Sapphire 9600XT - Any good?

[GFBeach]

I'm going to be ordering a Radeon 9600XT this month, and I'm not totally sure which brand I ought to buy. Does anyone know if the Sapphire model of the card is good? I've found a decent deal on this particular brand, but I'd rather get a second opinion before I place an order.

 

[sellmen]

Sapphire is a good brand; keep in mind though that OEM/"lite box" sapphire 9600XT cards will not be bundled with Half Life 2.

 

[Pete]

Yeah, Connect3D 9600XT's should include HL2 (at least according to their website) and are going for around $180 (axiontech & gameve). The big attraction for these cards is HL2; if you don't care for the game, I'd recommend buying a much-faster 5900 for about the same price ($175AR XFX @ Buy.com, $230 eVGA [2.2ns memory] @ NewEgg).

Edit: I think the eVGA 5900 is the one with 2.2ns memory. It may be the Leadtek, though I'd probably avoid it as I saw a 5900 roundup that showed the Leadtek had the loudest and the least efficient heatsink-fan combo.

 

[GFBeach]

Oh, the OEM Sapphire does NOT include the HL2 voucher? Wow, thanks for the heads up. That might be important to remember. ^_^;;; I might go with Powercolor or COnnect3D if I can't find a good deal on a Sapphire that includes the game.

 

[Genx87]

Pete: Not sure what the memory timings are on the evga but I got the memory running solid at 900Mhz.

 

[Pete]

Not too shabby.

 

[Ray5150Ray]

I went ahead and picked up the 9600XT by ASUS and it does come with HL2. The thing that sux is, it does only have RAM heat sinks on one side only. Guess I'll be adding some to the bottom, huh?

Is it a good thing that these are shipping with 2.8ns Samsung chip?

 

[videoclone]

Yeah Getting the Geforce FX 5900 would be a better buy ... if they cost the same !!

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Ray5150Ray
I went ahead and picked up the 9600XT by ASUS and it does come with HL2. The thing that sux is, it does only have RAM heat sinks on one side only. Guess I'll be adding some to the bottom, huh?

Is it a good thing that these are shipping with 2.8ns Samsung chip?

Apparently ASUS doesn't feel the ram on the back of the card gets hot...

 

[Ray5150Ray]

Yeah, those rat bas turds!! I'm sorry, but I may never own another Nvidia graphics card again...

 

[MDE]

I picked up a BFG 5900nu at Best Buy today ($200 after rebates) and it's overclocking like a demon. It's at 475/950 ATM, stock speeds are 400/850. I'd take it over a 9600XT any day.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Pete: Not sure what the memory timings are on the evga but I got the memory running solid at 900Mhz.

the evga is definately 2.2ns

 

[GFBeach]

I went ahead and ordered the ASUS 9600XT; a little pricier than I would have liked, but the software bundle (especially Half-Life 2), the full VIVO capabilies, as well as ASUS' reputation for making good cards is what I based my decision on. Thanks again!

Another thing I considered was that I don't think I have enough juice in my power supply to power a 5900, and I'd rather not order another power supply right now.

 

[Mem]

You could of went Sapphire 9600XT full retail if HL2 is important link .

 

[nRollo]

Yeah, those rat bas turds!! I'm sorry, but I may never own another Nvidia graphics card again...

You're the one who will suffer for that, not us, so no need to be sorry. ATI may have the best all around solution now (although not by a lot), but what are you going to do if things revert to the "nVidia is 25% faster" state of affairs we had with the TNT2 vs Rage32, GF2u vs VIVO, GF4600 vs 8500?

Say, "Well, nVidia isn't honest, so I'll play my games slower."?

 

[nRollo]

I went ahead and ordered the ASUS 9600XT; a little pricier than I would have liked, but the software bundle (especially Half-Life 2)

Wow. You ordered a card with half the performance to get HL2 in 4 months?! I don't know what your psu is, but the last time I had to buy a new one for a video card was for the R8500 retail, that I never did get to run at stock speeds. They thought I should replace my Epox 8KHA+ motherboard, which ran a V5, A GF3, and a GF4 4400 perfectly fine. I told them I'd replace their card before I'd rebuild my computer to run it. Sat the GF4 in it, worked flawlessly till I got a 9700P. (which gave me rolling wavey lines on that motherboard btw, prompting me to buy yet another psu-lol)

 

[Mem]

They thought I should replace my Epox 8KHA+ motherboard, which ran a V5, A GF3, and a GF4 4400 perfectly fine. I told them I'd replace their card before I'd rebuild my computer to run it. Sat the GF4 in it, worked flawlessly till I got a 9700P. (which gave me rolling wavey lines on that motherboard btw, prompting me to buy yet another psu-lol)

I`m using an Epox 8KHA+ with Sapphire 9700NP right at this moment never had any problems with the rolling lines issue on my CRTs ,I guess it depends on your exact hardware etc ,lucky I never had that problem,yes I did read the big Rage3D thread on the rolling line issue .