Video Cards
I recently had a little video card spree. I have been running a Geforce2 200MX in my 2.4gighz P4 for about 6 months now. It has been time to upgrade for a long time. I decided I would go for the gusto and grab the ATI 9800 Pro. I get a discount because I work at Circuit City, so I figured… why not get the most bang for my buck and go for the best? I got the card on a day off and walked out the door with it for a little under $400. I got home, put it in my machine, hooked up my 15″ monitor as a secondary monitor, and all was good. The graphics demos looked amazing. Dual monitors is awesome. Just one problem… I have no games. What is the point of having the best video card on the market without some high end games to play on it? I couldn’t buy any games, because I had just spent way too much money on the card itself.
A week later I decided to return it. It was very hard to part with the beast, but I knew I just wasn’t a serious enough gamer to warrant spending $400 on a video card. I took the 9800 Pro back, and walked out the door with a 9600 Pro, 120 gig hard drive, and a copy of GTA Vice City. I paid $9 cash more, and I’m getting $90 in rebates back.
This is where I start talking about how awesome the 9600 Pro is. Yes, it has half the pixel pipelines as the 9800 Pro, but to the casual gamer, there isn’t much of a difference. If I have to choose between getting 90fps, or getting 60fps with $200 in my pocket, I’ll go for 60 any day. Afterall, I’m used to the Geforce 2 and about 10fps. The 9600 Pro still does dual monitor, and has s-video out. Dual monitor was an absolute requirement for my next video card. The added workspace is invaluable! The card also has DVD hardware decoding, which was very important for me because I use my PC as my home theater setup (with the Logitech Z-680 surround sound speakers).
If you are looking for a new video card, and can stand to get a few frames per second less, go for the 9600 Pro. It retails for $199 where the 9800 Pro retails for $399. Of course, if you can find a 9700 Pro grab it quick! That was my first choice, but they quit making them before I could get my hands on one. I know this wasn’t a great detailed review. I don’t have benchmarks or screenshots. This is just me ranting about my experience with two of the newest video cards on the market. If you have any questions about the 9600 Pro, feel free to e-mail me.