Is this Raedon 9600 Pro worth buying?

[Brad H]

Is the manufacture any good?
What about the specs are they right for this graphics card?
Will it display the latest games?
What price would you expect for this?

I have seen it at a common computer dealer for a price that I think is very cheap so I want to make sure it is a good idea before I buy it

GECUBE AGP Card 9600PRO 128Mb
Powered by Radeon 9600 PRO VPU. .13 Micron Micro-architecture. High-Speed 128MB DDR Memory. DX9 support with SMARTSHADER 2. Optimised memory controller improves performance of AA & AF at high resolutions. Up to 16 textures per pass with gamma correction.


* Powered by the AGP 8X RADEON 9600 PRO Visual Processing Unit (VPU)
* 128MB of DDR memory for today's demanding games, applications, effects and animation
* Integrated 4 parallel rendering pipelines and 4 parallel geometry engines for incredibly fast 3D graphics performance coupled with sophisticated real-time visual effects
* SMARTSHADER™ 2.1 technology supports the latest Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 feature sets, enabling more complex and cinematic-quality lighting effects
* SMOOTHVISION™ 2.1 technology delivers the sharpest, clearest textures, removes jaggies and brings out fine texture details without sacrificing frame rates
* 128-bit full floating point precision enables billions of color variations to render the same lighting and effects as Hollywood studios
* ATI's new FULLSTREAM™ technology removes blocky artifacts from Streaming and Internet video and provides sharper image quality
* Full support for the AGP 8x standard doubles bandwidth for more engaging characters and environments as well as AGP 4x
* Display configuration supports CRT, DVI-I (2nd CRT via DVI converter) & TV-Out (PAL⁄NTSC)
* Support DirectXR® 9.0 and the latest OpenGL® functionality for unprecedented realism and sophisticated visual effects
* Bundled Hydravision Multiple Monitor Management Software provides a flexible, user-friendly interface for multiple display settings
* Industry-leading hardware DVD video playback with software DVD player support
* Supports 3D resolutions (32-bit color) up to 2048x1536
* Support Optional Video-in feature for Video Editing, Education training and Entertainment
* Core Frequency.: 400MHz
* Memory Frequency: 500MHz

[Mark Veldhuizen]

I'd expect 300 bucks I guess. I havn't got the card so can't say much about it, but have seen them alot for around the 300 dollar mark.

[Mark Veldhuizen]

Oh I should mention this is the price in europe, 150 euros (300 NZD) so you can't really judge it the same. I've seen them 180 euros in the store (360 NZD)

I'm still deciding between the 9600 PRO and the ASUS 9600 XT

[Brad H]

Yeah I am building my own computer and want to get cheap but good quality parts and I know that you need to stay clear of some brands (eagle)

[Brad H]

Isn't it a bit strange that the memory fq is 500mhz or would this be a error

[Budda]

Ive got a 9500PRO and a 9600PRO and both are great cards that can more than handle any of the games around at the moment. They are also priced very well as mark says you should be able to get the 9600Pro for around $300 and if you look around you could get the EZ model for another $20 or so which will bump you memory up to 256MB.

[Growly]

go to www.pricespy.co.nz , if you already haven't.

My friend is getting

GeForce FX 5600 256mb AGP 8X TV-out + DVI
$274

About the card: yeah that card's great, ive seen a few in action and they do the job perfectly.

PS. 500MHz's about right, (why wouldnt it be?) - its faster than my old computer!

[Brad H]

no I just heard somewhere that anything below 600mhz is wrong maybe the person who told me was wrong well anyway thanks for the quick reply I am going to go buy it now before I start work

thanks
Brad