what's the diffrence between the two 9700's

[Seven7]

I have been thinking of getting a new computer for a while now as mine is a litte (actually real)slow both in speed and internet connection.

The question is if anybody can tell me if there is really a diffrence between the:

128MB DDR ATI RADEON 9700 TX Graphics card with TV-Out & DVI
+
128MB DDR ATI PADEON 9700 PRO Graphics card with TV-Out & DVI

other than the price diffrence is there really a diffrence in performanc that is worth the money.

thanks

is the 9700 TX even a good choice compared to others also?

[manasecret]

Direct from tomshardware.com :

Here is a summary of the differences:

Radeon 9700 PRO: The fastest and most expensive card among the ATI models. Eight pixel pipelines, four vertex shaders, 128 MB with 256-bit memory bus, DirectX 9 support. Clock speed (chip/memory): 325/310. Official price: $399.
Radeon 9700: The smaller of the 9700 series differs in its lower clock speeds: 275/270. Official price: $299.
Radeon 9500 PRO: The memory interface was reduced from 256-bit to 128-bit, but it can still accept up to 128 MB of memory. Otherwise, it has the same features as the 9700 cards, meaning that it offers full support for DirectX 9. Clock speeds: 275/275. Official price: $199.
Radeon 9500: Again, the memory bus is only 128-bit. The maximum memory is reduced from 128 MB to 64 MB. In addition, four pixel pipelines are left out. However, it still offers full DirectX 9 support. Clock speeds: 275/270. Official price: $179.
Radeon 9000/9000 PRO: Based on the technology of the Radeon 8500 (R200). Supports DirectX 8.1.

I'm assuming the Radeon 9700 TX you speak of is the regular Radeon 9700.

Here are some comparison charts to help further:

Normal resolutions (read: non-crazy resolutions):
Unreal Tournament 2003
Aquanox
Max Payne
3DMark 2001 SE

More crazy resolutions (though usable with these new powerful cards):
UT 2003 at 4X Full-Screen Anti-Aliasing
UT 2003 Anisotropic
UT 2003 with 4x FSAA + Anisotropic

In other words, the both Radeon 9700's outperform the Ti4600's in any case, and not only that they allow 4x FSAA and Anisotropic (ie. game looks much better) to be turned on for most any game and still be played smoothly. The extra $100 to buy the 9700 Pro over the 9700 will likely help in the longrun, but it can still be a lot more money especially since new cards will soon be coming out.

Keep in mind you can get many of those cards for much cheaper than the retail price. Ask me if you want to know where.

[Seven7]

Wow ....certainly more info than i thought i would get...

i guess i should have said how i would have gotten the card as i have been eyeing a sweet deal a dell.ca that is way better price then i would ever get and even better when it's also $250 cdn less then advertised...

I don't plan on building my computer, if that's what you thought tho.

The package is with the 9700 TX card not PRO as they ask for another some $310 cdn....even with this card it is still a WAY much better deal then i would have gotten with say the 64MB GeForce4 MX Graphics with TV-Out, as i want a good TV-Out card to hook it up to a TV...heh

well i'm not planning on getting extreme games like the UT 2003 expecting to get top performance.

I could have done some research myself but i thought why not see what somebody here suggests, comparsons, etc

Where was it you had in mind as to get these cards cheaper, and will it matter if i'm a canadian???

Thanks manasecret, i'll chech out that site...

[Lord Germano]

On the subject of video cards, do you think it is worth $69 AU (bout $34 American) to upgrade from a GeForce 2 MX 100/200 to a RADEON 7000 64MB DDR TV/out ?

[manasecret]

Originally posted by Lord Germano
On the subject of video cards, do you think it is worth $69 AU (bout $34 American) to upgrade from a GeForce 2 MX 100/200 to a RADEON 7000 64MB DDR TV/out ?

I really can't tell you resolutely. If I had to guess (and it's an educated guess) I would bet it is definitely worth it, especially considering how old the GeForce 2 MX is. The extra 32MB in the Radeon would most likely help, too, especially considering it's DDR. Also $34 American ain't much money, so it's hard to say no.

But $34 isn't worth it if you're trying to play the most modern games. If you want to play the newest games, just save up for a much better video card, or if you have a CPU of anything less than a 1Ghz I would just save up for a whole new computer.

If you want to play the games that are a year or two old then the Radeon 7000 would be a good investment.

[Lord Germano]

hmmmmmmmmm, might wait awhile so I get get a big fat one that will play doom III