9500 Pro vs. 9600 Pro.

[timosy]

Title is pretty self-evident ... assuming price is no concern and the 9600 Pro in question is the 128mb one, not the 256mb. This is for a friend, as I already have a 9600 Pro ..

Discuss .. and give reasons why.

 

[Richdog]

Do a forum search, there are plenty of threads on this topic and using Google you can find many similar comparisons too. This subject has been discussed many times. :beer:

 

[Wedge1]

Both should be great cards. Most people here like the 9500 pro because it has raw speed out of the box -- moreso than the 9600 pro.

Part of the appeal of the 9600 pro is that they are great overclockers, according to what I have read here and in other forums. At Hard forums I have seen some outrageous overclocking.

This isn't an easy choice to me because there are advantages to having each. I guess a better way of making the choice would involve asking about how well specific games run with each card: example, I'm a quake3 gamer and I would ask how well it runs with each. A long way of going about it, but it might be helpful.

 

[McArra]

Originally posted by: Richdog
Do a forum search, there are plenty of threads on this topic and using Google you can find many similar comparisons too. This subject has been discussed many times. :beer:

There's a lot of imformation in those threads, check em

 

[bunnyfubbles]

But it isn't like the 9500 Pro cannot over clock either. I think that in the long run the 9500 Pro will be the better of the two (sort of like the 8500 > 9000/9200) but at the same time the 9500 Pro tends to be a bit more expensive. Chances are if you can afford a good 9500 Pro you could probably scrounge up a few more bills to afford a 9700 non Pro...

 

[Richdog]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
But it isn't like the 9500 Pro cannot over clock either. I think that in the long run the 9500 Pro will be the better of the two (sort of like the 8500 > 9000/9200) but at the same time the 9500 Pro tends to be a bit more expensive. Chances are if you can afford a good 9500 Pro you could probably scrounge up a few more bills to afford a 9700 non Pro...

Take that advice.

 

[Sunny129]

if you or your friend's choice is limited to these two cards, go w/ the 9500pro for obvious reasons if you run a search in the video forum.

 

[agentorange3]

i read that the 9500pro was faster then a 9600pro somewhere.i forgot where.

 

[Wedge1]

But speed isn't the only thing to consider.

 

[sodcha0s]

OK, nobody would say it, so I will. The 9500pro has 8 rendering pipelines, the 9600pro only has 4. However, the 9600pro is clocked higher, and can usually overclock better. I have read that when fully overclocked, the 9600pro is actually a little faster than a stock 9500pro. So there you have it.

 

[Sunny129]

Originally posted by: sodcha0s
OK, nobody would say it, so I will. The 9500pro has 8 rendering pipelines, the 9600pro only has 4. However, the 9600pro is clocked higher, and can usually overclock better. I have read that when fully overclocked, the 9600pro is actually a little faster than a stock 9500pro. So there you have it.

well said...the rest of us are just too lazy when its been said a million times already. but note, you also said the OCed 9600pro is a little faster than the stock 9500pro. its not like the 9500pro cannot be OCed. even if it doesn't OC as well as the 9600pro, it already has a head start when both are at stock. OC them both, and the 9500pro is simply a better card.

 

[modedepe]

Originally posted by: sodcha0s
OK, nobody would say it, so I will. The 9500pro has 8 rendering pipelines, the 9600pro only has 4. However, the 9600pro is clocked higher, and can usually overclock better. I have read that when fully overclocked, the 9600pro is actually a little faster than a stock 9500pro. So there you have it.

Yes, but for that to be correct you would need a pretty good overclock. And, as always with overclocking ymmv. Several people have posted that theirs failed to overclock very well. Plus you can overclock the 9500 pro anyways, which should pull it ahead of virtually any overclocked 9600 pro.

 

[Johnbear007]

9500 pro. but they are NOT the same price. The 9500 Pro is too expensive, you might as well get a 9700 np for the price.

 

[sodcha0s]

All good points, and I totally agree.

I can't even find a 9700np now days, and the 9500pros are getting scarce. I currently have a 9500pro but it's an FIC and can't be overclocked. I am waiting for the new cards to come out before I upgrade, hopefully the 9800pro's will be ~$200 then.

 

[BFG10K]

The 9500 Pro is faster but it's more expensive and harder to get so most people end up getting the 9600 Pro or the 9700 NP instead.

 

[ZippyDan]

one thing that worries me though is future performance

am i incorrect to say that the 9600 pro has more and/or more advanced DX9 feature support? is there any chance that the 9500 pro may be the better card for today's games (like the GeForce FX), but that the 9600 will pull ahead in the long run? 9500 pro may still be better in HL2 benchmarks... but there will be a lot more and more advanced DX9 games coming

~Zippy!

 

[ZippyDan]

no one wants to speculate?

~Zippy!

 

[nick1985]

9500

 

[SectorZero]

9600Pro or a 9500Pro? Tough call. Especially since the 9500Pro is so hard to find now.

Now, this is PURE speculation, but I think the 9600Pro(R350 Core) will out perform the 9500Pro(R300 Core) in future games.

I haven't seen any HL2 benchmarks on any R300 based boards yet, but I'm thinking the R350 is a second generation DX9 card.

Either way they are both excellent DX8 cards.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: SectorZero
9600Pro or a 9500Pro? Tough call. Especially since the 9500Pro is so hard to find now.

Now, this is PURE speculation, but I think the 9600Pro(R350 Core) will out perform the 9500Pro(R300 Core) in future games.

I haven't seen any HL2 benchmarks on any R300 based boards yet, but I'm thinking the R350 is a second generation DX9 card.

Either way they are both excellent DX8 cards.

9600 is rv. its alot differant from r350

 

[Richdog]

The thing about the 9600PRO outperforming the 9500PRO in future games is in my opinion just hearsay and rumour. The 9500PRO has 8-pipelines, it is architecturally SUPERIOR to the 9600PRO in just about every respect except clock frequencies. I've seen nothing concrete to support that and if it were true i'm sure i would have heard and seen that by now on official channels. However, if anyone can prove me wrong with links etc then please feel free to do so! :beer:

 

[ZippyDan]

how about this 1.0 vs. 2.0 stuff (smoothvision?)

~Zippy!

 

[niggles]

first off I read that the 9500 could hardly be over clocked... From the articles on Tom's hardware and HardOCP I got the feeling that they were pretty much equal in speed (Tom says one is faster, Hard says the other is faster, probably based on how much the OCd the 9600 to). Personally I would say that when you OC the 9600 it's not going to last as long... the 9500 is much more expensive... I think it's a wash... make your call and pay your money based on whether you want it cheap, or if you want it to last.