my impressions of my new 9700 after the 4600 leadtek

Zardon · Sep 20, 2002, 08:19 PM

My rig
http://zardon.net/system/index.htm

Well its early days yet but ill post my initial impressions on my rig with the new 9700 I received today. ill post a more thorough article when I test it for a while.

Open installing the 9700 in my abit kr7a raid with the new 9n bios, I was saddened to see that it wouldnt boot until I pressed reset 3 times, as ive heard alot of people having this issues.

I ran 3dmark2001 and was stunned to see a "lower" 3dmark than my leadtek overclocked 4600, around 400 points less to be exact.

cleaning my registry again, I stumbled upon the fact that I had AA on. opps. so I installed rage3d tweak overclocked to 340 core and 320 ram (not much I know, but im playing safe initially until I get a feel for the card). I was more than happy to see a 2,200 point increase over my 4600. but enough benchmarks, time for some games. (in the 15k region for 3dmark)

Firing up mafia at my previous setting of 1280x1024 I was pleasantly pleased to see it was running smooth, not like my initial 8500 experiences of last year. nice and fluid. but oh no, shadow glitching on the cars. urgh...

went to ati site, restarted in safe mode, installed patch, rebooted. went into mafia settings, upped the resolution to 1600x1200, 16 aniso/4x.

OMG, words CANNOT describe how smooth the game runs, FRAPS reporting over 50fps in most sections, with some stunning colour depth and none of the dreaded 8500 stuttering I was partially expecting and dreading to see again.

Serious Sam 2 is also a delight to behold. so smooth again and running with all settings maxxed at 1600x1200. GTA3, the same, running around the same speed as the 4600 at 1280 with all settings maxxed, very impressive.

Installed MMC 7.8 and ran my pal benchmark dvd lord of the rings, and this really blew me away, I dont think ive seen better dvd playback on any graphics card than the 9700, colours are so rich and vibrant with very little if any artifacting on the edges of contrasting scenes etc.

ill post more when I get time and have a little more indepth of an article, but I wanted to share my findings with everyone. very impressive card, and certainly if you have a monitor capable of 1600x1200, and you run with 16 aniso and 4x. worth every penny.

just before I posted this, I switched off my rig for 5 minutes and tried a cold boot again, and to my surprise this time I didnt need any soft resets to get the mobo to accept the 9700... but ill post more on this subject when ive had a longer time to test.

right now, ive some games to play, and some movies to watch. !!

~~David~~ · Sep 20, 2002, 08:24 PM

Heh I love mine too.

Doomtrooper · Sep 20, 2002, 08:24 PM

Mize · Sep 20, 2002, 08:46 PM

I've got to figure out how to get rid of the flashing shadows in Mafia...
Zardon, are you able to run GTA3 with AA and AF enabled? When I do it slows down at some points...

Mize

Zardon · Sep 20, 2002, 08:52 PM

I cant say ive noticed any yet on GTA3, ive only played it for 10 minutes on the 9700 and my save point is just at the start (lost my saves on a reinstall of windows), im aware that on the second island there was a large construction building with squillions of polygons which killed alot of cards, including my 8500 (not the 4600 though), but ill test that game more on sunday when ive more time.
do you experience anything like this playing Mafia or is it just GTA3?

Mize · Sep 20, 2002, 08:56 PM

No slowdowns in Mafia (just occasional flashing shadows under cars), but GTA3 turns to mush (mouse lag and really slow, trailsy video) at some points...at first it's fast and then - as I get further from the start point - I hit a place where it just suddenly slows down. I think this is only with AF and AA on, but I haven't done enough experimenting to say.

I'm starting to think I may have to go for the completely clean XP install

Mize

Zardon · Sep 20, 2002, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mize
I'm starting to think I may have to go for the completely clean XP install

Mize

certainly would be worth a go, ill probably reinstall mine as well next week, as I do every couple of months.

Zardon · Sep 20, 2002, 10:44 PM

early tests. codecreatures benchmark.

leadtek 4600

radeon 9700

Necrosis · Sep 21, 2002, 05:44 AM

I went from a Visiontek 4600 to the 9700. Games are definitely smoother; though the 4600 was no dog either. However, the biggest thing for me was 2D. I've missed ATI!

