GF4 Ti4200 128mb 8xAGP or Radeon 128mb 9500 NON-Pro ???

[-Omen-]

Ok guys, which would be better to run and why?
GF4 Ti4200 128mb 8xAGP or Radeon 128mb 9500 NON-Pro ???
And nothing about possible 9500 hack/mods.

Thanks very much!

 

[-Omen-]

Up for thoughts

 

[Soulkeeper]

i'd get the GF4 but if yur talkin about the 9500 pro it could be a different story

 

[VirginiaDonkey]

I Got in on the BB PNY 4200 special and used the card for a few days. I just received my 9500np from newegg yesterday. Speed wise i would say its pretty much even, the 9500 is faster in some tests, the 4200 is faster in others. The 3dmark 2k1 scores are only a couple hundred points different at stock speeds with the edge to the GeForce

I think the 9500's image qaulity is a little bit better and also you can enable the AF and AA in games without much of a performance hit, where in the 4200 the speed falls quickly.

But on the flip side, the 4200 is about half the cost with all the BB deals, so the price/performance nod goes to the GeForce

4200 pluses=
Faster by a smidgen
half the price

9500 pluses=
Image quality is better
able to use AA/AF with little performance hit
DX9 compliant


I took the 4200's I got at Best buy, sold them on ebay and was able to buy my 9500

 

[-Omen-]

Hmm, ok.
Now how about with the new mod that makes a 9500np to a 9800 (even with bad pipelines)?
Does that really make a difference on the card in case it's not one of the good moddable ones?

Also, do you guys know the default voltage for these cards?
I noticed some motherboards say only 1.5v AGP cards...
Thanks

 

[Brian48]

I've been reading a lot of mixed feedback regarding the 9500 non-pro and it's rate of success with the soft mod. Personally, I wouldn't rely on it. If I was going to get a 9500, I'd spend a little more and just the Pro version which is a much better card than either of the choices you've mentioned.

By the way, I was in the same position as you. I was looking for a powerful, but cheap upgrade for one of my backup boxes to replace my aging GF3. I went a head and got the PNY special (64mb ti4200 8x AGP) over at BestBuy this week. For $90, you cannot beat this card as far as bang for the buck is concerned. It's an excellent value and the quality is very high as far as I can tell. I was able to push it to near ti4600 speeds in my testing last night. Image quality with the ATI is better, but really not by that much. My 21" Dell p1130 has dual VGA inputs and I toggle back and forth between the ti4200 and my 9700 Pro. Without seeing it in a side by side comparison, the difference in image quality is not noticable at all.

 

[-Omen-]

Yeah, but they are saying now that apparently W1zzard has come out with a softmod that will turn a 9500np to a 9800 but with 4 pipelines instead of 8, so it should apparently work even for those who have previously unmoddable/hackable cards...

 

[VirginiaDonkey]

the success rate of the 9500-9800 is hit or miss...more miss. my 9500 has the checkerboard effect, so it didnt work for me. I tried the 9500-9800 4 pipeline hack, but it didnt work....maybe I did something wrong

yes the hack makes a HUGE difference in the card speed, probably 2000 3dmark points.

Im gonna give it another go tonight, and hope I find something that cranks this card up!

 

[-Omen-]

Hmm. Great responses by all. Thanks.
I thought the 4 pipeline thing should get around the unmoddables though? No?

 

[-Omen-]

Any other thoughts on this?

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

What do you risk and lose with the softmod? I'm going to get a 9700 non pro or a 9700 pro depending on their prices in 6 weeks, but what do I risk using the softmod? Does the warranty become void when I use it? And what exactly does the softmod do, by the name to me it implies that its just software and it doesn't change anything hardware related, I'm confused. Any information would be great.

 

[-Omen-]

I think you are correct.
I believe it basically just changes how windows sees your card.
It doesn't change anything on the card.
So if you ever sent your card to the company it wouldnt have softmod on it I guess.