Can anyone honestly recommend a Visiontek Xtasy 9500 Pro?

[Fingolfin269]

The box doesn't really give much in the line of specs and I really want a 9500 Pro before they cannot be found anymore. I have a $70 giftcard to Compusa so I have to pretty much pick what they have. Supposedly they are having a built by ATI card shipped to this store for me, but just in case something happens is there anything I should know about this card? I know about Visiontek's past so I'm more interested in any information on the card itself. Thanks.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

How much is it? I'd say go for it, the 9500 Pro will most likely be (possibly by far) the best mid ranged video card you can buy, on par with and beating out the Ti 4600 as well as schooling the 5600 Ultra and most likely will be besting the 9600 Pro...

The 9500 Pro is essentailly a Radeon 9700 without a 256 bit memory bus, and even with the lack of memory bandwidth the 9500 Pro performs amazingly well in bandwidth intensive situations.

 

[Smilin]

I've had a Visiontek in the past. Good cards, run fast but gawd help you if they fail - customer service is the suck. They also never owned up to the fan problem on the GF3's.

 

[DClark]

A previous poster to this forum said that his VisionTek Radeon 9500 Pro came with 3ns memory (instead of the 3.3 or 3.6ns memory of most other Radeon 9500 Pros), but it was clock-locked at 275/270 just like all the other Radeon 9500 Pros. Theoretically, with a BIOS flash it would be one demon of a card though due to its 3ns memory (rated at 333mhz).

I believe the new VisionTek also is touting a lifetime warranty like the old VisionTek did (though this time they have the backing of a larger company behind them).

 

[Fingolfin269]

Well this is starting to make me think that maybe I should go for that one instead of the Built by ATI. Would it make a difference if I KNEW I could get the "Built by" card? I mean if you had them sitting side by side which would you hit up?

Also, if anyone knows of a good source on the web where I can find info on this specific card (other than manufacturer) I'd be really appreciative.

Thanks,

 

[ctk1981]

I bought the visiontek xtasy 9500 pro last week and posted about 3ns ram.

I did the unlock, there is a specific bios floating around for the 3ns infineon ram. I never could get the memory to run pass 310 STABLE, it would run at higher speeds. Maybe some heatsinks would be in order if possible.

Anyways, it does feature a lifetime warranty...which I voided in more than one way within a week, oh well.

Final o/c: 385mhz on the core, 310mhz on the memory.
3dmark2001 SE score: 15401

All in all I have been very happy with this card and will probably buy a visiontek R400 when the time comes.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

you don't have any extra cooling on the ram, what kind of cooling on the core? That's not a bad clock to hit, 385MHz...

 

[DClark]

I bought a "Built By ATi" Radeon 9500 Pro, but that's because I've had a few Built By ATi cards and their customer service has been great for me. Any Radeon 9500 Pro should be a good card - I don't think that any of the 3rd party Radeon 9500 Pros deviate from the reference ATi PCB. Add the fact that you shouldn't have to worry about 2D quality (it's on the core, so it should be the same for every Radeon), and the only thing you're paying for is to determine which company you contact should you have problems.

It's a coin toss, really. I wouldn't fault you if you bought a Hercules, VisionTek, Gigabyte, Tyan, SapphireTech, or Built By ATi Radeon 9500 Pro - they're all good, because they're all Radeon 9500 Pros.

 

[Fingolfin269]

DClark,

Okay bro that is pretty much what I was thinking really. I do know that in the past what you described was not always the case, however I should keep in mind that this is a different time... I mean hell I'm going to be using ON BOARD SOUND *cringe*

Thanks guys, I'll more than likely be picking the Visiontek up today.

 

[nardvark]

you're about to spend 200 on a video card and you're using onboard sound? that's craaaaazy.
I think you can pick up a SB Live! for like 30 bucks these days...

 

[Fingolfin269]

well considering it is nforce2 sound yah I'm going to use it over an sb live

 

[FearoftheNight]

yes soundstorm > sb live...and i think my sapphire 9500 pro had 3.0 ns infineon.

 

[Lonyo]

On comments about support, Visiontek have been bought by another company, and the new company are using the Visiontek brand name, so there has probably been change within the company, so don't go on previous experience with the "old" company.

 

[DClark]

I do know that in the past what you described was not always the case, however I should keep in mind that this is a different time...

Is this some sort of slight against me? I'm not sure where I've previously misled anyone - I write through personal observation and experience. I'm too old to be a fanboy to any company, and to be perfectly honest I don't particularily care whether or not anyone follows my advice. I'm just another opinion on the internet.

As for onboard sound, I used it for years and didn't know what all the fuss was about with regards to sound cards. I'm not an audiophile though, so I don't have high standards when it comes to the noise coming out of my computer (so long as it doesn't hiss or pop).

 

[C14Isotope]

Hi all,

Ctkelly, could you please send me the bios to flash my Visiontek Xtasy 9500 Pro?
pblanco@post.com

Thanks

 

[Fingolfin269]

Does anyone know where I can find the bios unlock for this card?

 

[J5im8yo]

Does warp11's work or is it just for 3.3ns memory. Anyway Visiontek 9500 Pro is a good card I bought it but RMA it because I felt like getting a 9700 Pro. The Visiontek 9500 Pro came with 3.0ns Infineon memory its quiet and runs pretty fast I had 3500 on 3dmark03. I returned it because I found a 9700 Pro deal. Just some comparison here.

Visiontek 9500 Pro - 3500
ATi built 9700 Pro - 44xx

I'd say the 9700 Pro is obviously faster than a 9500 Pro. With your $70 giftcard you can consider the 9700 Pro for 299 - 70 = about 230 or so. That's a DEAL!

The 9700 Pro memory = Samsung 2.85ns or so.