vs 275).
Image quality is identical for all Ati Radeon 9500 and up.

Overall, the 9600pro is a good buy today only because the 9500pro is no longer around. The 9600pro has been shown to be roughly 5% slower than the 9500pro in current AND future games.