• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

HIS Excalibur 9600XT Turbo Platinum memory question

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

bencze

Registered
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Location
Budapest, Hungary
Hi Vide Experts,

I am a novice in this field and I have a question for you.
I bought the video card mentioned in the subject. It seems to be a 256Mb ram version. Atitool is saying 128 Mb video ram. Latest driver from ATI is saying "HIGHTECH RADEON 9600XT 256MB". 3dmark03 reports 128Mb total local video memory, and 128 mb total local texture memory; so I assume it is indeed a 256Mb card.
I asked for a 128 one in th shop.

I heard/read that usually 256 MB versions are slower than 128 ones for some reason that I don't know. I was wondering if this is a general case or it depends on the card manufacturer (memory brand / type)?

I mean, if indeed this is slower than a 128 Mb one then I should return it and check if they can give a 128 one. If not, then I'd just not tell anything, as I already gave a card back to them for a certain reason, I am just tired of all the hassle....

This 'turbo' class is a bit special as it has 500 / 325 MHz, memory is a bit pushed up, and has some heatsinks on the memory too on both sides of the card.

So I am wondering if this slow 256Mb thing is true; because I don't really need the extra 128 mb if it will be slower. This is something I need clarifications on...

I'll check back for answer(s) in a day or two; I should return it in 3 days if I decide that I don't want to keep this.

Thank you all.
 
i dont know much about the 9600xt, but if it has 256mb ram, then it wont be noticbly slower, the same rule goes for the 9800pro (256mb version slighly slower than 128mb version, we are talking about 1fps here!), but it will help you with future games which require more video ram.
 
Aye, it depends on the Memory in ns and the brand the card is. Larger memory chips have a slightly higher NS than a small chip. I think that the RAM has a lower clock speed doe 256MB based cards? Correct me if i am wrong.
 
with most ati cards and nvidia cards the higher the memory the slower timings, they slow it down about 20mzh for some reson. it normaly takes about 1fps of in performance but it gains in AA performance as higher memory is better for AA, not realy worth sending it back for 1mhz.
 
What I wanted to know why people is saying this, more mem // slower.
For example why I gave back my Gecube 9600pro (memory was at 200 MHz, was so unhappy when saw it, everywhere on the net heard about 9600pro/400/300).

So you are saying that if memory freq is okay then the card is ok?
Because the values are ok, vpu: 500 and memory: 325 (650) MHz - this is the Turbo version, a bit 'cooler' :D cooling and a higher memory freq. from the factory.

If lower high mem is because simply they tend to put slower memories on it, then it is no problem at all because the values on this are okay. :)

Anyway Sisoft Sandra Standard 2004 says:

SiSoftware Sandra

Video Adapter
Model : HIGHTECH RADEON 9600XT 256MB
Chipset : RADEON 9600 XT AGP (0x4152)
RAMDAC : Internal DAC(400MHz)
Video BIOS : BK-ATI VER008.017D.016.000
VGA Compatible : No
Total Memory : 128MB (128MB Video) (752kB AGP)
Texture Memory : 129MB
Supports DIME Texturing : Yes

AGP Capabilities
Version : 3.00
Command Queue Length : 256
Fast-Writes Enabled : Yes
Isochronous Mode Enabled : No
Addressing Enabled : 32-bit
Data Transfer Modes Support : 4x 8x
Current Data Transfer Rate : 8x

Video BIOS
Date : 04/04/29
Version : 9600.18B

Current Video Mode
Mode : 1024x768 16M+ TrueColour (32-bit)
Current Refresh Rate : 75Hz
Virtual Desktop Size : 1024x768

Video Driver
Model : ati2mtag.sys
Version : 6.14.10.6483
Expected Windows Version : 4.00
Video Acceleration : Yes
Screen Saver Active : 10 minutes(s)
Screen Saver Name : C:\WINDOWS\System32\logon.scr
Low Power Saving Active : 20 minutes(s)
Power Off Saving Active : 20 minutes(s)

Supported Video Modes
(Too long list)

Enhanced Video Settings
Animation Effects Enabled : Yes
Full Windows Drag Enabled : Yes
Font Smoothing Enabled : No
HighContrast Feature On : No

Device Mode Characteristics
Physical Medium Width : 300 mm, 12 in
Physical Medium Height : 220 mm, 9 in
Recommended CRT/Panel Size : 19 in
Horizontal/Vertical Resolution : 96x96 dpi
Colour Bits/Planes : 32 / 1 bit(s) pp
Brushes : 4294967295
Pens : 4294967295
Colours/Shades : 4294967295
Pixel Width/Height/Diagonal : 36 / 36 / 51

