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4600 vs 9600

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custom90gt

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2003
Hey guys,
I know this sounds like a stupid question, but I have to ask. I currently have an MSI gforce 4 4600 and enjoy it a lot. My friend said he will sell me his new (still in box and everything) radeon 9600 Pro 128 retail for 75 bucks. I'm curious if this card is that much better than my 4600? I know it is but should I sell the card and get something else (I'm in college and have no money).
I'm just curious to see what everyone else thinks. I score 16600 in 3dmark 01 currently.
 
The 9600 will do better in DX9 games. As for the 3DMark01, the 9600 will score lower, but that is based on DX8. Run 3DMark03, and you will see that you card doesn't score very high. This is where the 9600 will shine, in DX9. Overall, if you plan to play DX9 games, like HL2, then I would get at least the 9600, 9700, or 9800 series cards.
 
yeah, i am concerned about the dx9 stuff. I want to play new games, but I dunno if I should save for a 9800 or something?
 
The 9800 would be way better than the 9600, if you can afford it, go that route. The 9600 is limited because of 4 pipelines vs the 9800's 8 pipe architecture. Save up for the 9800, it would be a better buy.
 
yeah, I know the 9800 is way faster, but being in college and owning a jeep and a mustang kinda sets you back a bit, lol. I'll be saving till next x-mas.

Oh, BTW, thanks for the replies, and holy cow that was fast.
 
Hey thats why we are here, to help out others. The 9600 is a great mid range card. Me, personally, I have owned a BBA 9600Pro and a BBA AIW 9600pro, so I like the 9600 series of cards. They are great for mild gaming.
 
wow nice ti4600 score! get the 9600 pro dude! $75 is cheap! then sell the 9600 pro if you dont like it. if you do, sell whatever you dont want to keep. worth trying it out
 
bchur83 said:
The 9600 will do better in DX9 games. As for the 3DMark01, the 9600 will score lower, but that is based on DX8. Run 3DMark03, and you will see that you card doesn't score very high. This is where the 9600 will shine, in DX9. Overall, if you plan to play DX9 games, like HL2, then I would get at least the 9600, 9700, or 9800 series cards.

The reason it scores low in 3DMark 2k3 is because it cant run the DX 9 tests, which severly lowers it (just like in 2k1, the GF4MX took a big hit because it couldnt run the nature test)

There wont be any performance loss in DX 9 games because the Ti4600 doesnt use it. Any games coming out in the near future also contain DX 8 coding...the only difference will be the lack of PS and VS 2.0 visuals (which will be substituted for PS and VS 1.4)

Most likely, the 9600 Pro will also be slower when actually running HL2/Doom 3 when compared to the Ti4600

In short, dont worry about DX 9...it will be another year or so (at least) before it becomes a requirement of games
 
this is why im holding onto my ti4200 for a long while and I doubt dx9 will be reqired anytime soon. even now many games will run on a dx7 card, even hl2 will but the visuals wont be so pretty
 
keep your TI4600 if u like playing games with AA and AF save up and get a 9800pro

AK50 thats not a bad idea get the otherone and then sell both off them
 
so a ti 4600 with bga ram would be faster than a 9600 pro with bga ram? i've been wondering myself. i see a 4600 with bga in the refurbs pretty often, in my range...about...and the 9600 pro with bga is in there sometimes too. lil cheaper, but i want raw fps, and a lil eye candy...
 
wow,
lots of replies this morning. Well I should have mentioned another part to this story. I told my brother and sister if they pitched in 50 bucks for me, I would either buy them the 9600 card and keep mine or buy it for myself and give them mine. So that throws out the selling both cards theory.
I think I'll keep the 4600 for myself and try and oc it some more (anyone have any good ideas for that, I have a TT fan/ramsinks on it now).
 
oh yeah, another question for you guys. I've heard that 9600's overclock like mad. Any merit to this rumor? If so, can it oc enough to make it worth getting over the 4600?
 
I'd keep the 4600 if I were you. Its the faster card, and what good are dx9 features if a game runs to slow to be playable? In the future, that speed edge may be the difference between playable and not playable.

The 9600 is a great card, don't get me wrong. But I personally don't really care about the eye candy much, so long as it runs fast and looks ok.
 
well basically its a free "upgrade" I'm going to give my brother and sister 25 bucks and a card either way. I'm just trying to figure out which would be a better card for me to keep. If i can oc the 9600 to score good then I'll do that.
 
Well as far as the 9600pro goes for DX 9 games. Even my 9700 np lags badly in Halo. That's not saying much considering how Halo doesn't use resources well but if you want a DX 9 card to play DX9 games the way the should be played (on high settings ;) then I suggest you either save for a 9800pro or buy and sell :) $75 is a steal in any case though.
 
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