I just bought a 9600PRO - What should I do?

justaddwater66 · Aug 14, 2004, 05:59 AM

Here is the exact card I bought at newegg;

POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9600PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "R96A-C3N" -RETAIL

Chipset/Core Speed: ATI RADEON 9600PRO/400MHz
Memory/Effective Speed: 128MB DDR/600MHz
BUS: AGP 4x/8x
Ports: VGA Out(15 Pin D-Sub)+TV-Out(S-Video Out)+DVI connector
Support 3D API: DirectX®9, OpenGL®2.0

__________________________________________________ __________

My question is what should I do to get the most out of it? I know I should download new drivers from ATI's site but I have read so much about overclocking, and various utilities and tools to get the most out of the cards, but I am a novice when it comes to doing this. I have a older processer (1.3 P3) and 1 Gig of ram. I have no intention of adding any sort of extra cooling to the video card.

Ideas?

Thanks in advance!

highkick · Aug 14, 2004, 07:25 AM

I have a ATI 9600 Pro in my 2.8 GHz P4 motherboard.

Don't worry about heat. This card runs very cool (and is basically silent) and only uses about 25 watts compared to 45-80 watts of newer cards. You should be able to overclock the core safely from 400 to about 450 with air cooling, no sweat (I'm betting 460-470 would still be fine). The core doesn't even get warm. The memory is a bit tougher to overclock, depending on your memory speed rating. It will get hot while gaming, if overclocked. I have overclocked my video memory from 300 stock to 320 (640 effective) no problem and no artifacts while playing Doom3 for over half an hour (Doom3 is notorious for stressing overclocked video cards. I'm betting 325 on the memory is still good for me, but I have some of the 700Mhz effective speed rated memory (which won't run at 700 Mhz because of the video cards PCB/design).
I'm pretty conservative with my overclocks, not wanting to waste a $180 investment. My recommendation is try my conservative overclocks and look for artifacts (dots and short lines), especially while gaming awhile. If you get artifacts, back the core off 10Mhz and the memory off 5 Mhz, and see if the artifacts go away. I'd keep at least a 10 Mhz buffer below the speed at which artifacts occur, just to be safe. You can also use radlinker to only overclock specific programs/games.

Good luck.

~~HawK~~ · Aug 14, 2004, 08:22 AM

To be honest, I do not think you will gain much with overclocking the 9600 since you cpu is seriously holding you back, you might have some gain with older games, but most of the newer games are very cpu depending.
But you can always try and find out with the forementioned radlinker

highkick · Aug 14, 2004, 08:39 AM

Good point about the CPU holding him back (was just at the Quakecon event in Dallas/Fort Worth and someones' 1.8 P4 with a 9600 Pro was slowing way down playing Doom3. I get no slowdown with my 3Ghz P4 with the same game settings), but it's still a DX9 video card, and the Pentium 3 1.3 Tualitan processor acts like a much faster P4 , perhaps a 1.8 P4(estimated)...

phongtruong12 · Aug 14, 2004, 03:59 PM

with a 9600 pro, i'd say you'd need at least a 2.0 ghz or better cpu. the 1.3 is seriously holding you back.

justaddwater66 · Aug 14, 2004, 04:13 PM

Alright, thanks! I think I will just leave it at factory settings for now and see how it goes.

One more question, while searching ATI's site for drivers all I find is the catalyst thing. Am I just missing the boat here? is that the driver? a one size fits all driver?

Thanks again

phongtruong12 · Aug 14, 2004, 04:23 PM

you would be correct on that one.

pr0digal jenius · Aug 14, 2004, 05:54 PM

indeed, it is a one size fits all (aka - unified) driver

Aug 14, 2004, 05:59 AM	#1
justaddwater66 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	I just bought a 9600PRO - What should I do? Here is the exact card I bought at newegg; POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9600PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "R96A-C3N" -RETAIL Chipset/Core Speed: ATI RADEON 9600PRO/400MHz Memory/Effective Speed: 128MB DDR/600MHz BUS: AGP 4x/8x Ports: VGA Out(15 Pin D-Sub)+TV-Out(S-Video Out)+DVI connector Support 3D API: DirectX®9, OpenGL®2.0 __________________________________________________ __________ My question is what should I do to get the most out of it? I know I should download new drivers from ATI's site but I have read so much about overclocking, and various utilities and tools to get the most out of the cards, but I am a novice when it comes to doing this. I have a older processer (1.3 P3) and 1 Gig of ram. I have no intention of adding any sort of extra cooling to the video card. Ideas? Thanks in advance!

