Author Topic: Upgrading from Radeon 9700 non pro... (Read 1571 times)

Wilbus · « **on:** January 15, 2004, 08:55:57 AM »

I'm interestead un upgrading from my Radeon 9700 non pro card. Not sure wether I will or not, examening the possibilities.

Is it worth upgrading right now? If yes, to what? How big is the differences between my card and the newer 9600, 9800 Pro and XT. 9600 XT etc. Would it be worth spending 200 dollars on a 9600 XT?

ChasR · « **Reply #1 on:** January 15, 2004, 11:48:45 AM »

Check Tom's Hardware for the relative performance of almost every card made. By the way, the 9700 non pro is faster than the 9600 XT. You'll have to go to a 9800 series card to beat it. Personally, I'd wait for the next generation of cards to come out. If they're too pricey, at least the cost of the 9800 XT will come down when they come out. Roughly the 9700 is 75% as fast as the 9800 XT. The 128MB 9800 Pro cost $286 and will overclock to at least the same speeds the 9800 XT runs at so that's not a bad option to get top performance for a lot ess than the $435 9800XT. My Radeon A-I-W 9800 Pro overclocked to 450/375 using a ZM80C-HP + OP1 VPU cooler. Scores 6900 on 3DMark2003 w/no AA or AF.

Wilbus · « **Reply #2 on:** January 15, 2004, 12:17:39 PM »

Thanks ChasR, checked Tomsharware before you replied and saw that the 9600 XT is infact not very fast, the prices for the 9800 pro and XT are both quite high so I think I'll wait a couple of months and see what's new on the market, will try and find a good cooler for my 9700 and OC it some.

Sancho · « **Reply #3 on:** January 15, 2004, 01:36:18 PM »

The 9700 is still an excellent card. I wonder if its really worth upgrading. What processor and motherboard are you using it with? You may be better off upgrading CPU instead so that 9700 can really shine.

Pfunk · « **Reply #4 on:** January 15, 2004, 03:51:49 PM »

Um you have a 9700 NON Pro and you have not overclocked it yet? It is very simple to get that thing running at 9700PRO speeds, and sometimes even faster than a 9700PRO....Hardware geeks would kill to have your card.

FOGOLD · « **Reply #5 on:** January 15, 2004, 03:59:55 PM »

I suspect you are in that upgrading frenzy psychosis thing we all suffer from:D.

I would personally not upgrade that card for another two generations of graphics card. It's simply not worth it. I just upgraded mt Gf3 Ti500 64 MB last month to a 5700 Ultra after 2 years, and I was a bit dubious about even that, although I admit it's faster. I look at that Gf3 Ti500 and think "gee, what a screamer of a card that was 2 years ago , what am I doing?"

The 9700 is an excellent card and I bet it wasn't that cheap. I would stick with it.

Wilbus · « **Reply #6 on:** January 15, 2004, 04:51:30 PM »

Quote

I suspect you are in that upgrading frenzy psychosis thing we all suffer from

No Sh** LOL! As soon as one gets some money in da wallet one must get new toys

I won't upgrade it, not worth it quite obviously and some new graphic card companies are making their way into the market now, the future will be interesting

And no, it wasn't very cheap

Sooo, I tried overclocking this non Pro 9700 but it seems to overheat even with a fairly small amount of overclocking, is this right or should it be able to reach PRO speeds without buying further cooling? Another thing, it's running at 263.5Mhz both the GPU AND the Memory speed. What's a good amount to OC with and should both be at the same speed?

Skuzzy · « **Reply #7 on:** January 15, 2004, 05:12:57 PM »

If you are looking for a high end video card, I would wait another 60 to 90 days. Good stuff coming down the pipe.

Wilbus · « **Reply #8 on:** January 15, 2004, 06:54:58 PM »

Rgr Skuzz will do, see wether they will be worth it or not. Guessing they'll be pricey.

ChasR · « **Reply #9 on:** January 15, 2004, 10:33:43 PM »

The 9700 should clock @ 275 VPU and 270 Vmem (with DDR effective clock of 540). I doubt the silicon is different in the 9700 and the 9700 Pro but the fan is different. I put a Vantec Iceberg on my office computer's 9600 Pro in 15min for $18. There are quite a few cooling solutions that are better than the Iceberg but it was 5 times better than the stock cooler. Thermaltake, and Zalman make good stuff as do others. I would expect that card to at least overclock to 9700 Pro specs, 325/310, assuming you have a better VPU cooler AND adequate case cooling (one 120mm intake fan + one 120mm exhaust fan in addition to the power supply fans.) In my experience, the VPU can be overclocked quite a bit more than the memory.
It's possible that your card is locked in the bios as referenced in the 3dmark thread. If so, its a bit more work than adding cooling to overclock it.

FOGOLD · « **Reply #10 on:** January 16, 2004, 03:00:20 AM »

I would wait untill the successor to AGP is here, super PCI or something it is called. Due next year I think.

This will make you feel better. Your 9700 is probably faster than my 5700 Ultra:D Then again I'm only running a 2000XP Athlon so anything faster would be wasted.

Wilbus · « **Reply #11 on:** January 16, 2004, 03:13:55 AM »

Thanks again, pretty sure the card isn't locked, have overclocked it in windows a few MHZ to see wether it worked or not, will try and find some extra cooling to it today.

Pfunk · « **Reply #12 on:** January 16, 2004, 11:00:37 AM »

If I remember correctly the 9700 non pro needs to have the bios flashed to allow proper overclocking. But its been awhile since I read stuff about that.

Wilbus · « **Reply #13 on:** January 16, 2004, 12:35:17 PM »

Rgr Pfunk, correct, was given a link to a page about it in another thread

Pfunk · « **Reply #14 on:** January 17, 2004, 02:38:12 PM »

Glad to see your getting the most out of your card. Right now it would be pointless to drop $400 on a new card when the one you have, if properly modded will outperform a 9700 pro. And trust me there isnt a game out there yet that can bring a 9700 pro to its knees...well unless you run it at 1600x1200 with all the goodies turned on.