ATI Radeon 9700 PRO ?

by **Edogg** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 3:19 pm

i think i would wait and see what companies come out with ultras, and take into consideration of the extras they put into them. but as of right now, i believe you can get an ultra at http://www.newegg.com, i cant remember the brand.
the reason i said the 9700pro was the better buy at the moment, was that they are $100 bucks cheaper than the ultra and you get similar performance. I still dont think nvidia has really good drivers for the fx yet. thats why i would wait on it as of right now. overall, i do like nvidia over ati.

by **Ralph Wiggum** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 3:21 pm

I recently picked up a 9700 Pro. I got it based on the reviews I had seen indicating that the performance difference between it and the FX were not going to be that great either way. Also, I figured that since the 9700 had been out longer any problems with it should have been worked out by now. As for noise, it is quieter than the 4200 I was using before, but my 4200 may have had something wrong with its fan that caused it to make more noise than it should have.

by **Silverfox** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 3:29 pm

Thanks again, Tool and Freedom, for good input, that may help out folks in the future, with similar questions! I still haven`t made my mind up, on which to buy, the FX or the 9700 pro. But I quess that`s competition, and overall a great thing for the consumer, if the prices continue to drop!

by **RCinator** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 4:24 am

Originally posted by Edogg
the 9700 pro isnt loud. also the geforce fx isnt loud. companies are making the card with quieter cooling even quieter than the 9700 pro. the 9700 pro is the better buy as of right now.

edit: also there is a very minimal performance boost between 4x and 8x agp.

also, rdram is expensive and bad for overclocking. ddr is the way to go, especially now that they are making p4 boards that supports dual channel ddr. this doubles your memory bandwith.

Agreed (mostly) Edogg, especially with 4x vs. 8x - the gain is almost negligable. I have the 9700Pro - it can't even be heard as long as your case is closed. As for mobo power requirements, as long as you have a spare molex, you're set.

Now as for RDRAM, I diverge here. I have 1066 RDRAM in my system, and the difference between it and another DDR system I have is huge, even running DDR 333/400. You are right though about the overclocking - it's almost impossible due to RDRAM's method of timing and its high latency.

by **RCinator** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 4:27 am

Originally posted by (>Tool<)
Also, if you really think it will make you feel better, if you've built your own computer, you can overclock the pci and agp bus, an overclocked 4x agp bus would probabily be close to an 8x if edogg is saying there is a minimal gain. Thats what I'm gonna do, 8x card 4x mobo and oc the bus for the agp slot. just as a hint It runs by default at 66mhz and I've had it to about 85 without problems. Now I just need 200 beans.

I wouldn't recommend overclocking the AGP with the 9700 series. I have tried, and with lackluster results. I had to add a lot of active cooling, and the card was fairly unstable, even with just a 5% OC. It seems to be a common issue with the 9700s - they just don't like their AGP frequency tinkered with.

by **RCinator** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 4:29 am

Originally posted by Freedom
Thanks Tool. More intereting info.

As far as the FX Ultra goes. I do not know where you can pick that one up - or how much it will cost. I do know that the rumor that the Ultra would only be available to pre-order customers is false. NVidia has made a statement clearing that up. I also saw that Alienware machines are now shipping with FX Ultra cards.

As far as the first non-ultra cards, PNY appears to be the first ones shipping. I'm sure Visiontek, Leadtech, and MSI will not be too far behind.

Visiontek is making ATI cards now. NVidia is not happy about this.

by **ECGNDan** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 9:19 am

So, what's the price on these babys? I won't have the money either way, but I can always dream..

by **Silverfox** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 10:00 am

ATI 9700 PRO = 299.00@ Circuit City
ATI 9800 PRO = 399.00 released sometime this month!
ATI 9900 PRO = 499.00 released sometime in May!
GeForce FX 5800 = 399.00 Supposedly very limited!

by **Freedom** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 12:11 pm

Originally posted by Silverfox
ATI 9700 PRO = 299.00@ Circuit City
ATI 9800 PRO = 399.00 released sometime this month!
ATI 9900 PRO = 499.00 released sometime in May!
GeForce FX 5800 = 399.00 Supposedly very limited!

Actually, the GeForce FX 5800 will retail for $329 and the FX Ultra will retail for $399. And the Ultra will be the one that is fairly limited.

After everything I've heard and read the last two weeks I think I'll actually jump off the nVidia bandwagon for a little while and try out the 9800Pro.

by **ECGNDan** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 12:14 pm

Yeah, figured as much. I have 2 jobs, but I got to pay for my new rims & new tires, first

by **Ralph Wiggum** » Sun Mar 09, 2003 7:55 am

Originally posted by ECGNDan
Yeah, figured as much. I have 2 jobs, but I got to pay for my new rims & new tires, first

Twenty-inch rims I hope.

by **Cpl. Bingham** » Sun Mar 09, 2003 9:53 am

Originally posted by Freedom
Actually, the GeForce FX 5800 will retail for $329 and the FX Ultra will retail for $399. And the Ultra will be the one that is fairly limited.

After everything I've heard and read the last two weeks I think I'll actually jump off the nVidia bandwagon for a little while and try out the 9800Pro.

I just did that myself, although my purchase was an All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro. I couldn't be happier with it, I can play BF at 1280x960 with full AA and 16x Anisotropic filtering and it runs like a dream.

Not to mention it came with a remote control and more cables and hookups than my last two stereos combined.

ATI Radeon 9700 PRO ?

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