Driver Clipping Capabilities
Can Clip Output to Rectangle : Yes
Can Clip Output to Region : No

Driver Raster Capabilities
Supports Banding : No
Supports Fonts Larger than 64Kb : Yes
Can Transfer Bitmaps : Yes
Supports Bitmaps Larger than 64Kb : Yes
Supports Device Bitmaps : No
Supports DIBs : Yes
DIBs on Device Surface : Yes
Flood Fills : Yes
Supports Windows 2.x : Yes
Stretch/Compress Bitmaps : Yes
Stretch/Compress DIBs : Yes
Supports Scaling : No
Palette-Based Device : No
Saves Bitmap Locally : No

Driver Curve Capabilities
Can Draw Circles : Yes
Can Draw Ellipses : Yes
Can Draw Pie Wedges : Yes
Can Draw Chord Arcs : Yes
Can Draw Wide Borders : Yes
Can Draw Styled Borders : Yes
Can Draw Wide, Styled Borders : Yes
Can Draw Rounded Rectangles : Yes
Can Draw Interiors : Yes

Driver Line Capabilities
Can Draw Polylines : Yes
Can Draw Styled Lines : Yes
Can Draw Wide Lines : Yes
Can Draw Wide, Styled Lines : Yes
Can Draw Markers : Yes
Can Draw Polymarkers : Yes
Can Draw Interiors : Yes

Driver Polygonal Capabilities
Can Draw Alternate-fill Polygons : Yes
Can Draw Winding-fill Polygons : Yes
Can Draw Rectangles : Yes
Can Draw Scan Lines : Yes
Can Draw Wide Borders : Yes
Can Draw Styled Borders : Yes
Can Draw Wide, Styled Borders : Yes
Can Draw Interiors : Yes

Driver Text Capabilities
Supports Stroke Clip Precision : Yes
Supports Stroke Output Precision : Yes
Supports Character Output Precision : Yes
Supports 90° Character Rotation : No
Supports Any Angle Character Rotation : No
Supports Independent X-Y Scaling : No
Supports Doubled Character for Scaling : No
Supports Integer Multiples for Scaling : No
Any Multiples for Exact Scaling : No
Can Draw Double-Weighted Characters : No
Can Italicise : No
Can Underline : Yes
Can Draw Strikeouts : Yes
Can Draw Raster Fonts : Yes
Can Draw Vector Fonts : Yes
Cannot Scroll Using BitBlt : No

Performance Tips
Tip 322 : Turn off screen savers. Use the monitor power saving mode.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.


The thing I don't understand atm is the 128 + 128 video memory. Is this a special case or it is normal? (128 video memory, 128 texture memory). I always thought vid memory is just vid memory and the gpu is just using it as needed. :)

(Ah and thx for the replies!)
 
bencze

Is this the card you have in this link?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-161-113&depa=1

If it is? Then don't worry about a thing, you have a great card!
That card is bad *** man! The memory is even clocked at 325, not the default 300 on 9600XT's.

You have a keeper, that's for sure. :thup:

EDIT: 256mb cards have looser timings, not slower memory than the 128mb cards.;)
 
Last edited:
I think that with budget cards and older cards like the 9800 pro 256 meg it was true that the memory would be a bit slower compared to an 128 meg card, but with the newer cards coming out like x800/6800 series its not really the case anymore. In fact those cards all have 256 megs of the fastest video card memory out there. Who knows maybe when the 512 meg cards come out they'll be a bit slower just cause they have so much.
 
I have become a fan of 256mb cards lately after playing with my buddy's Sapphire 9600pro 256.Even though it is not the fastest card,the extra memory just does something for the smoothness.
Your card is clocked much much higher than his so I would guess you will have fun with it.
 
Yes football, that is the card I got.
Actually I have payed for a 128 Mb version (I have a vague idea that is not 'Platinum' edition, I mean if we talk about the name). They just ordered it then and gave it to me, even the guy checked if it is a Turbo version or not (the extra MHz on memory); he saw the fansinks on the memory and said it ok it is a Turbo. But he didnt know prolly that it has 256 ram...
I wonder how to find out the memory timings, I didnt see yet in 3dmark03, sisoft sandra or atitool .... perhaps I should find somewhere what brand / type of memory this card has just to check on it.
Actually this time I did have a good feeling about the card, it just looks very nice compared to the 9600pro I got from them earlier; it looks much more professional. I am not sure wether I did lose or not performance because of the 256 Mb ram, anyway I think it is at least a decent 'warranty' for the memory that they run it at 325 MHz, then it is at least sure it is probably not the lowest quality kind you can unfortunately see on many cards. :)

Thx for all the input guys! I might check around to get some more info on it but I don't want to give it and perhaps wait after another or something, I do think for my money it is a good card... 170 euros aprox... well I am sure in US it is much cheaper but this is Hungary and shops kinda suck here...