Aug 14, 2004, 07:25 AM	#2
highkick DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 74 Rep Power: 0	I have a ATI 9600 Pro in my 2.8 GHz P4 motherboard. Don't worry about heat. This card runs very cool (and is basically silent) and only uses about 25 watts compared to 45-80 watts of newer cards. You should be able to overclock the core safely from 400 to about 450 with air cooling, no sweat (I'm betting 460-470 would still be fine). The core doesn't even get warm. The memory is a bit tougher to overclock, depending on your memory speed rating. It will get hot while gaming, if overclocked. I have overclocked my video memory from 300 stock to 320 (640 effective) no problem and no artifacts while playing Doom3 for over half an hour (Doom3 is notorious for stressing overclocked video cards. I'm betting 325 on the memory is still good for me, but I have some of the 700Mhz effective speed rated memory (which won't run at 700 Mhz because of the video cards PCB/design). I'm pretty conservative with my overclocks, not wanting to waste a $180 investment. My recommendation is try my conservative overclocks and look for artifacts (dots and short lines), especially while gaming awhile. If you get artifacts, back the core off 10Mhz and the memory off 5 Mhz, and see if the artifacts go away. I'd keep at least a 10 Mhz buffer below the speed at which artifacts occur, just to be safe. You can also use radlinker to only overclock specific programs/games. Good luck. __________________ ATI 9600 Pro (Retail BBA)

Aug 14, 2004, 08:39 AM	#4
highkick DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 74 Rep Power: 0	Good point about the CPU holding him back (was just at the Quakecon event in Dallas/Fort Worth and someones' 1.8 P4 with a 9600 Pro was slowing way down playing Doom3. I get no slowdown with my 3Ghz P4 with the same game settings), but it's still a DX9 video card, and the Pentium 3 1.3 Tualitan processor acts like a much faster P4 , perhaps a 1.8 P4(estimated)... __________________ ATI 9600 Pro (Retail BBA) Last edited by highkick; Aug 14, 2004 at 10:09 AM.

Aug 14, 2004, 03:59 PM	#5
phongtruong12 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Georgia Posts: 264 Rep Power: 0	with a 9600 pro, i'd say you'd need at least a 2.0 ghz or better cpu. the 1.3 is seriously holding you back. __________________ Sony VAIO RX860 2.4 @2.6 Ghz, 533 @580 Mhz PQI 1 GB PC2700 80 GB Hard Drive 5400 RPM Thermaltake 480W PSU X800XL 256 MB VIVO Soundblaster Live! 5.1 Logitech X530 Speakers

Aug 14, 2004, 04:13 PM	Thread Starter #6
justaddwater66 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	ok Alright, thanks! I think I will just leave it at factory settings for now and see how it goes. One more question, while searching ATI's site for drivers all I find is the catalyst thing. Am I just missing the boat here? is that the driver? a one size fits all driver? Thanks again

Aug 14, 2004, 08:22 AM	#3
~~HawK~~ Banned Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 2,092 Rep Power: 0	To be honest, I do not think you will gain much with overclocking the 9600 since you cpu is seriously holding you back, you might have some gain with older games, but most of the newer games are very cpu depending. But you can always try and find out with the forementioned radlinker

Aug 14, 2004, 04:23 PM	#7
phongtruong12 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Georgia Posts: 264 Rep Power: 0	you would be correct on that one. __________________ Sony VAIO RX860 2.4 @2.6 Ghz, 533 @580 Mhz PQI 1 GB PC2700 80 GB Hard Drive 5400 RPM Thermaltake 480W PSU X800XL 256 MB VIVO Soundblaster Live! 5.1 Logitech X530 Speakers

Aug 14, 2004, 05:54 PM	#8
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	indeed, it is a one size fits all (aka - unified) driver