Seems you still have a valid Session with your IP, or a Cookie stored on your machine, thus you're the only one seeing it.

@Janskjaer - although you are correct in saying that the 9500 can be soft modded to a 9700Pro (likewise the 9600 to a 9800Pro, and the X800 to an X800Pro) and this is the reason why my 9700Pro is faster than a 9500Pro.

When I did MY card I did it the PRO way by lifting the heatsink and re-soldering the resistor on the GPU. This makes the MOD to a 9700Pro PERMANENT - so no need to keep modding the drivers after each install!

Also I have fitted a custom GPU heatsink (copper with a blue LED) and RAM-sinks, so my GFX card looks L33T now! 8)

Falcon is correct in saying that the low-spec Radeons aren't all that good (they are budget for a REASON!)

Oh and I know GAME (formerly EB - which was a better name) as I go there often.

Big thanks to DenisF & paulpsomiadis for your help, guys!

@DenisF - Big thanks for the comparison chart. I can now totally understand the performance differences in the cards depending on how the CPU clock speed gap widens.

@paulpsomiadis - Cheers matey! From your experiences with your 9500 Pro, and from DenisF's chart showing the CPU clock speed difference for the 9700 Pro, I think I would be better off either with a 9500 Pro or 9600 Pro.  I just have to decide now on which one I want, depending on the price I want to pay and the availability of the two cards!
Finally I can see the light at the end of the ATI Purchasing Tunnel.

I did see a PowerColor Radeon 9600XT 256MB Bravo on sale for £129, and it also included a Half-Life 2 Voucher to get the game free when it comes out!
I also saw a PowerColor Radeon 9600 Pro EZ 256MB for £85. But that didn't have the HL2 voucher.

From what I've read in reviews, the 9600XT does not differ much from the 9600 Pro, and some say that it is not worth parting with the extra money for it.  Would you agree?
Should I stick with the 9600 Pro (failing that I cannot find a decent 9500 Pro) or should I splash out the extra cash on a 9600XT (if it's worth it)? ???

Yeah, I've seen this comparison many-a-time. Thanks anyway though.

Nice to also see your site up again mate, it's looking pretty cool!

What I was after was personal opinions of the differences between the two.  I myself, have seen mixed reviews regarding the performance benchmarks of the PRO and XT models competing against each other.

I just couldn't make up my mind if it was worth the extra money to go XT.  ???

Ooh, I think it's safe to say I will be purchasing Half-Life 2 in the near future! 

You betcha! That game will rock! 

Quote:


I went with the 9800 pro 128 meg- Lower clock speed out of the box but it has twice the pipelines and runs away from the 9600.

Overclocks nice too =)

I also purchased a 9800 pro back in march for $300 canadian, I've had it overclocked to 465/380 since installing it and it's been solid as a rock with the athlon 64 3400  .

A good freind purchased a 9600 pro about a month ago and he's loving it also.

These cards are powerful with fantastic image quality, you cant go wrong with a pro or xt model.

There won't be any difference in performance between a 9600xt, a 9800pro, and even an X800 PE on his pc.

incase someone missed a point here;

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HIS CPU IS A BOTTLENECK EVEN FOR A 8500!!!!111oneoneone

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