And I am sure an x800 it is much better, I didnt ask that.. for my budget // salary paying this card was also an effort, unfortunately; more than I should normally afford I guess but hey... wanted a decent video card badly, the riva tnt 2 16Mb was getting a bit old. :D
 
bencze

I'm really not sure at all what you are asking?

YOu have a card with 256mb of DDR memory.

The clock speed of the memory is 325mh, meaning it is running at 650mhz!

A standard 9600XT has a memory clock speed of 300mhz, which is 600mhz!

So for starters, you already have a OC. Secondly, your 9600xt is faster that the 9600pro you had. Although, the little performance gain might not equal that of the price you had to pay.

If you want to know the performance standard of the card, just look at reviews of it.

But you have just about as good as it get's on the 4 pipe card level, I really liked the 9600xt I had.

If you bought the card new, then the stickers on the card pretty much tells you what you have in full. I'm getting the feeling you and the dealer you bought it from is not sure what you have.:)
 
I know I have a card with a 9600XT vpu with 256Mb ram. Vpu is @ 500MHz (xt standard) and memory is @ 325 (300 is 9600xt default). I know all these.

The thing I still don't know why people says that 256 mb cards are (or might be in many cases) slower than 128 ones.
The way I see it now it is the access time of the memory that can be higher on higher capacity rams. What I dont know wether it is the case or not in my situation.

I don't know much hardware, someone told me that MHz means how many accesses can be done in a certain amount of time (1 second?) and access time is the response time for 1 (one) operation. If this is the case, then the way I see it, the lower frequency, the higher access time should be. However, I don't know if I understood it correctly. If this is the case that means my card is ok, even if it is a 256 one it should perform the same with a 128 mb one in matter of speed (and access time) because the memory frequency is the same for these 2 versions (325 for both).

So:
my card (256 Mb) -> 325 MHz
same model (128 mb) -> 325 MHz

Means that access time also is the same for these two cards or it is a totally different thing that can still vary?

I am ok with my card now, got the replies I needed so I am happy now; looked at it some (3dmark03, some reviews). I am just curious about this little matter. Sorry if I gave other impression.

Dealer didn't really explain these things to me, actually. I know the difference between 9600 / se / pro / xt, the general stuff but things may vary from card to card as ATI only provides the processor for them and many companies manufacture cards.
 
ok, i know this is dead... but i search all my old threads about once every 6 months... so in honor of the golden rule...

i also have a 9600 256Mb XT. i have the 'crappy' slow one. it doesnt have BGA ram, and the ram is actually slower. it was clocked at 500/275 stock form. it is in fact true that with older builds and (obviously) lower priced builds the cards come with cheaper ram. in other cases, the ram controller actually cant handle that much ram at that speed and then the timings are modified. most times, its neither. its inadequate cooling. so, truth be told, some versions did get slower ram, and some versions did get different ram timings.

my gpu and ram timings went to 550/300 right out of the box with a beta atitool.
i used to be a beta tester, but version .22 is working so nice now for me. it has a full memory modification table. click in the lower right. if you dont have newest atitool, then get it. also, i suggest recording the memory settings and being careful.

right now, i have heatsinks applied to the ram and it peaks out at 318 mhz, but from 275 and for a 120 dollar card new with 256 megs... its not bad. the gpu with a water northbridge modified did 585 but i didnt play ut2k4 or anything for hours to test it.

stock cooling limits the stability because the 60 degree temps come quick with the mhz. volt mod guides are sparce for the 9600, some have told me its actually a lowering of the potential that speeds it up. anyways, atitool has the mem settings you need/want to change. what i did was clock it down and then tweaked each setting and ran 3dmark05 until it failed, then i immediately combined this with the next setting, which i maxed until 3dmark05/artifact tester failed. i then reduced the original setting back to stock, and maxed the second setting alone, and again, compared scores. if they were the same, i tried the third with the first two modified. it worked ok, i got about 100 3dmark05 points out if it. which is actually a lot. but then you gotta be careful going back up in mhz.

do yourself a favor, since you have a sweet card you need to upgrade your version of sandra or the bios on the card. my sandra reports my 256 card as a 256 card. total memory = 256 megs (118 megs agp) and 374 megs for texture.

update your software, and search your old threads.
 
Back