Sep 20, 2002, 08:19 PM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	my impressions of my new 9700 after the 4600 leadtek My rig http://zardon.net/system/index.htm Well its early days yet but ill post my initial impressions on my rig with the new 9700 I received today. ill post a more thorough article when I test it for a while. Open installing the 9700 in my abit kr7a raid with the new 9n bios, I was saddened to see that it wouldnt boot until I pressed reset 3 times, as ive heard alot of people having this issues. I ran 3dmark2001 and was stunned to see a "lower" 3dmark than my leadtek overclocked 4600, around 400 points less to be exact. cleaning my registry again, I stumbled upon the fact that I had AA on. opps. so I installed rage3d tweak overclocked to 340 core and 320 ram (not much I know, but im playing safe initially until I get a feel for the card). I was more than happy to see a 2,200 point increase over my 4600. but enough benchmarks, time for some games. (in the 15k region for 3dmark) Firing up mafia at my previous setting of 1280x1024 I was pleasantly pleased to see it was running smooth, not like my initial 8500 experiences of last year. nice and fluid. but oh no, shadow glitching on the cars. urgh... went to ati site, restarted in safe mode, installed patch, rebooted. went into mafia settings, upped the resolution to 1600x1200, 16 aniso/4x. OMG, words CANNOT describe how smooth the game runs, FRAPS reporting over 50fps in most sections, with some stunning colour depth and none of the dreaded 8500 stuttering I was partially expecting and dreading to see again. Serious Sam 2 is also a delight to behold. so smooth again and running with all settings maxxed at 1600x1200. GTA3, the same, running around the same speed as the 4600 at 1280 with all settings maxxed, very impressive. Installed MMC 7.8 and ran my pal benchmark dvd lord of the rings, and this really blew me away, I dont think ive seen better dvd playback on any graphics card than the 9700, colours are so rich and vibrant with very little if any artifacting on the edges of contrasting scenes etc. ill post more when I get time and have a little more indepth of an article, but I wanted to share my findings with everyone. very impressive card, and certainly if you have a monitor capable of 1600x1200, and you run with 16 aniso and 4x. worth every penny. just before I posted this, I switched off my rig for 5 minutes and tried a cold boot again, and to my surprise this time I didnt need any soft resets to get the mobo to accept the 9700... but ill post more on this subject when ive had a longer time to test. right now, ive some games to play, and some movies to watch. !!

Sep 20, 2002, 08:24 PM	#3
Doomtrooper Driverheaven Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 206 Rep Power: 0	__________________ "It's time to kick A$$ and chew bubble gum....and I'm all out of gum." Duke Nukem November 1996

Sep 20, 2002, 08:46 PM	#4
Mize The quiet one Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 150 Rep Power: 0	I've got to figure out how to get rid of the flashing shadows in Mafia... Zardon, are you able to run GTA3 with AA and AF enabled? When I do it slows down at some points... Mize __________________ Rage3D > Voodoo 2 / TNT > Voodoo 3 3000 > Voodoo 5 5500 > GeForce 3 Ti200 > Radeon 8500 > Radeon 9700 Pro > Radeon X1800 XT > GeForce 8800 GTS > Radeon HD 5870 > Geforce GTX 580 #1 (died) > Geforce GTX 580 #2 (died) > 2x6970 in CFX > 2xGTX 580 3GB in SLI (fingers crossed)

Sep 20, 2002, 08:56 PM	#6
Mize The quiet one Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 150 Rep Power: 0	No slowdowns in Mafia (just occasional flashing shadows under cars), but GTA3 turns to mush (mouse lag and really slow, trailsy video) at some points...at first it's fast and then - as I get further from the start point - I hit a place where it just suddenly slows down. I think this is only with AF and AA on, but I haven't done enough experimenting to say. I'm starting to think I may have to go for the completely clean XP install Mize __________________ Rage3D > Voodoo 2 / TNT > Voodoo 3 3000 > Voodoo 5 5500 > GeForce 3 Ti200 > Radeon 8500 > Radeon 9700 Pro > Radeon X1800 XT > GeForce 8800 GTS > Radeon HD 5870 > Geforce GTX 580 #1 (died) > Geforce GTX 580 #2 (died) > 2x6970 in CFX > 2xGTX 580 3GB in SLI (fingers crossed)

Sep 20, 2002, 08:24 PM	#2
~~David~~ Banned Join Date: May 2002 Location: Atlanta Posts: 959 Rep Power: 0	Heh I love mine too.

Sep 20, 2002, 08:52 PM	Thread Starter #5
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	I cant say ive noticed any yet on GTA3, ive only played it for 10 minutes on the 9700 and my save point is just at the start (lost my saves on a reinstall of windows), im aware that on the second island there was a large construction building with squillions of polygons which killed alot of cards, including my 8500 (not the 4600 though), but ill test that game more on sunday when ive more time. do you experience anything like this playing Mafia or is it just GTA3?

Sep 20, 2002, 10:44 PM	Thread Starter #8
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	early tests. codecreatures benchmark. leadtek 4600 radeon 9700

Sep 21, 2002, 05:44 AM	#9
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	I went from a Visiontek 4600 to the 9700. Games are definitely smoother; though the 4600 was no dog either. However, the biggest thing for me was 2D. I've missed ATI!