Which Version of 9600XT 128M To Buy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter nubis
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nubis

There are so many versions, ATI, Sapphire, PowerColor, Gigabyte, etc.
which version is at the top of the heap? Thanks.
 
The "Built by ATI" models are the best. The others all say "Powered by
ATI".
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It's well known that Ati subcontacts to Sapphire to manufacture their
boards, and in fact, many of Sapphire's models are identical to the
equivalent Ati one. No other OEM can claim this.

There's also the point that, while Ati or an equivalent Sapphire card
are generally considered to be the best all-round performers, cards
made by OEMs may have features not included in Ati models.

The 9600XTs are a case in point here: many OEMs make these as VIVO
versions, while Ati do not. YMMV.

You should also consider that, while the standard Ati drivers will
work on all equivalent OEM cards, sometimes the OEM's own version of
the drivers will work a little better than Ati's (possibly the cards
include some sort of optimisation which is only addressed in their own
drivers). That means that if you prefer to use the optimised drivers,
you're always going to be stuck a version or two behind the current
Ati ones.

Some OEM AIW and VIVO cards will not run Ati's Multimedia Center
suite, or, at any rate, some of the applications.

This is all quite apart from the question of which cards are best.
Generally speaking, Ati and Sapphire do seem to be "at the top of the
heap."

patrickp

(e-mail address removed) - take five to email me
 
I've heard that Sapphire manufactures many of ATI graphics cards.
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Thanks for the help. I'm thinking of getting the card. I've been
using Matrox cards because their 2d is always excellent and can do two
monitors and have some nice utilities like navigator. But I might be
doing some light video editing and I don't think the card I have can
deal, and I thought the 9600XT was a cheap solution to the problem.
 
I've still got a G400 in an old Win98SE.
My ATI 9600 PRO AIW works great in my current Win XP computer.
 
Newegg.com has OEM Sapphire 9800Pros for $198 and refurburished ones for
$150.
Click to expand...

But why get the sapphire when the actual ATi card is the same price almost
everywhere?
 
Probably because it is the same card o)

@ndrew
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And also because, if you're not in North America, it's not very easy
to _get_ Built-by cards. Ati are, presumably, no longer producing
PAL/SECAM capable AIWs, either.

patrickp

(e-mail address removed) - take five to email me
 
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