New GF4 FX agp cards??

[Vipers]

do the following prices sound good?

128MB DDR GF4 FX5200 DVI/TV OUT £100
128MB DDR GF4 FX5800 DVI/TV OUT £295

if so does n e 1 want one?

[Psycosis]

i just upgraded my pc...
actually upgraded is a poor description i built a new one.

After lots of looking around i was told not to buy those cards if you want a high end card.
After all dells ships with them.


I bought a Radeon 9500 for £130ish
128ram with TV out
it works well with everything i have tried it in, plus you can overclock it

www.novatech.com is where i got it from (i think that was the website)

[Psycosis]

ok actually ignore me :P

[Vipers]

ignore you eh?

didn't knwow dell ships with them u sure? or are you thinking of the mx440's?

[ZXSpectrum]

Forget about the Geforce FX Range they are PANTS... So much that there is talk that they are never going to be distributed in the US or UK in large amounts... They are also having problems with drivers, noise and heating problems... On top of this they are out performed by the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro by miles... Wait till the NV35 chipset is released... but by then the ATI 350 chipset will be out... :confused:

[Martin T]

The R9800/Pro is based on the R350 chip
The RV350 is for the 9600/pro
R300 9700 Pro.
The Radeons are great, but for £300 the Geofrce FX 5800 Ultra is cheep. Shame it sounds like a leafblower.
I am awaiting to see the performance of the 9600 Pro (passive cooling:) ) to see if its worth buying one. Hopefully its better than the 9500 Pro:)
The next gen ATI chipset is not due until summer next year (!) as they have now changed their produict cycle from 18 months to 24 months. Probably because the 9800 Pro is so far ahead.

Vipers, can you get prices on Radeon 9500/9600 Pro's (pro only plz), as my distributor will not sell them due to the lead times.

[Martin T]

Psychosis - do a search on the internet into turning your 9500 into a 9700 by using nothing more than software.
Apparently ATI just use firmware to disable two of the pipelines - enabling them would make it a lot faster.

[Vipers]

they haven't got the 9600 listed but they have the 9500 pro
£162

or if ur interested the 128mb ddr msi gf4 ti4800se vivo tv also £162

[Vipers]

heres toms conclusion to his review

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030127/geforce_fx-29.html

[voodoo_melon]

afaik you can do the softmod 9500-9700 pro, and then use hacked drivers to give you what is effectively a 9800 pro. You don't get the 9800pro only stuff (smoothvision 2 i think) but supposedly the 9800 drivers perform better.

[Vipers]

im tempted to buy one now (radeon 9500 and do those mods) but don't have the money to buy it n e way i don't play very many games always in the gym or the pub

voodoo, saw u lurking around on the board, was waiting for you to jump in this thread! ;) :p

[Martin T]

Has anyone done this softmod to a Radeon 9500 non pro? If so I would like to see if it actually works....

[DanS14]

Is there any software upgrade for a radeon 7200?? Or should I just look for something more up to date?

[realityx]

I,ve tried the softmod for 9500 to 9700,
on 2 different 9500,s both once softmoded
gave artifacts in games and 3dmark,

at the mo you,d be v.lucky to pick
up a 9500 non pro that will mod,
as ati changed the pcb layout.

9500np (128meg)= 4 pixel pipelines & 128 bit mem bus
9700 = 8 pixel pipelines& 256 mem bus
9500pro= 8 pixel pipelines& 128 mem bus

thats the main diff between the 2 cards,
the 9500 softmod basically opens up the 4 extra
pipelines and 256 mem bus (basically almost doubling
the power)....now all 9500 np with the mem shaped
like a L on the pcb will mod....prob is around 60%
once modded will give artifacts because one or
more of the extra 4 pixel pipelines you,ve opened
is corrupted on the pcb.

this site will give u all the info u need to know,
http://grahamvoce.com/rad9500/faq.html

the new gf-fx,s dont even bother with
unless your going for the fx 5800 or fx5800 ultra,
the rest are cut down dx9 parts,
you,d be better of with a g4ti4600 then
any other versions of the geforce fx.

still the 9700pro,s should be coming
down in price now that the 9800 is almost out,
and the 9700pro is just as good as a 5800 non ultra.

the ati 9600 by all accounts is basically
the same as the 9500np but with
a higher core/clock.....at the mo
it looks like the 9500pro is faster then
the 9600 ....just like the rad 8500 is
faster then the 9000, 9100, maybe even 9200
series...mad i know.

you can pick up a 9500 pro for £140inc vat and del
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Connect3D_138.html
defo a good card for the £££,
just rem this yr when doom3 comes
out the game engine behind
that game is the next step up
in graphical terms(bump mapping evrywhere)...I,d
say on that basis go for a 9700
or a 9500 pro minimun.

lol you cant mod a 7200 into a 9500 or anything,
if only it was that easy :D