another "whats better" thread!

[ziah]

ok i have been searching and reading the forums like crazy and have pretty much figured out most of what i wanted to know. there are a few things im still not able to find answers about so i'll ask. im looking to get a radeon card for around $150. $20 over or under is fine. i really wanted an A-I-W card so i can record tv shows and do some editing of old home movies but with my budget thats not possible (i'll get a tv-wonder later down the road).

im thinking that a 128mb 9600pro would be the best card for the price but i have read by a few people that the 9500 has potential to be better. im not planning on overclocking the card anytime soon so oc'ability is not a big factor for me at this time (however i will be watercooling after i replace my mobo in a few months so i may lightly oc the whole rig but nothing extreme). i dont play many games but when i do i want it to rock (i currently have a gf2 mx400 so compared to what im use to anything will rock). flight sim, GTAvc, sim city4 and a few first person shooters is all i really play. i do some 3dsmax stuff, video editing and photoshop editing. and thats about it. also, i have not been able to find much talk about the 9600 pro ultra and pro ultimate. would one of those be a better choice?

in short, which 9600pro with 128mb or more is best for non oc use, or 9500 or whatever for around $150? any "powered by ati" brand to steer clear of?

thanks in advance.
~z

[manhart]

With your current situation, I'd wait a month or two for prices to drop on the R350 cards (9x00). With the launch of the 9800XT and 9600XT you will definetly see a price drop in the 9800p and 9600p. Currently you can get an ATi 9600p for around $150, but next month it could be down to $120. The AIW 9600p may drop a little, giving you the ability to jump on it.

If you only have about $150, why not save a little more cash and get that AIW a month from now? Buying a 9600p and then a couple of months later getting an AIW just doesn't make sense to me, unless you have two machines in which case you could put that 9600 to good use.

If you must get a card right now, go with the 9600p. You said you'd like to O/C later on down the road (why you wouldn't now I don't understand...), and any of the R350 cards have great headroom. Hard[OCP] was able to O/C the 9800XT quite a bit, you can read about it here: Hard[OCP] (http://www.hardocp.com). The 9600p will O/C alot just on air, but with water you can push it farther by increasing your AGP voltage (yeah yeah, all you people tell me I'm wrong, but I'm telling you it WORKS!). Increasing your AGP Frequency inside your BIOS should also help, it helped me gain around 20 Mhz after I thought I hit a brick wall.

So, in summary, I would either buy a 9600p (ATi or Sapphire, nothing else!), or wait 1-2 months and pick up an AIW 9600p, which should drop in price anyways.

Good luck and overclocking!

[ziah]

thanks,

the tv wonder is strictly a tv tuner card and its only $60 compared to the extra $100 for an aiw. the reason im not OC'ing now is in my signature :cry:. untill i get a new mobo, ram and a less generic PS to power it im not going to OC anything. i will OC moderatly when i get better stuff but im more interested in longevity and reliability than extreme performance and burning out parts every 6 months. i dont have the cash for that.

whats anyone know about the 9600p ultra & ultimate? are they a better choice?

thanks
~e

[ziah]

p i s s on it. ill wait for the 9600xt.