9600 vs. 9600 Pro and VIVO question

[zuze]

The price difference is not that significant between the two. Just how much am I going to benefit from buying the pro version. Also are there any 9600 or 9600 Pro cards carrying VIVO? So far I didn't find anything. Is there some sort of an addon or adapter that I can buy to add that feature later?

 

[GetInMyFatBelly]

Giga Cube has a VIVO card listed, the same card is listed for the 9600 and the 9600 Pro, but I think it's not the pro. I've been waiting for the card for a while now, it says it should be out by the end of April. Hopefully soon... But I also read that since Giga Cube is afraid that this line will compete with Gigabytes line, they may be only selling it OEM.

http://www.gigacube.com.tw/media/news_r9600.htm

 

[Blastman]

The 9600 pro is significantly faster than the 9600 ? probably about 25-35%. The memory on the 9600 is clocked quite slow, only 200mhz (-4ns) and it?s quite a bottleneck to the 9600?s performance.
See ...
nordichardware

9600pro 400/300
9600 ? 325/200

I'm not sure how much that ?4ns memory will overclock, it?s going to depend on the manufacturer and how good the ?4ns memory they use is. The core of the 9600 (325mhz) should probably make 500mhz without much problem which is well past the 400mhz stock clock of the 9600 pro, but that?s not going to help performance a lot without faster memory.

If they are pretty close in price I would have to say go for the pro, the memory is 50% faster.

 

[zuze]

thanks dude. I think i am going to give up on VIVO unless I swivel toward FX 5600 256 mb. Nvidia is pulling some "tricks" out of their drivers. I wonder if ati is going to nail out something cool soon.

 

[bluemax]

Keep one eye on Sapphire... they make a 9600 and 9600 Pro with optional VIVO, though they don't mention the model numbers. If you're not in a terrible rush, I'll be interviewing Sapphire very soon and can ask this question (since it'll be big with the home-theatre crowd!)

That said, it wouldn't hurt to have the 5600 VIVO either.

 

[zuze]

supposedly, sapphire will clock their 9600Pro cards heigher too. Sapphire seems to be the best bet so far. There are a couple of retailers with questionable practices that have it in stock, but I am not going to buy from them. What settings is power color 9600 Pro clocked at?